First Ride Review: The New Ibis Ripmo V3

A well established platform for Ibis, the Ripmo was originally launched back in 2018 to meet the needs of their EWS racers who were looking for a full 29’ bike up to the varied challenges of World Enduro racing. A cleverly designed bike, while on paper it was less long, slack and capable than some its competition the Ripmo was light, pedal efficient and super manoeuvrable on the descents, handling technical sections exceptionally well. At 160mm / 146m travel it wasn’t the longest travel either but it was exceptionally well rounded. 

That combination of traits made it not only easy going to ride and popular with regular riders, but it also worked perfectly for high level racing. The original Ripmo and later the updated V2 bike racked up EWS podiums under Robin Wallner, and landed a win here in the Tweed Valley with Bex Baraona aboard. It’s worth noting that the V2 revision in 2021 was more a fine tuning exercise than a drastic overhaul, with that bike retaining a very similar character and appearance to the original design. Both bikes performed exceptionally well on the world stage.

With a loyal following and well established reputation as a no fuss, easy to maintain and versatile bike the new revision has a lot to live up to. You might have forgiven Ibis if they had simply tweaked the V2 a little more, but the Ripmo V3 is instead a full redesign. Aiming to preserve the original strengths and character of the current model, while bringing the whole design up to date, every area of the bike has seen attention in the pursuit of improved performance.

Visually the new bike is a complete departure from the V2. Gone are the curved tubes, replaced by a much more modern looking and lower standover frame, which shares much visually with the well received HD6. Most aspects of the geometry have been adjusted, with the bike now slackened to a more contemporary 64.5 head angle along with a slightly lengthened wheelbase per size. Rear travel has also increased slightly to 150mm. As with the V2, the frame weight remains very competitive at just 7.6lbs including shock which will make lightweight builds very possible for those who want to. 

Chainstays now scale with size, though only by a few mm per size so that even the larger bikes will keep a lively and easy to pop nature. To prevent that becoming an issue when climbing for taller riders, seat tube angles are also now steepened through the sizes to help keep weight in front of the rear axle. BB height is another metric which changes with size, with the larger bikes rising by 3mm steps to help prevent pedal and chainring strikes when rolling drops and climbing ledges.

Now modular, the new V3 can either use either a dual 29’ wheel setup or MX wheels, giving the user the option to choose based on preference or terrain. That swap is made possible by a clever flip chip on the rear triangle which adjusts the rear wheel position without affecting the suspension kinematics. Suspension is still handled by the very well regarded DW link and like the new HD6, the Ripmo V3 runs on a mix of bearings and (lifetime warrantied) bushings. One obvious visual change here compared to the V2 is the much smaller clevis link which reduces shock strain and allows the use of coil shock on the new bike. 

As is almost expected from new bikes now, the downtube has been revised to provide in-frame storage via an especially solid and well executed hatch. Inside there is a generous amount of space for spares, with the very nice touch of two padded Cotopaxi frame bags being included to silently store your essentials and mid ride spares.

As with the older bike, seatpost insertion remains excellent, with the all sizes being specced with relatively long droppers (a size Extra Medium comes with a 185mm drop post). All cables run through moulded tubes for easy swaps and the BB is sensibly still a threaded version. The headset hasn’t gone the integrated route, still using traditional cups which allows for aftermarket upgrades or anglesets and the hanger is now the ubiquitous SRAM UDH standard. All good sensible choices, but how does it ride?

Riding the Ripmo V3

Having previously ridden the V2 and really liked the quick handling and easy climbing nature, we were very curious to see if those traits would be preserved in the new version, or whether it has now morphed into more of a straight up Enduro bike.

For fans of the older Ripmo bikes, the good news is that on the climbs the V3 is still very obviously an Ibis in all the right ways. With a low overall bike weight (our XT spec test bike is just 14.5kg in a stock build, including the burly box section Send wheels) and the DW link doing as efficient a job as expected, the Ripmo 3 spins up a forest road with exceptional ease for a bike of its travel. 

There is a lockout lever on the supplied Factory Fox Float X, but it’s hard to imagine a situation where we’d find ourselves reaching for it, as even on steeper grades under harder effort there is barely any shock movement. The steepened 76.5’ seat angle is also noticeable and on our size Medium test bike gives a good position to sit and get power down from, without being so steep as to feel strange on flat or low angle sections. Climbing lumpy technical ground was less clear on day one, with the same feelings of overall efficiency but the bike hanging up just a touch on square edges and roots, though this might have simply been down to the smaller back wheel on our MX test bike. As we get out on our next few rides, we’ll know more.

Overall it’s a very good climber indeed for its category, especially for the long smooth grinds so typical of most UK forests. For long days out in the saddle it would be quite an asset, helping save energy and get that extra trail in.

Descending, it’s a bike with a real sense of urgency. We’ve spent a lot of time aboard the longer travel HD6 and comparatively the Ripmo is an absolute rocket ship. Pumping the bike results in immediate acceleration with the V3 gaining speed extremely well. It’s also noticeably quick and easy to unweight the bike, encouraging the rider to ride actively, and float over roots, holes and roughness rather than simply ploughing through.

Direction changes are similarly quick allowing rapid line changes and when the speeds drop in tight sections there's none of the bogged down sensation that can sometimes be present in longer bikes. As with the V2, the new Ripmo works super well on flatter or more flowy descents but can still hold its own when it gets steep, once again feeling like a very well rounded machine. It’s not hard to see how it could be a race winning package under the right rider.

Some bikes fool you into thinking they have more travel than they do, smoothing out the trail to the point where feeling what’s going on can become tricky, but the Ripmo V3 is not one of them, it’s a 150mm bike that feels like just that. The DW linkage mutes out smaller chatter without completely erasing it, handles bigger single hits very well indeed and gives good support but it’s not a magic carpet. Riders looking for a terrain flattening monster for bike park laps and the chunkiest riding will still be better served with the HD6, but for a capable bike which can cover the widest range of trails possible Ibis have done a very good job with the Ripmo V3.

Overall the impression is of a bike that encourages rider input, and one that could be at home anywhere from a UK trail centre to an Enduro round or big mountain hike a bike day. Versatile, lively and fun to ride it is still very much an Ibis Ripmo, but has definitely raised the bar on the platform, delivering more modularity along with carefully refined geometry to bring the bike right up to date. 

As with other recent Ibis bikes, the build kits are both well thought out and good value for money. The Shimano XT build we rode sits in the middle of the range, with SLX and Deore builds below it and SRAM AXS builds above, and may well be the sweet spot in a value for money sense. 

Coming with a full Fox Factory suspension package, a 160mm Bike Yoke dropper, lifetime warrantied Send wheels, and a full XT groupset it is impressively well priced at just £6199. The T-Type GX AXS build is also going to be popular, combining the same Factory Fox suspension package with Code RSC brakes and a T-Type Groupset for £6899.

Interested to have a closer look at the bike in person? We’ve stock coming and the UK test bike here for the next few days so call in for a look or get in touch for up to date availability.

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