Represent: Ibis Mojo
By Davide Verotta

Carbon Goodness

The Mojo is the pinnacle of Ibis's engineering and production capabilities.

By now just about everyone’s heard of the Ibis Mojo (if you live in a cave and have not: ]www.ibiscycles.com). The following is my experience with this work-of-art on two wheels.

First, a little personal history:
I have been a full suspension mountain bike devotee for about 13 years and have owned a sequence of bikes starting from the primordial AMP B3, to a GT STS, a Santa Cruz Blur (just for a month or so before I sent it to a friend in Europe) and a Turner 5-spot. Why all the bikes? The sad reality is that I was never really happy with them. The AMP was nice, but it was really built too light and with a primitive fork and shock at that. Then along came the GT STS: The MTB revolution was coming at us with 4.75” of travel and a Marzocchi Z1. The original 1996 let me do a few things that I did not know were possible but the bike was a real dog uphill and forget about pedaling out of the saddle. So comes the Santa Cruz Blur (classic, not the LT): Great bike! If it hadn’t been for the invention of platform shocks at around the same time the Blur came on the scene, this is the bike that would have dominated the market. It was plush and efficient but did have some strange hesitation when pedaling deep in the travel. The Turner 5-spot came next. It was supposed to be a great bike but in 2003, with a Romic shock and all. My opinion is that it was just ok. At the end of the day it was not worlds better than my GT STS (which, by the way, is still serving duty in Italy). A Fox Rp3/PUSH (www.pushindustries.com) certainly brought the bike to a higher level of performance, but it was still very far from the ideal bike. It had serious climbing problems unless the highest platform setting of the Rp3/PUSH was activated. So...

ENTER the Mojo
The Mojo is the latest development from IBIS, one of the historical MTB manufacturers that was known for gorgeous construction in aluminum, titanium, and steel. For their come back IBIS delivers a full carbon 5.5” beauty that weights in at 5.6 pounds (for a medium size frame) that is most at home as an all mountain/light freeride machine. Suspension is handled by a Dave Weagle linkage (more commonly called the DW Link). Further technical info about the system can be found at: www.ibiscycles.com/tech/dw_link.

The DW link design uses massive bearings in an easily replaceable swingarm setup.

For now I will only mention that this is a third generation 4-bar linkage. The build quality of the bike is right up there with custom American makers such as Ventana, Moots, and Independent Fabrications; Gorgeous and sturdy carbon fiber tubes, anodized drop outs, beautiful nickel plated seat collars (either quick release or fixed), anodized eyelets, even a real metal head tube badge!

But the attraction runs deeper than only the amazing attention to detail. This bike offers one of the first real innovations for suspension bike bearings. Instead of having the bearings pressed into the frame, they are actually incorporated in the short DW-links. When you need bearing maintenance (probably not for a long time given the huge size of the main bearing) all you need is an allen-key, fifty bucks for the pair of links, and a half hour to spare; no removing and pressing bearings, no constant greasing or troubles with changing bushings. The DW-links, by the way, are forged, CNC machined, and nickel plated. But know let’s get to the really interesting stuff.

The test
I had the bike for a good two months and spent quite a bit of time in the saddle. The following are my observations.

If you’ve encountered test reports you will notice a pattern in that most are very excited about the climbing efficiency of the bike and with good reason, but downhill performance is no slouch either. The DW-suspension glues the rear tire to the ground and the bike flies a line as straight as an arrow. Suffice to say, having 5.5" of travel really absorbs square-edge hits and hard landings quite well. The bike feels very stable and manageable on account of the well designed geometry. Moto-style (bars-down) turns are a pleasure and overall the bike feels very tight. I have found that it draws very precise lines on the trail without so much as a hint of flex or deflection. The bike is very manageable and you can change direction at speed with minimal effort. There is zero brake-jack: Apply the brakes, even on rather unsavory conditions (such as stairs) and the bike simply slows down without any suspension hiccup transferred up to the rider.

