1995 Ibis Titanium Road
Ibis was one of the first to offer bicycle frames built with butted titanium tubing, which grew out of a close affiliation with Gary Helfrich of Arctos and Merlin fame. The unique tubes came from a collaboration with Ancotech in Detroit, MI who supplied the raw material and drew the tubes. The result was a tube set that was internally butted with a 2:1 wall thickness ratio between the midsection and the ends where the welding took place. The tubing was used to make both mountain bike and road bike frames with tapered chainstays and seatstays. Up to this point, titanium bicycle tubing was mainly titanium electrical conduit for aircraft applications. This particular bike is from an early production run, with a radical-at-the-time sloping toptube that was later abandoned for a more conventional horizontal toptube. The bike weighs a bit over 16 pounds.
The Build
Year: 1995
S/N: 4565 Frame: Ibis Titanium Fork: Alpha Q Sub Pro Stem: Ibis Titanium Headset: Star Industries Bottom Bracket: Sweet Parts Cartridge Bearing Handlebar: 3T Forma SL Shifters: Shimano Dura Ace 7700 Front Derailleur: Shimano Dura Ace 7700 Rear Derailleur: Shimano Dura Ace 7700 Brake Levers: Shimano Dura Ace 7700 Front Brake: Shimano Dura Ace 7700 Rear Brake: Shimano Dura Ace 7700 Crankset: Sweet Parts Sweetwings Chainrings: Shimano Dura Ace 39-53 Pedals: Speedplay X-2 Hubs: American Classic Rims: American Classic Sprint 350 Tires: Continential 4 Season Grand Prix Wheel QR: Control Tech Race Lite Seatpost: Moots Titanium Saddle: Selle Italia Flite Bar Tape: Deda Cogs: Shimano Dura Ace 7700 Chain: Shimano Dura Ace 7700 Bottle Cage: King Titanium |