Ibis Announces 2017 Enduro Race Team

Jan 11, 2017
by Ibis Cycles  
In only its second year of existence the Ibis Cycles Enduro Race Team made its mark on the 2016 Enduro World Series season taking 2nd overall in the team competition, 3rd overall in the women’s field - Anita Gehrig, and 3rd overall in the U21 competition.

Colorado USA. Photo by Matt Wragg.
  Colorado, USA. Photo by Matt Wragg.

For 2017 the team returns with the same core group of riders, plus some new additions and new sponsors to help them achieve even greater results in the new season.

Ibis Announces 2017 Enduro Race Team

We are insanely proud of what the team achieved last year, and we’re really looking forward to the new season” Said Ibis president and team manager, Tom Morgan. “The team has really taken on the personality of Ibis, sort of the - ‘Little Team That Could’. It takes a lot more than just talent and training to make all this work, and this group is resourceful, determined, and professional. At the same time they are easy-going and friendly too.

EWS 8 2016. Finale Ligure Italy. Photo by Matt Wragg.

Returning for their third year with the team, Anita and Carolin Gehrig, the “twin towers” from Switzerland hope to continue their rise to the top of the women’s field. When the 2016 was over, Anita ranked 3rd overall and Carolin 5th, with Anita achieving her first podium finish - 2nd in Aspen, CO.

Colorado USA. Photo by Matt Wragg.

Coming back for his second year with the team is Robin Wallner from Sweden. For 2016 Robin was ranked 14th overall, and achieved two top 10 results.

EWS 8 2016. Finale Ligure Italy. Photo by Matt Wragg.

Also returning is Dillon Santos of Salinas, CA. In 2016 Dillon took 3rd at the Sea Otter Classic and won the 3rd round of the California Enduro Series at Toro Park.

Ibis Announces 2017 Enduro Race Team

New additions to the team include Zakarias Johansen of Norway, and team mechanic and road manager Mats Pettersson. Zakarias is moving up to contest a full season of EWS racing after dominating the SRAM/Specialized Enduro series last year.

Bariloche Argentina. Photo by Matt Wragg.

Returning team sponsors include POC, Maxxis, Joystick, Lizard Skins and Honey Stinger. New team sponsors include Fox Racing Shocks, Shimano, Feedback Sports and 5.10.

FBM!
Also, riding on an independent program for Ibis in the EWS this year will be François Bailly-Maître. Since its founding, François has been one of the most consistent top 10 finishers in the EWS, at 8th overall in 2016, 11th in 2015 and 8th in 2014.

Ibis Announces 2017 Enduro Race Team

bigquotes
It was a strange off-season for me before contacting Ibis. Despite 2016 probably being my best season ever, I was struggling to find the good deal, but from the first time I spoke with Ibis, I directly felt the positive vibes and their motivation to have me on board.

Once I received the Mojo HD3, I built it up quickly, and the first impressions were really good! I was a bit concerned as I only rode a 29er the last 4 years, but the geometry and the DW-Link system seems to work really well. The dry winter we’re having has given me the chance to test it and I already at home!

I already want to say a big thanks to Ibis, and I am looking forward to an incredible season!
- François Bailly-Maître


Ibis Cycles Enduro Team at pre-season training camp in Santa Cruz California. Robin Wallner Gary Forrest Anita Gehrig Caro Gehrig Dillon Santos

Follow the Ibis Cycles Enduro Racing Team on
Instagram: instagram.com/ibisracing
Facebook: facebook.com/IbisCyclesEnduroRaceTeam


MENTIONS: @ibiscycles / @Maxxis / @foxracingshox / @shimano



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Author Info:
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Member since Nov 15, 2011
94 articles

