Inapena Fabocaysun :: Inapenda Fabicasuns

IF :: 4 Frames :: Rapha Cycle Club

Be there to see these four identical I.F. Steel Crown Jewel framesets get turned into bicycles by four of the finest mechanics in NYC vying for the title of FASTEST MECHANIC IN NYC!

Above photos courtesy of NYC Velo.

NY's fastest mechanic's square off Thursday night at 352 Bowery.

Ian Leitch :: Brighton Big Dog

Ian Leich is really tearing it up lately! He just won the Brighton Big Dog with the fastest lap, a solo win and he beat every team.



Congratulations! Keep shredding!

More info here: XXX

Visit Ian's blog: XXXXX

SSR :: Rapha Racing NYC:: Cleaver

Before leaving for their bike trip across the USA on their honeymoon, newlyweds Brett and Edie stopped by our shop to say hi. Brett had his race bike in the car and brought it in for a quick photo session.

He's been racing this stainless steel bike for quite a while now and has a pretty bomb-proof setup.

IF/Rapha sterling silver badge.

He even has a little of the modern day biopace style chainrings made by Rotor, mounted to some SRMpowermeter cranks.




Sweet machine Brett! Thanks for sharing and good luck to both of you on your journey.

- t.e.

Disturbed :: Ti Crown Jewel

We went the extra mile with this one.

61cm seat tube length with a 68cm top tube.

Head tube length: 236mm.

We also made the fork in-house so we could dial in the ride and feel even further.


Every joint is double pass TIG welded by hand, the beefier the bike, the beefier the welds.

Lots of beef.

17lbs 14oz as pictured.

- t.e.

Pre-ride :: D2R2 :: Clint's Club Racer

D2R2 is a little more than a week away so all of our burly rides are starting to come together.

Clint's bike is a Steel Club Racer with a painted to match pump. Painted pumps are where it's at. We should really start to offer this as an option, it just rounds out the package so nicely.

A nice set of handbuilt wheels is practically a necessity for this ride. Here we have White Industry hubs laced up to some Mavic Open Pros and a wide ratio cassette.

Comfy seat.

His fenders are there to keep the evil kitten of the woods from pouncing upon his tires and fang-puncturing his latex tubes.

More to come on these evil kittens. We have a team in the woods documenting their activities now.

Rapha Continental :: Cycle Club NYC :: Event

The Rapha Cycle Club is a really unique place. It was set up as a temporary store in the heart of Manhattan. They have weekly rides as well as screen cycling movies.

There is a gallery space in the back that does rotating shows. This show is about the Rapha Continental. Photographs from their trips were on the wall along with sketches of all the riders by our good pal Peter Rubiano.




A few of the riders were there including IF rider Rich Bravo. We will be seeing Rich (and the entire Continental team) again soon at the upcoming D2R2. Hopefully his eyes will open by then. He was struck with a horrible case of double eyeshutitis. Our prayers are with you Rich!

Above is a journal entry from the 2008 ride.

This is going to be a great ride. All will get a healthy dose of Vitamin G.

NYC Velo :: Summer 2010

While in NYC I had a chance to drop by one of our most super shops: NYC Velo.

Andrew (above) gave me a tour of the shop and their fit area and told me of some pretty grand plans of expansion and refinement. It looks so good now I can't even imagine how much better it's going to be.

They had some cool IFs on display, some mounted to the wall, some up on other displays and a super rad SSR in the lead mechanic Dave Sommerville's stand being built up. (nice last name, but I'm sure you get that a lot)


Throughout the shop was a host of vintage mountain bikes and iconic paraphernalia. Bikes from a not so distant past in pristine condition adorned the shop.



And of course... coffee. Fresh and delicious coffee.

Be sure to come and cheer on NYC Velo's own Dave Sommerville as he attempts to become: THE ‘FASTEST MECHANIC IN NYC on Thursday, August 26, 6:30pm, 352 Bowery (Rapha Cycle Club) NYC. Hope to see you there.

And, just for fun, check out the 5ive Points double interview with me and Gary at the NYC Velo blog: HERE.

Rapha Continental :: Cycle Club NYC

Thursday, August 5, 6:00pm: THE RAPHA CONTINENTAL


An exhibition opening event for the photography, film, sketches and custom-built bicycles from the ongoing, epic tour around North America. See the photgraphy of Dan Sharp and Chris Milliman and art from Pete Rubijono. We will have some of our Continental bikes on display as well. Come meet me, Tyler Evans of Independent Fabrication as well as some of the other Rapha Continental framebuilders.

I hope to see you there!

[rsvp to nyc.cc@rapha.cc]

352 Bowery NYC.

Next event:

Thursday, August 26, 6:30pm: THE ‘FASTEST MECHANIC IN NYC ’ COMPETITION

Beginning this Th ursday on NYVelocity.com, New York cyclists will vote for their top four NYC-based shop mechanics to compete to see who can build a complete bike the fastest. Typically magicians behind the scenes for racers, these top mechanics will be the showracing in plain view with four identical Independent Fabrication frames (seen above in the IF paint department) and matching kit of parts. Beverages and music mixing with the smell of grease will make for intoxicating evening, and if you pay attention, you will definitely learn some tricks from the best of NY.

This event is also rsvp.

- t.e.