Here at Ibis, we’ve been singing the praises of carbon fiber for a long time. We made our first carbon fiber bikes back in 1989. Ibis founder Scot Nicol wrote about carbon in a widely read series of articles on bicycle metallurgy that appeared in VeloNews in the early 90’s, you can access it from the link above. Technology has come a long way since then and Ibis is embracing the latest that carbon technology has to offer.

We’ve prepared a number of pages of information related to the technology found on our bikes.

Why use Carbon Fiber instead of Steel, Ti and Aluminum?
We think that all those materials are good for construction of bikes. Ibis has made bikes out of all these materials before, and might do so again. For now, we like the results we get with carbon. Read our little treatise here. Scot Nicol, founder of Ibis, wrote a 7 part series on bicycle metallurgy for VeloNews back in the day. At the end of the series, one of his conclusions was that soon it would be carbon's day in the sun. We think that day has arrived. Read Scot's series here, if you're having trouble falling asleep.

What about the durability of Carbon Fiber?
We've decided that this question warrants its own little section of our website. So please go here to find out what we have to say about the durability of our bikes.

How does the DW Link system work?
For a explanation, visit the DW site directly: dw-link.com or go to our DW link primer >

What are the build specs for my new Ibis (fork length, tire size front derailler, etc)
For Silk Carbon build specs go here
For Mojo Carbon build specs go here

What is the standover height of the Mojo Carbon?
The unique design of the Mojo Carbon front triangle results in very low standover heights for a bike with this much suspension travel
These measurements were taken with Hutchinson Bulldog 2.3 tires, which are actually quite tall. So your results could be a little less than these.
We're providing two measurements. One is taken directly above the upper shock mount, which is in the middle of the top tube, a common place to measure, and we think the best place for comparison.

Measured at middle of top tube
Size: Standover height
XL: 31.3"
L: 31"
M: 30.66"
S: 30.33"

We've also seen people measure the standover at the front of the saddle nose, this gives a lower reading. For comparison, here it is:

Measured at front of saddle nose
Size: Standover height
XL: 29:
L: 28.5"
M: 28.4"
S: 27.33"

What are the wheelbase numbers for the various sizes of the Mojo Carbon?
Extra Large: 1126mm = 44.3in
Large: 1105mm = 43.5in
Medium: 1084.5mm = 42.7in
Small: 1063.6mm = 41.9in

What is the maximum rider weight allowed for the Mojo Carbon?
We don't actually publish a maximum rider weight. We have found that rider weight has a bigger impact on wheels than it does frames. Frame failures tend to be less a matter of actual rider weight than the peak loads experienced. So riding style contributes more to frame failure than weight. Do you break a lot of frames? If you do then it's likely something related to riding style than of frame durability.

How are you able to get carbon dropouts to be durable enough on your road bike?
Are they somewhat like Easton's carbon forks drops? Both our dropouts and Easton's are compression molded carbon fiber. The compression molded carbon fiber drops are comparable in strength to the aluminum they replace but much lighter. Also, our drop outs are protected by the stainless inserts that isolate the drop out from the compressive force of the QR and the hub.

Do you use high modulus carbon?
The terms low, medium and high are relative terms referring to modulus. Modulus is a reference to stiffness, which doesn't always correlate to strength. In the case of the bike industry the terms are somewhat misused. Typically bicycle industry folk use the term "high modulus" to refer to T800 or T1000 Toray fiber, as opposed to the more commonly used (in the bike industry) T700 fiber. In real terms all three materials would be considered high modulus with even T700 having a modulus of 33.4 msi. The higher modulus materials often come with a compromise in terms of tensile strength or elongation which means that even "high modulus" frames using T800 or T1000 are really a blend of T700 (which has the best overall mix of characteristics) with small amounts of the higher modulus stuff in areas where additional stiffness is required in a super light frame. However, there are no hard and fast rules here, so a company could call just about any composite material high modulus depending on what they're comparing it to.

The Silk and Mojo are blends of various fibers, but the frame is primarily T700. Until very recently, T700 was the best you could get, and still in terms of overall performance it is the best all around composite material available. Interesting side note: T400 a commonly used lower grade of composite actually has a higher modulus than T700, but its tensile strength and elongation numbers are worse. Also, T700 is a finer filament so a sheet of T400 UD prepreg would have a higher resin content that would compromise its strength further. Nonetheless, it could rightfully be called "High modulus".

I want to use my own shock on the rear of the Mojo Carbon. What are the dimensions?
The rear shock length between eyelets is 7.875" and shaft travel is 2.0".

Do you have frame decals for my Mojo? Or any other Ibis model?
Get yourself over to chuckibis.com where you can learn all about and purchase Ibis decals dating back to the first models in the early 1980's.

Can I get my Ibis frame repainted? Yes, any competent frame painter can do it. Our friends the Sycips do ours when they need refreshing. Jay and Jeremy are now running the powdercoating facility that has painted all Ibises since 1998. So they have in stock a lot of the original Ibis colors. They can get decals directly from Scot Nicol, or you can go to Scot's Ibis decal site: www.chuckibis.com
Sycip Designs
707-542-6359
www.sycip.com

Where can I get my Ibis frame repaired?
For all pre-2005 Ibis bikes, we recommend you find a framebuilder who works in whatever material your original Ibis was made. We would not hesitate to recommend the Sycip Brothers, all their information is in the preceding question.
If you need some love applied to your titanium Ibis, we also recommend you call Steve Potts. He's a master with the tig torch and a perfectionist when it comes to working on things made of metal. 415-663-1974

Can you or I or somebody put disc braze-ons on my SilkTi?
Yes. John Castellano has been working on retrofitting SilkTi's with disc mounts. John designed, engineered and manufactured the mounts, and Steve Potts puts them on. Get a hold of either one of them for more info. Their contact info is above.