Update March 18, 2013: Ibis Ripley 29er Now Available!



Ibis does did not have a 29er bike... until today. Today marks the day when the last of the Mohicans, the last of the good brands finally sells a 29er bike. Ibis is a revered brand in the mountain biking space and a lot of its loyal customers have been left with difficult choices when it comes to buying a 29er bike over the last couple of years.

Given that 47% of Mtbr readers are buying a 29er for their next bike, this is indeed a great development for Ibis. They didn't want to rush to the market and offer mediocre product in this wheel size. They wanted to offer something special, something that elevates their brand with a bike that has true competitive advantages. But given the nature engineering and production, things do go wrong and this bike took six years to develop.



We have not seen the bike yet but we are quite sure that this bike will be beautiful and it will work. Ibis rides the same trails as Mtbr does and they wanted to create a bike that was quick, capable and agile. But there is such a thing as 'time to market' in the full suspension bike arena so quite a bit of the demand for this bike has moved on to entries like the Santa Cruz Tallboy LTC, Specialized Enduro 29er. 25% of mtbr users are now planning on buying 650b for their next bike as well as indicated on our most recent poll here.

But chalk this up as a win for the good guys. Ibis is run by a crew of good dudes and we are sure they are happy to push this baby out and deliver it to the hands of their eager customers.



The new versatile and lightweight Ibis Ripley 29er is now available for $2899.99. It is compatible with 120-140mm travel forks and features Dave Weagle's dual-eccentric dw-link suspension that is hidden inside the seat tube and acts as the suspension linkages. It is more lightweight than the external linkage systems and also gives the bike a cleaner look. It allows the bike to be built with shorter chainstays and provides more room around the rear tire and front derailleur areas.

Check out Bike Magazine's "Blueprint" R&D Story of the Ibis Ripley 29er


Check out the hot discussion on Mtbr's forum here: https://forums.mtbr.com/ibis/ripley-believe-not-its-here-844440.html



Check out our gallery of photos of the production version of the Ripley.



Update September 6, 2011:Video of eccentric pivots in action has been added.

Here is a great video that explains how the eccentric pivots work.

[youtube width="640" height="385"]httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkKcizm4KVo

The Ibis 29er has finally been announced. It is the Ripley 29er and it is a full suspension design that features 120 mm of DW-Link travel. Ibis has been working on this design for the last three years and has had to invent and re-invent several things in the process. Rather than simply coming out with 29er version of the Mojo or the Tranny, Ibis went long and came out with a completely new design. They felt that the 29er market was getting increasingly crowded and they wanted to come out with a special 29er, worthy of the Ibis brand.

One of the design objectives was low weight and that drove key parts of this project. They wanted to make it lightweight and efficient so they pursued a design that was simpler, lighter and took full advantage of leading-edge technologies. The heart of the system is the eccentric pivots that replace the Lopes Links found in the Mojo designs. These pivots use Norglide bearings (look like plastic fiber) and they enable free, correct movement of the rear suspension arm. They save 130 grams compared to the Lopes Links.

We are intrigued and excited to hear about this latest creation from Hans Heim and the Ibis team. We'll learn a lot more as we get to see and ride this bad boy in the hills of Santa Cruz, CA.

We're still looking for the hardtail 29er Tranny though :)

A couple key stats:
Head Angle: 70 degrees w/ 120mm fork and 68.5 with 140mm
Chainstay Length: 17.5 inches
Bottom bracket height (w/ 2.1" tires): 12.8" w/ 120mm fork and 13.25" with 140mm

Ripley 29 Features:
  • 120mm rear wheel dw-link travel
  • 5.0 Pound frame with X Fusion Microlite Shock, 5.2 lbs with Fox RP23 CTD
  • Approved for 120-140mm forks, 32 or 34 stanchion
  • Tapered head tube (suitable for various Cane Creeks & Chris King InSet 3)
  • Internal TT cable routing with molded carbon cable stops
  • Shock Specs: 184mm x 44mm with .4 volume spacer
  • Provision for cable-actuated adjustable seat posts
  • BB92/Press GXP style integrated BB
  • 142mm Maxle rear axle
  • 160mm carbon fiber post mount rear brake mounts
  • High direct mount front derailleur mounts directly on swingarm
  • Headset: IS ZS44/28.6 | EC49/40
  • BB height w/ 2.1" tires: 325mm (12.8")
  • Geometry measured with 520.8mm axle to crown fork
For more info: https://www.ibiscycles.com/bikes/ripley_29er/