Mountain Biking Magazine - Ellsworth ID

Spec

At the recent 24 hours of Idyllwild race it became apparent that Ellsworth has a solid foothold in the endurance racing market.  Their Truth and Id model bikes seemed to be rolling by under almost every other rider.  A 5” or 6” travel bike, such as the Id, was not what we expected to see as a popular choice for extended climbing and racing, “that’s more like a freeride bike,” we thought.  Thus, the opportunity to take an Id out for a spin at the dirt demo was subsequently jumped upon and we found ourselves on a Fox Vanilla and Romic sprung demo bike.  The Ids are built out of custom taper-butted aluminum and include Ellsworth’s patented Instant Center Tracking suspension design for efficient pedaling and brake torque isolation.  Our Id was spec’d out with SRAM shifting, Nokian NBX tires, and FSA cranks and bar/stem combo.

The Ride

In a word, the ride is impressive.  Standing and pedaling on the Id resulted in solid and efficient forward propulsion.  You’d never guess you have 6” of travel underneath you until you go launching off one of the many rock outcroppings and into a loose g-out and a fully controlled and supple landing.  The geometry felt well suited to the 5” travel front fork in rolling terrain that was twisty but not overly technical.  The Nokian rubber also behaved quite nicely in the sandy conditions as we gained the confidence to push the Id as hard as we could.  The Romic rear shock and the Vanilla coil fork mated together very well making the bike almost disappear beneath you along with all the rocks and ridges you were hammering over.  We can’t wait to get some more extended testing time on an Id.