For a long time the Ibis was almost eridicated in Europe. Only recently it has been resettled. Far less dramatic is the history of the frame which just found a new home with me.
It is a Ibis Custom Avion which should not be mistaken as an Avion SS which was already build againg in the States. Nonetheless Ibis offered its customers some extra service for some extra cash to customize the Japan made Avion frames, including amount and position of brazeons and the paintjob:
"One of the many unique products offered by IBIS is the Custom Avion, The Custom Avion frame is built in Japan, finished and painted at our factory in Sebastopol. We install the brazeons here, so you get what you want. We finish and align it here, so we know it's right."
For almost a year I lurked around the frame offered in the German bikemarkt and was in contact with its first and only owner Thomas. Finally I decided to take the chance and bought the frameset, together with the original Tioaga TBone stem, which was offered as the standard option back in 1989. Originally the bike was bought in the famous Heidelberg bike shop "Germans" (based on the name not the country) and ridden for many years.
I got one of the Ritchey forks offered on here the last months for the front end and also a new Portage Strap from the States.
Indeed the paint has seen better days but I will leave it like it is and just clean and wax it to get the color shinny again...
Stay tuned
