I’ve been busy gathering parts for the next transformation of the very adaptable Ibis Tranny. The Tranny’s carbon frame only weighs 1350g, which is about 3lb, and as such it’s begging to be built up as a very light XC bike. On the Ibis website they say that with a blinged up, or as they put it a ‘WTF’ build, the bike can weigh in at around 19lb. Not that I’m at all interested in such shallowness, you understand, but it will be pretty bloody exciting to see what my build weighs.
Driving the Ibis are Shimano 10 speed Dyna-Sys XT cranks, mechs, shifters, cassette and chain. There should be a gear for all occasions with 24, 32 and 42 tooth chainrings up front and 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 24, 28, 32 and 36 tooth cassette sprockets at the back.
The fork is the new 2011 Marzochhi Corsa Superleggera RC. It’s bang on race weight at 1490g and promises to have the performance and reliability that we have found to be part and parcel of Marzochhi’s new range.
Due to be tested in the Grinder for issue 61 of Singletrack magazine are the Hope X2 brakes. Apparently with 160mm rotors they are the lightest brake set in the world. Check the magazine to find out how well they perform. I have been riding with them briefly as part of the last Tranny build and was impressed. However it never rained in all that time, so we’ll just have to hope it pisses down on me from now on. Or maybe they have magical powers and prevent rain when you have them fitted to your bike. Just a thought.
Light and spangly are these Crank Brothers Cobalt wheels, in a lovely ‘Champagne’ finish which complements the ‘Copper Metallic’ frame. It’s enough to make me feel all Gok Wan. Did I mention how the ‘Pearlescent’ finish on the fork just ‘holds the room together’?
The tyres are black and manly. They are the all new tubeless Continental Mountain Kings in 2.2 Race Sport flavour.
Handlebars and pedals are both from the Crank Brothers Cobalt range as well. It’s good to see that XC bar width is slowly expanding. These are 680mm so I probably won’t die. I haven’t ridden clipped in for over a year though, so there is still a chance. I have faced up to the reality that flat pedals will just not be right on this bike and am willing to give way of the clipless another try.
Seatpost and grips are from the Pro Series of components and the saddle is a very light weight job from Sport Manie.
In the next update I’ll give a full test of how the bike as a whole rides. I’ll also list details of the components and report on how they perform. I’m off to weigh myself now.
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Just needs a decent engine on it now 😉
You’ll be waxing your beard for streamlining next!
Forget the heavy, grippy tyres! You need some fast 1.8in tyres on there with the drawn-on race-only tread now. 🙂
need to spend so time on the garden,shame on you showing how untidy you are
im lovin this build.lovely rims
Yeah get some race tyres on it. Actually am quite interested in the new MKs as I loathe the old ones and these look like a radical change.
Everything looks lovely but has anybody noticed that Crankbrothers gear is great aesthetically but in the real world is crap, and does not last well. Also, Hope brakes, is it will they work or are you ‘hoping they will’? Neither bling bling manufacturers seem to have got it right regarding longevity and efficiency incomparison to boring old Shimano.
My Candys are doing fine since May, muddy rides, dusty rides, wet commutes, hitting tree stumps and no maintenance. Just seems to be the thing to say whenever crank bros are mentioned.
Lancashire Kiwi – I bet any hope brake will out live a Shimano. I bet you’d struggle to get spares for old shimano discs. I’ve just had some old Hope minis serviced. They’ve come back like new. Just try that with Shimano!
Be interesting to see how those mountain kings do when they finally get dirty- Just got rid of a set of wolverines (Mark weirs carbon Nomad 17/8/10) for a Maxxis High roller front end and Crossmark rear, looking to get better cornering- which I do but it is as slow as a donkey. All of a sudden I’m interested in rubber…..ooh errr missus!!!
I like that. A lot.
Crank Bros pedals and Joplin posts of old were certainly “fussy” – if you looked after them they were ok, but weren’t set and forget.
However, in fairness to them, they seem to have started to sort that out; the few folks I know with newer products from them have had no issues. Only time will tell, but they may have turned a corner…
Looks lovely. Never knew about those brakes.
If it was me, I’d be tempted to run 1×10 to shed even more weight. 23×26 should be enough on a bike that weighs <20lb. Maybe. Just.
nice.
does that frame really weigh 1350g? I have the medium copper and mine scales at 1500g, a not insignificant difference from the claimed weight, which I had always assumed was for small naked and perhaps sans slot machine hardware. Still, will be interested to see what you think of it as a whippet, mine is built the same way but singlespeed and about 9kg with its current build. if you beat that weight with a 3×10 build then I will feel obliged to beg for a budget extension from mrs fascist and chuck some money at it. It will make me faster and more attractive, you see
must agree wrt Crank bros kit though, pedals, BB and joplin all in for warranty work this year … they had the joplin for over 2 months! (although credit to them, they sent me a shiny new one just yesterday)
Hi freegan,
Can you drop me an email at info@2pure.co.uk please? I would like to get to the bottom of why your post took so long.
Regards
ran@2pure
ran, ygm but I don’t think 2 pure do CB in Belgium, which is where I bought (and had warrantied) the joplin
i use the iodine wheels some mallets & a joplin. had the mallets replaced under warranty after a seasons abuse .the wheels are terrific & the freehub has not died on me in 12 months use like some people seem to think. with service as good as theres if it does go wrong im still smitten with there gear.
never used the wheels (but I agree they look the business. as I said in my enail to Ran; “frankly, I love CB stuff (the ideas, the designs, decent pricing and functions well), it just seems not to last, which is a real shame” a comment which ofc is limited to the products I’ve experienced.
Hi freegan, will pick up the mail tomorrow. Although we don’t service for Belgium we do all work together so can look into it for you.
ran@2pure
Have just arrived back from the Isle of Man (business, not pleasure) and have committed to doing next years End to End- just need a bike that’s up to it- now when,s that Tranny finished…..??
“I’ve just had some old Hope minis serviced. They’ve come back like new”
Still pretty wooden and lifeless then? Mine are still going strong as well, just a shame they’re so awful.
The build looks light, but those tyres look FAT – they even *look* heavy, so could be worth swapping out. 1.8″ might be pushing it a little though….
“your tyre so fat, when it go around the wheel, it go AROUND the wheel”…
I thought the garden looked quite nice actually…
As Paris Hilton would say ‘thats hot’