Ibis (bicycle company)

Ibis Bicycles is a mountain bike manufacturer located in northern California. It produces the popular Mojo, Ripmo, and Ripley mountain bike frames among other models. Ibis products are distributed in 33 countries.[1]

Ibis Bicycles
TypePrivate
IndustryBicycles
Founded1981 (1981)
Headquarters
Santa Cruz, California
,
USA
Key people
Scot Nicol, Hans Heim, Tom Morgan, Roxy Lo, Colin Hughes
ProductsBicycle and related components
Websiteibiscycles.com

History

Ibis Bicycles was founded by Scot Nicol, one of the earliest mountain bikers in northern California. It began in Nicol's garage in 1981, when a friend asked him to build a frame.[2] Nicol sold the company to an investment group in 2000 and it went bankrupt within 20 months.[2] Ibis returned to the industry at the 2005 Interbike tradeshow.[3] Hans Heim, a former co-owner of Bontrager Cycles and Santa Cruz Bicycles, partnered with Scot Nicol, Tom Morgan, and Roxy Lo to relaunch the brand. Colin Hughes, the Head of Engineering, would join later as a partner.[4]

Production

Ibis frames are primarily manufactured in Asia. In 2018, they began producing a small quantity of US made frames under the label Carbon 831.[5] Ibis frames are primarily made of carbon, but after an 18 year hiatus (2001-2018), the brand recently began manufacturing aluminum frames.[6]

Innovation

While many companies (Columbus has their famous "Genius" tubing), actually came up with sophisticated names for their steel bikes tubing, Nicol and Ibis called their tubing "Moron"- meaning it had more on the ends for strength and less in the middle to give the bikes light weight (a standard practice in cycling called "butted tubing")

They are also remembered for their sculpture-like "hand job" cable hanger, which resembled a fist reaching up and grabbing the rear brake cable. The Hand Job took an overlooked part of every other bike and made it a focal point for an Ibis, and as such symbolized the company.

The Bow-ti design was unique in being a full suspension frame that did not use pivots to separate the front and rear triangle. A complex system of flexible titanium tubes provided up to 5 inches (125mm) of travel. Designed by John Castellano, 269 frames were produced until the 2002 closure. Castellano now supports the design with his own company.

Sponsorship

Ibis Cycles sponsors Brian Lopes. Lopes also collaborated with Ibis Cycles in developing the "Lopes Link", a suspension upgrade for the Mojo and Mojo SL giving more handling precision.

In 2011, it sponsored Anne-Caroline Chausson.

In 2014 Brian Lopes amicably left Ibis cycles to pursue other efforts.

In 2016, Ibis launched an Enduro World Series Team. The went on to win the Overall Team Title in 2017.[7] The 2020 team roster includes Robin Wallner, Bex Baraona, and Cole Lucas.[8]

In 2018 Brian Lopes returned to manage Ibis' new U.S. enduro team.[9]

References
  1. "Ibis Mojo HD Hype". Singletrack. January 6, 2010.
  2. "About Ibis Bicycles". Ibis Bicycles website. Retrieved January 7, 2010.
  3. "Interbike '05-Tanned, rested and ready: Ibis is back". November 30, 1. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. "From the Top: Hans Heim - CEO of Ibis Cycles". Pinkbike. February 21, 2018.
  5. "Introducing Carbon 831 | Technical Articles | Support". archive.ibiscycles.com.
  6. "Ibis Ripmo AF review - Mtbr.com".
  7. "Ibis Cycles 2018 enduro team revealed - Mtbr.com".
  8. "Ibis Enduro Team Adds Cole Lucas". Pinkbike. January 8, 2020.
  9. "Brian Lopes Returns to Ibis". Bike Mag website. Retrieved January 29, 2019.

Bibliography
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