"A lightweight cross-country bike would be out of the question for us. We wouldn't have the speed and fun on the descents," says Anita, adding: "We chose the middle ground with the Ripley LS from Ibis Cycles. The trail bike rolls super easily on its 41 millimeter wide 29-inch rims, but with 120 millimeters of rear and 130 millimeters of front travel, it offers enough reserves when things get a little rough. What's important on the Swiss Epic is that the bike is just as easy to climb, and the Ripley definitely is!" "Even if it's "only" a trail bike, you can really let rip with the Ripley," adds Caro with a happy grin.

The fact that this wasn't just a story was demonstrated by both of them on the final descent of the second stage. There, the Gehrig twins rode the second-best time of all Epic participants. Only enduro legend René Wildhaber and his partner Alex Fiva were faster.

The Ibis Ripley LS at a glance

The Ibis Ripley is already in its third generation and with the model suffix "LS" for Long and Slack, it reveals that it is trimmed for more downhill fun than before.

While Anita's bike resembles a lemon in color with the bright yellow stickers on the rims, shock and fork, Caro's Ripley stands out with blue stickers. Technically, however, the two bikes are identical.

The drive

The power is transmitted to the wheels on the twins' Ripleys via Shimano's XTR drivetrains. On the 170 mm crank with a 30 mm chainring - at the rear via an XT cassette with 11 to 46 teeth. There is no chain guide, as the chain stays on the chainring even without one.

After lengthy deliberations as to whether it should be an electronic or mechanical circuit, the decision was made in favor of the mechanical version. It is much easier to rectify a fault during a stage race when you are far away from any technical zones. After all, crisp shifting is also guaranteed with the mechanical XTR.

Well damped is half ridden

No half measures are taken with the shock. Anita and Caro quickly replaced the original Fox Float DPS shock with the new Float DPX Evol shock. The trail damper, which has the same damping system as the X2 downhill damper, responds sensitively, is perfect for the pair's powerful riding style with its progressive spring characteristic and is extremely robust, which is particularly important on the long descents on the Swiss Epic.

The counterpart to the shock works at the front: a Float 34 Fit4 from Fox. The air fork with 130 millimetre stroke has an ideal stiffness-to-weight ratio and works reliably and consistently even on long descents.

Wide rolling stock

Since Ibis also builds its own rims, it makes sense for the Gehrig twins to ride them on their Ripleys. The rims are spoked on high-end hubs from Industry Nine. The Torch hubs have 60 pawls at the rear that engage every three degrees. Robust enduro bearings ensure smooth running.

Ibis offers aluminum and carbon rims. As there are quite a few meters of altitude to climb on the Swiss Epic, Anita and Caro opt for the 942 carbon fibre version with an outer width of 41 millimetres and an inner width of 35 millimetres. The rim is designed in such a way that the forces acting on it, such as impacts, are better distributed and dampened. Incidentally, the rims are also designed for enduro use.

An equally important topic is the choice of tires. In view of the fact that the weather forecast was not the best, they decided against fine studded tires and are currently riding on a Maxxis Aggressor in 2.3 inch width at the rear. This has good rolling characteristics and still has sufficient grip on a wide variety of ground conditions. At the front, a Maxxis Minion in 2.5 inch width provides grip and directional stability. Both tires also have a robust EXO carcass, which is actually the minimum requirement for rides in the Alps to avoid getting stranded with a double air loss on the first descent.

The control posts

There's nothing like a comfortable and solid cockpit: In this case, Anita and Caro maneuver their Ibis bikes with binary carbon handlebars and Builder stems from Joystick over the Valais trails.

Where the two clutch bolted grips on their enduro bikes, here the Gehrig twins use the lightweight foam grips from Lizard Skins. The brakes are fitted with XTR trail stoppers from Shimano.

Everything under control - at least ride time, speed and heart rate values. However, they mainly need the Polar M460 to collect data, which their trainer then evaluates and uses to adapt their training.

Last but not least and almost indispensable in cross country today - the Vario seatpost. Anita and Caro raise and lower their WTB Deva saddles with Fox Transfer seatposts. The Transfer dropper post with Kashima coating and 125 millimeter stroke works perfectly even in wet weather and requires little thumb force to release.