Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology

Click links below to view the Ibis bikes in our collection:

1992 Ibiss SS with Campagnolo Parts
1997 Ibis Alibi
Ibis Specs

Ibis Timeline

Cool site with some Ibis Catalog Scans.

1981

Ibis founded in Mendocino, CA

1984

Moved to Sebastopol, CA. First Ibis road bike

1985

Ibis trials bikes

1986

Ibis tandem

1987

Ibis Avion, first complete bike

1988

Out of the garage and into semi-legal work space

1990

Birth of the SS, last pre-suspension hard tail

Titanium production begins

Scot Nicol (founder) inducted into Mountain Bike Hall of Fame

1991

Mojo

1993

Limited edition Scorcher (retro-styled fixed gear) 100 made (25 small, 25 large and 50 medium), custom handlebars were made to replicate an old Torrington design.

1994

Moron (more on the ends) tubing for the Mojo

SST (Shimano Suck This) component package available consisting of Control Tech or Syncros stem, Dia Compe 987 brakes, Grip Shift, XC Pro brake levers, Taperlite bars, King headset, Cooks or Topline cranks, Onza pedals, White or Hugi hubs, Mavic 230 rims, Ritchey bottom bracket and XTR derailleurs. These specs were subject to change depending on availability.

First butted titanium (with Gary Helfrich)

Titanium road bike

Touché road tandem (steel or Ti), Cousin It mountain tandem (steel or Ti), Cousin It Road tandem (steel)

Prototype Szazbo full suspension in steel and Ti

1995

Szazbo full suspension (Sweet Spot) in aluminum (first Al bike)

Cousin-It mountain tandem, Forte Road Tandem, Touché road tandem in steel and Titanium

EZ-Street road tandem

1996

First prototype BowTi

1997

Ibis Alibi aluminum hard tail

Hakkalugi cyclocross

1998

Spanky road bike with Moron

BowTi production

Limited run of single speed frames (one for each letter of the alphabet)

1999

Moves to Santa Rosa

Launch of Geax tires with Vittoria

Mai Tai titanium mountain bike and Sonoma Ti road bike

2000

Ibis Silk Ti pivot-less full suspension

2002

Ibis files for bankruptcy.

2003

John Castellano (designer of many of the Ibis full suspension bikes) now offers some of the Ibis bike models as well as parts for older Ibis bikes. For more information check out Castellano Designs.

2005

Watch for the announcement of the righting of the good ship Ibis at the fall Interbike trade show!!

Click on thumbnails above for larger image

From the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame

Scot Nicol

Inducted 1990

Web Site: www.ibiscycles.com

In 1965, at age 11, Scot acquired his first ballooner by rather questionable means. The irresistible late 1940s model Schwinn was in a neighbor’s garage when he spied it. Always one to make a deal, Scot quickly offered his mother’s lightweight bike as a trade on this classic cruiser. “Mom finally forgave me 22 years later when I repaid her (with interest) by delivering her a custom Ibis.”

Acrobatic tricks soon became his specialty on his new bike. In Breeze and Gary Fisher in a trip to Crested Butte for a trip over Pearl Pass. “They liked me at first because I had a car that would probably make it to Crested Butte (unlike any of them). Later, when they found out I could ride up and down hills as fast as any of them, plus ride wheelies in circles around them, they accepted me into their group.”

This proved to be a valuable association for Scot, as he apprenticed with Breeze and Cunningham that winter. Soon after that, the first Ibis rolled out of the shop he had set up in his greenhouse in Fort Bragg, Calif. That bike was shorter and steeper, and rode more comfortably than the other mountain bikes available at the time, so it soon became successful.

Scot also raced mountain bikes in the first years of the sport; his most notable results were a sixth place at the 1983 NORBA Nationals, a win of the Last Central Coast Clunker Classic, and an overall win at the first Bishop 7500/Mammoth Stage Race. In 1984, Scot met up with Tom Hillard and was quickly hooked on trials riding, leading to several years of development of trials bikes, with some strange incarnations along the way. Scot used his acrobatic and bike handling skills to win dozens of trials events, finishing third at the national championships in 1985.

A 1987 trip to Europe with his wife Ginny was the thrust behind the production of the first Ibis Tandem. From that beginning, Ibis produced a few tandems in 1988, many more in 1989 (after being named bike of the year by Bicycle guide Magazine), and fully half of the production in 1990 is devoted to satisfying the demand for the two tandem models that Ibis produces.

“Ibis is a bird of beauty, revered by the ancient Egyptians for their grace and form. In fact they often carried their mummified Ibis with them to their tombs, “explains Nicol. “Although I don’t really hope to have people get buried with their bikes, hopefully people will continue to ride and enjoy their Ibis bikes while enjoying this sport that has brought created so many wonderful friendships.”

Ibis Serial Numbers

Year	Model	Color	Serial Number
?	Ibis	Purple	102
1985	Ibis	Pink/Aqua	189
1987	Ibis	Blue	263
1987	Trials Comp (import)	Turquoise	7F0013
1987	Trials Comp (import)		7F0091
1987	Avion (import)	Flesh	7L0079
1988	Ibis	Salmon	448
1988	Ibis	??	575
1989	Mountain Trials	Purple	1022
1990	SS	White	622
1991	SS	Black	1101
1991	SS	Team Blue/Purple fade	1112
1992	SS	Well Red	1486
1992	SS	Fade	1586
1993	Scorcher	Black	2710
1996	Szazbo	Green	KUI 360 100