For the most part, big brands have stopped unveiling new bikes at trade shows – but that doesn’t mean you can’t still find the occasional bicycle shaped Easter egg. One of the biggest trends this year in terms of gravel bikes seems to be the dropped chain stay. Because of that, I had my eye out for all the new bikes which met that criteria. But when I saw a bike in the KS booth that I didn’t recognize, it led to the discovery of what appears to be a completely new bike from Ibis Cycles.
With the Ibis Hakkalügi disc based solidly around cyclocross racing, it would make sense that the company would offer a new platform that was more focused on the growing gravel trend. Wearing the ‘Häkka MX’ badge on its top tube, additional graphics on the seat tube suggest that the MX stands for Monster Cross which makes sense given the huge tires.
Fitted with 27.5 x 2.1″ Schwalbe Thunder Burt tires on their own 735 wheels with 29mm internal, the Häkka MX has gobs of tire clearance for whatever tire platform you choose to run. The Ibis ‘Handjob’ makes a triumphant return, though this time it serves as an upper fender mount rather than a cable housing stop. It also appears to be removable so if you’re offended by the idea or just don’t want to run fenders, you can avoid the Handjob.
Up front, the bike runs an ENVE fork with post mount disc brakes, but the frame runs flat mounts in the rear with thru axles at both ends.
Running internal cable routing, the bike appears to have both mechanical and electronic drivetrain compatibility with additional room to run a stealth dropper post. There’s also a large access port on the down tube which could be for battery storage (so you can still run a dropper), and access to the cable routing. Shown with a 1x drivetrain, the frame looks like it has front derailleur abilities as well with a small exit port for a cable on the massive BB cluster which houses a threaded bottom bracket.
As this bike was in the KS booth, it was fitted with a Zeta dropper post, though it wasn’t hooked up to a remote. But we’re told the frame should accommodate an internal dropper which is good news.
Along with the Handjob mount, the frame features removable fender mounts at the dropout as well as a replaceable derailleur hanger.
Suffice it to say, this was one of the most exciting bikes at the show, and one that most probably completely overlooked. Hopefully we’ll get some more info soon, and first rides not long after!
