I've had MRP's air-sprung Ribbon fork
in for long-term testing for months now, and I've been very impressed with both the Ramp Control air system and its twin-tube damper, but it looks like the Colorado company will soon be introducing a coil-sprung version to boot. Why do I think that? Simple: there's no air valve on the spring-side, with a flat top cap in its place. Sherlock Holmes, I am not.
Coil springs are making a comeback, and suspension companies offering a coil versions is a simple way for them to have an alternative fork for a relatively small development investment. I'd bet my only dropper post that the coil-sprung Ribbon features the same chassis as the air-sprung fork that's on the front of my bike, with the only difference being inside the left fork leg. If so, I'd expect conversion kits to be available down the road, although that's speculation on my part.
If the fork is coil-sprung, does that mean that it can't employ MRP's
effective Ramp Control air spring? I would have said that the answer is surely no, but there was an anodized orange dial at the bottom of this fork's spring-side leg (pictured below) that could serve no other purpose than to tune some sort of ending stroke control. My guess is that MRP has found a way to incorporate their Ramp Control system into the coil-sprung Ribbon.
I hope this will be applied to Fox 36 and Pikes
Erik
Hey Noah- will the coil be available as an aftermarket drop in kit for current Ribbon owners? I'd love to try it.
One cool thing about the Stage, however, that I would loose if/when going to a Ribbon IIRC, is the approximately 10 mm shorter Axle to Crown than comparable travel forks from other manufacturers (My Stage at 170 mm has a similar axle to crown length as a 160 mm Pike/36).
All in all, MRP is a cool company to work with that is developing products that are very competitive with the offerings from the more commonplace brands (both in terms of price and performance). This fork is definitely on my radar as a replacement to my Stage or to use on my next new bike build!
Maintenance nightmare.
@MtbSince84: It's a self pumping fork. To add air you bounce up and down on the front of your bike.
Try this with your Fox or RS ... scratch the upper, send it back, they will press it out, replace it and you will get billed ... under $100 last time I checked!!!
Or change frames and find you need a longer steerer tube ... oops ... send it back, they will press it out and replace it and bill you ... again usually under $100.
Call RS or Fox and price that there!
Want to upgrade to their newest damper ... no problem ... don't need a new fork, just get new internals.
These are forks for riders. They are awesome!