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Independent Fabrication Q&A with Matt Bracken
March 13, 2003
(Please click on photos to enlarge.)
Mtbr.com caught up with Matt Bracken, VP of Sales at Independent Fabrication, the guy known within cycling circles as the �nicest guy in the industry�. Here is what Matt had to say about the state of affairs at IF and its future plans to build new and cool stuff!
Mtbr.com: Can you give us a snapshot of IF's product line?
IF: Independent Fabrication is a custom steel and Ti builder. IF you are looking for a custom cyclocross, road, mountain or touring frame in steel or Ti we can make it. We don't make bikes that don't fit our niche (i.e. We don't make a trial bike or dual slalom bike or Downhill/Freeride monster bikes).
We can make any of the above models as a single speed with Horizontal dropouts. We now offer an eccentric BB for customers who demand a SS with disc brakes in Ti and steel.
We do offer S & S couplings on any bike we make in steel or titanium.
We do offer more color choices than any other frame builder and our custom paint department can accommodate most crazy requests within reason.
Our current line includes a multitude of sizes and if the bike you are seeking falls between sizes it can be made as a custom for no extra charge.
Mtbr.com: Does IF manufacture all of its products in-house?
IF: Independent does manufacture all of its products in house with one exception; we do purchase Reynolds composite forks for some of our road bikes (Crown Jewel-Special Edition and titanium Crown Jewel). All of those great steel forks we offer for our road, mountain, touring and cyclocross frames are made in-house.
Mtbr.com: Is the painting done in-house too?
IF: Paint. Let's say we have painted ourselves into a corner, literally. IF is famous within the industry for super high-quality paint finishes and custom paint jobs. There are a few others who come close, but most of them are frame refinishers, not primary manufacturers.It comes down to business choice. I believe Henry Ford is quoted with saying the Model T Ford is available in Black, Black or Black. We can choose to make our lives simpler and offer just a smatter of color or we can be wild like we are here in Somerville and offer a wide palate of color. We like color.
Nothing is more inspiring than a beautiful paint job on the worst of days. It can help you get through the toughest of rides knowing you made the right choice in color. Color is a personal reflection of who you are and your personality. Some like it subtle, with single color paint jobs, while others need to have 4 color flames or paints that change color dependent on the light sources angle of inclination.
We like being the best in this area because it is the only part of what we do that shows. All of the great design, tube choices, machining, tacking, welding, brazing and more are covered by paint for steel.For our Titanium bikes we offer a panel paint job at no charge and for 2003 a 3/4 paint job at no charge. Heck, we'll even paint the entire Ti frame in a single stock color at no charge if you wish.
Ti is boring. Ti rides great. It has a greater strength to weight ratio vs. steel. It won't rust. Blah blah blah... But it is grey. Boring!
Many of our Ti customers add paint to their frames again to be different; paint is FUN!
All of our painting is done in house by PPG certified painters (Pittsburgh Paint & Glass).
It takes a long time to train a painter to paint small radius bicycle tubing. It is hard to do and many bicycle painters do not receive enough credit for all their hard work. It can be tedious.Mtbr.com: Who are the artists behind all those cool paint jobs?
IF: The artists behind all those cool paint jobs are:
Lloyd Graves - One of the founders of IF, and the head of the paint department.
Chris Rowe - Paint assistant
Erin Croft - Paint assistant
All 3 of these painters have mad art skills and technical paint skills. Every year we invest money into the paint department to keep them ahead of the competition for finish and quality.
Mtbr.com: How has new technology like software, machinery, proprietary tools or otherwise affected the way IF designs and builds its frames?
IF: The answer is simple. No matter what technology we add to any of our steel products, it means nothing without the people here to make our frames.
Reynolds 853 has changed the way steel frames are made today. It is some great material. It allows IF to makes frames that are light and strong.Titanium hunger has helped IF quite a bit since we started making Ti IF's in December of 2000.
We have never played the "some of us are from Merlin in Cambridge" card. At this point people don't care. What they care most about is the aesthetic of our welds vs. other Ti builders and whether or not our frames are guaranteed forever to the original owner. All of this is true, but it doesn't hurt to have some kick-ass Ti welders in-house who have welded thousands of Ti frames before coming to IF to weld steel and Ti.
Titanium is easy to weld if it is prepped properly. Steel is actually harder to weld because of the different melting points of the alloy. Once an arc is struck, a steel puddle is harder to control. Chances are good that if you can become a highly skilled thin wall steel welder you can most likely, with time and practice, become a great Ti welder.
That's not what happened here. Tyler Evans and Keith Rouse, my former compatriots at Merlin, can weld either metal with ease. If you ask them which metal is more difficult to weld and they will unanimously say steel. But, after many years of welding IF�s to the standards our dealers and customers expect, it was a breeze for them to go back and start welding Ti again.
