Ripmo AF Thread

PB Forum :: Ibis
Ripmo AF Thread
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flag tuckfordouble
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Posted: Jul 22, 2022 at 10:37 Quote
mammal wrote:
Pyres wrote:
V1 Sentinel here. Going to demo a Ripmo af from a friend next saturday, really excited to try something diferent. I’m after a more versatile/ playful bike and I like the Ripmo on paper, and my wallet likes the af version, general comments are great except for the overall weight. Your comment is surprising, don’t get me wrong, I think the Smuggler is a great bike, my surprise is your disappointment on the Af on descents. Really that bad? In my case, I would never use coil cause I climb a lot

I found that for my RAF with Topaz, the Cascade link really brought it to life on the descents. A little more active in the first part of travel, and way better support near the end. Always something to consider, if you really like the climbing prowess of the RAF, but find it a bit lacking on the descents like I did.

I found the Ripmo to be really sensitive to sag. Because of the kinematics, >30% starts to feel harsh. I found ~27% to be pretty ideal. PB did a "Behind the Numbers" on the Ripmo V2 and I mostly agree with what they found.
flag WasatchEnduro
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Posted: Jul 22, 2022 at 10:40 Quote
Snowrydr01 wrote:
WasatchEnduro wrote:
Yeah no reason structurally imo to not run 170 up front if that’s your jam.

Also @snowryder my AF was silent so you can get there with proper chainstay protection and cable routing creativity.

Some times its good, but it eventually deteriorates into a box of rocks. I pull the access covers for the cabling, wrap the cables in electrical tape then put the covers on, it forces the cables in tighter into the frame so they are less likely to bang around in the frame. Ever since going to an ebike (decoupled cranks so no kickback ever) the rear end feels and sounds like crap. i hear the factory cassette banging into the hub paws, but if i put a better wheel in, then i just get more kick back. If i up shift to a higher gear so there is less kickback, now the rear mech has less tension and want to flop around. I just did a full rebuild on the rear mech and clutch assembly and it helped a bit but is still annoying to hear and feel. It was so bad at my last bike park trip i thought maybe the shock was blown, i pulled my X2 and swapped it with my Jade X and it still felt terrible. To be fair i have never gotten along with the rear end of the AF through 3 shocks and 2 years of ownership for descending. Every choice is a compromise and at the time i was trying to only have one bike but now i wish i had something that didnt prioritize pedaling anti squat over downhill tracking. My Transition Smuggler only has 120mm outback and is infinitely more plush than the ripmo.

What ebike are you on, snowrydr? I've got pretty limited experience on them but that's some good feedback. And while I'm happy w/ my bike setup right now, I hopped on a friend's Wreckoning (prior version) on a trail I ride often and the 147mm rear on the ripmo couldn't hold a torch to the 160mm on the wreck through fast chatter. It was pretty impressive. Has me thinking about a frame swap to an Offering eventually as I don't need 160 like the wreck, but that suspension platform works so damn well.
flag mammal
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Posted: Jul 22, 2022 at 11:00 Quote
tuckfordouble wrote:
mammal wrote:
Pyres wrote:
V1 Sentinel here. Going to demo a Ripmo af from a friend next saturday, really excited to try something diferent. I’m after a more versatile/ playful bike and I like the Ripmo on paper, and my wallet likes the af version, general comments are great except for the overall weight. Your comment is surprising, don’t get me wrong, I think the Smuggler is a great bike, my surprise is your disappointment on the Af on descents. Really that bad? In my case, I would never use coil cause I climb a lot

I found that for my RAF with Topaz, the Cascade link really brought it to life on the descents. A little more active in the first part of travel, and way better support near the end. Always something to consider, if you really like the climbing prowess of the RAF, but find it a bit lacking on the descents like I did.

I found the Ripmo to be really sensitive to sag. Because of the kinematics, >30% starts to feel harsh. I found ~27% to be pretty ideal. PB did a "Behind the Numbers" on the Ripmo V2 and I mostly agree with what they found.

