D2R2 2009

This past weekend the Indy Fab posse invaded Franklin County Massachusetts for the epic Deerfield Dirt Road Randonnee otherwise known as D2R2. Most of us chose to do the 100 kilometer ride with 7,780 feet of climbing. Included in the 100K from IF was Jamie, Gary, Kevin, Joe, Leah, Clint, and myself (Tyler). Also in our posse was Gregg and Todd from our IFracing team. Above is the map for the 100K and below is the cue sheet. The course was completely unmarked, so we had to rely heavily on the cue sheet for directions, directions like "right at little grass triangle".
Lloyd and Mike Ramponi (another one of our racers and longtime friend of the family) and Skip from Seven opted for the 170 kilometer ride.
We set up camp in a field not far from the next morning's start. It turned into our shanty style base camp, there was no lack of antics that night, sorry to all that we kept awake....

Above is Mike "That's what I'm talkin' about" Ramponi and his bike (below), a Steel Deluxe 29'er singlespeed, with a rigid fork. I rode that bike for a few minutes and let me say, that thing is a weapon, and Mike is insane. Our routes crossed late in the ride on a massive uphill and Mike came from behind, roaring past us, out of the saddle, singing some song that was stuck in his head at the top of his lungs.
That is Mike's Spongebob chair in the background.
The morning started out with a thick fog that blanketed our campground with so much condensation that you would have thought it rained all night.
Parked aside the IF Van is Greg's SSR, Clint's cross bike, and Leah's SSR. Below is Joe's rig, a Titanium Deluxe with some 700c disc wheels and cross tires. There was really no perfect bike for the course. At times you wanted a full suspension mountain bike, at other times you wanted a road bike. The main thing was the gearing, the climbs were insane and long. Mike Ramponi said that this was the hardest ride he has ever done, this coming from a guy that eats 100 mile off-road endurance events for breakfast.
This was a ride like no other, a true adventure. It cleared up just after the start and turned into a hot and humid but beautiful day.

We made some special spoke cards for the event as well...
We also rode with Rich Bravo (Rapha Continental) on his Crown Jewel SEC and Greg Foulkes (Rapha NYC) and his new SSR (you might recognize it from a previous post: US2211).
I know that the word "Epic" is getting played out... but this ride was.
And then there was Finn.... living it up in Northern Vermont, on vacation for a week. Jerk. We missed you...

I.F. Titanium Cyclocross Build

Today we are taking a look at a recent cyclocross build featuring our Titanium Planet Cross. This one has a 3/4 paint job in Freshwater Pearl with silver script decals. This turned out to be a really clean build with lots of light (weight & colored) parts.
We recommend top tube cable routing for our cross bikes. This helps when shouldering the bike.
Usually we use a tall welded on cable stop for the rear cantilever brakes, but this is a really small bike and there wasn't much clearance so we went for a hanger off the back of the seat collar.
The rear derailleur are run underneath the seat stay to prevent interference with the braking area and shield it from mud. There is also ample room for big 700c knobby tires.

Neon Williams: 02

We walked across the parking lot again to check out the progress on our new neon sign. The bending and and electrode work was completed on the lower box portion of our logo.
Dana was in the process of working on the crown when I walked in on him.
The reddish part of the yellow tube is super hot, this is the portion that he is bending. The material that he is doing the layout on is a fireproof material, he said that it doesn't work as well as the old stuff.... asbestos.
The tube in his mouth is connected to one end of the glass tube. He uses this tube to regulate the internal pressure of what he is working on by blowing into it.
The crown was made in two sections.
And was melted together in one smooth move.
details of the electrode attachment:



The next morning I stopped by again to see that he had the whole thing full of his gas mixture and electrified.
It might look finished, but he still has a bunch to do to turn it into a completed sign. Nonetheless to see it in this stage is quite amazing.

The OX: Sneak Peek and Update

Our beloved OX is currently on a cattle truck (no joke) traveling from Melbourne to Perth in Australia. It's making it's way from coffee shop to coffee shop and from bike shop to bike shop, stopping people in their tracks everywhere it goes.
Above is a picture taken in Melbourne by our friend Peter.

Below is another sneak peek into our video project, this time featuring the OX.

Video Sneak Peek: The Steel Deluxe

For the last couple of months we have been working with our friend Bud to create a video for each bike model that we manufacture. We will be uploading the videos to our site upon completion. They will be scattered throughout the main site with some more in depth videos in the I.F. Experience section. The following video is of Lloyd talking about the Steel Deluxe:

Checkpoint: Independent Fabrication, NACCC 2009

We at Independent Fabrication were proud and honored to be a part of hosting a checkpoint for this year's North American Cycle Courier Championships (NACCC).
This year's major race was an 8 hour work simulation with checkpoints throughout Boston, Somerville, Cambridge and other areas within the metro Boston region.
There were people from all over north America competing in the event. Needless to say we met some amazing people and actually had time throughout the weekend to get to know some of them, share stories and good times.
At our checkpoint we had our photo studio set up to document as many of the competitors and their bicycles that we could. These were some of the most intense and strong riders in the world, riding some serious workhorse bicycles. Below are some sweaty excerpts from the 8 hour photo shoot. We took over 500 pictures, some of which can be seen HERE.







Many thanks to all that came by and took a couple of minutes out of your busy day to step into the studio and have yourselves photographed, good luck in Tokyo at the world championships! Results from this weekends race can be seen HERE.

Field Trip: Neon Williams: 01

Yesterday we took a little field trip (by little I mean across the parking lot) to our neighbors at Neon Williams Inc. They are in the process of making us a neon Indy Fab sign and needed to talk about the final details. (I would link to their website if they had one)
Like us, everything they do is custom. They make signs for just about everything: barber shops, palm readers, bars, and even helium inspection lights for the automotive industry.
Like us they are tube slingers... They have an inventory of tubing from all over the world.
They have been at this forever, many of their devices and wall charts are as relevant today as they were years ago.
...and they were built to last.

For each sign they make a custom blend of gasses.... it's not just neon in the tubes, they use other gasses like helium and argon as well. We also use argon to purge our frames during the welding process.
For me, it is just nice to see a place where things are made, the tools, the devices, the techniques all add to the magic of these handmade signs. Neon sign making is becoming a lost art, just like most manufacturing in the USA. I was told that Neon Williams Inc. had a total of 17 work stations, they are now down to 2.
If you work in a shop or have a home shop area, then you know about the little bins that accumulate handy goodies that you just can't throw out.... I think I spotted one....

The tabletops were covered in canvas and seasoned with years of drawings and burn marks.
One of the brothers gave me a demo. He was working on some helium inspection lights for the automotive industry. He explained why they used helium.... something about the wavelength, I must admit that I became mesmerized by the flame and the bending of the tube and didn't retain the information.
After heating the tubing he has about 15 seconds to get the glass into shape.
They are good.... real good.

Look for future installments of Neon Williams.

I will try to snap some shots of our sign being made......