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Interbike 2008 – Ibis Mountain Bikes

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NOTE: This video is available in HD! Mouseover the video, click the “HD is Off” button, then click in the middle and a new Vimeo window will open with the HD version.

Ibis had one sweet new mountain bike called the Tranny.  It’s a single-speed with a pretty sweet innovation intended to keep the chain tight while ensuring perfect rear wheel alignment.  Not only does this keep the chain tensioned and the wheel straight, it makes it a breeze to keep the rear disc brake aligned.  A side benefit is it makes the bike very easy to break down into a travel-size container, which may let you sneak it on the airplanes without getting bent over, or just fit it in the back of your econobox now that you’ve sold that SUV.

Watch the video, the click the “more” link to see some closeups of the Tranny and pics of the new Mojo “Lopes Link”…

2009 ibis tranny single speed mountain bike travel bicycle interbike 2008

The Tranny comes in a matte carbon black, made all the more stealth looking by the wonderful red desert dust that covered all the demo bikes.  It can be built as a geared bike if you want, and had removable cable guides to keep it clean and smooth when run as a single speed.

The real innovation on this model is the lower adjustment that moves the rear axle back by simply “smacking” the seat down, thereby pushing the rear wheel back to tighten the chain.  Then just tighten the bolt and you’re off to the races.  This keeps the wheel in a fixed dropout, meaning it’s always aligned perfectly and lets you use a traditional QR skewer.  Plus, you shouldn’t have the durability issues of some eccentric BB frames.

Nicely shaped headtube and top/down tubes give the bike some style.  It’s great when a company doesn’t rely on just a cool new innovation to sell the bike…in this case, you get a great single speed that also looks really fast and modern.  The fact that you can just unbolt the rear end and pack it into a small case is icing on the sweet, sprinkly, Halloween cupcake (sorry, Sweetie’s making cupcakes with kids today).

The Ibis Mojo has been a very popular bike for them, and doesn’t see any major changes for 2009 other than moving from a two piece linkage to a one-piece design called the Lopes Link.  The name is due to Brian Lopes’ suggestion for the design to help stiffen the rear end and reduce side-to-side flex.  Above, the old link (the silver part directly under the shock mount on the swingarm).  Below, the new one-piece design.

Since nothing else about the geometry changed, you’ll be able to retrofit the new link onto an existing Mojo, and the part should be available on their website or through your local Ibis dealer.

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