Sigh! I really like this bike! The original Ibis Ripmo wasn’t exactly a slouch but this one makes me wish I had 3K knocking around for the frame-only option.

That’s $2,999 to be accurate, which is actually about £2,300 at today’s exchange rate – but I have no idea what the UK price actually is at this point.

As you will likely read elsewhere, the new Ibis Ripmo is a bit longer, a bit slacker and a bit more progressive (you can run coil shocks now if you like). For 2020 it’s a case of subtle evolution over the original Ripmo. I guess if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, although it does have a brand new front triangle for a start.

All I will say is that the frame geometry is remarkably close to my Bird Zero AM and that is an arrangement I like very much. The Bird fits me perfectly.

In size Large the Ibis Ripmo has a 64.9° headangle, a 76° seatangle and top tube and reach figures within 2 or 3mm of the Medium/Large Bird equivalents. This gives me confidence I would find the Ripmo an agreeable bike to ride (in passing, the Bird AM9 has very similar dimensions too).

You can get the Ripmo in blue, which is normally a shoe-in for me but I would also be very tempted by the ‘star destoyer’ grey with perhaps a sprinkling of purple ano here and there. Why not?

What’s different about the Ripmo versus the Bird AM9 is that Ibis continues to use a suspension set-up with DW-link and virtual pivot tech. This gives the Ripmo 2 the kind of climbing, handling and descending prowess that the original Ripmo was famous for (that bike recently won Enduro magazine’s trail bike group test against stiff competition). I guess it should be a case of same but a bit better for the Ripmo 2?

The AM9 in comparison has a linkage activated Horst link set-up – still a decent design to be fair. And the frame is aluminium rather than carbon. The Ripmo can also be had in a more wallet friendly aluminium, but not in blue!

I guess what I’m trying to say is I lust after the Ibis, but if like me your wallet is only Bird-sized you could do a lot worse than an AM9. That’s where my thoughts have been anyway until now; but I might explore the alloy Ripmo AF a bit further…

About the author

Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.

Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.

An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.

If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.