Ripley demo day report! [Hella long.]
- My Context -
I'm coming off 14 years on a 2005 Blur [Classic]. Solid seatpost, 3x9, 1st-gen-past-NORBA geometry. Previous whip was a '97 Bontrager Ti Lite. Apparently I only buy bikes Hans Heim builds? Lucky for me I built up the Blur with a Fox TALAS that extended up to 130, and over the last decade I've slowly run slacker and slacker. Quick math says HTA now equals the OG Ripley, but the longer stem and such are still old school.
All to say, I've got 25 years of riding on steep HTA, long stem, short wheelbase, 26" bikes that ride with surgical, telepathic handling. They also all want to wad up at speed, and so I've been a "go medium fast up and down" kind of rider this whole time.
Clearly I have a few generations of bike to catch up with, and this is the year.
6' 2" 195# out of the shower. Longish limbed. Pansy on descents but like to remind myself to HTFU both up & down.
- Factory Pickup -
Swung by the factory and picked up an XL from Nate. Jeebus this is a big bike. This is the XCish frame? Wow. Big wheels (29!) big tires (2.35s on the 935 rims!) big bike (it literally sat on the end of my Kuat Trio roof rack, a foot behind the Blur's wheel strap point).
The Ibis crew was super chill, got chatting. My home trails are Skeggs but ride reports are it's muddy today and I don't want to drive 3 hours to/from to ride grease. Nate says Demo is also pretty greasy, best to just ride Wilder and it's surrounds because they drain. The air is actively precipitating fog into a fine mist that coats glasses in minutes.
- First Ride -
14 miles. 2K ft.
Wilder loop: HWY 1 entrance to Engelsmans, Wild Boar, Old Cabin, Eucalyptus (whoops), Enchanted, Enchanted again, Wilder to Zane Gray, Wilder, out.
Bike is setup WAY too stiff. Tires are rocks. I'm getting bounced on all the small stuff. I thought new bikes were plush?! Let air out of tires (not enough) and let air out of shocks (way too much). Well, it's better but definitely not dialed and I don't have a shock pump.
Climbing:
First impression is this thing handles like a truck compared to old school geo. I can't hit my lines, but it's so forgiving I don't need to. I start choosing bad lines to feel the suspension work, but when I try to finesse the bike it fights me. It feels efficient, but not fast - but perhaps that's more about precision in line choice than speed? Tire size and knobs? I dunno, I'm not at Wilder enough to compare Strava times.
With the shock locked out it's a rock, super stiff. In open / DW Link mode it feels like the old VPP, which is good. Still, my rear tire is *never* where I want it because is so damn far behind the front and the front tire needs to be forced to go where I want it and this bike just does NOT want to listen to me, it just wants to keep going this way and so I let it.
Descending:
Oh. I see. This is a go fast mobile. A Down-Country bike, in that order (to me). Apparently this is why I'm not on any leaderboards and I find most GoPro videos unfathomable: I'm on a crappy old bike. Lap one on Enchanted is about finding old-school lines. I session a few roots. I realize this is dumb. Lap two I just send it, if cautiously. But the bike tells me I needn't be cautious. Just let go of the brakes and Go. [Also dropper posts are great. Retro-grouchiness is occasionally firmly overrated.] This is fun.
By the time I reach Zane Gray I trust this thing, and when I see rocky sections that would make me slow down and stiffen up on the Blur I just point and shoot. Boy this thing is a rocket, this is fun. Also, this is over. The descents are so much easier, so much faster, I barely feel like they last. I have a sense that the climbing:descending time ratio on this bike (any new bike?) is going to feel very imbalanced.
- Factory Tweaks -
I head back, tell Nate I need it softer but not as soft as I've clumsily made it. He puts me on "the low side of recommended pressure" and sends me back out. The tires are still too hard, but I fix that at the trailhead. Nate is a chill dude. I like Nate.
- Second Ride -
14 miles. 2K ft.
HWY 1 entrance to Engelsmans, Wild Boar, Old Cabin, Eucalyptus (whoops?), Chinquapin, got lost following some locals carrying postcards, Long Meadow, Old Cabin, Eucalyptus (Rodrigo), Bobcat, Twin Oaks, Wilder, out.
Climbing:
It still handles like a truck, but I'm adapting. I don't like it, but I get it. Softer tires and suspension make the ride much more pleasant. It still feels stiff in the washboards, like the high-speed compression is in need of tweaks, but it's good. I just can't get this thing to thread roots on a switchbacks the way I want to. I have to shove it around to get the front in the right place and the rear still lags too much. At least it still rolls up like a goat.
Descending:
I have not ridden these trails ever. I am on them because I understand there are go-arounds for all features and I will use them. But. But. I have a slammed dropper, I have a bike that is ultra confidence inspiring, I have hero dirt in the redwoods. I hit a jump, just a little one. I grin. I hit another, bigger, and I giggle. I huck two more, then a third that's off a bermed corner and I immediately think "don't get cocky, idiot." I'm in a mid-air position that, as unimpressive as it is, would definitely be a 70/30 shot at wadding up on the Blur. It sticks the landing without protest.
This is fun, but maybe a this mode of descending is a little too confidence inspiring? I am not a person who jumps, I am strictly rubber side down, no air, pump rollers for control not speed sort of rider. Until today, and after 20 miles and 3K ft of elevations the Ripley makes me question my riding identity. This part of the demo is really what leaves me staggered: I can go fast, and I can get air, and I can have fun up there rather than have trepidation about what happens when I come down. I can carve the bike on flow sections without much work, and if I look ahead I can put the bike where I want it.
- Other Bike Notes -
The steep seat tube felt great on steeper sections of grade. No need to slide forward in the saddle, just pedal. But rolling into flats after descents, every time the dropped came up to meet me it felt was too far forward. I also felt SUPER tall on this bike. I am pretty tall at 6'2" but even on an XL I felt very vertical. I never felt cramped, just high.
For me the change from 2.2s to 2.35s was dandy, but I cannot (yet) imagine riding 2.6s.
Similarly I am staggered that half of the ride reviews on this bike are "could feel more stable at speed" because I felt planted the whole time. I know that's circumstantial, but there is a zero percent chance I demo a Ripmo or slacker.
When I let out too much fork air and was over-sagged, the HT steepened and I noticeably preferred the handling. I did run out of fork on those runs, but it handled it gracefully. I don't personally need more than 130 & 120.
- Conclusions -
I think I probably need to demo bikes setup just a little steeper and twitchier. I don't want to go back to my current setup, which I think is probably similar to the OG Ripley, but the current Ripley LLSS is just a bit too far.
- Ripley V3 LS
- SC Tallboy
At the top of the hill I chatted with an 60 yo rider (who ripped) and we lamented the dumbing down of riding bikes. Does it feel stupid to remember the good ol' days when riding was hard both ways? Do I feel like a grouchy old man (just shy of 40) who wants the kids these days to slow down? Yes. But perhaps at least *some* of that is my style. We both agreed that the latest gen is maybe just a bit too far for our individual tastes. (He apparently demo'd everything and then scrounged up a mint Yeti SB4.5)
I'm also grateful for the experience of modern rides, to be able to palpably experience the leaps and bounds this sport has made. I'm even more grateful to know I can get off the ground and have fun. The Ripley V4 demo has surely opened a new chapter for me, but I doubt it will be the bike that closes it.
