Any other IF riders out there?

[IFjane]

We seem to be so few and far between - I'd love to hook up with some other IF riders if you are out there!

What do you have?

How long have you had it?

What made you decide on IF over other manufacturers?

[Haudlady]

DH wanted an IF, but this was the best we could afford at the time. Does it count?
:D

[jenxxs]

see my avatar?

It's a steel Crown Jewel SE, just got it at the end of this summer, and I'm really enjoying it.

I actually did not pick IF, this bike found me on eBay. I'm very small, and so since I did not have the resources to go full custom, I had to look around for months for used/demo bikes that would fit me. And then here she was, a cute little store demo bike that was calling my name.

After I found it, then I learned about how cool IF is as a company. I'm also in Massachusetts, and so I'm happy to support a great local builder.

[7rider]

DH wanted an IF, but this was the best we could afford at the time. Does it count?
:D

I rode a steel Crown Jewel once. If I didn't already have a Seven, I'd be able to say "I have one." But I figured....one fancy Massachusetts boutique bike is enough. ;)

[IFjane]

Haud - of course it counts! I want to order a set of those glasses - and the bike bottles and other stuff - but I have to pay off the bike first!

Jen - I love the bike. She is very cute! If I had thought I would find one that fit me on ebay, I might have tried. I used to ride a steel LeMond but the top tube was too long and causing all sorts of aches and pains. I broke down last summer and ordered mine - a Ti Crown Jewel. I love her! The wife of the owner of my LBS said I must name my bike - but I can't get past "indy". Does yours have a name?? ;) And yes, IF is a really really cool company. Attached is the card that came with the bike - everyone who helped build the bike signed it.

Regina - just the fact that you rode one once counts, too! Welcome!

[stacie]

My Steel crown Jewel is named Zen. First for the color a friend surprised me and had her painted. She's the color of a rich California Zinfandel. My drink of choice to share with friends. Second for the feeling I have when riding her. I received her early October. She has just over 600 miles on her and I've loved every one. I hit a piece of metal when coming down a bridge and chipped her beautiful paint job within a week or so of owning her. IF was so nice. They had me email a picture so the painter could identify how deep the chip was. Fortunately her wounds were superficial and I was able to touch up with a little auto paint. My only regret is that I waited so long to buy her.

[IFjane]

I need help naming my bike - "Indy" just isn't clever enough. She has no paint (why paint titanium?) so a name referencing the color is out. :D I will take any and all suggestions into consideration - help me please!


Stacie - great name! You sound like you are having a great time on her. I feel the same. The weather is beginning to deteriorate here so my time on the road will be more and more limited. I, too, got mine in October - just in time for my birthday on the 28th. I have almost 400 miles on her & plan to get out each time the weather allows.

[mimitabby]

Jane
you can take T and make a million cute sounding names TEEBEE
TIBI, Teetee, teespeed, etc etc.

[IFjane]

Thanks Mimi! I will have to play around with that....tumtum....tubtub (oh, that's ME, not the bike!)......:rolleyes:

[7rider]

How about "Tiffen" for "Ti IF"??

Or....literary types - help me out.... Who wrote that poem "If you can keep you head while all about you are losing theirs ...." There's a repeating of "If" in that...so there's gotta be inspiration there. Well....I guess if it ever inspired you!

[mlove]

"If" was written by Rudyard Kipling.

[7rider]

"If" was written by Rudyard Kipling.

Thanks! I was blanking on the name!

Hmmm...Rudyard .... I don't know about that.
How about "Kip" for you bike?

[stacie]

is homewrecker because guys have to chase her when they see her pass them.
:D

[stacie]

I thought about cowboy. As in....I'm having a bad day. I think I'll go ride my cowboy until I feel better. :rolleyes:

[IFjane]

is homewrecker because guys have to chase her when they see her pass them.
:D

Stacie - problem is, the only time they have to chase me is on the downhills! :eek:

Thanks for all the suggestions - I agree, Rudyard is a little...."heavy" a name - but Kip might be good. Of course, Cowboy is even better! :D

[KayTee]

Howdy, IFJane -- IndyFab person from Richmond VA here! Is your steed a girl or a boy? Do you run Shimano or Campy? If the latter and you lean toward the exotic, how 'bout Fabiana or Fabio?

