IF S&S BOTW
This edition of the BOTW, no surprise to faithful BOTW readers, comes from our friends at Indy Fab. We try not to make this News feature too IF-heavy; maybe if they made crappier bikes we wouldn’t show them so often…
This example, while certainly not crappy, has a bit of a storied past.
It’s a Steel Deluxe mountain bike frame, fabricated a decade ago in Somerville, Mass. Legend has it that sometime around 2000-1, the guys and gals at Indy Fab introduced disc brake tabs on their steel hardtail frames. At that time, the most commonly used disc brake systems were either inherently weak cable actuated or rather unreliable hydraulic systems. As one of the fastest growing segments of the bike industry in the early ’00′s, disc brake parts (in terms of technology and power) advanced dramatically. Within a matter of a few years, disc brake manufacturers were producing brakes that were much stronger than their predecessors, leading frame builders to update and enhance the way the frames interfaced with the brake caliper.
This particular Steel Deluxe frame suffered a related, undesirable fate when, a few years ago, the brake caliper (too powerful!) separated from the frame, taking part of the rear triangle with it.
The frame spent some time sleeping, relaxing, thinking about its next step, until the NYC Velo team stepped in to help. We sent the disabled frame to our friends at Bilenky Cycle Works in Philly to work some magic. In the mean time, we contracted another friend, Christopher Igleheart, to make a fork to match the frame, perfect in matte black. A short 9 months later, the frame returned to the E Village with a couple rear triangle splints to bolster the section near the caliper, some S&S Couplers, and a new paint job (all installed by Bilenky)..
The splints work perfectly, the couplers allowed for the bike to be included in a recent trip down to Austin for NAHBS, and the battleship gray paint job keeps rust off of jeans. The balance of the bike was assembled with a selection of not-really-matched and orphaned parts from both shop and private collections: red Chris King hubs, headset, and BB, Mavic rims, Shimano XT bits, one left SRAM TT Shifter (switched for right hand friction use and connected to the rear derailleur) and matching Paul Components Thumbie adapter. There are no decals, save for the headtube sticker. The frame invokes references to the rat rods of the car world.
The bike has been a joy to ride, both on and off road, easily handling the rolling hills of west Austin as well as the Barton Springs Greenbelt MTB Trail with just a tire and tube swap. Two bikes in one, pack it into a backpack, no airline fees, bike vacation nirvana.