Blackbird Send Aluminum Wheels by Ibis Cycles

[Press Release] – Introducing the Send rims and wheels from Blackbird, a new component brand from Ibis Cycles. When we set out to improve our industry-leading Ibis aluminum S35 rims our mission was simple; eliminate pinch flats and keep the tire sealed no matter what you hit.

Pinch flats occur when you hit your wheel hard enough to “pinch” the tire between your rim and that rock or root that you didn’t see coming. Hit hard enough and the edge of your rim, the bead wall, will slice clean through that brand-new tire you just installed.

To eliminate pinch flats, we designed our bead walls with a hollow box- section profile to remove the sharp edges and create a broad contact point with the tire. This box-section results in a stronger bead wall that doesn’t slice tire sidewalls and it doesn’t add any additional weight. Our unique bead wall is used on both the Send 1 and Send 2 rims, but our Send 2 gets a little something extra.

If you ride hard, you know you’re going to dent your aluminum rims eventually and it’s your rear wheel that takes the brunt of the damage. You can bend back a bead wall but dent your bead seat (where your tire seals) and you’ll be walking back to the trailhead.You can’t bend the bead seat back, which means you can’t run your tires tubeless – at that point they’re worthless because tubes are dead to us.

To reinforce the bead seat on our Send 2 rims, we added a pair of ribs directly beneath our bead seat. The Send 2 gains 45g per rim because of this reinforcement but it is a small penalty compared to the weight of the insert you need to protect flimsier rims.

Are you looking for a lightweight aluminum rim with good strength? You’ll want our Send 1. Need something a bit burlier? Choose our Send 2. Our Enduro World Series Team has been testing the Send 1 on the front and a Send 2 in the rear for the last two years. Four EWS racers, several EWS stage wins, three EWS podiums, one Swedish National Enduro Championship, and we’ve only had one flat on race day. Mission accomplished.