Mine's an '06 steel CJ SE with S&S couplers so I can fly with him. Yes, him. A friend admired "that cool little peewee bike" (bike and I are smallish), and so PeeWee he became. I've wanted an IF ever since I started road-riding seriously and hope to have many Big Adventures with him. The quality of this ride lives up to my every expectation. I know you'll thoroughly enjoy yours! KayTee

[IFjane]

Hi KayTee - so your IF is a boy, huh? What kind of paint job does he have? What decals?

I can't help but think of mine as a girl, and she is awesome! She's pretty much a peewee as well, and the first time I rode her I couldn't believe the difference between her and my old trusty Lemond. She's sooooo responsive and loves to climb (if she could only get her rider to love climbing as much!). I run Shimano & she is totally naked - no paint. Maybe I should name her Lady Godiva? :eek:

Give me a yell if you ever want to venture north to the mountains for a ride!

Decals below

[jenxxs]

OK, since many of us here are proudly riding little peewee IF bikes, who's got the smallest? My serial number starts with 37, though when I measure the seat tube it looks like 38. Effective top tube is 47.

KayTee, I totally envy your S&S couplers. That's the one thing that I wish came with my bike. I know it can be retrofitted, but it pains me to think about ever cutting up my bike. Instead, I think I'm going to be on the lookout for something like an older Terry steel bike, to do the S&S thing someday.

[IFjane]

Jenxxs - great idea! I think mine starts with 38, too - but I'll have to look when I get home. I can't really remember. I thought about the S&S couplers because I fly with mine at least once a year - but decided against them. Haven't packed this one yet, but hopefully it will be a little easier to pack because it is somewhat smaller.

Have any of you registered yours at the IF website? I have not - again, because I can't remember to bring the serial number with me (no internet at home - so far out in the boonies that we only have dialup and it's not worth it, so all my personal stuff has to be done at the office...shhhhhh!

[mimitabby]

I went to their website. They make a nice bike!
hmmmmmm

[jenxxs]

Mine's up on the owner website - if you search for "pink," mine pops up right in the middle of the page - because I was curious to check out the discussion forum. But it hasn't been that interesting. Nothing like this forum!

Not a great pic, however, I just grabbed one from the original eBay listing. I've also since swapped out the crankset for an appropriately pee-wee sized one.

[jenxxs]

actually, sorry, if you search for pink, it then throws you over to some Google search results, and it's in there.

[mimitabby]

give us a link?

[IFjane]

Mimi - the IFrider's link is http://ifrider.com/links.htm

And you are right - the make a wonderful bike! For the first time ever I feel like I am a part of the bike and not just trying to hang on. My other bike was always out in front of me & made riding at much speed pretty squirrely. I tried many different WSD bikes and none of them quite fit me either.

[7rider]

Mimi - the IFrider's link is http://ifrider.com/links.htm

And you are right - the make a wonderful bike! For the first time ever I feel like I am a part of the bike and not just trying to hang on. My other bike was always out in front of me & made riding at much speed pretty squirrely. I tried many different WSD bikes and none of them quite fit me either.

Thanks for that link! Nice to look at purty Indy Fab's!! :D
IF makes sweet rides.
I feel the same way as you about my Seven.
Some day, when I win the lottery or rob a bank, I'll think seriously about my debate re: custom Seven Elium vs. IF XS. Now THAT would be a shoot-out!
:D

[IFjane]

Regina - remind me to take cover when the shootout starts! I didn't wait until I hit the lottery (I keep forgetting to buy those pesky tickets) or robbed a bank....actually, come to think of it, I think the bank robbed me! :eek: I'll be paying for the bike for a while but I knew it was worth it from the first 30 seconds on the road.

[KayTee]

I wanna watch that shoot out…from a safe distance! Yeah, custom ain't cheap, but you can’t beat the fit.

