A mullet mountain bike runs a 29-inch wheel at the front and a 27.5-inch wheel at the rear. Everything else about the bike stays the same. The name comes from the haircut — business in front, party in the back — and it stuck because it describes the idea perfectly: the big front wheel keeps rolling over everything in its path, while the smaller rear wheel gets out of your way.
It started as a World Cup downhill setup, where riders wanted front-wheel rollover without the rear wheel interfering on steep, technical tracks. It has since become a normal thing to do on a trail or enduro bike.
What the smaller rear wheel actually changes
Three things, and they all come from the same fact: the rear wheel is physically smaller.
You get more room behind the saddle
On steep descents, riders move their weight back. With a 29-inch rear wheel, there is less space between the tire and your body, and on the steepest sections the tire can buzz your shorts or the seat. A 27.5-inch rear wheel gives that space back. This is the reason most people try a mullet, and it is the difference riders notice first.
The back of the bike turns faster
A smaller wheel has less rotating mass and a shorter contact patch arc, so the rear end changes direction more willingly. In tight switchbacks and on trails that ask you to keep repositioning the bike, it feels noticeably more eager.
The rear wheel is stronger for its weight
A smaller wheel is a stiffer wheel, all else equal — shorter spokes, less leverage on the rim. If you are hard on rear wheels, that matters.
The honest trade-offs
A mullet is not a free upgrade, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
You lose some rollover at the rear
The 29-inch rear wheel is better at carrying speed through square-edged hits and chunder. A mullet gives up a little of that. On fast, rough, straight-line trails, a full 29er is often the quicker bike.
It is not automatically faster
It is a handling change, not a speed upgrade. Plenty of riders try a mullet and go back.
It changes your geometry — and this is the part that gets skipped
The geometry problem
Here is what most mullet conversations leave out. When you drop a smaller wheel into the back of a bike designed around a 29-inch rear, the rear axle sits lower. The whole back end of the bike drops with it.
That does two things at once. The bottom bracket sits lower, so you clip your pedals on rocks and roots you used to clear. And the frame rotates slightly around the front axle, which slackens the head angle and steepens the seat angle beyond what the frame designer intended.
Slacker sounds good until it is not. A head angle that is slack by accident rather than by design, combined with a bottom bracket that is lower than the designer chose, gives you a bike that is vague on climbs and strikes pedals on descents. You did not buy new handling; you drifted away from handling somebody spent a long time getting right.
Without correcting the frame geometry, the bottom bracket drops to 332 mm and the head tube angle goes to 64.4 degrees. With the Adapt Mullet Link, the bottom bracket comes back to 338 mm and the head tube angle to 64.7 degrees — high enough to keep your pedals off the rocks, slack enough to stay settled on steep ground.
| RIPMO MODELS: 2019-2024 AF, 2020-2022 V2 | STOCK RIPMO W/ 29" FR / RR SCHWALBE TIRES | STOCK RIPMO W/ 29" FR / 27.5" RR MAXXIS 2.6 RR TIRE | RIPMO W/ ADAPT MULLET LINK W/ 29" FR / 27.5" RR MAXXIS 2.6 RR TIRE |
| BOTTOM BRACKET HEIGHT | 341 MM | 332 MM | 338 MM |
| HEAD TUBE ANGLE | 64.9 DEG | 64.4 DEG | 64.7 DEG |
How a mullet link fixes it
This is what a mullet link — sometimes called a bike yoke — is for. It replaces a suspension link in the frame's linkage and repositions the rear end to put the geometry back where it belongs with the smaller wheel fitted.
The point is not to chase a slacker bike — it's to let you run the wheel you want without giving up the geometry the frame was designed around. Dropping to a 27.5" rear on its own costs you 9 mm of bottom bracket height and half a degree of head angle. The Adapt link gives nearly all of it back: 338 mm and 64.7°, against 341 mm and 64.9° stock. You keep the rear-wheel clearance and the quicker handling, and the 0.2° that remains works in your favour on steep ground without costing you the climbs.
With a Maxxis Minion DHR II, 2.6" wide tire in the 27.5" rear wheel, the Adapt Mullet Link raises your bottom bracket to 338 mm. (Tires are not brand specific as long as they are 2.6" wide; the bottom bracket may vary slightly in height depending on the tire brand.) The offset is made to the rear triangle part, extending the distance away from the frame, to raise the height of the BB.
Is a mullet right for you?
Some honest guidance rather than a sales pitch.
It is worth trying if
You ride steep technical terrain, you have caught the rear tire with your body on descents, you ride a lot of tight switchbacks, or you are shorter and find a 29-inch rear wheel crowds you.
It is probably not worth it if
Your local trails are fast, open and rough, where a 29er rear carries speed better, or if you are happy with how your bike handles now.
One thing to check before you buy anything
Your frame needs enough tire clearance and the right linkage for a conversion, and not every frame has a link available.
Check to make sure the Ripmo frame is from the correct year of production. The Adapt Mullet Link is compatible with Ripmo AF from 2019-2024, and Ripmo V2 2020-2022. Any other production years and models of Ripmo AF and carbon frame will not be compatible.
Note: the Ripmo V2S is not compatible with the V2 Mullet Link. If you are not certain which frame you have, contact us before ordering.
The Adapt Mullet Link is verified as compatible with the following 210 x 55 mm shocks:
- DVO Jade Coil (stock)
- DVO Topaz Air (stock)
- Fox Float X2
- RockShox Super Deluxe Coil Ultimate
The shock that comes stock with the Ripmo V2 and will NOT fit is the Fox Float DPX2.
Since there are many aftermarket shocks out there, we were not able to test every shock with our Adapt Mullet Link. Contact us about fitment if you have any questions at contact@adaptmtb.com
Common questions
Do I need a new frame?
No. That is the point — a mullet conversion works with the frame you own.
Will it void my frame warranty?
Check Ibis' frame warranty policy.
Do I need a different shock?
The conversion does not change the shock stroke or eye-to-eye requirements. It uses the same 210 x 55 mm rear shock. There is a compatibility list for fitment with the Adapt Mullet Link in the section above.
Can I just put a smaller wheel in without a link?
You can, and people do. You will get the clearance benefit, and you will also get the lower bottom bracket and altered angles described above. Whether that trade is acceptable is a personal call — but you should make it knowingly rather than by accident.
What tire should I run on the rear?
The rear tire matters, because the 338 mm bottom bracket figure depends on it. Run a Maxxis Minion DHR II in 2.6" width, or an equivalent tire whose dimensions and knob height give the same standing height.
