Submitted by
Tony
a Weekend Warrior
from South of Atlanta Date Reviewed: January 29, 2004
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$600.00
Purchased At:
Direct from Distributor
Strengths:
More bang for your buck than anything out there! Incredible features list for the money. Beautiful metallic paint! Reasonably light at under 26lbs.
Weaknesses:
Be careful with the paint if you bang around in rocks. Stock rear shock (RST) can be on the weak and hard side for any serious riding. Service after the sale on a faulty Hayes Hydraulic brake system was none existent. I was told that they were fine, yet the front was low, and had a ton of air in it. The rear simply needed adjusting to get the caliper off of the rotor.
Bike Setup:
Alex TD-17 Disc Specific rims, Formula hubs, Kenda Koyote specific (F&R) tires, Rock Shox Duke C - 110mm, RST Rear, Full Shimano LX setup fronts and rears 27 speed, Shimano LX Mega 9's, Rapidfire shifters, Hollowteck Crank, Wellgo platforms (one side clipless) Cane Creek A-Headset, Velo Plush Pro Embroidered Leather saddle, Kalloy seatpost & stem, Azonic 1½" bar.
Bottom Line:
I lucked up and Jack at IBEX sold me an upgraded 2002 (in Summer 2003) with a very small ding on the downtube for what has to be his cost, or less. The crankset wasn't right out of the box but it's clear that it had never seen dirt. Everything else was brand new, including the frame which was damaged in shipping. (You have to really be looking to see the ding.)
For the 95%+ rider, you simply can't go wrong with the full suspension IBEX bikes. Even at their full selling prices! This is my first full suspension bike but surely will not be my last, especially from IBEX.
Now if you're into huge drops at breakneck speeds, serious trails (IE boulder bashing) then you need to spend huge money and go for triple frames. But if you're into casual, downhill, street and trail riding it's doubtfull that the IBEX products would ever fall short. So far we've only taken this thing on local trails, log hopping, and the like and it's always amazed everyone that's seen it.
Even at my LBS (where I had to take it with the brake problem when IBEX wouldn't fix it) they couldn't find bad words to say about it. The LBS owner had heard of IBEX but couldn't believe this bike, and for WELL under a grand! This is a place selling bikes with less features and cheaper components at two to three times the (regular) IBEX prices. To get a bike with the components that this one has you'll easily spend $2500 ~$3500.
Maybe not the toughest bike on the planet, but unless you are the toughest rider on the planet you can save your hard earned cash and buy two IBEX's so the wife can get some exercise as well. :-)
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jeremy
a
from Truckee Date Reviewed: July 31, 2002
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$1350.00
Purchased At:
ibexbikes.com
Strengths:
Incredible Componets for price.
Weaknesses:
Requires minor assembly upon receiving the bike. Can do it yourself, but the disc brakes need adjustments I was not familar with.
Similar Products Used:
Trek 7000
Bottom Line:
This bike is a great value for the price. You will most likly not find another similar bike with the same componets for any where near the price. I've rode the bike twice and I love it. The bike can only be purchased via the distributer, at exceptional savings. I ordered the bike Friday July 19 and received a week later on Friday the 26th. If you are looking for an upper end full suspension bike, thats well rounded for all styles of riding, you can't go wrong with this bike. The ride is great and all the componets fuction well together. Take time to check it out at the manufactors web site.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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