Ibis Tranny 29 Announced: Pardon Me While I Whoop and Holler
A Note from Fatty: I know it’s unusual for me to post twice in a day, but I needed to today. I just posted my review of Phil Gaimon’s Pro Cycling on $10 a Day: From Fat Kid to Euro Pro today. OK? Meanwhile, I just have to talk about this bike. Have to.
About two years ago I was talking with the founder of Ibis, Chuck Ibis (known in real life as Scot Nicol). I was telling him that I missed having an Ibis for mountain biking, but that I’m a hardtail guy. A 29er guy. And, increasingly frequently, a singlespeed guy.
“We’re working on something for you,” he said, conspiratorially. “A bike you’re going to love. You’ll be able to set it up as a geared 29er hardtail. Or as a singlespeed, just as easily. Or even with a Gates carbon belt drivetrain. It’s going to be so light, it’s going to be so versatile. It’s going to be your new favorite mountain bike. It could be your only mountain bike.”
“I want one,” I said. “How soon?”
“Stay in touch,” Chuck said. “We want to get it perfect.”
And I have. Relentlessly. For two years I have texted Chuck at least once or twice a month. “Got a picture for me? Got a date? When can I have this bike?”
“We’re still working on it,” Chuck said, over and over. And over.
And then, a couple weeks ago, he sent a couple pictures. “Show these to nobody.”
Here’s what he sent me:
And this:
“MUST. HAVE. NOW,” I texted him.
“It’s on its way to the US right now,” he told me. “Then some quality control checks. Then you can have one.”
“It’s called the Tranny 29?”
“Yep.”
I confessed to being slightly disappointed by this. I had lobbied to have the bike named “Clyde,” my middle name (and also one of the Pac Man ghosts).
But this is a minor thing. A thing I can live with. And also, I can have decals made for mine.
Meet My (Your) New Bike
Over the weekend, Chuck told me they were going to be announcing the Tranny 29 today. Like, now. And that this is what it looks like set up as a single:
Or geared:
Chuck also pointed out that Jefe Branham had actually — the day before the planned Tranny 29 release — just won the Tour Divide on a Tranny 29. And that they had made a video just before Jefe had started the race. Here:
The Part That Excites Me
The Tranny 29 is a good-looking bike. And it’s an Ibis, so you know for sure it’s going to ride beautifully.
Those are things to be excited about, sure.
But it’s the rear triangle that makes all the difference to me. Its clever design makes it so you can break down and transport the bike a lot more easily than most mountain bikes.
And (for me, more importantly) it also solves a problem most singlespeeders have — or have had — for pretty much ever: chain tension.
See, when you don’t have a rear derailleur to tension your bike chain, you’ve got to do it some other way. For other bikes, this happens either at the bottom bracket, or at the dropout.
If you go with the dropout method, it means moving the rear wheel back to give it tension, which means adjusting the brakes and centering the wheel…and, at some point, probably having your wheel slip in the dropout.
Or if your bike has an eccentric bottom bracket, it means rotating the bottom bracket shell to give the chain tension. And I have never ever seen a bike using this method that doesn’t start creaking horribly at some point.
So I’m excited about the Ibis solution. You see that bolt down there by the crank?
That’s called the “slot machine.” You loosen that bolt and one more at the top of the seat stay, lengthen the chainstay to tension the chain, and tighten it down. Easy.
Meanwhile, the wheel, its centered-ness and its position relative to the brake calipers remain rock-solid and unchanged, thanks to the 142mm Maxle rear axle.
My Plans Have Changed
Would it surprise you to know that I have a Tranny 29 on order? No? Oh, you know me so well.
And would it surprise you to know that I have a SRAM XX1 drivetrain on order, too? Which means I’ll be able to change this bike from a geared to a singlespeed ridiculously easily? Like, almost on a whim?
No?
Well, would it surprise you to know that I also have a Gates Carbon Belt Drive setup on order, too, since—by virtue of the ability to remove the rear triangle—this bike is beltable?
OK, I bet that was a little bit of a surprise.
And how about this: I’m changing my Leadville Trail 100 registration. Where I was going to go geared this year, I think it’s time—based of course on whether I love this bike as much as Chuck thinks I will—for me to singlespeed this course on the bike I’ve been wishing for for about two years.
Excited? Yeah, I guess you could say I’m excited.
PS: Count on a real-time as-it’s-built post in the near future.
Comment by Rob L | 06.30.2014 | 9:39 am
I hope you ordered a spare belt or two. The quiet is nice but eventually they do just break. Make a nice tow strap I hear. :)
Comment by Geo | 06.30.2014 | 9:48 am
I hope that when you ordered you accidentally put my address down for shipping instead of your own.
Comment by New Zealand Ev | 06.30.2014 | 9:54 am
Awesome!!!
Comment by davidh-Marin,ca | 06.30.2014 | 10:18 am
Wife#1 Can I have one too?
Comment by Heidi | 06.30.2014 | 10:29 am
A transformer bike!
