There does seem to be a fair number of Ibises (Ibii?) in the office at the moment. This always seems to be the way with test bikes. Last year you couldn’t move for Yetis. This year, there are three or four Ibis bikes around the place. You’ll have seen the Tranny elsewhere on these pages and Ed Oxley also has the old, original Mojo – now built up in a ‘big mountain burl’ guise rather than the lighter build it had when I was riding it.
In an attempt to get back to a bike more suited to the riding I tend to do (big days out over rocky, northern terrain with long ups as well as downs) I wanted to build this Mojo SL up with some lighter kit and sacrifice some durability for a longer legged bike. It’s not like I ever break gear as it is, so despite this pretty sensible build, I’ll be looking to go still lighter at some point. Mind you, with 5.5in (140mm) of travel, there’s no reason to not go a little more burly too.
Much of the bike is a stock XT build, with XT transmission and shifters, XT wheels (with 15mm front) with the exception of XTR brakes – which are some of the best out there in terms of power, lever feel and ability to run smooth for months without being touched, something I appreciate in my components.
Tyres are currently the new Bontrager XR2 models, but seeing as they took tyre levers to get on (something I try to avoid in my tyre choices) and still aren’t sitting straight on the rim, I’m going to pull them off again in favour of some newer 26in rubber.
The basic silhouette of the Mojo remains the same as the regular Mojo, but there have been weight savings wherever possible – titanium fasteners are standard, there’s a titanium main pivot and a carbon insert in the seat tube, along with a carbon lip for the drop-in headset bearings to sit on. Even the seat QR of the Mojo has been swapped for an integral seat binder (that I’ve just heard can be swapped out for a QR) binder bolt. In the aim of stiffness, there’s a ‘Lopes Link’ machined suspension link already installed (in a sympathetic blue colour…)
Frame price with the Fox RP23 is £1999
So far, rides on the Mojo SL have been great. It’s had to cope with everything recently from deep snow, to dry and almost dusty trails and now some wet grit. However, we have a bit of a road trip coming up in Scotland, so I’m going to be looking forward to stretching its legs a little…
For details of where you might buy or try such a bike, get in touch with importers 2Pure
flippinheckler are you sure you dont mean you broke your colloar bone to due to your riding?
Wow great “in depth” review – The way you regurgitated all the spiel off the ibis website – and brilliant “long termer” insight and feed back of how it handles and rides , really helpfull for those trying to make up their minds before parting with 4K , My 4 year old could have written better – Twenty whole lines of writing – you must be knackered man – Go and have a lie down. ……..pref on a busy motorway. – tosser.
Glad to help there Twedspeed. I was going to post up a review of how the bike is after 18 months of continual use, but given your enthusiasm, I shall reserve it for people who ask nicely. 🙂
“Go and have a lie down. ……..pref on a busy motorway. – tosser.”
Crikey.
So is there a upto date review?
Um, seems shiny new objects have distracted Chipps from his long term review. Well, I have a Mojo SL and maybe I can fill some Chipp-gaps. Firstly, getting a light build is quite easy – without a 2nd mortgage you can go sub 26lbs, and sub 25lbs without going too mad. There is a comment above re the frame being sketchy and flimsy; I’ve seen that eslewhere and, IMO, that odd feeling is not flex, but the way the DW link works at lower speeds; it feels like it gives laterally and moves around; but get it up to proper suicide speed and all that fades away and it slices through the trail. There is a review on mtbr for an Intense Tracer, I think, a few years back that I remember well as the owner basically said that the frame would seriously hurt you; and that was because you’d start to look at harder lines and push the speed up beyond your capabilities; eventually the frame would not be able to save you from your lack of skill and you’d crash, hard. I feel that way about the Mojo; it is fast, and wills you to go much much faster. The DW Link works gloriously well uphill and feels beautifully taught, but compliant. Point it down and it is very surefooted. I have a DT Swiss EXC150 up front; point it and it goes that way, and so does the back end. My decision to go for a 2nd hand Mojo SL stemmed from a ride I had a few years back on a Mojo hire bike in Italy in Finale Ligure. The owner of the hire shop told me they had serious doubts about a full carbon frame, so Ibis told them to attack the frame with a hammer; so they did, and didn’t manage to break it. I can believe that. Blah blah re the head angle; works for me and does not seem to have slowed down Brian Lopes. My 2nd hand frame was £800; if it got pinched now I would probably take a deep breath and blow out on a new one. All in all, fast, very strong and impressive customer service from Ibis. I had a 5 Spot, which I still love, but the Ibis is, IMO, a much more capable bike all round.