Long in the development process -by which we mean half a decade- the Ibis Ripley 29er may finally be shaking off it’s rapid prototype mocked up skins for some real, actual carbon fiber.
First announced in July 2011, the Ripley 29er uses unique dual eccentric pivots to create a very stiff, short rear end that has race worthy snap with 120mm of fun. At least, that was the goal, in practice, it’s apparently been quite the engineering challenge. The project started in 2005 and, if the all but invisible countdown timer on the top of their website is what we think it is, the bike should come out on March 18. Aaron from Ibis would neither confirm nor deny, but hinted we could presume that’s what it’s for.
The frame will use the bladder molded monocoque designs of their Mojo frames, and the suspension has been designed from the start by Dave Weagle. It’s built to be quite versatile, allowing single or double chainrings up front, a dropper post with cable guides and even a bolt-on cable/hose protector. We covered the full technical breakdown on the design in this post (yes, back in 2011, but doesn’t look like the key tech has changed), and posted some pretty pictures below.
Thanks to Damien for the tip! Updated with a spy shot of Brian Lopes’ Ripley after the break!
It’ll likely get the new Fox CTD suspension when it actually ships.
Update: Thanks to Mike at Fullerton Bikes and his sharp eyes, we have a photo of what may be Brian Lopes’ own Ripley in the wild. Due to the part spec which matches his current sponsors, we’re thinking that’s safe to say. It’s hard to tell from the small photo, but it looks like Lopes’ bike could have a slightly different shock than pictured in Ibis’ photos – it looks a little thinner in the air can, and also has a label that makes us think it’s a prototype for testing. Also, to Marc’s point, yes there is room for a bottle cage (1) as shown above with at least a 24oz bottle.
