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This week MtnBikeRiders received a new carbon hardtail from Ibex Bikes, their Maroc 26, for testing and review. The frame is a stealth black/grey with the carbon weaving visibly bleeding through in a few places for a nice visual affect. Here is the build spec and geometry from Ibex.

2011 – Maroc 26 Specifications
Frame: Carbon Fiber 3K Internal Cabling for Shifters
Fork: Rock Shox Reba RLT Tapered 100mm Travel
Shifters: SRAM X-9
Front Derailleur: SRAM X-9
Rear Derailleur: SRAM X-9 Carbon
Crankset: SRAM X-9 2spd (28/42T) BB30 175mm
Cassette: SRAM 10-Speed (12-36T)
Chain: SRAM PC1051
Brakes: Avid Elixer CR Rotors F185/R160
Rims: WTB Speed Disc Cross Country
Hubs: WTB Laser Disc Lite
Tires: WTB Wolverine 2.1 Team, XC 120tpi
Headset: FSA #42/ACB
Cockpit Set: RaceFace
Saddle: WTB Rocket V
Pedals: None

2011 – Maroc 26 Geometry
Frame Size: 20.9″
Head Angle:69.5°
Seat-Tube Angle: 73°
Effective Top-Tube Length: 24.2″
Chain-Stay Length: 16.7″
BB Height: 11.73″
Offset (mm): 40mm
Wheelbase: 43.6″
Stand over: 30.9″
Crankarm Length: 175mm
Stem Size: 6°x110mm

I want to start by pointing out the things that Ibex does not list in their spec. It also include Raceface carbon bars (appox 670-680mm – a little narrow by my tastes, but still effective), Raceface carbon seatpost, and internal derailleur routing, which you can see in the first pic. Out of the box the bike weighted in at 23lb 5oz. I put on pedals, bottle cage, and Ergon grips which are in the photos.

The Maroc came with the Elixir brakes with dual mount for the brake levers and shifters. Also on the bars is a remote for the fork lock-out. This will be my first time with the shifter/brake lever dual mount system. It didn’t lend itself to my more esoteric positioning I normally run in my cockpit, but I don’t foresee it being a big problem either.

With SRAM X-9 drivetrain the Maroc won’t be a slacker with it comes to shifting on the trail. The all around component build is absolutely solid.

A fork with a lockout is a must for me, and the Maroc also includes a fork remote on the bars.

There are a couple geometry things that caught my attention right away before looking at the specs. First the head angle is a bit slack for a hardtail at 69.5°. I’ll definitely make use of that on the downhill. And the second was that the top tube was on the shorter end from what I’m used to (ETT 24.2″). This just seems to tell me that this is a more all-a-round geometry rather than race oriented. The frame looks solid with a down-tube that is a nice thick, almost octagonal shape. I look forward to putting the it through its paces in the upcoming weeks.

If anyone has any questions about the Maroc, just leave a comment.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Titus Rockstar on the XC loop

On Saturday afternoon Tim & I took out a couple of Titus’s on the XC loop (about 18 miles and almost 3k feet of climbing). I grabbed a Titus Rockstar. The Rockstar is Titus’s full suspension 29er with 100mm of travel. It comes equipped with all the new stuff including the tapered headtube, hydroformed front triangle along with a beefy carbon rear.

Aluminum front triangle with a nice low standover height and nice graphics/color

Our short ride netted me just a few thoughts on the bike: the suspension is very active. On climbs and on downhill sections the horst link was active even when locked out. I really enjoyed the plush sensation on the downhills and although plush, the carbon rear end still felt stiff and strong. The carbon rear is really quite thick which I am sure increases stiffness.

Carbon rear triangle was nice and stiff

The Rockstar climbed very well with the caveat that the suspension was moving even with propedal engaged. This could also be a matter of set up as the rider before me was “about” my weight so I didn’t touch the shock. The XC trail loop at Sea Otter does not have any particularly technical climbs but it did have some nice singletrack climbing which the Rockstar did great on. There was a little front lift on the climbs but not enough that better pedaling form couldn’t fix.

Nicely executed Horst link suspension and the white is HOT

And if you’re a fan of the old Racer-X geometry, the Rockstar can be setup to handle that way. For the Rockstar Titus slackened out the head angle for a more stable ride, but this Rockstar used a low handlebar setup which lent a “Racer-X”-ish feel. I had no quibbles with this either way as I enjoyed the snappy handling.

About the only negative with the bike is the choice of tires which did not work well for the trails around Sea Otter. The Mountain Kings hampered my confidence to rail the bike on turns and through the singletrack.

For more info on the Titus 2010 Rockstar, click here.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Santa Cruz has gone carbon with their new Nomad. With the success of their Blur & Tallboy models, it should be no surprise that the Nomad was next. Some pictures for you.

Sana Cruz Nomad Carbon

One current Nomad rider was oggling this beauty. I was too. Check out the compression molded carbon links.

upper link

lower link

Popularity: 3% [?]

Sea Otter Twenty Ten presented Jer and I with a world of carbon framed bikes. One striking design was the Titus Racer X Carbon with its “X” shaped frame and its modified four bar suspension design. Designed as a pure XC race bike designed for those racers not looking to get beat up by the common Scandium framed hard tail and still looking for a stiff, efficient frame that can take the edge off the rough stuff. Titus was represented in a big way with lots of demo bikes available to the public and media to ride on the buff trails of Monterey.

I demo’d the Carbon “X” with a mid level build kit. As with any bike, set up is quite a personalized thing. The cockpit was certainly not set up for me and the tire choice did not suit me at all. The demo bike came set up with a negative rise stem and a riser bar, weird. Tire choice on the demo were Continental Mountain King, I’ve ridden these tires before and do not like them. These are all personalized items and I will focus just on the frame and its qualities.

The bike was extremely light, no official figures were available but if I had to guess I would say it was around 24-25 lbs. First thing I noticed was how it accelerated. The bike would move forward with no hesitation with each pedal stroke. Climbing was easily accomplished with the rear suspension maintaining traction at all times even with the very worn Mountain Kings. While climbing I did notice the front wheel was very light and would easily lose contact with the ground. Could be the frame was slightly to small for me or just the overall set up. Descending scared me with the cockpit setup, negative rise stem and riser bar; I was too far over the front wheel. One section we took was a very sandy descent with many stair steps; Ya I took it slow.

Overall the bike was very stiff, light and efficient with very little bobing but it was there. The trails around Sea Otter are pretty smooth with very little rocks; unlike what I am use to with our very rocky San Gabriel / So Cal trails. I really need to get a long term demo and set it up for me and my riding preferences. I wouldn’t recommend running out and buying this bike w/o first demoing it and having it set up for you. This bike is race specific and shouldn’t be the only bike you own unless you are a racer only and have no need for a trail bike. In my opinion, there are bikes out there can hang with the “X” on the race course and be allot more versatile on the trails with your buddies.

Popularity: 2% [?]

… and will be offering a VPP 29er.

No worries. We forgive yah. Now, some clarification is in order with regards to this line:

It’ll weigh a whole lot less than some other bikes of similar configuration.

Should I be holding out hope for a carbon VPP 29er? Santa Cruz already has a beautiful carbon Blur XC & LT and there is word out a carbon Nomad is in the works. Could a carbon 29er be coming to the party as well? Do that and Santa Cruz will go from no entries into 29er land to starting a new category of 29ers, the Full Suspension Carbon 29er. Now that’d be a huge splash.

Click here to read the announcement from Santa Cruz. Props to Wey for the link.

Popularity: 7% [?]