Today, Ibis Cycles has announced the long-awaited successor to its hugely successful and much-loved Hakkalugi ‘cyclocross and more’ bike. And while Hakkalugis have been used for more than just ‘cross racing since their introduction around a decade ago, this new version brings it bang up to date with how people are using #dirtydropbargoodness bikes these days. On road, off road, racing, adventuring on and off-piste and general funning and hooning.
The new Hakka MX has the capability of running 700C wheels (which Ibis conveniently makes) or mountain bike size 27.5in wheels (which Ibis conveniently makes). This gives you the versatility of running road bike tyres, ‘cross racing 33mm tyres, adventuring 40Cx700 tyres or going fully burly and running a 650B tyre in anything up to a knobbly 2.1in size (sorry for mixing standards there) or even the new cool tyre road size of 650x50C slicks…
To add to that versatility, there are hidden mudguard mounts on the rear of the bike (with the famous Ibis Handjob being put to use holding your mudguard up)
Ibis says of it “The Hakka MX is our answer to the Swiss Army Knife. It’s the bike we’d choose if, heaven forbid, we could only have one bike.”
“The Hakka MX is a gravel bike. It’s also a cross bike and a road bike. We’ve logged a few bike packing trips on the Hakka too.”
British riders will be delighted to see the return of a threaded bottom bracket – in this case an oversize T47 job. And for the adventurous among you (or those racing the Three Peaks…) will be happy to see that there’s even dropper post routing on the frame – as well as other ports for Di2 batteries and all that modern stuff if you like that. There are new Flat Mount brake mounts and, well the bike is a huge step up from the rather long in the tooth original Hakkalugi. Not that those were slouches either.
We very much look forward to seeing one of these in the flesh soon. Sharp-eyed show-goers at Eurobike back in September did spot a couple of subtle Hakka frames in other peoples’ booths, but the bike stayed un-launched until the frames were actually in transit. Which they now are – and Ibis is promising them in the US in a couple of weeks – and hopefully not much longer for the UK.
Features:
Ability to run 700C Wheels or 27.5″ Wheels
Carbon Fiber Monocoque Frame
142mm through axle rear dropout spacing
T47 Threaded Bottom Bracket
Versatile Internal Cable Routing
Disc Brake Compatible
Dropper Post Compatible
Fender mounts
1X or 2X Compatible
Available last week of November in the USA – and hopefully not long after in the UK. As for Brexit-influenced prices? Here you go:
The frame and Enve ‘cross fork will be: £2099
Frames and complete bikes will come in 49, 53, 55, 58 and 61cm sizes. (Interestingly, the bigger three sizes have had their headtube angle steepened a little to return a little zip and pop to the ride.)
Complete bikes will start at £3349 for either a 700C or 650B build with SRAM Rival. Di2 builds in either wheel size will be £6099 and bikes will be available from ibiscycles.co.uk though they have yet to appear on the site. In the meantime, feast your eyes and your shopping list on: ibiscycles.com/bikes/hakka_mx/
