Everything is going to hell...

The winter here in Boston is really taking its toll on our bike parts. Here we have Jon Bruno's (captain of the IFracing team) winter commuter. He came by the shop yesterday and in keeping line with some recent posts of "bikes in distress" we had to document it.

This is the second 953 stainless steel bike we ever made as a prototype many years ago. Jon has been riding it pretty much from its conception.

The frame is holding up nicely, but the parts.... not so good.

The bolts are seizing and anything that can corrode, is.

Luckily the frame is made out of stainless steel.


Grime and filth permeates anywhere it can.


These toe clips have seen better days... Yet they are such gorgeous specimens.


It's even growing some hair, as evident by this detail shot just under the seat stay bridge.

Dick Ring's Crown Jewel: Circa 2001

Dick Ring: the voice of bicycle racing in New England since... like forever. Dick has been riding an IF Crown Jewel since 2001.

It has been meticulously maintained and updated throughout its life.

As you can see he has put some serious miles on this bike. It has a nice well-worn yet mechanically sound look to it that just says "long term quality".

This bike is one of the last 1" headtube bikes we made before we switched over to 1 1/8".
He has a sweet salsa quill stem, these were some of the finest in their day, especially when paired up with a threaded Chris King headset.

That is also an IF steel fork made specifically for this frame.

He has cleverly disguised the spot where his brake tarnished his downtube with some red duct tape.... very nice, I love duct tape, especially red duct tape.

During this time period we were using Columbus Foco chainstays. They had a very distinctive look to them, so bikes from this era are easy for us to identify.

Ride on Dick Ring!!! Thanks for bringing your bike by!

Independence

Deep in the heart of winter we in New England ponder escape.
Real escape, into a land of smooth, clean and endless roads
with a little hill here, a little hill there. We yearn to get packed
up with only the necessities and be ready for anything.

In our minds we imagine a long tour of the countryside,
surrounded by rolling green hills and trees full of leaves.
These are the thoughts that get us through,
and this is the bike we dream of riding.

An I.F. Independence all out touring bike outfitted with
front and rear Tubus racks and full coverage Honjo hand
hammered aluminum fenders.


The minimalist contact points to which the accessories
are attached to the frame make a rather complex build look
simple and create an overall feeling of a purposeful and
professional build.


Reinforcements go a long way towards securing your mobility in
the middle of nowhere. A busted waterbottle mount could really
put a damper on things so we gusset each one.

Sweet welds hold the whole thing together and smooth
paint shows them off, particularly this color: Delorey Green.

German Prowess

Take a look at Ken Bloomer's new freshly updated website and not so new, yet awesome, blog.
Thanks for all of your hard work spreading the IF love over in Germany.

Jamie's Commuter.... one of them

Jamie is always tinkering with something...

A little while ago he got a 1000 watt front hub, built up a wheel and retrofitted it to a deluxe. The first fork he used was a suspension fork. Upon his first test ride he twisted the throttle to cross a major intersection and it ripped both dropouts off of the fork and sent the front wheel flying into the road. He then bought the heaviest and most burly fork he could find to make sure this didn't happen again.

He now has 760 miles on it and the only problem he encountered was a fried charger.



The burly rack on the back with the attractive handbag (in an old man sorta way) holds the battery.
This is no ordinary battery...

It's a 48 volt 10 amp/hour LiFePO battery. That translates to the power of 4 car batteries. This bike might not look like it's fast but hauls serious ass. Yeah, he doesn't have to pedal all of the time and you purists out there might call him a cheater (I think many of us here have all said this at some point about this bike) but when you get on this thing and twist that throttle...... damn, I haven't seen anyone come back from a test ride on this thing without the hugest smile on their face.

Clint's Winter Commuter

Today's subject: Clint's winter commuter.
A titanium S&S singlespeed with a freakshow mix of parts and a dark purple paintjob with a little bit of experimental flair.

This bike represents not so subtle blend of comfort, an eclectic mix of parts from the archives and a whatever works mentality.


Before he put the fenders on he rode through some gnarly grime.... I think I see some blood in there, maybe some guts too.




Do we give Clint a hard time about his winter bike?

Yes!

Does he get upset and turn his back on us?

Indubitably!

Joe's Urban Winter Commuter

Winter in Boston is rough on your equipment. Joe is rough on his equipment. Not a good combo if you happen to be his winter commuter.

It's hard to keep up with the maintenance required to keep things in showroom condition this time of year. I just couldn't resist the nastiness of his bike right now and had to drag it into the photo studio for some up close and personal moments.

This is quite possibly the dirtiest thing I have photographed (bike wise;) in the studio so far.

There is also some gnarly corrosion happening is some spots due to the insane amount of salt they have been dumping on the roads lately.



Right now, in these parts, everyone's commuter bike is looking like this, although you can't tell out on the street because it's dark at 4:30pm.

Joe's parting words as he left work today: "I really don't like riding my bike home this time of year." And then he got on his bike and rode off into the salty, slushy, freezing dark. (I know he really loves it though)

And now I must go.