Almost two months ago, I ordered a black and green Ibis Ripley. I chose that colour because when I test rode one, I thought it looked pretty good. The blue, on the other hand, I had not seen but felt from photos on the web that the blue was too pale for my liking. The disappointment of having the blue one sent by mistake has a plus side: I now get to see first hand why Scot and the Ibis team chose the shade of blue they did!
Anticipating this moment all day, Chris at the LBS very carefully removed the frame from the box and the plastic bag. There it was, right before our eyes, in all it’s lovingly crafted carbon splender. If it turned out to be the “baby blue” that I expected, my decision would be easy. Black and green.
Chris from the LBS handles the Blue Ibis Ripley frame with appropriate reverence
However, from the moment i saw it, I found what I had read to be true: that the photos don’t do it justice, you need to see it for yourself. The blue was significantly richer and darker. I liked it. I liked it very much.
But could I live with blue? I had been expecting black and green all this time. Black and green blends into the bush perfectly. It matches the purple peddles I specially ordered. In it’s matt finish, it could quite appropriately be described as “stealth”.
Blue, on the other hand, would stand out in the bush, contrast it. It certainly would not go with purple peddles. And in it’s high gloss finish, it calls out, “hello, check me out!”
Modern art at its best!
First impressions?
When I first laid eyes on the black and green Ripley, I was a little disappointed with the matt finish. It didn’t call out to me. It looked, well, dull and sort of “unwashed”. The colour scheme looked great, but the matt didn’t quite do it for me. Honestly, I looked at it and wished i could see it in the gloss.
When I first laid eyes on the blue Ripley, I thought, what a great shade of blue. The gloss
An unexpected opportunity to check out the blue version for myself
finish was stunning, eye catching.
In my opinion, it’s a bit like this:
Photos embellish the black and green Ripley. It looks less impressive in reality.
Photos don’t do the blue Ripley justice. It looks more stunning in reality.
The black and green compliments and blends in with the bush and trails around it.
The blue would look at home on bike paths and perhaps somewhat out of place on the trail
So which will I most happily live with? Which one will I feel best about and which one will give me the biggest smile when I ride it, after I wash it, as I walk past it in the den? Which one will look best in photos when out and about? Which is the one for me?
lifesmorefunona29er 
Hello!
An excerpt from a modern day adaption of Romeo and Juliet:
Tis but thy colour that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not green.
What’s green? it is nor peddle, nor seat,
Nor shocky, nor wheel, nor any other part
Belonging to a 29er. O, be some other colour!
What’s in a colour? that which we call a rose
In any other colour would smell as sweet;
So the 29er would, were it not green,
Retain that dear perfection which it owes
Without that colour. 29er, doff thy green,
And for that colour which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
Most poetic and well adapted, cammel, but alas, as amplified from MacBeth, this day forth we must “all hail the green hereafter”
Make them order the black & green one and give the blue one to me!!
Trees eat blue things for lunch; I’d highly discourage any iSon from acquiring thy blue beast. We can’t quite know for sure, but if rumours do come true, Mulga Bill’s bicycle was indeed the colour blue!
“’Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that slowly swam ashore:
He said, “I’ve had some narrer shaves and lively rides before;
I’ve rode a wild bull round a yard to win a five-pound bet,
But this was the most awful ride that I’ve encountered yet.”
I certainly don’t want any trees eating my Ripley so I’m glad it’ll be black and green. Now that I know trees eat blue things for lunch I best keep my blue cycling jerseys for the local bike paths!