My custom
Independent Fabrications Ti
Club Racer showed up at my LBS - the
West Hill Shop Friday.
I went down to the shop and built the bike (my first build!) with the oversight of one of the mechanics, and after having to wait on several misordered parts (not IF's fault, but a miscommunication between me and the LBS - I finished the build and brought the bike home yesterday.
I've only ridden it around the parking lot
I hope to get out on it today for a longer ride.
The frame is Ti. It's shotpeened - so it is matte and has a beautiful texture and color to it. I asked IF to keep the down tube decal off, and they gladly said "It's your bike, whatever you want!" - I may eventually have a graphic I designed for it cut.
The front fork is steel, painted black, it has eyelettes for my generator lights and mounts for a rack and fenders. (I'll use the fender mounts, but probably no rack on the front...)
The craftsmanship is incredible. I was impressed when I first saw it... absolutely stunning. A rideable work of art.
Components:
Campagnolo Record Ergolevers - 10 sp
Shimano Long Reach Brakes (with the "Shimano" graphics cleverly removed by the mech with some steel wool and tri-flow)
Campagnolo Chorus Front Derailluer
Campagnolo Chorus Rear Derailluer
Look CX Carbon Pedals
Ritchey Pro Compact Cranks (these are old and will go)
Salsa Bell Lap bars, 46cm wide - (wow, I really was cramped on my old ride!)
Forgie TT Stem (this is old and will get swapped to a
Thompson road)
Thompson seat post with setback
King Cage water bottle cages, stainless (the LBS was out of the Ti version, plus they SS ones use thinner tubing)
Computer (not mounted yet)
VDO MC 1.0+
Brooks Swallow Saddle (I may use a Swift if I find the extra skirt and lack of "tying" is more comfy)
Wheels: (in these photos)
Front - Mavic Open Pro Rim with 32 hole
Schmidt SON dyno hub
Rear - Mavic Open Pro rim with Campagnolo Chorus 32 hole hub, 13-29 cassette (low gears for the Green Mountains!)
Continental 4 Season GP tires, 25mm front and rear (these will get replaced with
Schwalbe 28's for longer brevets)
I'm debating on crank length - and what cranks to use. I've thought about going with a
Specialites TA Carmina double in 94mm bcd. This will allow me to run my typical compact (34-50) chainrings as well as have a ton of options for other rings - (a smallest ring of 30 is possible - so I could do a 30-44 combo for some of the climbing brevets and light touring I hope to do) I'm currently running 175 cranks which some people have told me are long for my height (5-8") and "visual" leg length. I'll be discussing this (and hopefully getting a good answer) at my fit this Friday.
The bike as pictured without the tool bag weighs 20.75 pounds. The lightest bike I've ridden!
When I swap to my lighter wheels it will hopefully be under 20 pounds. (The SON hub alone is 610 grams!)
Some pics: (bike is not quite finished yet - I've got old parts on it and am waiting for a fitting with these folks at
FitWerx) The photos look a bit goofy as I have the bars really high, and the steer tube needs to be cut down. I didn't want to cut anything too short until I had the fittin and rode it for at least 500 miles...
I'll have it rigged with typical brevet gear (lights, bags, etc.) later this week as I've got some long rides planned for the holiday weekend. I'll post better pics when I get it tuned in.
The headbadge is sterling silver!
I know, I know - Flip it!
The bar position and stem are there just to get me out the door. On my quick test ride I found I'm way way too tall on the bars. I've already dropped and started looking at positioning - but will leave everything till my fitting. I'll post "proper" BF pics with the stem flipped for all you OCP'rs later.
IF was great to work with. I hated the "waiting" - but they are swamped with work.
I took a tour back when I started the process and was impressed. I went ti after debating steel, maintenance, and how much I ride in the rain and slop.