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Interbike '05-Tanned, rested and ready: Ibis is back
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Ibis is back and doing its thing... but this time in carbon.Tuesday marked the official return of both Ibis and its founder, ScotNicol, to the bike industry after a three-year absence. The brand thathad a devoted following in the 1990s and floundered on hard times sinceNicol sold the company in 2000.While Ibis fans have suffered the absence of a favorite, Nicol has spent the last few years most constructively: "retired and riding my bike." Not bad work if you can get it. Still Nicol has felt the itch and finally found his way back into bike biz' as a "partner" (read unpaid employee) in a new venture with an old name.Teaming up with industry vets Hans Heim and Tom Morgan, Nicol - whose official job title is "founder emeritus, BFD" - is promising two new models for 2006, with hoped-for delivery dates in March "or so."While the original Ibis built its rep' in steel, aluminum and especiallytitanium, the new resurrected Ibis is focusing on carbon this around, largelybecause Nicol believes that technology has finally caught up with the material's potential."I wrote that series on materials for VeloNews back in the early1990s and even then I liked carbon, but at the time it wasn't really aviable option," Nicol said.Ibis's two 2006 models - the Silk Carbon and the Mojo Carbon - show thatviability isn't a question anymore.While the original Ibis was known for elegently produced road and mountainframes, the company also had something of a reputation for a sort of "ifyou need to ask, you can't afford it" pricing structure. No more. The SilkCarbon comes in at a very competitive $1399 (without fork) and the fullsuspension Mojo Carbon, featuring dw-link suspension, will run you $1899.Click to hear a shortinterview with Nicol.
