Contrary to the popular belief that mountain bikes should be as long and slack as possible, we think that there's a balance to be achieved, especially in the trail-bike department. Though Ibis' newest iteration of its Ripley Deore Mountain Bike does see a full redesign that does include the modern longer-slacker-steeper treatment, we think it finds a moderate landing place that's still capable of quick-rolling power and nimble control. That's because the engineers at Ibis didn't go too overboard. Instead, they opt for just a one-degree shift in the head tube to slacken things out for improved stability, lengthening the wheelbase just a touch and extending the reach in the cockpit 45mm to give you a little more room to move around. At the same time, the seat tube shifts up 3-degrees for the perfect perch when you need to attack climbs. The Ripley 4 also features an all-new chassis, taking queues from it's beefier sibling the Ripmo, offering more room for dropper posts, shorter chainstays, and the lively and reliable DW-link suspension.

The Ripley 4's major update meant that Ibis' engineers could start from the ground up, and they chose to start with the heart-and-center of the bike, updating the dual-eccentrics used in the past to a new design based on the Ripmo, which still holds DW-Link suspension tucked neatly in the front triangle, but without as much weight, and with a huge boost in stiffness. This change in the frame's chassis allows massive weight savings of over a half-pound on the frame alone, giving your all-mountain machine a little more pep in its step when you're pushing up grueling climbs, and a more nimble feel when you're flicking it around tight switchbacks.

Weight savings aside, one of the biggest benefits we see with the drop of the double-eccentric design is extra room in the seat-tube, which enables taller riders to run dropper posts up to 185mm. This long-dropper length lets Ibis' engineers carry forward with even more geometry tweaks, like an extra-low standover height, so you can pick your frame based on reach, eliminating seat-tube size from your list of limiting factors on your new-bike hunt.