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scoon

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2025 Ferrum LV140
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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I'm thinking about getting a new fork. I've done a lot of reading about the mrp ribbon and I "think" it'll work for me.
I'm curious if anyone who has had one with positive experiences would have any insight to share? I have read plenty of negative posts about it which is why I am asking for specifically positive comments.

I have a Chromag stylus with a dvo sapphire set to 150mm. I'm mostly looking for more travel. I am an east coast rider where things are fast and rooty. There will be the occasional bike park trip mixed in as well.
 
#2 ·
I had an MRP Ribbon on my hardtail and it was the worst fork I’ve ever used. Very unpredictable damping and flexible chassis which was amplified since it was on my hardtail. What is making you consider that fork? Practically any other high end fork is going to perform far better. I’d go with a Mezzer or Ohlins. Both will be very supportive and plenty stiff. Two things I like on a hardtail especially when you’re talking 150mm or more travel.
 
#3 ·
Thorquin Kiki said:
Very unpredictable damping and flexible chassis which was amplified since it was on my hardtail.
Click to expand...
So far only the Enduro Mag test has said that the Ribbon chassis is flexy. Having ridden a Ribbon for quite some time now, I haven't noticed any difference compared to the rest of the competition with a similar type of chassis (35mm stanchions etc.) In what kind of situations did the fork manifest notable flex?
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
Thorquin Kiki said:
I had an MRP Ribbon on my hardtail and it was the worst fork I’ve ever used. Very unpredictable damping and flexible chassis which was amplified since it was on my hardtail. What is making you consider that fork? Practically any other high end fork is going to perform far better. I’d go with a Mezzer or Ohlins. Both will be very supportive and plenty stiff. Two things I like on a hardtail especially when you’re talking 150mm or more travel.
Click to expand...
Besides more travel, another aspect of this fork I like is the ability to do all work on it myself. Ohlins are nice but you can't do all the maintenance at home.
 
#7 ·
Full disclosure - I have a Ribbon for sale over in the classifieds.

I truly like the Ribbon. I'm only selling because I ended up with a frameset with a longer travel fork and I'm going to stick with that. I don't get the chassis flex or damper complaints - maybe I just got a good one? I'm 155-160 geared up - maybe heavier riders have issues? It's the same as every other 35mm chassis I've used. Maybe it's the updated internals, but I haven't had any "unpredictability" in any situations, and small bump is fine.

Anyway, I got along with it great on small and large hits, chunk, drops, flow. Lots of rocks around here (more rocks than dirt), so somewhat analogous to lots of roots. The negative air spring pressure is sensitive but it does make a difference, you can set it up plush or more firm depending on the terrain. All tuning knobs make a demonstrable difference with each click. Super easy to work on, everything from travel changes to lowers service to damper bleeds. MRP customer service is great. You can convert it to coil down the road if you want.

So yeah, it's a good fork. I'm sure a $2K fork is "better", but I had a ton of fun with the Ribbon and recommend it (even if I wasn't selling one) for a good, versatile, easily-serviceable performer that won't break the bank. Hope that helps.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
dculotta said:
Full disclosure - I have a Ribbon for sale over in the classifieds.

I truly like the Ribbon. I'm only selling because I ended up with a frameset with a longer travel fork and I'm going to stick with that. I don't get the chassis flex or damper complaints - maybe I just got a good one? I'm 155-160 geared up - maybe heavier riders have issues? It's the same as every other 35mm chassis I've used. Maybe it's the updated internals, but I haven't had any "unpredictability" in any situations, and small bump is fine.

Anyway, I got along with it great on small and large hits, chunk, drops, flow. Lots of rocks around here (more rocks than dirt), so somewhat analogous to lots of roots. The negative air spring pressure is sensitive but it does make a difference, you can set it up plush or more firm depending on the terrain. All tuning knobs make a demonstrable difference with each click. Super easy to work on, everything from travel changes to lowers service to damper bleeds. MRP customer service is great. You can convert it to coil down the road if you want.

So yeah, it's a good fork. I'm sure a $2K fork is "better", but I had a ton of fun with the Ribbon and recommend it (even if I wasn't selling one) for a good, versatile, easily-serviceable performer that won't break the bank. Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
This is great, thank you for the insight!
 
#9 ·
Running a Ribbon SL on my ARC and after a few frankly quite bad quality issues (grease in the lowers instead of oil, split air spring top cap o-ring) the fork is now working quite well. It’s very supple once worn in and properly adjusted and has decent midstroke support. The damper does get overwhelmed with repeated large hits, but then again it’s a light weigh trail/DC fork. It feels much more “trail” than a Fox 34.
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
dculotta said:
Full disclosure - I have a Ribbon for sale over in the classifieds.

I truly like the Ribbon. I'm only selling because I ended up with a frameset with a longer travel fork and I'm going to stick with that. I don't get the chassis flex or damper complaints - maybe I just got a good one? I'm 155-160 geared up - maybe heavier riders have issues? It's the same as every other 35mm chassis I've used. Maybe it's the updated internals, but I haven't had any "unpredictability" in any situations, and small bump is fine.

Anyway, I got along with it great on small and large hits, chunk, drops, flow. Lots of rocks around here (more rocks than dirt), so somewhat analogous to lots of roots. The negative air spring pressure is sensitive but it does make a difference, you can set it up plush or more firm depending on the terrain. All tuning knobs make a demonstrable difference with each click. Super easy to work on, everything from travel changes to lowers service to damper bleeds. MRP customer service is great. You can convert it to coil down the road if you want.

So yeah, it's a good fork. I'm sure a $2K fork is "better", but I had a ton of fun with the Ribbon and recommend it (even if I wasn't selling one) for a good, versatile, easily-serviceable performer that won't break the bank. Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
This is great, thank you for the insight!
MTB Engineer said:
Running a Ribbon SL on my ARC and after a few frankly quite bad quality issues (grease in the lowers instead of oil, split air spring top cap o-ring) the fork is now working quite well. It’s very supple once worn in and properly adjusted and has decent midstroke support. The damper does get overwhelmed with repeated large hits, but then again it’s a light weigh trail/DC fork. It feels much more “trail” than a Fox 34.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've seen some of your posts about the grease and suck down. I appreciate your insight. I'm on a dvo sapphire and am starting to think the mrp may not handle any better than what I already have. This is more what I was hoping to figure out with this post.
 
#15 ·
I rotate between 2 Ribbons (one set at 155 and the other at 130) Pike Ultimate, Lyrik Select+ and a Fox 36. The Fox is my least favorite and I find the ribbons excel at true trail riding. The ability to adjust the +/- chambers to make it plush is really a plus. I think initial stroke plushness is hard to beat and better than my pike. I also love the fact that you can adjust travel in 5mm increments. Where they lack is adjustability and fast repetitive compressions. The lyrik in particular is much better IMO. For normal trail bike riding I’m not really finding a huge difference between the pike and ribbon at 130mm.
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
Thanks for all the input! Even though it sounds like the MRP is pretty decent for the most part, I'm going to go DVO since I already know have one and am comfortable with how they ride.
 
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scoon
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