1985 Ibis Custom

Scot Nicol was one of the earliest mountain bikers in Northern California and apprentice to legendary frame builder Charlie Cunningham. He founded Ibis Bicycles in his garage in 1981 when a friend asked him to build a frame. They built innovative bikes through the 90s and had a unique personality. For example, while many companies gave their steel bike tubing sophisticated names (Columbus had "Genius" tubing), Nicol and Ibis called their tubing "Moron" - more on the ends for strength, and less in the middle to keep the bikes lightweight (a.k.a. "butted tubing").