  The properties of RbBi$_2$, a 4.15 K superconductor, were investigated using
magnetic field, pressure and neutron diffraction. Under hydrostatic pressure,
an almost 50 % reduction of T$_c$ is observed, linked to a low Debye
temperature estimated at 165 K. The resistivity and magnetic susceptibility
were measured on quenched and slow-cooled polycrystalline samples. The
resistivity follows a low temperature power-law dependence in both types of
samples, while the diamagnetic susceptibility, $\chi$, is dependent on the
sample cooling history. Slow-cooled samples have a $\chi= -1$ while quenched
samples have $\chi< -1$ due to grain size differences. Evidence of the effects
of the cooling rate is also discerned from the local structure, obtained by
neutron diffraction and the pair density function analysis. Slow-cooled samples
have structurally symmetric Bi hexagons, in contrast to quenched samples in
which disorder is manifested in periodic distortions of the Bi hexagonal rings
of the kagome sublattice. Disorder may lead to flux pinning that reduces vortex
mobility, but T$_c$ remains unaffected by the cooling rate.
