Independent Fabrication was back at the show, convenient since they’re also based in the Northeast. On hand was this new gravel bike which isn’t yet up on their website as an option, but had all the modern touches you’d want. The 44mm straight headtube works with any fork, and big thru-axle dropouts housed Syntace X12 inserts for perfect rear wheel alignment.
Flat mount brakes, naturally, but disc brakes on their road and even cyclocross bikes is still not the normal offering from IF yet. But it will be, as evidenced by the all-new disc brake Factory Lightweight:
Used as the platform for their Best Campy Bike entry, the new FLW titanium road bike uses 3D printed dropouts from Reynolds (the tubing company, not the wheel brand).
Made using additive manufacturing, they can be made to any shape and geometry. Currently, they take about half a day to produce, but as the tech progresses, you might find more shops getting their own printer in house. For now, Reynolds is making these to IF’s specs. The two companies also collaborated on the first-ever fully 3D printed titanium bottom bracket section, which Reynolds had at their own booth (not pictured).
The top half of the bike received beautiful paint, something else IF is particularly good at. They weren’t showing the flashiest schemes or colors, but the lines were crisp and details sharp on all of their bikes. Check them out at IFbikes.com.
McGovern Cycles
Chris McGovern’s new gravel/all road drop bar bike gets new seat- and chainstays that open up tire clearance more than his CX bikes, but still offer a lot of heel clearance. He says a lot of the bikes in this category end up with weird handling, so he paid particular attention to the geometry and fork to dial this one in.
3T Luteus II fork because it’s the only one with the 395 axle-to-crown, which lets them use a normal height head tube and stand over with good tire clearance. Word is more fork options are coming though.
Thanks to his solid carbon driveside chainstay yoke, it fits 700×45 or 27.5×2.1 tires with a double chainring. Chainstay length is 425mm.
The BB is molded into the chainstays unit, and the drive side is solid all the way back until it widens out, where it becomes a hollow like a normal tube. It’s tube to tube construction so they can change tube lengths and angles (and even profiles) to make it custom. Roll over to McGovernCycles.com for more info.
JP Weigle
How do you know you’re that good? When you don’t even need a real website to promote your brand. Peter Weigle is legend, and you can tell from his bikes. Want one? We’re sure you’ll figure it out. And after looking at the details on this classic bike.
This one had a blend of Campy parts with a healthy dose of drillium applied to the chainrings.
Other holes were found on the brake mounts, and for some reason, the simple addition of a wing nut always warrants a photo.
Up front was the on/off knob to turn on lights from the dynamo hub…integrated into the steerer and acting as the top cap.
Another blue bike took the classic look and paired it with the most modern of shifting systems, SRAM eTap.
And yet another blue bike showed what can be done if you’re willing to take the time to pack your bike properly. Nothing about the Shrinko is a folding bike. But this could probably fit into a standard suitcase!
