Any other IF riders out there?

[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?

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!!
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!

[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! 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/pos...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.).