Ibis Mojo – All Mountain Build
After seeing what Kakah was doing on his AM bike last year and feeling how light it was, I knew that I too could have that light of a set up and not have to worry about whether or not the parts would hold up to my heavier mass as a rider. I looked around and there are a lot of get options out there and several are very light too, but after reading the article that Calgary Cycle submitted about their custom build up on an Ibis Mojo SL that weighed in a 23.5lbs with pedals, I knew that I wanted to look in that direction too. Having always thought that carbon bikes were out of my price range, I was more than pleasantly surprised to see the pricing on the Ibis Mojo. At $1999 USD with a Fox RP23 rear shock, and weighing a meager 5 pounds, 9 ounces (medium frame weight), I knew that this would be my starting point.
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Sizes: Small Medium Large X-Large
I ordered up the regular Mojo as I like paint and their Eddy Orange is super flashy and you’ll be able to find me if I get exhausted in the woods while riding and have to flag down a search helicopter. I wanted to stick with a coil fork and at least 6 inches of front travel, so the Fox 36 Vanilla RC2 was ordered up to match the RP23 in the rear. If you have not ridden a 36, then you should borrow or demo one as you may be pleasantly surprised by the overall feel and responsiveness of it. They are as sturdy as most DH forks, but trail ready for any All Mountain adventure you are on. A few select Ibis parts (seat post, handle bar and stem- learn more about this further down in the article) came along with the frame as did a Cane Creek internal headset.
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Since I am a hefty guy and not a light weight like Derek at 180lbs and his 23lbs bike – heck I weigh more than them both combined – I knew that picking reasonable parts would be pretty easy and I’d start with items that I already had. My old faithful XTR crankset just got a new Hope BB that I picked up while driving through the Kootenays a few months ago, so this set up was a must on the new bike. Connex gold chain, SRAM PG-990 (11-32) cassette, X.0 rear derailleur, X.7 front derailleur and X.0 shifters round out the drive train. Custom white Avid Juicy Ultimates with 6" rotors for braking duties and the ol' WTB Devo Ti saddle would round out my parts that I already had.
I just had to sort out the cock pit (bars, stem and seat post) and the wheelset and the Ibis would be rolling (literally). Since I picked up Ibis' own bar and stem with the frame I thought I would begin with why I chose not to run them in the end. The Ibis XC riser weighed in at a light 260 grams, but is only 26-1/4 inches wide, making it too skinny for my liking. I went the route of the Easton Monkey Lite DH for a few reasons. It's 28 inches wide, weighs 30 grams LESS than the Ibis bar and I used to ride the original Monkey Lite riser bars back in the day so I know that they are strong. The Ibis stem is close to the lightest I have seen at 108 grams for a 80mm reach. I really prefer the shorter reach and went with the 65mm Easton Havoc stem at 212 grams (close to double the Ibis). I have my eyes out for a light weight 60-65mm stem, but for now the burly Havoc is getting the job done just fine. I am sticking with the Ibis 350mm, two bolt post for now, but may swap to a longer 400mm option from elsewhere at a later date as I am riding on the minimum insertion line and would prefer not to be.
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For wheels there is always the favorite "build up" of all one's favorite parts or go with a wheelset from any of a number of reputable wheel companies. But what about the little guy that has a component company with their own wheelset? After reading some very favorable reviews over the past year on Transition Bike's Revolution 32 and 36 downhill/freeride wheelsets, I got looking into whether they had an AM/XC offering. At $299 USD and only 2070 grams (20mm front, 135 regular Q/R rear) it was a no brainer to give the Revolution AMs a go on the Ibis Mojo. Since I know that the crew behind these wheels rides hard, that was also an incentive to give them a try as I am sure I won't be inflicting any more abuse than Cam Burns himself does on them.
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Tires was a little tougher as I had pretty good luck with my set ups last season, but wanted to go with something different that still came in a wider foot print and Kevlar bead. In the end it was a weigh off and the Schwalbe Fat Albert in a 2.4 won and is the tire that I am going to run first on the Revolution AM wheelset. Unfortunately the local shop only had Schwalbe tubes and they are heavy (186 grams each), so I will replace them once I find a lighter option in my travels. Rotational mass is important to keep down with out making too many sacrifices and I think I am at a great starting point for this season.