IFjane, I love Godiva for a bike name - and what a beauty she is! I know you're enjoying the heck out of riding that gorgeous ti machine! And jenxxs, great bike! I haven't yet gotten around to registering on the IF Owners site, just like I haven't gotten around to the TE intro thread either.

Probably you two win the peewee bike stakes, as I ride a 51 cm bike with traditional geometry. My 6-month-old PeeWee is compact geo, however, and painted metallic silver w/black and clear decals. I was going for an understated look, but then decided to pimp him out in r-e-d. With DH's wheelset that I "borrowed" ("but honey, they're a perfect match!") he weighs 17.6 lbs, not bad for good old steel. I can't get over how well he rides and climbs! I’d send a photo but can’t figure out how to shrink it enough to post here, sorry. PeeWee replaces my faithful Blanche, the ’99 white Litespeed Classic I have to sell b/c she no longer fits my less flexible 54-yo bod. :(

Have y'all checked out the IF forum on http://www.bikefanclub.com/forum/postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/indepfab ?

[IFjane]

Godiva it is!

I got the frame number off the bike but I can't see any relation to its size: 670T644. It's SMALL though, I promise! I am going to pull out the specs and see if I can figure out something - or maybe I'll just measure it - duh!

KayTee- you have a LOT of bikes in your stable (just read your intro). I only have the IF now. Sold my trusty Specialized MTB. Not only do our bodies get less flexible as we age (and age beautifully, I might add!), I found I was less and less inclined to leave parts against trees on the side of a mountain.

[KayTee]

My IF serial number also appears not to relate to size. There don't seem to be a lot of IndyFabs around these parts, not like New England or NY (duh, of course there'd be more closer to IF’s hq). The ones I’ve seen here are pretty evenly split between ti and steel, but all the owners seem to love them. What I’ve read here seems to bear that out!

IFj, I do have way more bikes than I should but swear that I use each for a different purpose (also DH is an eBay junkie). Frank the Moser is my rain bike and currently stays at a friend’s work where a group of us suffer twice a week under Evil Coach Troy. Barbie, the old Merckx, is my winter bike - I ride shorter distances and slower in winter so figure I get a better workout on a heavier bike. Fred the Fondriest is the light "fast bike" that I use on hard training rides and most centuries during the season. PeeWee with his couplers and compact crank is the "do it all" bike, though, and may end up replacing Fred as well as Blanche, 'cause even though PW's a little heavier, he just fits and rides so well. I used to ride off road a lot on my mtb but for same reasons you cite, don't do really technical singletrack anymore - hurts my knees, one of which is overdue for scoping anyway. Must work on that flexibility in the meantime. Riding a road bike can still make us feel like kids, right? Go Godiva!

[IFjane]

KayTee - how many centuries do you ride in a year? Sounds like a lot! I have so far only managed one per year. Last year the intent was to do three but due to unforseen circumstances I only rode the Capital to Capital in May - did you ride that one? SO & I made it a long weekend in Williamsburg & rode the Jamestown to Richmond & back route (actually just over 108 mi.).

[KayTee]

Yes, I did ride Cap2Cap and actually live very close to the route - my neck of the woods is halfway between Richmond and Williamsburg! We always start C2C at the Dorey Park end, though, so we get stuck with doing the hills at the end. DH and I often lead rides from there for the local club since it's about 20 miles from home. Are you thinking about riding C2C next year? If so, we must hook up - let me know!

This year I rode 5 centuries. I used to do more (equivalent of 9-10), including doubles, but don't have the time anymore and have "been there, done that"! I still enjoy distance, though. You must ride in the mountains a lot - I'm envious! That is something I really need to work on and do more. Do you ride with a local bike club?

Have a good weekend!

[IFjane]

Kay - yes, we are planning to ride next year's Cap2Cap. I'll keep you posted. I love it because it's basically flat (from a Blue Ridge perspective :D ) & a nice ride for early in the season.

