Independent Fabrication Delux Redux

This is one I've been waiting on for a bit.  While I love following the technological advances in carbon happening now, not the least of which is the Felt Nine FRD I covered here, there's something so incredibly awesome about a retro-modern steel 29er.

After I met Gary Smith of IF, I became even more smitten with their bikes.  He was kind enough to help me out with getting me a Cross Jester last fall, has set us up with the first SSR Maxx available to the public, and an incredible Ti Factory Lightweight just to name a few.

But when Gary started teasing info on the Delux Redux I knew he was doing something a little different but a whole lot the same.  The details are just now rolling out in full, but a steel frame, an Ingleheart segmented fork, full Shimano XT, and handbuilt wheels by Luxe Wheelworks.  Go for El Fabuloso and you also get one-off purple anno Chris King parts!

Just a few of my favorite shots follow, but if you want one you'd better act fast.  These are limited to 12 of each color!

In Paint: Independent Fabrication Ti Factory Lightweight

We have a little sneak peek of a very big project: an IF TiFLW project that's coming together nicely.  She's in paint as I write, and should be making her way to Chicago before we know it.

It'll be dressed appropriately with all sorts of nice bits, the details will follow.  Until then, check out the frame in progress.

NEW BIKE DAY! Anderson Lugged Stainless

When you're currently riding an Independent Fabrication SSR you don't normally long for something new, especially something else that's stainless steel.  But Rob was affixed on an Anderson, I believe he told me after Anderson won The President's Choice Award at the 2011 North American Handmade Bicycle Show.

This bike was truly something special to see come out of the box, and I can't help but to assume even better to ride.  Brushed KVA stainless tubes with polished stainless lugs on the frame.  The fork is even stainless with brushed legs and polished lugs.  The only thing that isn't stainless is the steerer tube.

Complete bike photos coming in the near future.

Enough with words, just enjoy the photos.

New Build: Stan's NoTubes Flow to Chris King Mountain Wheels

These are a truly special build.  Working in a shop, especially a shop that's lucky enough to build some really great stuff, opens your eyes to some great possibilities.  When the chance came up for Ben to pick up a new Yeti ASR7 he wasn't about to clad it with shoddy parts.

Many of the shop employee builds are dreamed up but toned down once it comes time to buy parts.  This time though, Ben took his time to build the perfect bike.  The perfect bike needs the perfect pair of shoes, and Ben outdid himself here.

Starting with Chris King hubs is always a good idea, especially when they are gold.  The front is the oversize 20mm thru-axle version of their 6-bolt disc hub.  King makes two versions of their front disc hub for thru-axles.  The oversize version is ready for 20mm or 15mm thru-axles, but is slightly heavier than the standard hub shell.  Though, the standard hub shell won't accept 20mm axles, which Ben needed in this instance.

The rear hub is set up for a 12mm thru-axle, though it still includes the Chris King "buzz" these hubs are so well known for.  I was recently anointed into the world of thru-axles on the front of my Niner, I can only imagine the stiffness the rear of this bike will have with a thru-axle in the rear hub as well.

Ben went with NoTubes Flow rims, an excellent choice.  The Flow is a relatively light rim, but extremely burly.  It also offers plenty of stiffness, but more importantly is extremely wide and should offer up top-notch tubeless compatibility.

Set up with yellow rim tape, these should work well tubeless and set up easily.  The NoTubes system is the best I've worked with so far, but with a number of other systems popping up we can hope they'll get even better with time.

Gold alloy nipples finish off this build.  It's more likely that if we were building for a customer we would have used brass nipples for their strength, but with a full-service bike shop at his disposal every day and the ability to fix just about anything, alloy nipples will most likely work just fine and will of course look the part.