Handmade precision by Pass & Stow. Any color you want, as long as it’s black.
Tag Archive for 'Bicycles'
Every now and again I like to visit the Competitive Cyclist gallery to see what bikes are getting built.
This makes me want to paint my IF pink. So cool!
Matching IF bikes in Pale Pink Pearl.
IF offers 4 different levels of paint complexity. Level 1 is a simple custom paint job, Level 4 is anything-you-want dream paint.
Bicycle Paintings by Taliah Lempert.
Andy’s Bike Front
Right now Taliah is working on a painting of a Jesse’s Robin Hood. This struck a chord with me as I used to ride a Robin Hood in college. My bike- messenger mechanic buddy pulled a Robin Hood frame out of the dumpster and told me he had a project bike for me. I asked him to set me up right! He took about a week to piece together my commuter bike. It was built like a tank and drove solid. It was even stolen once! I wandered through my neighborhood hoping some kids just took it for a joyride. It didn’t get very far as I found it a couple of blocks away. I knew the crims wouldn’t think my bike was cool enough to keep!
Jesse’s Robin Hood
Currently lusting after one of these Pinarello Prince Carbon frames. I’d love to add one of these bikes to my collection as I like the idea of having an alternative frame material to ride. Currently I’m riding a 57cm Independent Fabrication Ti Crown Jewel. Pics below are from Competitive Cyclist.
As a contrast to all-things-carbon, Competitive Cyclist praises the magnesium Pinarello Dogma in their 2008 Year End Awards article online.
I received the new Rapha catalog in the mail today. Nice design. Nice photography. Lots of unique designs and premium, high-tech materials used throughout. Includes a collaboration with Independent Fabrication.
Lately, seems like every other bike I see is a fixie. Is it the water? The coffee? I don’t know how they manage the hills around here, but they do.
David Rowe made a documentary about the Seattle fixed gear bike community titled Fast Friday. The film is touring the globe while being shown at a number of Bicycle Film Festivals.
I met Zac Daab at the Seattle Bike Expo a few years ago. Nice guy. He had a booth set up featuring a couple of bikes from Seven Cycles, and a much coveted Vanilla Bicycles bike! Check out Zac’s website, Cascade Bicycle Studio, to learn about custom bikes built-to-order from brands like Seven, Time, Sycip and BMC. He also offers customized fitting services to tweak every detail of your new custom ride.
Sweet selection of european styled bicycles available over at Dutch Bike Co. Seattle.
Deluxe set of commuter friendly features on the Opa. Shimano Nexus eight-speed, Shimano hub mounted dynamo powering headlamp and tail lamp (no batteries required), center stand, mud flap, cargo rack and bike pump. Substantial fabric and chrome chaincase cover. Nice! $1589
Similar set of rider-friendly features on the Oma with a sloping top tube. $1589
I first saw one of Sacha White’s Vanilla Bicycles at the Seattle International Bicycle Expo in 2005. Zac Daab was showing the Vanilla Bike to draw attention to the start of his new business, Cascade Bicycle Studio.
Wow. Every square inch of the bike oozes hand-made, one-of-a-kind precision. Looking over Sacha’s website you’ll quickly get the idea he is a man interested in perfection. The first step to building your dream bike is making a selection from six frame types: commuter, cross, road, randonnee, touring and track. The second step is deciding which Stainless Upgrades you like: polished “V” dropouts, polished stainless lugs, hand carved lug sets, to name a few. Just make your decisions soon because as of December, 2007 Sacha has a five-year waiting list.
Independent Fabrication are designers and fabricators of custom handmade bike frames. Located in Somerville Massachusetts, they offer a variety of bike types, Road, Mountain, Touring and Cyclocross. Materials range from steel, titanium and carbon fiber. Take a look at their new 2008 bike catalog of custom bliss — love the dark theme and the image on the cover.
Ti Crown Jewel
IF is the only frame builder shotpeening their titanium frames. What does shotpeening do for your frame? The process imparts residual compressive stress which counteracts the tensile stresses created in the cutting and welding processes. The result: fatigue strength doubles.
Silver IF head tube badge. Also available in solid gold. $2000
Razor sharp transitions between paint colors.
IF can paint your bike any color you want, in any design you can think of. Check out their site to see custom paint jobs galore. Submit your own design or work with them on a collaboration.
The Somerville Castle
Thinking about getting a custom bike built for yourself? Inquire with your local bike shop to start the process. All I can say is working with Joe and crew at IF was a breeze! Read more: here’s a recent inteview with IF at bikeradar.com