I prefer it at around 30%, or 16mm of shaft travel (at the end of the DVO logo on the Topaz shaft). That also seems to be the consensus among most of the folks on the MTBR RAF forum, which has lots of RAF and V2 owners. That said, I think it's super important for everyone to play around with pressure/sag and various volume spacers to find what's best for you, because everyone's got different preferences.
flag tuckfordouble
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Posted: Jul 22, 2022 at 11:20 Quote
mammal wrote:
tuckfordouble wrote:
mammal wrote:


I found that for my RAF with Topaz, the Cascade link really brought it to life on the descents. A little more active in the first part of travel, and way better support near the end. Always something to consider, if you really like the climbing prowess of the RAF, but find it a bit lacking on the descents like I did.

I found the Ripmo to be really sensitive to sag. Because of the kinematics, >30% starts to feel harsh. I found ~27% to be pretty ideal. PB did a "Behind the Numbers" on the Ripmo V2 and I mostly agree with what they found.

I prefer it at around 30%, or 16mm of shaft travel (at the end of the DVO logo on the Topaz shaft). That also seems to be the consensus among most of the folks on the MTBR RAF forum, which has lots of RAF and V2 owners. That said, I think it's super important for everyone to play around with pressure/sag and various volume spacers to find what's best for you, because everyone's got different preferences.

We're talking about ~1mm difference here haha. Mine hovers around the bottom of the DVO letters most of the time.
flag Pyres
Posted: Jul 22, 2022 at 12:26 Quote
WasatchEnduro wrote:
mammal wrote:
Pyres wrote:
V1 Sentinel here. Going to demo a Ripmo af from a friend next saturday, really excited to try something diferent. I’m after a more versatile/ playful bike and I like the Ripmo on paper, and my wallet likes the af version, general comments are great except for the overall weight. Your comment is surprising, don’t get me wrong, I think the Smuggler is a great bike, my surprise is your disappointment on the Af on descents. Really that bad? In my case, I would never use coil cause I climb a lot

I found that for my RAF with Topaz, the Cascade link really brought it to life on the descents. A little more active in the first part of travel, and way better support near the end. Always something to consider, if you really like the climbing prowess of the RAF, but find it a bit lacking on the descents like I did.

Ditto that. I preferred the overall suspension feel of my RAF with cascade link and super deluxe over my sentinel with cascade link and super deluxe. (same with a coil, liked it better on the ripmo)

Yeah it's interesting how mileage varies by rider. My sentinel was carbon and a size smaller than the RAF so it was about 1.75 lbs lighter and a hair shorter in the wheelbase, despite being slacker. Sentinel is an awesome bike but I never got the rear end to feel as good as the ripmo across a wide range of terrain.

I’ll have to ask you since you had the same bike. My Sentinel is also carbon and weight is a concern if I eventually buy a Ripmo af. One of the reasons is to get a more playful lively ride, which the Sentinel is not, as you know it only comes alive on fast trails. How would you compare both bikes? Are flat trails boring on the af? Is the bike agile on twisty trails compared to the sentinel? Suspension: harsh ride with smooth landings or vice versa: is the Ripmo a better ride overall. I have 30/45 minutes climbs between dh trails so all the help is welcome.

Anyway, I’ll try one Ripmo af tomorrow
Can’t wait
flag jesse-effing-edwards
O+
Posted: Jul 22, 2022 at 13:32 Quote
Put in a quick pedally ride and am loving the progressive coil. Bike is feels so much more efficient now. It's hard to know what size spring you'll like best, but it's really makes a difference if you go up in weight or go progressive if you're heavier. I'm 205lb out the shower and the 500# had things a bit mushier that I liked. I'll stop talking about this now, hahah
flag WasatchEnduro
O+
Posted: Jul 22, 2022 at 13:59 Quote
Pyres wrote:
WasatchEnduro wrote:
mammal wrote:


I found that for my RAF with Topaz, the Cascade link really brought it to life on the descents. A little more active in the first part of travel, and way better support near the end. Always something to consider, if you really like the climbing prowess of the RAF, but find it a bit lacking on the descents like I did.

Ditto that. I preferred the overall suspension feel of my RAF with cascade link and super deluxe over my sentinel with cascade link and super deluxe. (same with a coil, liked it better on the ripmo)

Yeah it's interesting how mileage varies by rider. My sentinel was carbon and a size smaller than the RAF so it was about 1.75 lbs lighter and a hair shorter in the wheelbase, despite being slacker. Sentinel is an awesome bike but I never got the rear end to feel as good as the ripmo across a wide range of terrain.