Yes, we ride along the foot of the Blue Ridge, sometimes go up on the Skyline Drive or Parkway, too. All our rides are on nice, rolling terrain with some great climbs and even better downhills. I'm a very slow climber - coasting downhill is my specialty :eek: . I do ride with a cycling group, but it is small and loosely organized. I am often the only female rider. We call ourselves MADcyclists (Madison county - get it? :rolleyes: ) We ride about 2x a week plus weekends during daylight savings time, but most of us can only manage weekend rides this time of year. Weekday rides average about 23 miles & weekend rides can be anywhere from 25 - 75 miles each. C'mon up & join us sometime!

[KayTee]

Thanks, IFj (and any other forumites!), please do let me know when you plan to be down here and I'll do the same when I plan to be out near Big Meadows. Riding more in the mountains and improving my climbing is one of my objectives for next year.

[fultzie]

Oh, i love this thread! it's been a while since i've been on the forum, and i just came accross this topic :)

i got my IF Crown Jewel (steel) ("Gracie") last January.... *sigh* i love her. the best bike i've ever ridden.... built her up with campy centaur (i'm kind of a campy geek-- my roommie teases me constantly). i lucked out and we had a warm spell the week i got her... otherwise i may have gone absolutely crazy not being able to ride.

this pic is a tad blurry (er-- i hope it shows up!), but it'll do. Gracie right now is staring me down for not lubing and polishing her after yesterday's somewhat grimy ride. hmm, i think that's next on the list tonight.

http://umichigan.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30623625&id=2208655

i now work for the dealer that i bought Gracie from... i'm hoping to earn enough to be able to afford a steel IF mtb frame (with my discount) by august! (shhh, don't tell my rockhopper, lucy!) :p

[KayTee]

Wow, Fultzie, 2 IFs would be just awesome...and you actually get to work around them all day! Oh, I am so envious. If I weren't completely wrench-challenged, I'd love to work in bike shop. Practically no women staff in the ones around here. I'm a Campy person too, BTW. Love Gracie! Have you registered her yet on the IF owner's forum?

[IFjane]

Welcome Fultzie and Gracie! Unfortunately I can't view Gracie because that link is blocked by my network here at work. :(

Isn't it amazing how wonderful it is to ride an IF? I am totally in love with my ride on Godiva, too. I also used to have a Rockhopper - somewhat unaffectionately called "amputator" because every time I rode singletrack I left a part of my body on the trail. Not that it was the fault of the bike, though!

Kay, you are right about women staff in LBS's around here. They are few and far between.

Speaking of the IF owners' forum, I need to post pics there. I registered but didn't post a picture. Need to get on that right away! Meanwhile, here's one I took just last night...:p

[KayTee]

Oh, did I intimate that I have only one IF? I have one like that, too! Goes great with a recovery Guinness ;)

[KayTee]

OK, now, 'fess up - who has the IF thong?

Pas moi! I do have the sox, though.

[IFjane]

Not I! If you saw my......um......anatomy you'd know why! :eek:

Can't quite do the Guinness Recovery Drink - too close to cough syrup - but I'll take a nice amber ale any time!

I don't have the sox - I want the sox! I do know that Santa is bringing me a bike bottle in my stocking....

[KayTee]

You guys were right - the last 2 digits in an IF serial number refer to the bb-st measurement. When I finally got around to registering my bike on the IF owners website, I found an explanation of the codes that make up each serial number in the members only section. My last two numbers are 46, and if yours are 38 and 44, you most definitely win the peewee bike sweepstakes - congratulations! IFjane, I could only access 2 of the 4 images you posted. My bike can be seen now at http://www.ifrider.com/register/crownjewel019.htm (page 20 in the steel CJ section). Cheers, and happy New Year to all!

[IFjane]

I just tried looking at the last two pictures myself & can't see them either. I will email Chris at IFriders & see what's up.

Mine is at http://www.ifrider.com/register/ticrownjewel010.htm (page 11 of the Ti Crown Jewel section) - but as Kay said, only the first two pictures are available.

[KayTee]

OK, according to my tabulations we still need Stacie and Fultzie to register on the IF owners site. C'mon ladies, let's get Zen and Gracie up there with all those guy bikes!