The Ibis Enduro Race Group’s Raphaela Richter is backing up final season’s ninth place within the total with some very robust outcomes on the European rounds of the UCI-EDR in 2023; 4th place in Pietra Ligure, adopted by 4th place in Leogang, and ninth place in Val di Fassa. And, she’s doing it on the all-new Ibis HD6 that was launched only a few days in the past.
That is the very best wanting enduro bike launched in 2023. Struggle me.
It appears ever so succesful. This devoted mullet pairs a 180mm journey fork with 165mm within the rear. It combines that with tremendous quick seat tubes and tremendous quick head tubes throughout the S-XXL vary, giving riders all of the room they might ever have to throw shapes within the cockpit. We’re very a lot wanting ahead to testing this one however, within the meantime, let’s try how Germany’s Nationwide Champion configured hers on the UCI-EDR Leogang, Austria.
Professional Bike Verify: Raphaela Richter’s Ibis HD6
At 164cm tall, Raphaela Richter rides the Ibis HD6 in a measurement medium, with a 454mm attain and a 374mm seat tube size. That permits her the liberty to run a 160mm dropper from Bike Yoke, which is at the very least 10mm longer than the drop size she has been in a position to profit from on earlier race bikes. Certainly, all sizes of the Ibis HD6 boast an ultra-short seat tube (470mm on the XXL) that ought to enable most people to profit from elevated drop size.
The HD6 delivers its 165mm rear wheel journey through a brand new dw-link format, with a really quick yoke making it appropriate with all coil shocks. Raphaela takes benefit of that truth with a Fox DHX2 and a 350 lbs spring with a bit of pre-load to take away play. She tells us the coil shock makes the journey really feel much more supple, to the purpose the place it merely seems like a small downhill bike.
On the damping entrance, low pace compression (LSC) is about to 10 clicks from closed, with HSC at 6 clicks from closed. Low pace rebound (LSR) is 11 from closed, slowed down a bit of compared to the settings chosen for Pietra Ligure. HSR is about to five clicks from closed.
Whereas most enduro racers have now switched to a 38mm stanchion fork, on Raphaela’s HD6, we see a 180mm journey Fox 36 fork. The air spring is populated with 62.5 PSI and 0 quantity spacers. She tells us she tried the Fox 38 however didn’t really feel a lot of a distinction in stiffness over the Fox 36. For this comparatively light-weight rider there was nothing to be gained with the ~250g weight penalty of the burlier fork.
Raphaela has the HSC and LSC dials open, with LSR at 13 clicks from closed, and HSC at 5 clicks from open. Once more, as in comparison with the driving in Pietra Ligure, Raphaela felt she wanted to decelerate the fork’s rebound pace for the extra bike park oriented race tracks of Leogang.
Within the cockpit, we see a prototype carbon handlebar from Race Face. It has a 35mm clamp diameter, and Raphaela cuts hers to 730mm huge. It has a 20mm rise, 5° up-sweep and eight° back-sweep. The fork’s steerer is minimize to permit for 10mm of spacers beneath the stem, and 10mm above, leaving scope for some journey peak adjustment from race to race. Lizard Skins grips are her chosen contact factors.
From what we’ve seen of the ladies’s discipline through the years, it appears Raphaela is one rider who’s very happy to alternate extra puncture safety for a bit of additional weight.
Her HD6 rolls on Ibis’ own-brand Blackbird Ship aluminum wheelset with an uneven 35mm inner width rim. The entrance is dwelling to a 29″ x 2.5″ WT Maxxis Minion DHF of the MaxxGrip, Downhill Casing taste, whereas the rear will get a 27.5″ x 2.4″ WT Maxxis Minion DHR II, additionally of the MaxxGrip, DH Casing taste, however with a CushCore Professional thrown in there for good measure. She tells us that, after lacking out on a podium place final season due to a punctured Double Down casing entrance tire, she shouldn’t be prepared to take the chance with the lighter tire going ahead.
More often than not, she runs 19 PSI within the entrance with 20 PSI within the rear, however for the sharp rock gardens of Pietra Ligure, she felt the necessity to elevated that to 22 PSI within the entrance and 24 PSI within the rear after denting a rim in observe.
This season, Raphaela has upgraded the brake rotors to 203mm entrance and rear. Final yr she ran a 180mm rotor within the rear, however now figures that the burden penalty is price it if she’s not “smoking the brakes” on descents.
Within the drivetrain division, the German Champ once more opts for a much less weak configuration, operating a narrower vary 10-45T cassette with a shorter-cage Shimano XTR derailleur. She says the smaller derailleur flaps round lower than the longer cage model that will be required with the 10-51T cassette, and she or he feels it makes the suspension work higher because of this.
She is, nevertheless, pushing some more durable gears than most of her opponents. She tells us that on a number of the climbs, she would favor to have the larger cassette, however prefers the smaller choice for the descents. And, that’s what issues proper? She is very happy to push the bike up steep liaisons the place needed.
In relation to managing repairs on the hill, Raphaela depends upon instruments from Granite Designs which might be stealthily stashed away in her handlebar and crankset. Within the occasion of a puncture, out comes the Stash Tubeless Restore Package, pre-loaded with a bacon strip prepared for a fast repair on the path aspect. Whereas that one is stowed contained in the bar, a multi-tool is stowed contained in the steerer tube, needed for eradicating the plugging instrument from the bar finish. Then, within the BB, there’s a chain instrument with spare quick-link able to go if and when the chain breaks.
Raphaela is at the moment sitting in sixth place within the world rankings. Her and her opponents now have a protracted mid-season break earlier than the motion kicks off once more in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes, France, on September 1st. Maintain updated with Rapahela’s race season on her Instagram.