I’ll have to ask you since you had the same bike. My Sentinel is also carbon and weight is a concern if I eventually buy a Ripmo af. One of the reasons is to get a more playful lively ride, which the Sentinel is not, as you know it only comes alive on fast trails. How would you compare both bikes? Are flat trails boring on the af? Is the bike agile on twisty trails compared to the sentinel? Suspension: harsh ride with smooth landings or vice versa: is the Ripmo a better ride overall. I have 30/45 minutes climbs between dh trails so all the help is welcome.

Anyway, I’ll try one Ripmo af tomorrow
Can’t wait

That's tricky as I sized down from the XL RAF to a large sentinel carbon. So I actually gained some agility and the sentinel felt like it cornered better for my trails. Probably due to the wheelbase going from 1262 down to 1247.

Climbing smooth trails with the climb switch on I'd give the nod to the sentinel, but only due to the lighter weight. For any climb with the shock in open I'd take the RAF. Also on rolling descents that require occasional bursts up short climbs I'd take the RAF. On flatter trails I'd probably give the nod to the RAF also.

If you're moving to the same size RAF as your sentinel I think you'll notice a little more agility despite the weight.

After lots of experimenting with the rear suspension on both bikes I liked the dw-link better overall. If you ride with your rear shock in open 100% of the time then you'll take a small efficiency penalty adding a cascade link. I'd still do it though.

Just some random dude's opinion, though. Had I not cracked the front triangle on my sentinel I may still be on it. During the crash replacement process with transition I accidently found a barely used ripmo v2 frame and snatched it up.

Hopefully you can get a lap or at least a parking lot test on a RAF.
flag Pyres
Posted: Jul 25, 2022 at 1:30 Quote
Thanks for your response.

I tried the RAF last saturday. First, I’m riding Transition bikes since ‘16, so it was refreshing to try something different. Love the “raw” silver color of the frame, Dvo was a surprise, the bike looks smaller than numbers would suggest, specifically the wheelbase. One thing that ruined it for me was stem length, my friend has a 50mm stem and I think it was too long for me, I’m 5’7 so I wish it had a 35mm. Climbing: bike climbs great, smooth seated pedalling and it just goes, on the other hand, standing climbing or standing burst was a revelation, really impressive how the bike goes “forward” with 4 or 5 strokes. But it is heavy, I started to feel it after 3 hours of riding, my legs were burning. On flatter trails it’s easier/ faster to lean the bike for cornering ( compared to my Sentinel) and again, it gains speed with a couple of strokes. On gnarlier descents the overall weight of the bike is helpful, drops and jumps were smooth on the landings but as speed increased i never felt as comfortable as I do on my Sentinel, I’m used to my bike, my tyres and my fox 36 too much, the dvo wasn’t as smooth and the stem was just too long for me.
Overall I really liked the bike, I wish I could take it for 2 or 3 rides more, set up the dvo, a shorter stem etc. I’m taking my bike to an Ibis dealer to check if some kind of deal is possible because the alloy frame is great, and with some parts upgrade here and there, I’m sure the bike would be amazing for my kind of riding.
flag jhkvt
O+
Posted: Aug 3, 2022 at 10:23 Quote
muggomagic wrote:
Did a quick search but couldn’t find an answer, so apologies if this has been covered in this thread already.

Is anyone using a oneup edc 100cc pump mounted to the bottle bosses? Just wondered if there was enough clearance.
I’ve got an edc tool, as well as the top cap etc. I was thinking that rather than tapping the steerer tube or buying the stem I could stash the tool in the pump. I generally just carry co2, but would be good to have the edc pump if it can be frame mounted.

I mounted it with 5mm tall nylon spacers against the frame bosses and longer bolts, I believe I have the EDC pump mount on the non-drive side which has dropper and brake cable (not home with the bike right now), as it seemed to fit/clear better over those 2 cables vs the 1 cable on the drive side. It works, though now a 22 oz water bottle is just barely touching the DVO shock. I put some tape on the underside of the shock to prevent a rub mark.
flag mammal
O+
Posted: Aug 3, 2022 at 10:39 Quote
jhkvt wrote:
muggomagic wrote:
Did a quick search but couldn’t find an answer, so apologies if this has been covered in this thread already.

