Ibis HD5 Mullet Lopes' style - Anyone out there experiencing with this custom setup?

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Ibis HD5 Mullet Lopes' style - Anyone out there experiencing with this custom setup?
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flag trailbuilder
Posted: Jul 28, 2020 at 17:20 Quote
Am very interested in building a custom mullet 29 front/27.5 rear version of the latest HD5. Looks exactly like what the doctor ordered for what I'm seeking - at least on paper. Brian Lopes seems to be enjoying his and I come from a similar riding background (BMX & DH) which I transfer to trailriding, enduro and freeriding. Are any of you experimenting with this setup on an HD5 frame and if so how do you like it ? + what are your suggestions to optimize performance and the overall feel ?
flag bdreynolds7
O+
Posted: Jul 28, 2020 at 17:42 Quote
trailbuilder wrote:
Am very interested in building a custom mullet 29 front/27.5 rear version of the latest HD5. Looks exactly like what the doctor ordered for what I'm seeking - at least on paper. Brian Lopes seems to be enjoying his and I come from a similar riding background (BMX & DH) which I transfer to trailriding, enduro and freeriding. Are any of you experimenting with this setup on an HD5 frame and if so how do you like it ? + what are your suggestions to optimize performance and the overall feel ?

With how close his is to stock 27.5" F/R geometry, seems like it would ride pretty close to what a stock HD5 does but rolls over stuff faster and maybe steers a tiny bit slower with the 29er front.
flag trailbuilder
Posted: Jul 29, 2020 at 6:50 Quote
bdreynolds7 wrote:
trailbuilder wrote:
Am very interested in building a custom mullet 29 front/27.5 rear version of the latest HD5. Looks exactly like what the doctor ordered for what I'm seeking - at least on paper. Brian Lopes seems to be enjoying his and I come from a similar riding background (BMX & DH) which I transfer to trailriding, enduro and freeriding. Are any of you experimenting with this setup on an HD5 frame and if so how do you like it ? + what are your suggestions to optimize performance and the overall feel ?

With how close his is to stock 27.5" F/R geometry, seems like it would ride pretty close to what a stock HD5 does but rolls over stuff faster and maybe steers a tiny bit slower with the 29er front.


I agree - His setup makes sense with a 150mm 29 fork. It's all about going fast and having fun with the terrain to me so this seems to be a hot ticket. I can see how it can boost that bike's capabilities and overall comfort at high speed if done right - Wish having a 160mm fork up front would be possible but stack height, BB height and the seat tube angle would potentially be problematic. It's intriguing to see top World Cup DH and EWS racers ripping on custom mullets but still very few bike companies embrace it for production bikes - Exception made of those new Santa Cruz and Commencal DH sleds + a few others. It has to be quite complex for them for specs with components suppliers I suppose. Who knows, maybe Lopes is testing the concept for a future version of the HD5. Wouldn't that be interesting...
flag bdreynolds7
O+
Posted: Jul 29, 2020 at 7:20 Quote
trailbuilder wrote:
I agree - His setup makes sense with a 150mm 29 fork. It's all about going fast and having fun with the terrain to me so this seems to be a hot ticket. I can see how it can boost that bike's capabilities and overall comfort at high speed if done right - Wish having a 160mm fork up front would be possible but stack height, BB height and the seat tube angle would potentially be problematic. It's intriguing to see top World Cup DH and EWS racers ripping on custom mullets but still very few bike companies embrace it for production bikes - Exception made of those new Santa Cruz and Commencal DH sleds + a few others. It has to be quite complex for them for specs with components suppliers I suppose. Who knows, maybe Lopes is testing the concept for a future version of the HD5. Wouldn't that be interesting...

I think the mullet concept is still relatively new but we'll see more as time goes on because its proven to be a faster setup. That new Status MTB is a factory mullet bike with 140 or 160mm of travel, party machine!
flag dft1
O+
Posted: Dec 1, 2020 at 14:28 Quote
[Quote="bdreynolds7"]
trailbuilder wrote:
I agree - His setup makes sense with a 150mm 29 fork. It's all about going fast and having fun with the terrain to me so this seems to be a hot ticket. I can see how it can boost that bike's capabilities and overall comfort at high speed if done right - Wish having a 160mm fork up front would be possible but stack height, BB height and the seat tube angle would potentially be problematic. It's intriguing to see top World Cup DH and EWS racers ripping on custom mullets but still very few bike companies embrace it for production bikes - Exception made of those new Santa Cruz and Commencal DH sleds + a few others. It has to be quite complex for them for specs with components suppliers I suppose. Who knows, maybe Lopes is testing the concept for a future version of the HD5. Wouldn't that be interesting...

I am also very interested in this. I am coming from 27.5 bike and i think full 29er is too much. I sat on this bike in mullet mode (where lopes bought his) and it felt great in parking lot from a feel standpoint. I like steeps, jumps and i think this will be great. Plus I am real light (145lb), i could buy a pike 150mm for the front, would be a ripper!
flag ozarksagd
O+
Posted: Jun 30, 2021 at 11:33 Quote
Anyone else done this on the HD5? I just bought a 160mm Fox 36 29 and am about to put it on. I bought a 150mm air shaft but I'm considering running it at 160mm for a while just to see how that works out.
flag tristansacramento
Posted: Jul 14, 2021 at 13:32 Quote
ozarksagd wrote:
Anyone else done this on the HD5? I just bought a 160mm Fox 36 29 and am about to put it on. I bought a 150mm air shaft but I'm considering running it at 160mm for a while just to see how that works out.

Any update on how the 160mm fox 36 turned out? I'm about to do the same
flag bdean
Posted: Jun 12, 2022 at 19:29 Quote
I can't quite pull the trigger on a new bike, so I just changed my HD5 to a mullet. Have the 38's and going 160 for now. Perfect timing for my Summit season pass, too. Hope I like it.
flag xceric
Posted: Aug 7, 2023 at 4:52 Quote
bdean wrote:
I can't quite pull the trigger on a new bike, so I just changed my HD5 to a mullet. Have the 38's and going 160 for now. Perfect timing for my Summit season pass, too. Hope I like it.

How did this work for you? I'm considering the same thing. Did you stick with 160? 44 mm or 51 mm offset?
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