Dirt Rag

Who
Tony Ellsworth loved mountain biking so much he had to start a bike company. The result was his namesake, Ellsworth Bikes, a high-end bike company out of Ramona, California since 1991. Some of the most drool-worthy bikes around, Ellsworths are known for the intricate beauty of their craftsmanship as well as the way they ride-a marriage of form and function.

The Id is Ellsworth's newest machine, and with up to 6 inches of rear wheel travel, it fits somewhere between the Truth cross country race bike and the Dare long travel bike.

ICT
Tony Ellsworth's mantra is pretty simple. A bike should pedal well, suspend well and brake well. And while the four-bar link may not be the newest technology on the market, it still ranks up there with the finest. The four suspension links form a parallelogram. This allows the rear wheel to move in a straight up and down path rather than a curved path like a single pivot bike. This path lets the rear wheel roll better over bumps, and it helps keep the chain from influencing the suspension (up or down), since the chain isn't pulling the suspension up or down.

But Ellsworth has taken the four-bar a step further with their internationally patented Instant Center Tracking (ICT). Simply put, ICT means that the focal point of the suspension and the chain torque line track together through the entire suspension range. Like the graphic on the top tube of the Id, imaginary lines drawn through the upper swingarm, the lower swingarm (chainstay) and the chain torque line all meet at a point somewhere in front of the bike. This point is the "Instant Center," with the IC located out in front of the bike. Supposedly, the tendency of the bike to fold and squat is avoided, and pedaling efficiency is optimized.

Out of the Box
Ellsworth sells most of their bikes as frames, but the test vehicle came a built-up black beauty. All top end stuff. Black anodized frame, black Manitou Black 120mm fork, black SDG cranks, black Thomson stem and seatpost, black WTB saddle, black Easton handlebar, black Cane Creek C2 headset, black Mavic F219 rims, black spokes, black Nokian tires and black Hadley hubs. Yes, this bike is black, save for the rear end (which is shot-peened aluminum), the silvery Magura Louise brakes and the touch of color provided by the red Romic shock spring. Nice. The XTR stuff is gray, but I figure that counts as black, too. The finish is shot-peened with laser-etched graphics. No cost has been spared except for the head badge, which curiously, is a sticker. You can sit and look for hours at the intricate CNC bits, beautiful welds, bearings in all four main pivots and overall cohesiveness of the thing. And if you don't want to gaze at it, believe me, your friends will. The epitome of high-end American frame building. But what of the ride?

First Ride Adjustments
First we need to go over a few things because, big or small, you've got to be able to adjust the bike for fit (especially if you don't have a great shop nearby to do it). I'm big-boned, so first and foremost, I had to get heavier springs for both the Manitou and Romic shocks. Of course, if you were buying this bike in a reputable shop this would be handled for you. The last two bikes I've reviewed have had air shocks front and rear. I simply pumped them up until they held my weight. With steel springs, you have to change the spring to change the load carrying capacity of the bike. Don't think you can just add preload till the cows come home, as more than a couple turns is bad for the set-up. Live and learn.
Finally, the tires. Previous Ids had narrowish tire clearance in the rear, but thanks to the new and improved disc-specific seatstay with more clearance, I was able to install WTB Moto Raptor 2.4 tires front and rear. Nothing wrong with the 2.0 Nokians that came with the bike, but if you're big, ride rocks and have pinch flat problems, there's only two things you can do: add more air pressure, or add more air volume. I did both, inflating the 2.4s to 40psi.

The Ride
The Id comes in 15", 17"and 19", and the 19" fit me fine with a few extra spacers on the steerer tube. My butt, feet and hands all fell properly into place. Right off the bat, I was amazed at how well this bike pedals considering its heavy-duty, long-travel billing. There's no lockout on the Romic rear shock, but who cares? The four-bar suspension and shock work extremely well together. The Romic's compression and rebound damping adjustments don't hurt either. I was tempted to jump off big stuff, and had to remind myself that this is a long-travel XC machine, not a freeride or downhill bike. Sure, three-foot drops are no problem, but I'm not sure if I'd go any bigger as the bike's not designed for it.

Over the course of this test, I was able to ride the Id over many different types of terrain, and I must say it excelled at everything. Geometry includes a slightly slack 70° head angle that offers a bit more stability on downhills, a 72.5° seat angle for pedaling efficiency, and relatively short 16.75" chainstays for deft climbing. A 24.25" top tube and 43.5" wheelbase round out the equation on this 19" frame.

The standout stat is the bottom bracket height, which is high by some standards, but great for logs, rocks and other technical treats. Fast or slow, rocks or sand, downhill or up, mud or pavement-sorry, I've no complaints.

24 Hours of Seven Springs
The course had a little bit of everything-rock gardens, fast downhills and plenty of climbing, perfect for testing. We set up camp in an open and surprisingly vacant spot late in the day. Turns out this is the windiest spot in Pennsylvania. The Id was on the workstand with the back wheel out and got blown over, bending the replaceable derailleur hanger. I tried to bend it back, but it just wasn't the same. After two laps of heinously bad shifting, the miracle occurred-Chris from Speedgoat bike shop conjured up a custom made derailleur hanger that supposedly works better than the original Ellsworth hanger (he says that the standard hanger is built to Shimano spec, which might not be best for this particular bike). Chris also added some cable housing to the rear derailleur for less friction, and tightened up the Hadley rear hub, which had come a tad loose. After this doctoring, I realized just how bad my shifting was. My third lap-a joy. Smooth shifting is a good thing.

Nits
With a retail price of $2295 for the frame alone, you better be well employed. But if you have the bucks and can appreciate all the love that goes into a small, American high-end frame, then by all means go for it. As long as I'm picking, how about that infernal internal cable routing? With all my powers of Zen concentration, it only took me five minutes to fish the rear derailleur cable through the seatstay, and while it does look trick, if you like to change or clean your shift cable on a regular basis, you better be patient.

All Told
To finish the test, I rode the Id at the 24 hours of Moab. The course featured everything from sand to slickrock to fast dirt roads. I said it before and I'll say it again-the Id handled everything well. The super-tech, slow-speed uphills, bomber fast downhills and big ring road sections provided a bevy of treats that was appreciated by all.

I like the Id because it offers more travel and strength than the average XC suspension bike, while not going the way of the full-on downhill or hucking bike. It's an in-between machine that suits me to a T.