Staff Bike Check: Tom’s Ibis HD6

Dirt School Coach, Tweed Valley Bikes Guide, shop mechanic and bike builder, Tom is also an incredibly enthusiastic bike rider, at home on everything from freeride jump lines to the steepest trails out there. Coming to his new Ibis from a few years of riding other long travel bikes, he's once again gone with a full 'enduro' style bike for the year ahead though the HD6 will by some distance be the lightest and most well rounded bike he's had in recent times. Over to Tom for his take.

"As a Coach and Guide in the Tweed Valley, I need a bike that can not only dole out heaps of traction and confidence on the plethora of steep and technical trails that are such a landmark of the riding here, but also one that is efficient on the pedals and able to cover distance comfortably; one of the greatest attributes of the Tweed Valley is the ability to link up different enduro locations using old singletrack or walking trails. 

I rode a Ripmo V2 a few years ago and one of the things that really stuck with me after that ride was the ease at which you could gain back elevation. I started describing it as the easiest bike to climb that’s still capable of riding anything you point it at, a point proven by its success on the World Enduro circuit. So when the time came to decide on a new bike, it was a tough choice between the new Ripmo V3, or the HD6. After a lot of back and forth, what won me over to the HD6 was chiefly the increase in travel, along with a slightly longer wheelbase and slacker head angle. With 165mm of rear travel, a 180mm fork and MX wheels, the HD6 is Ibis’ purebred enduro race bike, designed and tested around the races of the Enduro World Cup. Knowing that both bikes would pedal well made the decision to take on the burlier chassis an easier one; much as I prefer the faster, more technical trails, I don’t want the journey to them to be a chore.

I stand at just a little over 6ft tall, around 183cm, which puts me right between sizes XM and L. After poring over geometry charts I settled on the smaller of the two sizes, XM. Over the years, in the fortunate position to test ride a decent few different bikes, I’ve found that I prefer a reach of somewhere between 475mm - 485mm. At 480mm the XM sits right in my preferred bracket, while the leap up to a Large puts the reach at 508mm. In flatter, more open terrain I might have opted for the larger of the two sizes, but flat and open are not two words that really describe the Tweed Valley. The slightly shorter front end makes it easier to keep the front wheel weighted on steeper trails and demands less body movement to maintain a centred and balanced body position. 

Building up the HD6 was a pleasure, it’s a high quality full carbon frame with little details obviously thought through thoroughly. Things like smoothly guided internal cable routing and nicely integrated chainstay and linkage protectors give the frame a really clean aesthetic, with rubber protectors only where they’re needed, nowhere else. Ibis claim a frame and shock weight of 3.5kg in a size large with a Fox Float X2, impressively lightweight for an enduro bike proven on the world stage. With a build specced for descending performance and reliability above all else, the full bike tips the scales at a very respectable 17.35kg. 

To make the most of the HD6’s 165mm of rear travel, Ibis spec a Fox Factory Float X2 rear shock and Fox Factory 38 fork with 180mm of travel. With both fork and shock featuring high and low speed adjustment over compression and rebound, there’s a huge amount of scope to change the feel of the bike. On initial setup I mirrored the settings from my previous bikes fork, also a 38, across to the HD6 and set the rear sag to around 25%. 

With the fork pumped up to 95psi and the shock sitting at 195psi I headed out for the first ride. I felt comfortable on the bike straight away, but couldn’t quite shake the feeling that I wasn’t getting the most out of it; a feeling that was made real when looking at the o-rings on the suspension showing I’d only made use of about 75% of the travel front and rear. Dropping pressures down to 82psi in the fork and 185psi in the rear let the bike really start to track the ground and the level of traction went through the roof. The DW-Link rear suspension is significantly more progressive than previous bikes I’ve ridden, the bike feels plush and smooth over small bumps, yet I’ve not had a harsh bottom out. Ibis provides an excellent suspension setup chart on their website, giving suggestions for pressure, damping and spacers. I have ended up very close to their suggested settings for pressure and spacers but currently I have less damping than they suggest. I’ll continue to experiment with the setup, but for now my current settings are:

Fork: 82psi, 1 spacer, LSC: 6, HSC: 1, LSR: 6, HSR: 1 (all clicks counted from open)

Shock: 185psi, 2 spacers, LSC: 10, HSC: 1, LSR: 11, HSR: 1 (all clicks counted from open)

The parts list for my HD6 was designed with two things in mind, minimising workshop time and maximising performance on enduro trails. Beginning with brakes, I chose Hope Tech 4 V4 brakes which clamp onto 200mm Hope floating rotors front and rear. Power and control are both huge with these brakes, with the ease of modulation probably my favourite feature about them; a close second being the bite point adjustment which makes a very noticeable difference. I find I’m locking up wheels far less thanks to the easy to control power and I never feel like I have to squeeze them particularly hard to get the level of braking I want. 

Rolling stock are an MX pair of Hope Fortus 30 SC rims laced onto their Pro 5 hubs. Unlike the regular Fortus rims, which feature internal ribs within the rim cavity to increase strength, the SC (single cavity) rims forgo these internal ribs, decreasing rotational weight while still being strong enough for trail and enduro riding. As the name suggests, the rims have an internal width of 30mm making them ideal for the current crop of tyres designed around this rim width. 