Me talking about my Ibis all mountain build up and why I've chosen the parts on it:
This is the first DW Link bike that I have ever ridden so expect to hear more on my thoughts once I get a few hundred kilometers under those links. Right off the bat I know that the leverage ratios are in my favor and that I will in fact be able to run this bike with out a re-valve for my size. Thanks to everyone who helped get this build up underway and I look forward to telling you how it all goes in the coming months.
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Links of interest:
-Ibis Bikes
-Fox Racing Shox
-Easton Monkey Lite DH Bar and Havoc Stem
-Transition Revolution AM Wheelset
-Schwalbe Fat Albert Tires
-Jagwire Cables -sourced through Cycles Lambert in Canada
-Scot Nicol's Personal Blog:
www.chuckibis.com/chuck_spew/
Happy Trails,
Tyler "Brule" Maine
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Sexy Curves
Geometry:
| Small | Medium | Large | X-Large | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seat Tube Length | 15.5" | 17" | 19" | 21" |
| Head Angle | 69.0 | 69.0 | 69.0 | 69.0 |
| Seat Angle | 73 | 73 | 73 | 73 |
| Effective Top Tube | 22.0" | 22.8" | 23.6" | 24.4" |
| Chain Stay | 429mm | 429mm | 429mm | 429mm |
| Wheelbase | 41.9” | 42.7” | 43.5" | 44.3" |
I ordered up the regular Mojo as I like paint and their Eddy Orange is super flashy and you’ll be able to find me if I get exhausted in the woods while riding and have to flag down a search helicopter. I wanted to stick with a coil fork and at least 6 inches of front travel, so the Fox 36 Vanilla RC2 was ordered up to match the RP23 in the rear. If you have not ridden a 36, then you should borrow or demo one as you may be pleasantly surprised by the overall feel and responsiveness of it. They are as sturdy as most DH forks, but trail ready for any All Mountain adventure you are on. A few select Ibis parts (seat post, handle bar and stem- learn more about this further down in the article) came along with the frame as did a Cane Creek internal headset.
Fox Shox RP23 rear shock
Fox 36 Vanilla RC2
Since I am a hefty guy and not a light weight like Derek at 180lbs and his 23lbs bike – heck I weigh more than them both combined – I knew that picking reasonable parts would be pretty easy and I’d start with items that I already had. My old faithful XTR crankset just got a new Hope BB that I picked up while driving through the Kootenays a few months ago, so this set up was a must on the new bike. Connex gold chain, SRAM PG-990 (11-32) cassette, X.0 rear derailleur, X.7 front derailleur and X.0 shifters round out the drive train. Custom white Avid Juicy Ultimates with 6" rotors for braking duties and the ol' WTB Devo Ti saddle would round out my parts that I already had.
I just had to sort out the cock pit (bars, stem and seat post) and the wheelset and the Ibis would be rolling (literally). Since I picked up Ibis' own bar and stem with the frame I thought I would begin with why I chose not to run them in the end. The Ibis XC riser weighed in at a light 260 grams, but is only 26-1/4 inches wide, making it too skinny for my liking. I went the route of the Easton Monkey Lite DH for a few reasons. It's 28 inches wide, weighs 30 grams LESS than the Ibis bar and I used to ride the original Monkey Lite riser bars back in the day so I know that they are strong. The Ibis stem is close to the lightest I have seen at 108 grams for a 80mm reach. I really prefer the shorter reach and went with the 65mm Easton Havoc stem at 212 grams (close to double the Ibis). I have my eyes out for a light weight 60-65mm stem, but for now the burly Havoc is getting the job done just fine. I am sticking with the Ibis 350mm, two bolt post for now, but may swap to a longer 400mm option from elsewhere at a later date as I am riding on the minimum insertion line and would prefer not to be.
Easton Monkey Lite DH bar, Havoc Stem, X.0 shifters, Orange Jagwire housing and Juicy Ultimates
For wheels there is always the favorite "build up" of all one's favorite parts or go with a wheelset from any of a number of reputable wheel companies. But what about the little guy that has a component company with their own wheelset? After reading some very favorable reviews over the past year on Transition Bike's Revolution 32 and 36 downhill/freeride wheelsets, I got looking into whether they had an AM/XC offering. At $299 USD and only 2070 grams (20mm front, 135 regular Q/R rear) it was a no brainer to give the Revolution AMs a go on the Ibis Mojo. Since I know that the crew behind these wheels rides hard, that was also an incentive to give them a try as I am sure I won't be inflicting any more abuse than Cam Burns himself does on them.