Is anyone using a oneup edc 100cc pump mounted to the bottle bosses? Just wondered if there was enough clearance.
I’ve got an edc tool, as well as the top cap etc. I was thinking that rather than tapping the steerer tube or buying the stem I could stash the tool in the pump. I generally just carry co2, but would be good to have the edc pump if it can be frame mounted.

I mounted it with 5mm tall nylon spacers against the frame bosses and longer bolts, I believe I have the EDC pump mount on the non-drive side which has dropper and brake cable (not home with the bike right now), as it seemed to fit/clear better over those 2 cables vs the 1 cable on the drive side. It works, though now a 22 oz water bottle is just barely touching the DVO shock. I put some tape on the underside of the shock to prevent a rub mark.

I mounted mine on the drive side, no spacers, but longer bolts to reach through the bottle mount and pump mount. It fits, and same as above, the bottle valve just barely touches the Topaz air can.
flag Snowrydr01
Posted: Aug 3, 2022 at 12:25 Quote
From time to time i add a bit of history on my "long travel" ripmo conversion from mtbr. I'm looking to commit and get a downhill bike for park, and "shrink" my ripmo back to stock travel.

If anyone is interested in the conversion, I have my shock and offset bushing in the buy/sell section

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3399527/
flag melanthius
O+
Posted: Aug 3, 2022 at 14:06 Quote
mammal wrote:
jhkvt wrote:
muggomagic wrote:
Did a quick search but couldn’t find an answer, so apologies if this has been covered in this thread already.

Is anyone using a oneup edc 100cc pump mounted to the bottle bosses? Just wondered if there was enough clearance.
I’ve got an edc tool, as well as the top cap etc. I was thinking that rather than tapping the steerer tube or buying the stem I could stash the tool in the pump. I generally just carry co2, but would be good to have the edc pump if it can be frame mounted.

I mounted it with 5mm tall nylon spacers against the frame bosses and longer bolts, I believe I have the EDC pump mount on the non-drive side which has dropper and brake cable (not home with the bike right now), as it seemed to fit/clear better over those 2 cables vs the 1 cable on the drive side. It works, though now a 22 oz water bottle is just barely touching the DVO shock. I put some tape on the underside of the shock to prevent a rub mark.

I mounted mine on the drive side, no spacers, but longer bolts to reach through the bottle mount and pump mount. It fits, and same as above, the bottle valve just barely touches the Topaz air can.

I use one on my medium frame after I filed a slot in the EDC pump mount to go around the cable on that side. I use a Specialized Z cage on a home-made bottle-boss-shifter (a strip of aluminum with two sets of holes in it) to maximize room for a large bottle beneath the shock.
flag reginald68
Posted: Aug 4, 2022 at 12:03 Quote
I don't usually have much to contribute to this awesome thread. To bring my XL bike up to super heavy weight category, and keep riding without backpack, i had to add more water for the summer heat.

heavy AF



frame bag has keys, phone, snacks
seat bag is tube, levers, plugs
EDC lite tool in the stem
lyzene side loader water bottle cage
using top water bottle bolt for pump holder, and zip tie for other pump holder hole
zip tied a fidlock 450 bottle mount up top and fits nicely around jadeX

**remember to use flush cutter and file down your trimmed sharp zip ties**
flag matt-c
O+
Posted: Aug 8, 2022 at 10:52 Quote
Not sure if this has been posted already (there's quite a few pages, hard to keep up...), has anyone used the Cascade link with the Topaz and had positive results? I like the air for a lot of applications but it does leave me wanting a bit more at times.
flag melanthius
O+
Posted: Aug 8, 2022 at 17:20 Quote
matt-c wrote:
Not sure if this has been posted already (there's quite a few pages, hard to keep up...), has anyone used the Cascade link with the Topaz and had positive results? I like the air for a lot of applications but it does leave me wanting a bit more at times.

I just put a Cascade link on my AF with the stock Topaz last week and I like it. It’s more sensitive on the small stuff, more active when climbing, and doesn’t seem to blow through the midstroke as easily.

I never had an issue with bottoming and run no spacers in the shock.

 


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