Comment by Libby | 06.30.2014 | 10:43 am
Davidh, while I’m not your wife#1, I am a #1 wife of a man who just won another bike so I’m giving you permission to get one for yourself.
Comment by cyclingjimbo | 06.30.2014 | 11:00 am
@Libby, you rock! Can you please tell my #1 wife that I need one, too?
This looks like one awesoome bike, and we are all drooling in envy. We’ll be needing a full report once the bike is delivered and set up.
Comment by Jeff Bike | 06.30.2014 | 11:12 am
I was expecting an enjoyable book review and LOOK what the cat dragged in!
Now I see a thing of beauty.
What a treat. I’ll wait for the book report for such a nice surprise.
Comment by Sam | 06.30.2014 | 11:21 am
As suspected, you are actually made of $$$$, and not meat.
Comment by ScottR | 06.30.2014 | 11:43 am
I don’t think it would work, height-wise, but put me in the long line for Fatty’s bike hand-me-downs :-)
Very pretty stuff.
Comment by fatguyonalittle | 06.30.2014 | 12:10 pm
Very Cool… forgive me… but what gearing do you run the Leadville 100 on a singlespeed? i can’t get it right for my local trail let alone an Epic like Leadville…
PS… Chains break too… a lot…
Comment by Wife#1 | 06.30.2014 | 12:35 pm
That’s it… I’ve had it with you people… I’m getting back into horses… who knew it would be cheaper in the long run? Sheesh.
@ScotNicol… since I am not on track to earn my “black lung” and hot pink Ripley, maybe you can do that color scheme for Fatty instead because he would ROCK a black and pink bike like nobody’s business?
Just saying.
BTW – while this bike does look truly phenomenal (which does not surprise me at all since it’s coming from Ibis), if this ends up being Fatty’s only mountain bike, I’ll give up pie. Forever.
Not giving up my Hakkalugi though. Ever.
Comment by MikeL | 06.30.2014 | 1:01 pm
Filler content. Fatty must be trying to finish Gaimon’s book in order to write the review.
@Wife#1: As a former endurance horse racer and other horse related coompetitor I can guarantee that unless you go low end horses are not cheaper. That is why my first wife and I ride bikes now.
Comment by Al Pastor | 06.30.2014 | 1:01 pm
Why are they calling it Tranny? I hear this is rather offensive to the trans folks.
Comment by Wife#1 | 06.30.2014 | 1:12 pm
@MikeL… it ain’t cheap for sure, especially having to board, but pleasure only riding is much less than competitive riding.
And… it depends on the bike stable. ;-)
Comment by centurion | 06.30.2014 | 1:13 pm
Just who is going to swap the drivetrains around?
Comment by Doug (Way upstate NY) | 06.30.2014 | 1:46 pm
Fatty thanks so much for getting us this bike. That’s very generous of you. When can we expect them in the mail?
Wonder if TD will be a single speed effort on your end……. :)
Comment by ColoradoXJ13 | 06.30.2014 | 1:47 pm
Today seems to be the day that this blog jumped the shark.
Comment by Christina | 06.30.2014 | 2:17 pm
I’d like a belt, please.
Comment by Jeremy | 06.30.2014 | 5:57 pm
I’ve got to get on your hand-me-down list. Jeez.
Comment by Tom V | 06.30.2014 | 6:45 pm
Ibis knows who to pick and how to present a bike to the market! Jefe Branham crushed it on this bike, the guy is a beast and it held up over 2700 miles.
Comment by davidh-Marin,ca | 06.30.2014 | 10:01 pm
@Libby….. Thank you, thank you very much.
Comment by Libby | 06.30.2014 | 10:22 pm
Davidh- no problem, I can spend other people’s money like nobody’s business.
Cyclingjimbo- just let your #1 wife know that Steve’s #1 wife says it’s ok for you to get another bike. (see comment in previous sentence).
Comment by JamMasterJay | 07.1.2014 | 2:36 pm
I think the model name is pretty offensive.
Comment by Libby | 07.1.2014 | 8:36 pm
JamMasterJay, only offensive if you want it to be. Since it is a mode of transportation “Tranny” fits very well. Tranny is the nickname for a transmission, as in, “my tranny died and I’ll have to have it rebuilt so I have to use my cool Ibis “Tranny” mountain bike to get to work”.
Comment by 26er | 07.2.2014 | 1:21 pm
Where is it pretty exactly!!? There’s no such thing as a good loking 29r.
Pingback by Fat Cyclist » Blog Archive » 2014 Rockwell Relay Race Report, Part 8: Werewolf | 07.2.2014 | 1:59 pm
[...] a suspension fork, cranks, and more from SRAM. You have no idea how excited I am for this bike, but my post from earlier this week might give you a sense of my [...]
Pingback by Fat Cyclist » Blog Archive » Fatty’s 2014 Leadville 100 Bike: The Ibis Tranny 29 | 08.4.2014 | 9:32 am
[...] being a chatterbox. But the truth is, I’m great at keeping secrets. The case in point is that I have known about the development of the Ibis Tranny 29 for a couple years, and kept it to myself (and am evidently the only person [...]