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Bow-Ti
You don't wear this Bow-Ti to formal occasions, unless screaming downhill off-road or digging into a hard climb is your idea of formality.

The Bow-Ti name describes the frame concept - a titanium rear suspension which gives 12.7cm (5") of travel without a pivot in sight, with a frame weight of 2.2kg (5lb) including the rear shock. Ibis describes the Bow-Ti as one of the most highly-evolved bicycles ever, drawing on exhaustive computer modelling and practical testing to prove the design. The result is a frame that uses twin head-tube to rear dropout 'bow-stays' that act as sprung members, soaking up the energy from bumps along their entire length and giving considerable vertical travel while minimising lateral play.

Scot Nicol, President and owner of California-based Ibis Cycles, needed some convincing, but backed Bow-Ti designer John Castellano's intuition about pivotless suspension and titanium?s qualities. The development programme was rigorous, building frames designed to break, so that the Ibis team would know where the stresses developed and where the frame needed strengthening. The testing programme for this hi-tech bike had a low-tech name: 'Riding the snot out of it'. They did find that no moving pivot means no maintenance. Ibis are keen to stress that no-compromise material specification (three grades of titanium alloy are used in this design, matching their properties to the situation) and testing means that the bow stays are loaded well within their limits. It'll bend, they say, but it won't break!

This strenuous development, and the use of costly materials make the Bow-Ti a premium product, but Ibis does aim to bring Bow-Ti technology to an affordable level.


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