Hope’s Pro 5 hubs use a redesigned freehub seal with almost no drag and have 108 engagement points, up from 44 on the Pro 4. Aside from everything else, these hubs sound and feel built to last. Everything is easily rebuildable and I’m confident service intervals will be just as long as every other Hope hub. With so many points of engagement, the dead stroke in the hub is very small and ratcheting up technical climbs is made easier. 

The wheels are shod with Maxxis rubber, an Assegai up front and a DHRII on the rear. Both tyres are in the enduro spec DoubleDown casing with the softest MaxxGrip compound at the front and longer lasting MaxxTerra out back. Pressures are typically around 22-23psi up front and 24-26psi at the rear, with an insert in the rear tyre. Both of these tyres are so versatile that it’s feasible to leave them on year round, however I’ll be testing a High Roller on the front for the really wet and loose rides.

Spinning the wheels along are a Shimano XT drivetrain and a pair of Hope EVO cranks fitted with a Burgtec 32t chainring. The 12 speed 10-51t cassette gives plenty of range and shifts are crisp and precise every time. Hope offer their EVO cranks in lengths from 175mm all the way down to 135mm, and choosing crank length was one of the harder decisions to make. I ended up going slightly shorter than the standard 170mm and specced 165mm cranks on my HD6. I’ve really noticed the small bit of extra clearance they’ve given me and the slightly narrower stance feels solid.

Burgtec Penthouse MK5 B-Rage Edition have quickly become my favourite flat pedals. Built on the proven internals of the regular Penthouse MK5, the B-Rage Editions use a much larger platform with a higher count of larger diameter pins. Traction is incredible and, on my size 10 feet, the larger platform is much more supportive, locking my feet in place. 

At the helm I’ve chosen a Burgtec RideWide alloy handlebar with 30mm of rise. Having experimented fairly heavily with narrow bars I’m now interested to try a slightly wider bar, currently running at 770mm wide. For the vast majority of the time these feel great but, as accustomed as I am to narrow bars, there are a few narrow pinches between trees where I keep clipping a bar. Whether this will fade in time as I relearn my bike placement, time will tell. I just need to resist the urge to go down slightly narrower until then. A Burgtec Enduro mk3 stem in 50mm length gives me just a touch extra front end length and helps keep my weight over the front wheel.

A pair of Burgtec Bartender Pro Josh Bryceland grips finish off the front end of the bike. These grips are unique in Burgtec’s range in that the plastic lock-on core has sections removed along the length of the grip. This gives the grips a more damped feeling, with rubber all the way down to the bar giving a push on feel to the grip. These cutouts, along with the super soft rubber compound make these some of the comfiest grips I’ve used, definitely a new favourite. 

All the descending prowess in the world is no good if you can’t pedal to the trails. Keeping the saddle up where I need it, and out of the way when I don’t, is a 210mm OneUp V3 dropper. Having used OneUp posts for years, this is now a no brainer decision. With the best drop to overall post length ratio on the market, long service intervals and easy servicing these are as close to fit and forget as I think you can get for a dropper post. 

I’ve now had a good number of rides on the HD6 and am starting to feel really at home on the bike. It’s amazingly efficient on the climbs, easily out performing its travel category on uphill efforts. It’s on the descents though where the HD6 has impressed me most. Now I’m set up on the suspension properly, the level of traction it claws from the ground is really impressive and the stability over rough chatter keeps things feeling calm. It's long enough to be stable at speed and encourages you to stay off the brakes but the short rear end lets you stuff the bike into little pockets on the trail. It can go from feeling balanced and unflappable to playful and agile just by how you approach the trail."

Curious to try an Ibis yourself? Drop us a line and we'll see if we can get you aboard an HD6 or a Ripmo.

Tom’s Ibis HD6 full spec

Frame: Ibis HD6, size XM

Fork: Fox Factory 38; 82psi, 1 spacer, LSC: 6, HSC: 1, LSR: 6, HSR: 1 (all clicks counted from open)

Shock: Fox Factory Float X2; 185psi, 2 spacers, LSC: 10, HSC: 1, LSR: 11, HSR: 1 (all clicks counted from open)

Wheels: Hope Fortus 30 SC MX

Tyres: Front; Maxxis Assegai, DoubleDown, MaxxGrip, 22-23psi. Rear; Maxxis DHRII, DoubleDown, MaxxTerra, 24-26psi, insert fitted. 

Brakes: Hope Tech4 V4, 200mm floating rotors front and back, Hope purple pads

Cranks: Hope EVO cranks, 165mm

Drivetrain: Burgtec 32t chainring, Shimano XT 10-51t cassette, Shimano XT rear mech and shifter

Pedals: Burgtec Penthouse MK5 B-Rage Edition

Handlebar: Burgtec RideWide alloy, 35mm clamp, 30mm rise, cut to 770mm

Stem: Burgtec Enduro MK3, 35mm clamp, 50mm reach

Grips: Burgtec Bartender Pro Josh Bryceland, super soft compound

Dropper: OneUp Dropper V3, 34.9mm, 210mm drop

Seatclamp: Burgtec seatclamp