NEW BIKE DAY! Lynskey R210 with Shimano 5700 105

Let's say you're looking for an excellent bike to train with on the road.  You already have a triathlon bike for racing, you already have a cyclocross bike, but you want that one single go-to road bike that will do anything.

You need your road bike to cover century rides, it needs to keep pace in a pack, it may see some gnarly road conditions, probably see it's fair share of winter, it has to do everything.

When you come to us with something like that, we recommend titanium.  It's durable, beautiful, timeless, easy to maintain, but most importantly, it rides oh-so perfectly.

This bike was built just for that person.  Someone who will log long miles, group rides with friends, commute, it'll do it all.  And after a quick wipe-down 10 years from now, it'll look brand new.

Here's another breakdown from Lynskey on what they say about the R210:

Ride in any condition, anytime, anywhere with comfort and style while enjoying a geometry that puts you in a slightly less aggressive riding position yet maintains neutral, stable and predictable handling.

The tubeset consists of double-butted round 3AL/2.5V aerospace grade titanium that will give you the look and lines of a true classic U.S.A. handmade ti bike frame, providing you an all-day supple smooth ride.

Worried about tire clearance? Don't be. There is plenty of clearance for a set of durable and comfortable 28c tires.

The hooded wright style dropouts provide the classic look and strength while allowing you to easily replace the derailleur hanger if need be.

A small from Lynskey has great dimensions and their geometry lends itself well to 700c wheels.  Some bikes this small ride and/or look funny with 700c wheels instead of 650c, but we've had great response from the shorter riders.

Have to love the classic hooded Wright-style dropouts.  The welds are top-notch as always, even on an "affordable" hand made frame from Lynskey.  Don't let their pricing fool you, their products are incredible.  Finish is always the best and the ride is dialed.

I may be wrong, but the matte satin appears a little different than it did when we started with Lynskey.  From our early days with them, we strongly recommended the upgraded finishes, but the matte satin that's rolling out these days has been getting rave reviews.  I've had a number of customers who've recently seen this finish comment that it's their favorite.  It's very similar to another titanium builder out of Steamboat Springs, CO.

Easton EC70 fork really helps the ride of this bike and helps to keep the price under control with it's alloy steerer rather than the carbon one that's becoming more and more popular.

Mavic Aksium wheels and matching Mavic tires complete the rolling stock on this bike.  Incredible durability and great performance for the price many brands try to get for just a rear hub.

Shimano shifting, especially the front, is the best in the business.  105 doesn't disappoint with light-action and accuracy day after day.  For someone who is using their bike for training miles, 105 is the go-to gruppo.

NEW BIKE DAY! Independent Fabrication Ti Factory Lightweight

It's finally time for this beauty to head home.  She was a pleasure to build, every detail combed over nicely and chosen for a specific reason: lightweight speed.  Pretty incredible what's being hand-made these days and what frame made almost entirely of metal can still become. 

Sure, it wasn't cheap, but it wasn't meant to be.  It was built to be the best bike for this rider, holding back nothing, to create something more than just a bike off of a rack.  About 8 weeks after the original design was done, the bike is complete and it's beautiful.

The 2012 SRAM Red gruppo seems to be an enormous jump in the right direction for our local buddies.  The brakes originally concerned me with their design, the single pivot when announced made me think "Zero Gravity" which meant light but terrible feel.  The 2012 Red brakes actually work really well, though.

Front shifting is also vastly improved which was sorely needed.  Previous SRAM Red was at the bottom of the front-shifting list when compared to Campy and Shimano, but the new Yaw front derailleur and stiffened chainrings lead to quality front shifting.

Rear shifting from Red was already very good, but 2012 Red gives you a bit of a sexier look and light action.  The new design looks great and shifts well, what more could you ask for?

Ergonomics were already quite good with previous generation Red, though it's extremely personal.  The new "wedge" system with gel inserts does ease the transition from the lever to the bars, which was an issue for some.

And oversized bottom bracket is a necessity for a bike like this.  There's no reason to build a race bike custom without including this as it can be adopted to standard 24mm cranks or you can use the 30mm cranks made for BB30.

A shot of the 2012 Red Yaw front derailleur, the matching braze-on clamp, and the impressively-machined titanium front derailleur shims from IF

Mad Fiber carbon clincher wheelset.  Love it or hate it, their weight is nice and the stiffness is there.

The ENVE 2.0 fork was perfectly painted to match the frame, nothing less than perfection will come out of the Independent paint booth.

Another shot of the inside of the fork legs painted to match the scheme on the bike.

The rear dropouts get an etched treatment on each side and are masked from paint to keep that exposed for everyone sucking your wheel to read.

The rear hub shell on the Mad Fiber wheels is made of carbon and totally sexy, whether it's your style or not.  You have to appreciate the amount of work that goes into molding these things.

Skewers are a nice place to make an impact, and Mad Fiber took the opportunity to do so.  Titanium and carbon, incredibly sexy.

A shot showing the custom paintwork done to match the Prologo saddle to the stem to the bike to the fork.  A scheme perfectly carried throughout the entire bike.

A bit more detail on the saddle, which is a great touch you don't see often.  Incredible care was taken to ensure that everything went together.

Ti FLW logo found on the carbon seat mast of each frame out of Somerville.  You won't see many, soak it in.

The standard sterling silver head tube badge is all class...and not cheap.

A couple cockpit shots to show the custom-painted Zipp SL Speed stem matching the scheme on the bike.  Matte black and gloss orange everywhere.

