Ibis Ripmo AF. It’s the Ripmo ‘Aluminium Frame’

We can’t say that we saw this one coming… Today, Ibis has announced the new, aluminium framed ‘Ibis Ripmo AF’ – complete with some aggressive street-style images and video.

If you’re having trouble remembering when Ibis last made an aluminium frame, join the club. The original Ibis Ripley softtail, back in 2001 was the last production bike that Ibis made in aluminium (we even had one in for test…) before things went quiet from it for a while. The ‘new’ version of Ibis relaunched (with many original band members) with the all carbon Ibis Mojo a few years later and Ibis has been full-carbon ever since, so this is pretty big news.

The new alloy frame will be a full aluminium version of the popular (if pricy) Ibis Ripmo – the 160/147mm travel 29er that has been terrorising enduro courses around the world for the last 18 months or so. It seems that Ibis has had enough interest in a more affordable alloy version that it listened and made it happen.

Prices in the UK will start for a frame at £1899 (with an air shock) or £1999 with a coil shock. Wait a second? Yes, there’ll be a coil-over DVO shock version for riders who like the feel of a metal spring instead of a can of air. The frame boasts a ‘progressive suspension leverage ratio for compatibility with select coil shocks’. The shock is a metric 210 x 55mm job.

Complete bikes in the UK look to start around £3199, with the top end GX spec, carbon wheel version coming in at £5799.

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In summary, the new Ibis Ripmo AF will have:

• 29in wheels
• 160mm front travel, 147mm rear (dw link) travel
• 2.6in tyre clearance
• Boost 148mm back end
• Comes in four sizes – S to XL, for riders ‘5ft to 6ft 6in”
• Frame weight said to be: 8.25lbs/3.74kg with DVO Topaz shock. Also available with a DVO JADE X coil shock.

All this and a big bottle (22oz/650mm) will fit. The frame follows the original Ripmo and the newer Ripley in featuring upper linkage bearings (where the link moves in a big arc) and Igus bushings on the lower link (that barely moves a few degrees). Ibis has reported no issues with this arrangement.

As you might expect, the frame is 1x only, and while it is compatible with ISCG guides (via a removable mount), there’s no mention of Di2 compatibility. There IS a threaded bottom bracket, which will please people. There’s internal cable routing for a dropper and size small frames should work with a 125-150mm dropper, with a 170mm+ for M-XL sizes.

Well there you go? Enough to tempt you from the carbon Ibis Ripmo? Is there a Ripmo AF in your future? Let us know.

According to Ibis, the Ripmo AF is shipping this week, so expect to see it shredding soon. Or here: https://www.ibiscycles.co.uk
And talking about shredding – bring on the shreddit!

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