Ibis Hakka MX gravel bike: Review

With all the hype around gravel bikes recently, it's perfectly understandable why you may be rolling your eyes at the thought of adding yet another miracle-bike to your quiver. So let's cut to the chase: If for some horrible reason I had to choose to keep just one bike in my own quiver (which includes high-end versions of a road bike, XC mountain bike, fat bike, single-speed, and now a gravel bike), it'd be the gravel bike without question. It's like buying a dual-sport motorcycle and I consider it my Tenere 700 of bicycles: not the fastest on the pavement or most capable in the extreme technical, but a perfect compromise for adventures and exploration.

I'm late to the gravel-bike craze but not new to riding gravel, having gotten into the dirty side of cycling back in 1987 when I first tried mountain biking in France, of all places. (At the time, road-riding was king and mountain biking was still only gaining a foothold in North America.) Of course, there was cycle-cross, and die-hard roadies were also no stranger to cobbled roads in the European race scene. But bikes for the rough stuff at the time were mostly steel or aluminum-framed, wheels were skinny and so was the rubber, and frame geometry was dominated by the hunched-over aero posture of the roadie world. Compared with today's purpose-built and finely-tuned machines, yesterday's bikes offer little in terms of comfort, handling, and performance on rough surfaces. Good riddance as far as I'm concerned! 

Enter Ibis Bicycles out of Santa Cruz, California. Unlike industry giants such as Trek and Specialized, Ibis and its mere dozen or so employees are well down into the boutique-brand category. But their pedigree reaches back to the very origins of mountain biking and they've justly earned a reputation for creating ground-breaking designs that encapsulate passion, and perform as exquisitely well as they look. At Ibis, innovation is incremental and thoughtful. They meticulously refine their designs and details to truly enhance the enjoyment of riding, rather than follow the latest flashy trends.

The Hakka MX carbon frame with the matching Enve carbon fork is Ibis's only gravel offering and the only one they need to offer since it is capable of bike-packing as well. In choosing this frame I'd also considered options from Norco, Cervelo, and a few other brands. I ruled those out because I wanted a threaded bottom bracket, and many of the other brands have recently moved to press-fit because it's easier to manufacturer. For my purposes, I don't see practical benefits to a press-fit bottom bracket, and in fact it's more of a detriment in terms of maintainability. Choosing a threaded design reduced my options considerably, but fortunately the Hakka MX is a solid choice by any measure. 

While it's not the lightest frame set available (mine runs just over 1000 g in 58 cm), it's extremely solid and that's what I wanted given I'm 87 kg and tend to ride hard. Ibis offers a decent build kit around Shimano's new GRX group, but I worked with a local bike shop (Phat Moose - thanks guys!) to create a my own custom build which actually ended up being cheaper and lighter (the complete bike weighs 9.15kg or 20.1 lbs, which is quite respectable): 

• Easton EA90 Cinch crankset, 1 x 11 with 40T chainring  
• Wheels Manufacturing T47 bottom bracket
• Shimano GRX RD-RX812 rear derailleur with CS-M8000 11 speed 11-40T cassette
• Shimano GRX RX810 hydraulic disc brakes and levers
• Easton EX70 bar stem (80mm, 7º) and EC70 AX carbon bar (46cm)
• Race Face Next carbon seat post and WTB Volt saddle
• DT Swiss 350 MTB hubs with XM401 700cc x 22.5mm rims and DT Competition spokes
• Panaracer Gravel King SK 700x43mm tubeless tires

Although this is my first experience with 11-speed, I've been running 1x on my fat bike and mountain bike (Santa Cruz Tallboy) for years and have not felt the need to reinstall a front derailleur. Unless your consistently tackling extremely steep terrain, I've found modern cassettes to offer plenty of range for a 1x setup. If anything, I could use higher gearing for speed, and on the Hakka I indeed ended up swapping the 40T front ring for a 44T, since that was cheaper than replacing the cassette. This allowed me to run the chain one cog lower on the cassette, keeping the chainline more centered for the bulk of my riding at 30-35km/hr. With the 40T, I was usually running in 9th and 10th on the cassette, and I was concerned about accelerated wearing those positions.

The GRX shifts far lighter and smoother than the 1998-era, 9-speed DuraAce on my road bike. The levers have a broad, flat surface on the side which is easy to press for one-finger shifting when you're hands are slippery with sweat. No shifting issues whatsoever under load or extreme chain lines, and even though it's a narrower chain, no issues with grit or mud yet, either. All the cabling is fully internal, so no risk of crap getting in to affect shifting. When building the bike, I routed the rear brake line and derailleur housing after installing the bottom bracket. It was a little tight, but relatively easy to fish the ends around the bottom bracket shell by using a dental pick through the lower frame port.

The wheels may seem like an ususual choice. In fact, they're a set of 29er mountain bike wheels I'd built up under my Rugged Wheels business but never sold. Most people don't seem to understand that 29er rims are equivalent to 700cc road rims, and the older (100/142mm, non-boost) hub spacing is now a common standard for CX/road/gravel bikes with thru-axles. DT Swiss uses an ingenious design that lets you swap hub end caps to give you 15mm, 12mm, or QR fitment. I happened to have a set of 12mm QR caps so was able to convert the front wheel from 15mm to 12mm thru-axle in seconds. The Panaracer tires sealed up beautifully and the whole package handles really well on pavement and gravel.

While the Hakka fits the 42mm tires no problem, they tread leaves barely two millimeters of clearance under the nifty fender holder in the rear. This isn't a problem for me since I'm not running fenders, but I'd have to choose a smaller tire if I change my mind. The 42mm tires are fantastic for the roads I ride, which are often potholed or washboarded, or have a layer of fresh, loose gravel on them, requiring some floatation to ride safely. The wider tires complement the stiffer frame and carbon seatpost to offer the benefits of good tracking and pedaling efficiency, as well as long-term comfort. Similarly, I could've chosen to build up some carbon wheels, but I wanted aluminum for some compliance. (I run a similar wheel in carbon on my XC mountain bike, but in that case a stiff wheel is desirable for better tracking, given there's suspension to deal with the bumps plus additional flex from pivots, etc.)

Overall the Hakka bits me beautifully - I got lucky with the initial setup and have only needed to make minor tweaks to fit my 183cm height. Some riders report that the frame feels overly stiff, but for my weight it's been extremely comfortable and I've been continually surprised by how far I've ridden this bike before feeling the need for a short break. The combination of clutch derailleur and internal routing for brake and derailleur makes it an absolutely silent ride even on rocky descents. No creaking or irritating vibrations - just the sweet sound of file-tread tires zinging along. The bars are super comfortable to ride on the tops or hoods, although the shape of the drop grip will take some getting used to after my road bike. Spacing between the front tire and my size 11-feet is tight but so far I haven't hit the tread with my toes. The bike feels stable on the straights and is nimble on technical trails. I ran out of gearing on a 15% loose, technical uphill--but that's more of a rider flaw than bike; I would've struggled on my mountain bike as well. 

In the past month I've ridden almost 900km of gravel and trails on the Hakka. From the first time I swung a leg over it I can honestly say it's rekindled my passion for cycling. A good gravel bike opens up so many new route options to explore and avoid traffic, that I can't imagine why any avid cyclist wouldn't want to give one a try. Makes me feel like a kid again!