53 Comments
  • 16 4
 The FBM move is great for Ibis. He is an amazing rider that is going to put up some really strong results. For those wanting the HD3 slacker just mount up an angleset. For my local riding I agree that the bike needs to be slacker, but if you ride in their home town of Santa Cruz the geometry makes perfect sense.
  • 18 2
 Really? Last I checked/rode there's some of the steepest and rowdiest riding around there.. provided you know where to look!
  • 2 0
 Agreed. I'm running mine at 65°, is good for nelson riding.
  • 5 0
 @mdhorner: absolutely! And the HD3 is a really fun bike to ride, may not be the slackest plow out there, but it sure is one of the most fun!
  • 2 0
 Exactly my thoughts about FBM. Good luck with your new team, François! Smile
  • 2 0
 @mdhorner: true. That being said I ride some of that stuff with a 67* angle. I don't really think it matters at a certain point.
  • 2 0
 @shmoodiver: I live in Vernon B.C. and ride Kelowna, Penticton, Kamloops and Revelstoke. Works Components angleset = 65 degree goodness for all da steep stuff.
  • 1 0
 @mdhorner: I live an hour and a half from santa cruz great at wilder seqoul flow trail which ibis sponsor and feels like a bike park trail in the middle of the woods. all around great riding down there.
  • 4 0
 FBM is the nicest Pros I've had the chance to meet and ride. Also most other riders on the EWS highly respect him. It's amazing that last season he finished so well - despite focusing quite a lot of his time on helping out his local ride scene!

He is riding 1-2 weekly with youth riders from his region to help them get faster - and organizes one of the best weekend enduro races of Europe once a year in his home area - the "l'Enduro Jura by Julbo" - which packs the most incredible value of any Enduro race I guess. 230€ from Friday evening till Sunday afternoon, food and accomodation (not in tents but appartements!) and all shuttles covered. The food is top notch regional specialities (not some of the junk the english race organisers hand out). On top every participant got a pair of free Julbo goggles worth >100€.

I really wish him good luck scoring high again - even though I guess he will again dedicate lots of time to other causes. Guess he could be top 3 if he dedicated all his time to racing. So let's Go FBM!

(Oh and I guess this marks the end of BMC in Enduro? Trailfox not updated and into it's 4. season now same frame. BMC seems to focus on XC only or will they even completely ditch MTB and focus road only?).
  • 1 0
 well about the Ibis - the Trailfox rear suspension was about as close to a DW-Link as it could get. So I would guess looking at FBMs results this year will give a good checkup on 650B vs 29". The bikes are really pretty similar - except of course the tire size difference (Trailfox with 160mm fork had a 66° HA - but 29ers are always like 1-1.5° steeper)
  • 16 4
 Cant believe they forgot to mention me as a new member of the team too
  • 19 1
 I thought you're riding for Ellsworth… Smile
  • 2 0
 I heard you got drafted onto redalp
  • 1 0
 @karoliusz: i wish... sick looking bikes ! I definitly would bring a good reputation back
  • 3 0
 Zakarias Blom-Johansen actually beat Robin Wallner in one of the races of the Norwegian 80/20 enduro series last year, so he's got the pace for the EWS. There were some rumours of Wallner flatting at the end of one of the stages, but still (I was there, further back of the field in the 40+-with-kids category). And he ruled the German series too.

btw. Wildest bunnyhop seen in a while, courtesy of Zakka: www.instagram.com/p/4J_FwSTYwR
  • 5 0
 Gutted that Francois Bailley Matre left BMC, to be honest
  • 2 0
 Why?
  • 4 0
 BECAUSE EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE SLACKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • 35 0
 Like your mum!
  • 16 2
 @lee-vps-savage: A classic use of a "your mum" retort! I congratulate you sir, Touche.
  • 4 0
 @loganbmx1989: Thank you my good man.
  • 5 0
 Yew! Go Dillon!
  • 4 0
 Dillon Santos!! Salinas STAND UP! Way to rep North Central Cali, Ese!
  • 1 0
 Cuz I'm from upper CV past the village.
  • 2 0
 how about de chilean rider Pedro burns???
  • 1 0
 He still apparently rides for Ibis Chile, he might not have full support this year though Frown or he might have never been an official part of the full team, but hopefully he keeps on crushing it
  • 2 0
 @JaToledo: curioso, cuando fue quien obtuvo el mejor resultado para ibis en el 2016?
  • 2 0
 Where is the HD3R?
  • 1 0
 What about ACC?
Is she still with ibis?
  • 4 0
 She retired this year.
  • 2 2
 FBM was contacting Ibis, but not being contacted?
That's strange.
  • 7 0
 there are so many riders and so few good deals out there... if a rider wants something he needs to go chase it down, not wait around thinking its going to come to them... not surprised to see that he is knocking on doors... more riders need to go knock instead of waiting to see who seeks them out...
  • 8 0
 @eriksaun: I would venture the guess that there's no shortage of riders knocking on doors, windows, and anything else they can find on that's connected to potential sponsors...
  • 13 1
 It's crazy that FBM can rock 8th overall the last season and have to struggle for a sponsor.

