Dream Bike(s) Part I

Considering my passion (more like obsession) for mountain bikes, I can't believe my last post about them has been more than a year and a half ago!

I posted previously about the Santa Cruz Nomad as THE bike for me. Well, much has transpired between then and now, and I have to say there's a new full susser that has caught my fancy.

After reading through numerous posts on the pros and cons of Santa Cruz's Virtual Pivot Point (VPP) at MTBR.com, I've finally discovered something, I believe, is more special.

Enter the dw-link, named after its inventor Dave Weagle. For the lowdown, click on the link.

Suffice to say, it was the testimonies on MTBR.com that convinced me of dw-link's superiority over other suspension systems. I'd love to get a chance to test ride a dw-link bike, but alas, none of the bikes that feature it have local dealers. It goes without saying that Dave himself is a pretty cool guy. What I admire most about him are his down-to-earth nature, modesty and overall passion for his work. Click here for one of his more well-known (at least on the web) interviews. It outlines his background and how he started in the bike industry. You'll understand my assessment of him by the way he answers the interviewers questions.

So much for the intro, lets get to the bikes...
Only a couple of bike companies currently license the dw-link technology: Iron Horse and Ibis. Another bike maker, Independent Fabrication, licensed dw-link for their Tungsten Electrode. But they either discontinued it or it never made it to production.

Ibis decided to utilize the dw-link for their flagship "comeback" mountain bike, even naming the bike after one of their legendary models, the Mojo. The new Mojo Carbon has got big shoes to fill...I lusted after this bike for a while, but finally decided I'd wait for carbon fibre tech to develop some more. Although reviews of the first owners show the Mojo Carbon has a lot going for it. Check out the MTBR.com reviews page and the Ibis forum. Look specifically for derby's posts. He's very passionate about his Mojo. (On a side note, derby is one of my favorite posters on MTBR.com).

Next post: by current fave bike(s) ;-)