Went I sent my fork in and the had no ETA for a new CSU I kinda freaked out, haha. Pictured a year without the fork, relying on my hardtails fork which meant 1 bike and the worry of having NO bike if anything else important breaks. I was leaning towards going 170mm anyway plus my friend was able to get me a sweet deal (design time for parts.. ), so I did it
You guys have convinced me to slap on the 38. Thanks! It's what I wanted to do, but wanted to make sure I wasn't being ridiculous. I'm not an especially aggro ride, so was surprised whne the lyrik felt kinda dainty on the ripmo. Guess being 'husky' and rocky trails has that effect on equipment.
As someone with a Zeb at 160 and planning on bumping it to 170 soon, I can get behind this! I will not go back to a 35/36 mm fork being well over the 200lb mark. (275lb)
I’m well under 200 and thought the 38 would be overkill but it’s an incredible fork. The extra stiffness is remarkable. The best part is that it minimizes binding when cycling through the travel, which makes things feel so much better.
It makes me want to upsize all the things. I imagine at your weight, it will be a revelation. Do it!
Given how many different ways that Ibis has said "the Ripmo is meant for 160mm of travel only," is there going to be much geo change in going to 170mm? I know it's only 10mm, but will you fiddle with crank length to reduce pedal strikes? Or are we talking mere millimeters that aren't worth bothering about?
After you swap the fork, mind showing a photo for reference?
Given how many different ways that Ibis has said "the Ripmo is meant for 160mm of travel only," is there going to be much geo change in going to 170mm? I know it's only 10mm, but will you fiddle with crank length to reduce pedal strikes? Or are we talking mere millimeters that aren't worth bothering about?
After you swap the fork, mind showing a photo for reference?
An additional 10mm of front travel will reduce your static head angle and seat tube angle by approximately 0.5 deg, and raise your static BB height by a few mm (perhaps 3-4mm). So it would actually give you very slightly more crank clearance, not less.
I've had a 170 Onyx on my RAF since Aug/Sept if I remember correctly. The only thing I notice with the 10mm increase up front is that I needed to lower the stem a few mm to feel the same as before, and the front of the bike is more composed in steep and rough trails (and a much stiffer fork, going from Diamond to Onyx).
I used one of those geo calculator things and got similar numbers, it really doesn't change that much, especially with 30% sag. I've changed forks by 10mm before and it's not that drastic, but a little extra squish takes the edge off. I've been over thinking it, nonetheless.
Guy at my shop has a 170 zeb on his AF and actually showed me the email from ibis saying it won't be an issue (this is not necessarily a change to warranty, just being honest).
Well, my RAF is almost 3 years old now. So I treated it to a 8.5x2.5 Jade to try out long travel mode. Looking forward to the first shake-down ride after work today.
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