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").
