Gahden Green 29'er

Finn's new 29'er singlespeed... new frame with his old sweet parts on it. Instead of the normal gloss clearcoat, Finn asked Clint to apply a matte finish. This gives the frame a real soft look and beckons your hand to touch it.


The frame is painted Gahden Green and the logo treatments and masked elements are painted in Quetzal Green. The green on green makes for a bike that looks.... well, green. We had hours of fun around the shop asking Finn "what kind of frame is that, I can't tell", to the point at which I think he actually got mad. Ahh.. the joys of torturing a comrade, there really is no better fun.


Detail of our rigid fork's disc brake tab.


Stainless steel slider dropouts with polished faces and reinforcement strut.

Purple Planet Cross

Reduce, reuse, recycle... the 3 R's of being a good citizen. So when my wife wanted a new bike for gravel roads and inclement weather, I tried to do the right thing and reuse an existing frame to build her a cross bike. Beautiful bike, it just didn't fit quite right. Cue the quips about the cobbler's kids having no shoes...

So after a semi-fun biking trip to Acadia, semi because my bike fit perfectly and hers didn't, it was obvious what I needed to do... what I should have done in the first place... build a frame designed specifically for her.

Note to all you guys out there who haven't yet figured out the key to a happy marriage... it's all about her, and that means that you get the hand-me-downs, and she gets the good stuff... even if she isn't going to really "use" it, because that isn't the point.
Lucky for me I got a second chance, and she chose this purple, not realizing the similarity to the classic Fat City color.
Top mounted cable routing... just in case she gets the urge to race it...
A lot of action on the seat tube of a properly designed cross bike; the brazed on noodle provides for efficient brake cable routing...
front derailleur barrel adjustor, and
a pulley provides for clean derailleur cable routing and smooth shifts
SRAM Rival cross kit with 42/38T front rings
Silver King head-set along with a silver Thomson steam and seat post, silver Fizik bar tape, and silver Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels all match the silver decals
So I'm out of the dog house, and what of that pearl white Planet Cross? Well it turns out that it will fit Leah's good friend Jen, who recently broke her cross bike during a race. It's all good... karma.

IFRider: The owners Club: Picture Swipe: 04

Another installment of complete Independent Fabrication bicycles from owner submitted pictures swiped directly from IFrider.

Independent Fabrication is a bicycle building company. We are not just a a builder of road bikes, nor just a mountain bike builder. We don't prefer titanium, carbon fiber, steel or stainless steel. We prefer to be recognized as one of the most flexible custom builders in the industry, making a full range of models out of the best materials available.

This becomes super evident when browsing the IFrider site. The sheer variety is a little overwhelming. Every single one is different.... and there are thousands of them.

If you are an owner of an Independent Fabrication and haven't put your bike up on IFrider you are not doing your duty to the club. It's like a family photo album.

Each bike is as unique as its owner.

But usually not as complicated... wink, wink...

So, if you haven't already, snap some pics of your bike...

...upload....

...and share.

Welcome to the club.

IFRider: The owners Club: Picture Swipe: 03

Slay the woods on a Ti Deluxe.

Be a pimp in the woods on a purple nurple rigid steel Deluxe singlespeed.

Go fast on a Factory lightweight.

Go anywhere on an Independence.

{Canti's need all they help they can get}

Stay tuned for more sweet ride pics swiped from IFrider...

...and again, thanks Cris, for all of your hard work showcasing all of the IF owners bikes.

IFRider: The owners Club: Picture Swipe: 02

IFrider rules! (as does a muddy Ti Deluxe singlespeed)

This XS fixie rocks pretty hard as well.

So does an XS with Candy Absinthe painted carbon tubes.

Or some Baby Blue pained lugs.

Sterling silver headbadges make for a classy final touch.

Cris from IFrider's personal cross bike looks sweet in a retro modern sorta way.


Stainless steel and carbon fiber go well together and create a simple yet over-the-top complete package.
These triple green panels over vanilla shake are subtle yet striking.

Stay tuned for more rulin' bikes!

IFRider: The owners Club: Picture Swipe: 01

Cris, our buddy across the Atlantic, has been working on the ifrider website for years now. It started, simply enough, as a place for IF owners to show off their bikes but has become an incredible resource for people to get an idea of how to paint their bikes and see what they will look like all built up.
All of these pictures were swiped from the ifrider site and were taken by the owners themselves.
One of the great things about the site is that it is constantly updated with the newest and latest, but there are also plenty of vintage IFs peppered throughout.
Every model is represented in lots of different forms.
Stay tuned for more.

Signature Snapshot: Titanium Cyclocross: 05

From the depths of darkness a star is born...


The titanium cyclocross bike we have been following through production has made it to our in-house photo studio. This fine specimen has been outfitted with nothing but the finest for a lucky Signature Cycles customer.

Campagnolo Super Record 11 drivetrain has been paired up with Paul's cantilever brakes and some DT Swiss/ EDGE tubular wheels to make for one of the most high end cross bikes we've seen in a while.

For added braking options the in-line Paul Cross lever was installed.

Brass ferrules were used for added burl on the derailleur cable housing.

That completes our journey with this bike, we hope you enjoyed it, but probably not as much as the future owner will...