The new down tube script is quickly becoming a favorite on the frames we've been designing.

This seat mast topper is of course custom, but probably more custom than most.  We needed slightly less set-back than the stock hand-made offering, so IF came up with a custom design for us.

Holy Moly! Independent Fabrication XS!

Welcome To My World....

I have seen some of the beautiful views my friends have posted from their offices downtown. Perched in a high rise, overlooking the lake or the loop, through huge windows sitting in fancy office chairs.

Here I sit, on the ground floor, on a Park Tools stool, at a desk I built. But I have an incredible view of two custom Independent Fabrication frames I designed, a Lynskey Cooper and a Ridgeline monstercross, a Boo cross frame, a handful of Niner bikes and frames, and the first publicly available Cielo Sportif Racer SE.

It doesn't get any better than this.

NEW BIKE DAY! Independent Fabrication Ti Factory Lightweight

This one is getting ready to see it's day.  But, one last teaser of one very fun project....

(Soon to be) NEW BIKE DAY! Independent Fabrication TiFLW

More details and complete build shots coming soon.  In the mean time let me tell you: this thing will be SICK.

Enjoy....

NEW BIKE DAY! Lysnkey R210 Matte Satin

Only a frame for now, this one is being built with Shimano 105, Mavic Aksium, Easton EC70 fork, and an FSA cockpit.  Seems strange to say, but this made-in-America, titanium frame is affordable and approaching "great deal" status.  When compared to mass-produced carbon with similar components, the prices are very comparable.

For now, enjoy the pictures.  Complete build shots coming soon....

On Test: Crank Brothers Egg Beater 11 Titanium Pedals

After spending a few years riding Egg Beaters I decided to give SPD's a try.  I had to return a couple pairs of Egg Beaters after breaking them, so I thought a change was in order.  Sure, Egg Beater pedals are light, and they shed mud incredibly well, but if they break in a race neither of those things matter.

When changing to SPD, I saw no reason to start mid-level and went straight to XTR.  They offered a secure engagement like nothing I had used before.  The audible click was almost as positive as the actual snap I could feel when clipping in.

A couple of years down the road, I felt the urge to get something lighter.  No, the XTR isn't a pig, but there are many lighter options out there.  With The Lumberjack 100 looming, I decided to go big and try out some Egg Beater 11 Ti pedals.

Since the pedals had been redesigned, my hope is that the few issues I had with the previous generation pedals had been remedied.  At a claimed 174g per pair (176g according to my scale) the new pedals are a full 130g lighter than my M-980 XTR pedals.  Yeah, they are close to half the weight of the XTR.  That's no small amount, by the way.

Out of the box, the fit and finish are top-notch.  The blingtastic nature of the Egg Beater 11 fit well with the theme of my Niner Air9 RDO which is built to be super light, and perfectly race-ready.

Mounting them was uneventful, as it should be.  Bad news would ensue if your $425 pedals don't thread in nicely.  Setting up cleats is a process for myself, I set up cleats for others frequently, but on my own shoes can be a challenge.  Once happy with the position, I started logging some miles.

To date I have about 600 miles on these pedals, almost entirely off-road.  The pedals haven't been subjected to too much mud, though they've seen a little water.  The pedals have seen a lot of dust, though, with the dry conditions we've seen this year.  600 miles in and they spin perfectly, adjustment is as it should be.

A true test of these pedals comes next weekend at The Lumberjack.  Until then I plan to log a few more short and sweet workouts to keep my legs fresh and my mind on the pedals.  Once Lumberjack is done these pedals will see cyclocross duty.

Much more to come....

NEW BIKE DAY! Lynskey Helix with Ultegra 6700

We never tire of building these bikes.  Lynskey is one of those companies that can be so easy to deal with, or so tough.  Depending on their current work load and schedule, you can sometimes get your bike in 2 weeks.  Other times though, if you catch them at the wrong time, it can be 12 weeks.

Luckily this time around, we called at the right time.  This large Helix was ordered as a part of their special for a complete bike with Shimano Ultegra 6700 for about $5000 a mere 16 days ago!  This frame had been produced and was waiting for it's brushed finish and white decals then it was ready to roll.

Lynskey has a whole pitch on the Helix tubing and it's advantages.  I'll divert to their expertise on the actual tubing, but after spending more than a year on one I can tell you it's super stiff but retains the magical Ti ride.  It's extremely compliant on rough roads but still very snappy.  It doesn't have the low-speed, high-torque sprint of an oversized carbon bike, and it's slightly heavier, but since I rarely race on the road those qualities all sit fine with me.

Nice touches on the bike, like this brake bridge, are something many custom builders are known for.  Lynskey doesn't stop there, though....

They also use these beautiful Ti dropouts with the Lynskey clover and bullets ending the stays.

The Lynskey headtube badge is also available separately as a key chain for the Lynskey-lover in your life.  It's a nice touch as a gift as well to remind someone how much they love their bike.

Welds are top-notch as always from Lynskey.  I always expect to find something less with their pricing level, but they continue to impress.

Decal application is always perfect from the factory.  I've had to install a few replacement decals over the years, and it's shockingly difficult.  The decals are terribly thin and fragile until applied.

ENVE fork is always a staple on a new custom build.  I was happy to see Felt placing ENVE forks on their high-end framesets such as the F1x as well.

Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheelset makes for a killer training and racing wheel.  Not the more aero, but incredibly durable!

Shifting that's head and shoulders above all else, Shimano hollow front chainrings are the best in the business.  Until you've used it, you just can't know.