While Independent Fabrication might be packing up and leaving for New Hampshire, three members of the company are staying behind, hanging tough in Boston. They’ve started a new bicycle frame building company: Firefly Bicycles (check out their press release). These new kids on the block (I’m sorry if you even get these references) won’t actually be showing at this year’s North American Handmade Bicycle Show, but we thought they warranted an interview anyway.
11 NAHBS-Related Questions:
BR: Are your plans for NAHBS a secret, or can you tell us a little bit about what you’re showing?
FF: Our plans are not really a secret. We are going to show up, meet with up with a bunch of our friends, talk bikes, look at bikes and revel in what has become the greatest annual event showcasing the field that we are in.
BR: What about the booth, anything extra-special-crazy in the booth department?
FF: We will not have a booth, so people are going to have to wait until NAHBS 2012 to see our stuff showcased there. Since we only incorporated on January 10th, we have really only had time to get the business off the ground, buying machines, getting insurance, working on the branding and our website, dialing in the ordering process, designing dropouts and the headbadge, making prototypes, making jigs and tooling, etc…. So as you can imagine, we haven’t had much time to build a booth. But when we do build a booth it is going to be spectacular. Guaranteed.
BR: What do you see as the hot trend at NAHBS this year?
FF: Orange.
BR: What is the lamest frame building trend ever?
FF: Outsourcing.
BR: What is the most challenging or horrible thing you’ve had to do as a frame builder.
FF; Challenging: Staring a custom framebuilding business
BR: What is your favorite type of bike to build?
FF: Metal bikes, made out of titanium or stainless steel. Also concept bikes where I get to express myself a bit and push the limits.
BR: As a frame builder is there anything you absolutely will not to? Like a not-without-a-gun-to-my-head type thing?
FF: Compromise integrity for style.
BR: Sum up your entire bicycle building philosophy in one word or less. Kidding. How about three words?
FF: From, function and innovation.
BR: If you weren’t building bikes, what would you be doing?
FF: Photography, graphic design, sculpture, riding bikes, traveling… things that I do anyway, but can’t give all of my time to now. I’ve also thought that building prosthetics could be really cool and satisfying.
BR: Who is your bike-building idol? Who do you look up to?
FF: I look up to Carl Strong a lot, with his beautiful shop and clean finished product. In the same respect I also admire what Sacha White has done with Vanilla and Speedvagen.
BR: This one is important. Of the people showing at NAHBS, who is the last frame builder you would ever want to fight? Like physically.
FF: I would say Don Walker, but I’ve already beaten him up, so I’d have to say Lloyd Graves. It would be a fight to the death as he is the toughest guy I know.
Fore more information visit the Firefly Bicycles website.