Tires was a little tougher as I had pretty good luck with my set ups last season, but wanted to go with something different that still came in a wider foot print and Kevlar bead. In the end it was a weigh off and the Schwalbe Fat Albert in a 2.4 won and is the tire that I am going to run first on the Revolution AM wheelset. Unfortunately the local shop only had Schwalbe tubes and they are heavy (186 grams each), so I will replace them once I find a lighter option in my travels. Rotational mass is important to keep down with out making too many sacrifices and I think I am at a great starting point for this season.
| Frame and Size | 2009 Ibis Mojo •140mm (5.5") travel •Medium Frame •Carbon monocoque frame and swing arm •DW Link Suspension |
| Weight of complete bike | 29.8 pounds |
| Rear Shock | Fox RP23 •Air spring |
| Fork | 2009 Fox 36 Vanilla RC2 •20 mm Tool less removal •160mm Travel •Rebound, High/Low Speed Compression, and manual Preload adjustments |
| Headset | Cane Creek IS2, 1-1/8th” Black |
| Crankset | 2008 Shimano XTR, 22/32/44T, 170mm arms |
| Bottom Bracket | Hope External BB with Stainless Steel bearings, (113grams) |
| Pedals | 2007 Shimano Clipless |
| Chain | Wippermann Connex 9 speed (Gold) |
| Cassette | Sram PG-990, 9 speed, 11-32 |
| Front Derailleur | SRAM X.7, 34.9 |
| Rear Derailleur | SRAM X.0, 9 speed, long cage |
| Shifter Cable/Housing | Jagwire Color match Orange |
| Shifter Pods | Sram X.0 pods, 9 speed rear and 3 speed front |
| Handlebar | Easton Monkey Lite DH, 711mm width x 40mm rise, 31.8mm clamp diameter, 230 grams (Carbon) |
| Stem | Easton Havoc DH Stem, 31.8mm clamping diameter, 65mm reach, 212 grams |
| Grips | ODI Ruffian MX lock ons, Red |
| Brakes | Avid Juicy Ultimates, 6” rotors, White with Tyler Maine in the Carbon levers |
| Wheel Set | Transition Bikes Revolution AM wheelset •Front 20mm, sealed bearings •rear sealed bearings, 135x10mm regular Q/R •Double butted spokes •2070 grams for the set |
| Tires | Schwalbe Fat Albert 26 x 2.4, Kevlar Bead, 756 Grams each |
| Tubes | Schwalbe, 186 Grams each |
| Saddle | WTB Devo, Ti rail, 196 grams |
| Seatpost | Ibis, double bolt, 31.6, 350mm length, 240 grams |
| Extras | Ibis, Seatpost Q/R •Sigma Wireless Speedometer |
This is the first DW Link bike that I have ever ridden so expect to hear more on my thoughts once I get a few hundred kilometers under those links. Right off the bat I know that the leverage ratios are in my favor and that I will in fact be able to run this bike with out a re-valve for my size. Thanks to everyone who helped get this build up underway and I look forward to telling you how it all goes in the coming months.
Links of interest:
-Ibis Bikes
-Fox Racing Shox
-Easton Monkey Lite DH Bar and Havoc Stem
-Transition Revolution AM Wheelset
-Schwalbe Fat Albert Tires
-Jagwire Cables -sourced through Cycles Lambert in Canada
-Scot Nicol's Personal Blog:
www.chuckibis.com/chuck_spew/
Happy Trails,
Tyler "Brule" Maine
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other then that you have built my dream bike (if it was in the green
Anyways rock on dreignk, you worded that great.
AM more, its a specialized enduro 2008 and im coming from Hayes 9s on 203mm front nd back
their light and if thats what you want then sure go for them but for that sort of bike, id say go for 'The ones'tried them a few days back and they simply are the best
just my opinion and if i get stick that fine but for your bike, weight, and assuming your riding ability (on offence with that) then id say that they are under powered for what you need
brakes are brakes?
are you saying that you'd be just as happy running hayes nines on your dh bike as codes. don't be stupid
I run hayes mech brakes on my dh rig. I have nothing to fuss with, plus I try not to use my brakes anyways, so why spend a pile on them. I'm happy on whatever I get that doesn't need super attention. I like to set and forget.
btw got back from a weeks riding agressive XC in North Wales 2day, and the ultimates have started to up their power on their own, though i still think that they arn't the right brake for me ( or you brule) due to the riding that they are expected to deal with on our bikes
And big tard, why on earth are you getting so "intense" with these replies. Just chill out dude. You don't need to comment on every one of my replies.
best reply I have ever seen in my life "it takes brakes to go fast you friggin dolt".