Many people are curious to know why our Ti welds are so tight and clean. Answer: hire welders who know what they are doing.Merlin set the bar high many years ago for weld quality and weld aesthetics.
IF has heavily invested, since its inception, in tool making. This past year we custom made in house two new frame jigs for making Ti and steel frames. They are 100% custom tunable for most anything we can dream of except TANDEMS. NO Tandems--Call Santana Cycles.
We have chosen shot-peening for our Ti frames to stress relieve them and make sure we never see them again once they are shipped. Being an employee owner is a great thing, except when a warranty happens. That money is coming right out of our own pockets and that is the price of doing good business.
We have worked closely with our vendors and picked the best materials money can buy. Reynolds Composites' Ouzo Pro is one example. Why settle for one offset for your forks in carbon. IF has 4 choices. This allows us to custom design steel or Ti frames better.
Mtbr.com: What new products did IF reveal at the 2002 Interbike?
IF: To say we revealed lots of new products at the show and revolutionized the industry would be a mistruth.
We did however show a few new things for IF. This included our new disc specific rigid fork (available February 2003) that we heavily tested before showing at the show for sale.
We showed our new Ti disc Deluxe. It was so nice I decided to be greedy and keep it for myself. It is all new 2003 XTR, World Cup fork with lockout, and rounding it out the new Mavic Crossmax Sl's.
In terms of new things that I'd categorize as refinements I'd mention that IF has over 26 stock colors to choose from for solid paint jobs or 2 color fades at no charge. I'd mention the fact that our paint quality is second to none and that our custom paint, whether it is special colors, effects, or God forbid both mixed, is really nice.
The big business change for 2003 is that any IF you order can be custom "tweaked" at no extra charge at retail. For 2 years this has been our policy for all of our new Ti products and we worked diligently and quietly behind the scenes to prepare the steel world of IF for this action too.
So far so good; our customers and dealers are reacting quite positively to the new way we are doing business and the products we are offering for 2003.
Mtbr.com: Word has it that IF is building Ti single speed frames for Phil Wood & Compay. Is this a special, one-off arrangement or is IF now pursuing OEM business?
IF: Yes, the rumors are true. IF is manufacturing a Titanium Piss Off frame for Phil Wood. Phil Wood (Peter and Brent) approached I.F. at the 2001 Interbike in Las Vegas to see if we were interested in making some limited edition (32 only) Phil Wood anniversary frames.
The frames are built around an extra large bottom bracket shell (a tandem eccentric) so that with the cam action a tandem eccentric uses the end user can use the cam to tension the chain for this very trick, exclusive single speed. Did I mention it was for a Single Speed? YES... We use our new Ti disc brake dropout and we even cut off the derailleur hanger. No going back... It is a sweet machine and it has been featured in many photos on the web in trade magazines post 2002 Interbike.The Phil Wood Ti Piss Off is custom all inclusive for the future owner. So far, I.F. has shipped close to ten of these bad boys to Phil for their die hard customers.
In fact, I.F. owes one to Phil Wood because of a bet we made in October 2001 at Interbike with Phil Wood. We bet our best single speed racer would beat their best racer the following Fall in Downieville, California, the home of the 2002 Single Speed Worlds. Unfortunately, we lost. But, Phil Wood continues to sponsor our in house co-ed single speed racers. This is not an industry flush with money, so it makes sense to spread the love.
Mtbr.com: Any plans to eventually build dual suspension frames?
IF: Full suspension? What's that?
Yes, I.F. is planning to show something for the 2003 Interbike in the cross-country full suspension market. We are currently speaking with a few larger and smaller frame builders to see if we can find a system we can license that will fall in sync with our production ability.
Hey, are any of you larger companies interested in helping a small, quirky, high quality frame builder get a full suspension platform off the table and into our dealers� showrooms? Call 617-666-3609 (Independent Fabrication)!
The full suspension market will continue to grow with the X generation looking for more comfort and more free ride style of riding. Why do they call it a free ride? It definitely is not free. In fact, it is expensive. Take a look at one of the best free ride bicycles on the market. The Wade Simmons RM7 from Rocky Mountain is certainly anything but free. Yet, it is worth every penny and built by a group of men and women like those at IF who love the sport of cycling. But, it comes at a price.
Many full suspension bikes are designed in America and made overseas. It will be a production challenge for IF, no matter what final design is chosen to compete with the larger builder at price. As far as quality is concerned we will clean their clocks, again at what price?
Right now our steel and Ti hardtails are selling well. In fact, they are selling really well. I'd like to send a big thanks to all the larger builders who gave up on high quality hardtails because their departure to the full suspension market has helped IF's portion grow.
Contact Information:
Independent Fabrication, Inc.
Web Site: http://ifbikes.com
86 Joy Street (Rear)
Somerville, MA 02143
Phone: 617 666 3609
Fax: 617 666 1655Related Links:
Independent Fabrication Product Reviews