I’m not sure how IBIS did it, but single-track performance is not compromised by the all mountain prowess of the longer suspension travel. The bike feels very alive and flickable out on the single. I have been enjoying a much better ride on the Mojo than I had on any of my other bikes when it comes to tight, twisty, and turny situations. Traction is always on tap even on the hard pack flats. The Mojo seems to encourage its rider to pedal up everything in sight, including technical situations loaded with rocks, roots, or even stairs. The bike’s geometry puts the rider in a natural attack position only enhanced by the plush suspension on both ends.

Carbon everywhere contributes to a feathery weight.

The bike can be effectively ridden with minimal platform and "lower" shock pressures. The advantage in doing so is that small/medium bumps and square-edge hits are taken much better than with first & second generation systems (single-pivot/horst). The DW-link simply works very well on technical climbing even when the suspension travels along its path. The design allows the suspension to absorb big, deep, slow-speed hits (such as a large step, roots, or rock) without compliant.

Ibis Mojo
Frame	Carbon Fibre, Medium
Fork	Fox Float RLC 140mm
Shock	Fox RP23
Wheels	Garcia/WTB wheels
Tires (F/R)	Schwalbe Nobby Nic/Big Jimmy 2.4/2.25 tires
Brakes/Brake Levers (F/R)	Magura Marta 180mm/160mm
Crankset/BB	Race Face LP 170 with Sugino III rings/TNT square taper Titanium BB
Saddle	WTB Laser V seat
Stem	Thomson Elite
Post	Thomson Elite
Bars	Easton Monkeylite handlebar
Grips	Azonic Love grips
Shifters	1997 Sachs 8 speed shifters
Derailleurs (F&R)	1997 Sachs Rear Deraileur and 8 speed shifters
Weight	23.8lbs

I can go as far as to say that this bike pedals like nothing else I have owned or even tried before. The advantage of its efficiency is very noticeable not only in extended climbs but in any situation in which you have to crank hard and unexpectedly: Uphill switchbacks, bursts of power to jump an obstacle, downhill corners, etc. At my weight (150-158 pounds) I’m able to run the RP23 high-volume sleeve in the non-platform position with basically zero bob to report. Out of the saddle efforts (even over/behind the saddle) still don’t result in flex. This makes for a very efficient way to get around the trail. I have found that getting too far over the bars can occasionally cause the suspension to react (especially if I am caught in a tall gear). The positive news is that all it generally takes is 1-2 full revolutions to get into a no-bob cadence while standing. Switch the platform on and you can literally sprint with firm crisp crank rotations. The empirical proofs: I find that I almost never need to rely on the RP23’s propedal option (while I used to fidget with it all the time with my previous bike. In addition the bike’s efficiency creates a situation where you aren’t shifting gears quite so often. I have to say this again: nothing I’ve ever tried climbs as well as the Mojo!!

SET UP
This is a very easy bike to set up; it seems to work well on relatively wide range of shock pressures. For my weight I pumped 135-145 psi into the shock with very little rebound (1-2 clicks from all the way slow). After about 3 weeks I upgraded to a large volume canister for the RP23 (a $60 mod) that immediately increased the plushness of the rear travel without effecting pedaling efficiency. This seems to be good compromise between the standard RP23 and the FOX DHX Air. Reports indicate that some people are using pre-platform (pre-2001) FOX Vanilla coil shocks with excellent results.

My complete bike (without pedals) is less than 24 pounds (23.8 to be exact). The low frame weight allows for some quality component spec options. At an outstanding 5.6 pounds (and a Cane Creek IS-8 headset that weights 70 grams including a long spacer) it is incredibly effortless to build a very light all-mountain machine. My component choice consists of some fairly standard components and some happily retro ones as well. A few details: For cable routing, I cross the cable ON the tube for the cleanest possible appearance and a very straight path of the cables over the top.

Top mounted crossed cables provide clean cable paths and good shifting.

CONCLUSION
It is hard not to sound like a silly cheerleader but after years of fantasizing about a bike as perfect as the one Mojo has delivered. It’s beautiful, gorgeously built; nimble and stable, plush enough for trails yet downhill capable, and the DW-Link is one of the most efficient suspension designs around.

Editor's note: You can visit the author's website here.