Shorter, Lower, Steeper, Less Travel - a Ripmo AF story

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Shorter, Lower, Steeper, Less Travel - a Ripmo AF story
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flag nastutts
Posted: Jan 22, 2021 at 13:32 Quote
I purchased a Ripmo AF in Nov of 2019 with the firm belief that this was the perfect bike for me. Riding mostly punchy up and down trails in the Piedmont of NC, with a handful of trips to Western NC, an enduro race or two, and a few park days a year - I needed an efficient bike so I don't get dropped on local XC trails that could still handle bike park laps with questionable decision making.

Well lo and behold, a global pandemic went and happened...and in turns out that keeping a new child alive takes up a lot of time too....So I found myself riding my local trails exclusively. I wanted to see if I could tone down the brutish nature of the RAF a bit to invigorate rides on my locals.

So here is what I came up with:
Reduced Fork Travel to 140mm
Put on a short stroke (50mm) inline shock (RS deluxe), resulting in ~133mm rear travel
Running about 27% sag in the rear

Resulting in geo of (size large):
Reach: 485mm (from 475)
Stack: 626mm (from 629)
HTA: 65.7deg (from 64.9)
STA: 76.8deg (from 76)
BB Height: 335 (from 341)
Wheelbase: 1229 (from 1237)

This bike rips guys! The steeper HTA is noticeable but not unnerving, and the reduced trail gives the bike a more nimble and responsive feel. The added reach and steeper STA are also great bonuses as a 6'1" guy who rides and L but borders on XL. The inline shock seems to give the bike just a bit more extra pop (or a lot more compared to the Jade X). It is quite amazing how the rear still feels nice and plush when going deep into the travel with only 133mm travel. This bike makes me want to gap little root sections and pump every bit of trail I can.

Future changes: I will most likely bump up the travel to 150 soon as I do have a park day planned soon! I hope a touch more travel and slackness will keep me out of harm's way. Post park day, I also would like to throw on a lighter and faster rolling set of tires (Assegai F, Aggressor R at the moment) to see how much this bike can come alive!

If anyone has questions about this little experiment, I'd be happy to share more impressions!
flag kinematix
Posted: Jan 26, 2021 at 7:57 Quote
Let us know how it rides with the 150mm fork!
flag samjpatt
Posted: Aug 13, 2022 at 7:21 Quote
Any updates? How are you enjoying the ride? I live in the NC piedmont too and I opted for a Ripley AF. I think it’s a perfect setup for local trails but still wish I had something for the occasional WNC trip. I’m considering making the switch to a Ripmo AF and tuning it down like you did. The geometry you showed is very close to the Ripley AF.. thoughts?
flag dirtbaggraeme
Posted: Aug 22, 2022 at 15:22 Quote
I'd also be curious if you could over shock the ripley af to similar effect. I'm running mine with a 140 fork but regularly run up against the bottom out bumper out back. I'd love to know if anyone out there has tried to squeeze a few extra mil if travel out of the rear-end.
flag kinematix
Posted: Aug 22, 2022 at 17:02 Quote
The Ripley AF runs a 190 x 45 shock. That is the longest stroke for that length. The Ripmo short-stroke works because the stock stroke is 55, and you can get a 50 to step it down.
flag dirtbaggraeme
Posted: Aug 27, 2022 at 15:49 Quote
kinematix wrote:
The Ripley AF runs a 190 x 45 shock. That is the longest stroke for that length. The Ripmo short-stroke works because the stock stroke is 55, and you can get a 50 to step it down.

There is an imperial option that buys you an extra couple mill of stoke in the same eye to eye for a ripley (not sure if the wheel would hit the seat tube or if the linkage would bottom anywhere though) that longer stroke looks like it would get you into the 135mm area for rear wheel travel which seems closer to the frames intentions instead of lugging around a ripmo. You could probably run a longer eye to eye as well, though again, I'm unsure about frame clearance
flag kinematix
Posted: Aug 27, 2022 at 16:08 Quote
I have a feeling 190 x 51 would spell some boo boos for the back of the seat tube.

The other option is to find a piggyback shock for the 190 x 45 to give you a deeper feel along with better heat control.
flag earlan357
Posted: Dec 20, 2022 at 7:50 Quote
I really wanted a Ripley AF, but the Ripmo AF frame was available super cheap. Way too much suspension and too slack for my trails. Front end was a handful on tight uphill switchbacks. I swapped the coil for a shorter 52.5mm stroke air shock(Deluxe Select+ M/M tune) for 140mm of travel in back and dropped the fork travel to 150mm. Added a Wolftooth +1 angleset too. Much nicer on climbs but want a little more BB height. I noticed the clevis is similar to my old Stumpjumper. I machined 0.25mm off the Ripmo clevis to fit a pre-2020 Stumpjumper flip chip. I used a radiused endmill bit to prevent stress risers and the ledge keeps the chip from rotating. The Stumpjumper bolt is shorter since the clevis is thinner than the Ripmo. As overbuilt as the Ripmo is I have zero concerns over removing .5mm of material. Still plenty of clearance between the clevis and seat tube. I bumped my shock pressure up from 220 to 230psi for 25% sag. Feels like a great compromise between the Ripley and Ripmo. Ripless? Riplo? Ripstumplojumper?

Geo change size L:
Head/seat angle: +0.2 deg
BB height: +5mm
Reach: +3mm
Stack: -2mm

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Add 0.5 degrees to account for garage floor slope.
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Ripmo vs Stumpjumper
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flag samjpatt
Posted: Jan 11, 2023 at 16:28 Quote
Soreandpuckered wrote:

There is an imperial option that buys you an extra couple mill of stoke in the same eye to eye for a ripley (not sure if the wheel would hit the seat tube or if the linkage would bottom anywhere though)

I looked into this for my Ripley AF a while back, the linkage does bottom out. I depressurized and ran the shock through the limits while taking measurements. Sadly it’s a definite no go to increase the stroke on the AF.
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