Is it because he spends more time nailing the results than posting to instagram? The world of having to juggle being an pro athlete and a social media ambassador is a strange one.
  • 2 0
 @g-42: no doubt... the good guys go get the deal they want...
  • 3 0
 @jaydubmah: the naked truth!

If you look at the overall 2016 EWS results, you can find official riders sitting lower than 30th and 40th while some privateers made it into the 30 best riders of the season. Now, figure out who gets a contract for 2017...
  • 3 0
 @kabelleira: Yeah man i agree with you.
I read Harry Heath interview today on Dirt Mag, he said :

"I’d raced for 11 years and in that time I’d changed from being a kid who’s only consideration in life was to build a kicker or a berm to rip. The race industry has also changed from the days of hillbilly bike riders owning the companies.

The faster I got the more support the industry gave me so that in turn enabled me to keep racing and get faster, which is what I wanted to do. However the bigger the industry got and the more it wanted to make money, the less I liked it.

It started to grate against what I was feeling but at the same time I was still on the rise with it. I like where I got to in the sport competitive wise and as a profession, and I don’t feel I had to take to much to get there, but I think to progress another level it’d take a lot more consumption of materials, fuel, money and other people’s time that wouldn’t morally feel right to me just for my own gain of being faster.

I can still be a better bike rider, be faster and still do UK races but it’s going to be me and my family traveling in the van using as little amount of stuff as we can.

I realise new product needs to be made and the progression of that is fun too, but I wish some companies would chill out, stop trying to rush all of the new fads out at once and care more about the quality of how products are made, what they’re made of and the longevity of them instead of trying to make as much money as possible.

If more companies in the industry followed Patagonia’s business model we’d be in a much better place. For anyone who wants a top read check out “Let my people go surfing” by Yvon Chouinard founder of Patagonia.

I think this point and the mass use of travel that has to be done to race the World Cups were the biggest turn offs for me as I still think the raw racing is rad and has been some of the best years of my life."
  • 3 0
 @A-Ig: its really interesting that some people in racing are starting to think about what really it is that they are doing... as a bike industry person i have thought all the way down that same rabbit hole it boggles the mind... everyday i am on the front line of supplying the market with more things to buy and deal with the push of all the product managers who for one reason or another are reaching far and working very hard for both the next big thing and the critical mass of small incremental improvements that will push a bike over the edge into new territory and unlock mass consumer demand with all the waste and using of resource this entails at all levels of the supply chain... i even became a vegan for year because i realized that i didnt like the business of raising meat, and food processing, and i didnt like to be a part of the largest contributor of climate change... and i rode to work almost everyday... when you get there and understand how really everything is feeding the beast you can then see what sanctimonious bullshit Patagonia is... they are the same as all the rest... a commodity wrapped in the extra added unseen bonus that allows you to enjoy the commodity itself more thoroughly... but still just the same waste of real things as all the other jackets and clothing out there... just without the get-out-of-the-guilt-free-pass marketing bullshit... you just have to decide how you want to live and what is important to you and pursue that without losing contact with what really is a commodity and what is really a resource and whether or not its making sense to use that up... are you consuming according to need? or are we consuming purely for enjoyment and indulgence? how much of either is correct for an individual? you WILL consume for both reasons.. its not avoidable in modern society... being mindful about this is something that i think is great to see in more and more young people... as a child of the 80's we never thought in these terms... every modern efficiency brought on more consumption and we were getting ever richer because we had ever more we thought...
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