Among the Ballers’ personal bikes, Independent Fabrication owner Gary Smith’s was the most basic, but not without its touches. It’s an older Steel Factory Lightweight from 2008-09 with 28c tires stuffed in there to handle the abundant gravel roads.
At the last minute, several other baller builders had to bail on the weekend. Gary was originally scheduled to be in Canada for a business meeting (he’s also CEO of Polartec!), but thankfully shirked that responsibility to come ride and give a little talk with Tom Kellogg about different frame materials’ pros and cons.
Roll on to see his ride…
Independent Fab likes to hide their crown logo in various spots. The carbon frames make the most of it with custom lugs from ENVE that incorporate the crown into the openings of each lug (see this post for some great examples!)
You, too, can get the Baller F’ing Bike sticker for your own ride, just click here. It, and sales of the NixFrixShun chain lube and other goodies supports the weekend for handmade builders.
Remember we said he crammed 28c tires in there? There was barely half a millimeter clearance between rubber and caliper, but it kept him rolling over the rough stuff.
Check out our factory tour of IF’s New Hampshire digs here.