That has to be the most idiotic thing I have ever seen in my life. Now your sounding like Al Gore.
also by you saying that you ride 10miles a day makes me think that you use your bike for commuting, which doesnt really have any relivence as to what we are talking about.
"i don't use my brakes, they only slow me down"
is actually the most idiotic thing someone has ever said about bike parts
You're still the six inch is as powerful as eight inch guy aren't you?
since you pretend to understand cars so much. obviously formula one cars have way shittier brakes than any type of car out there because they're the fastest cars right. obviously they couldn't go fast if they had good brakes right?
hey stupid, i'm going to keep telling you your stupid until you stop saying stupid things
thats what pinkbike is for right?
szfebtt - i tried to bring it back a few times, read my comments, but il let you off as what you said at the end made me laugh lol
Seems like just because you see something happen once or twice, you automatically think its like that on EVERY product. Please show me written recall / tb information on these wheels. There isn't any. If so many riders were having very dangerous issues with them, why wouldn't you read about them, why wouldn't they recall them, and why wouldn't they be pulled from the market until fixed. Think about it.
All rims are not the same. thats for damn sure
a company like transition and many other companies out there buy whatever taiwan sells them. do you think taiwan cares if people blow tires off the rims they already collected the money for.
you might be retarded.
i live in bike land. you know, where we say a million bikes a day. tons of EVERY product you could imagine.
i've seen plenty of these rims with tires blown off them.
big people, small people, slow people, fast people.
look at the valve stems. every time i put a tire on these rims, the valve core goes crooked after a few rides. that means the tire is sliding.
you'd like to believe i'm retarded. but it just isn't the case. i've been riding bikes my whole life. and i know it doesn't mean shit that a guy says he's a bike mechanic. but i been all over this industry. its a shit show
Tyler's bike is sweet for sure and I'm sure it's built with his own requirements in mind. The shiny hi-tech orange carbon is real appealing.
For me, personally, I wanted 3 things when building my AM bike. First is Passion of the builder, handbuilt and not a generic bike from the far east; Second is Simplicity (single pivot, traditional frame construction materials, ie. aluminum); and Third is Strength with larger and larger diameter tubing, stronger gusetiing, etc. and quality materials (20 mm axle fork, DH strong but XC lightweight wheels and components). My Foes XCT-5 large is around 30 lbs with curnutt coil shock (heavy) and, like someone mentioned, Hope Pro 2/Stans Flow wheels (Alpine 3 spokes though).
Enjoy you ride Tyler! Because after all its not about the bike, it's about the ride!
Granted, I didn't shred his bike, because the frame costs more than my last 3 bikes combined, but it felt really solid, even though it's carbon!
One of the things which really makes me wonder about this bike is the fact you have 160mm front travel in the front but it does not feel like any particular AM monster at all (well, I mean if you come from the eye of course: it is true I've never tested it). As a mater of fact, I had this idea about buying this bike myself before getting my hands on my Slayer (I've got one as well), but I was a little bit worried about carbon frames and I did not buy it in the end. I must admit your setup is quite impressive though as it comes with X0s, XTRs and that Vanilla fork: I hope you will enjoy it.
I did the research and took a look at who was riding these bikes, where they were riding them and how I ride. The guys in ALberta in the Rockies are hammering on them in rugged terrain, the California and Oregon crews are putting them through their paces too, so I am sure that I will enjoy the AM style build, but only time will tell. (I have ordered a heavier weight spring for the fork already).
They are currently working on a 7 inch DH rig and Lopes will race it i'm sure when they unveil it.
The just released their 19lb Hardtail(The Tranny), and a 14lb cyclocross bike(The Hakaluggi) this year, so the DH/FR rig should be next.
the Alps and never got any problem. You won't regret this choice.
he's hardcore eh?
The Carbon Fibre Frame is stronger than most give credit, and IF you destroy the frame(and that's a BIG if!) in a major crash, the crash replacement policy Ibis has, is lifetime for the Original Purchaser.
They'd replace it free if it's factory defect(3yrs), and it would cost you minor bucks to replace the frame part affected.
Front Triangle $450, rear is 250. if you caused the damage.
Hello Iron Horse/Sam Hill?