Ibis

Ripley LS Carbon 3.0 X01 Eagle Mountain Bike - 2018

The bike industry is constantly evolving with wider wheels upping the ante in overall traction and control, especially when you're rallying across trails with formidable roots and rocks. Accommodating these ever-evolving wheel standards, Ibis set out to reincarnate the Ripley LS Carbon 3.0 XO1 Eagle Complete Mountain Bike for the current crop of wide volume tires on the market. It retains the balanced handling and descending composure of the previous Ripley LS, making it a worthy trail rig for riders clawing up steep climbs, only to rip down across jarring rocks, sweeping berms, and undulating rollers.

The third-gen version of the Ripley, now referred to exclusively as the Ripley LS, retains the nimble handling that leaves you with an ear-to-ear grin on the trail, but with a stiffer rear end and the ability to accept 2.6-inch tires. Because 2.6-inch tires fall short of the 2.8 and 3-inch behemoths donned by 27.5+ rigs, you'll find they strike the sweet spot between supple bump compliance and aggressive grip—without feeling overly vague or squishy on the trail. To properly support this wide volume rubber, Ibis kits out this Ripley LS build with a 34-millimeter Ibis 938 Very Wide Aluminum Asymmetric Wheelset.

Ibis achieves a stiffer rear end and increased tire clearance with a reconfigured chassis of its dual-eccentric DW-Link suspension. The upper eccentric link is wider than before for increased stiffness when you're tracking across the rough stuff. There's a new swingarm and clevis mount as well, which is moved backwards and down to clear the 2.6-inch tires. Best of all, the reconfigured chassis and swingarm don't affect the praised suspension kinematics of the previous Ripley LS. This means you won't notice a difference in the pedaling efficiency or square-edge compliance from the DW-Link suspension.

Other than its notable upgrades in rear-end stiffness and increased tire clearance, the Ripley LS retains the praised geometry of the last version, namely its moderately slack 67.5-degree head tube angle paired with a low-slung 13-inch bottom bracket for impressive stability at speed. Although it's not quite as slack as much of the competition, the third-gen Ripley LS never feels outgunned on the trail, even when the going gets steep and rocky. We'd credit this to a slightly longer 130mm FOX Float Fork keeping things confident and composed out front, paired with 29-inch wheels rolling on high-volume rubber for steamrolling root and rocks.

We'd be amiss to forget the monocoque carbon lay-up of the Ripley LS frame, resulting in an astoundingly stiff, pleasingly light trail whip. For even greater wheel stiffness, the rear axle is upgraded to BOOST, which creates wider hub spacing for a stiffer bracing angle of the wheel spokes. Other cool tidbits to note, the front derailleur mount now only works with Shimano side-swing and Di2 types, should you desire to run a front derailleur in the future. However, this shouldn't be required, as the superb Eagle XO1 drivetrain delivers crisp shifts across 12 gears, including a 50-tooth cog for spinning up the steepest climbs.