[Closed] True Bike Porn (IMO):Indy Fab,Moots,Eriksen,Seven,DeKerf,Strong, Potts etc

cough/spacers/cough

My Independent Fabrication:

[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3032/5817192395_6384fbba62.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3032/5817192395_6384fbba62.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/33251520@N07/5817192395/ ]IMG_2430s[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/33251520@N07/ ]eddkh[/url], on Flickr

Can I join the Ti party..

Again spec has changed since photos but only for the better 🙂
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BB looks a bit odd in the Eriksen, is it press-fit?

Top photo makes it look rather short and upright, but suspect it's the angle.

Okay I'll join in with this one. How about a Roberts' DogsBolx and a Vicious Cycles Groover (custom geometry)?

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

What we have here so far is a collection of normal looking bikes with a fancy name on, no PRON as you say.

defintely the Roberts and the Vicious qualify, forgot about the custom british lads here as well and the Roberts in all its fillet brazed glory should definitely be included. so are there any Shands, Hammoons and Demons out there

DeKerf is a big yes but as proven already not a strictly Ti party as one of the main reasons for me starting this thread is my lusting after an Indy Fab Steel Deluxe and the desire to see more of them

sorry about the spacers 😳 😳

What we have here so far is a collection of normal looking bikes with a fancy name on, no PRON as you say.

if you say so.

oh Gil that Dekerf is nasty looking! 😯 it's that brace i think and you go and highlight it?!! is it an old photo?

forgot to say my bottom bracket is BB30

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crappy pic of my Solitude - hoses far too long, i know.

I agree with the sentiment, I get that people live their expensive bikes, fair do, but proper bike pron is the uber expensive, rare bikes, ones worth truely salivating over. I have an ibis bowTi (rode it just yesterday) but have never figured how to link pics but I think it fits the category 🙂

Dekerf is basically a Ti version of the very under-rated 853 Implant and that gusset is there for a very good reason...

It's for riding, not looking at 😀

Porn? If there is actually such a thing as 'bike porn'. Sounds a rather odd fetish. So far just pictures of average looking bikes.

go on then...
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6526421481_8e9c9903f8_b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6526421481_8e9c9903f8_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/theflatboy/6526421481/ ]Pink is so now, darling[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/theflatboy/ ]theflatboy[/url], on Flickr

mine's the one on the right. 🙂

some plain bikes that are just that.
except the dekerf which looks pony.

I have an Indy fab deluxe hanging on the wall, its a nice frame, but not porn, I prefer my kinesis Xc130.

True bike porn IMO
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[img] [/img]
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by [url= http://www.donhoubicycles.com/ ]Donhou Bicycles[/url]

odd place for a bunch of big holes.

CaptJon - Member

odd place for a bunch of big holes.

My thoughts exactly. Tidy work mind.

Thats very nice, lovely attention to detail painting the inside of the holes too. I think the problem is none of the original posts contain very good pictures and its obvious the bikes are used, both things that detract from the 'pron' quality.

[edit] tho i have to give gil credit as thats a nice photo of the dekerf, just shame its ruined by possibly the most hideous cranks ever to bear the name shimano.

+1 Those Donhou Bikes.

Frame cost ?

Apologies if i offend. I have seen it being implied that other forum users may be niche whores as they have a bike that is an expensive custom one off or is different from anything else thats about on here. Well i guess i might be one of them as i am fortunate enough to have a Kent Eriksen Titanium hardtail. I sold almost everything bike related that i had (you would be quite surprised how much all the wee bits you have add up to) plus I work long hard hours and spend over half the year in a dangerous environment away from my family and friends so dont really care what some people think as i have earned this bike.

Not sure why you think you should need to apologise or justify owning an expensive nice bike. After all you've probably spent less on that than plenty of normal people pee up the wall in depreciation every year in order to own a new Mondeo. I own a bike which cost more than most on this thread - though I'm not going to post, as it's just a high spec but boring carbon full-sus - but I get the point of owning something special.

Not that there is a lot on this thread I'd consider bike pron - definitely the non-pictured Bow-Ti, and maybe hock's (though I'd rather own some of the others).

that gusset is there for a very good reason...

Because they didn't design it properly?

Because they didn't design it properly?

I suspect they were more interested in how it rides, rather than how it looks .... silly them. Everyone knows bikes aren't for riding don't they 🙄

My 1996 DeKerf Team which is still going strong, and I'm just about to buy some new forks for:

[img] [/img]

maybe not up the 'porn' standards here but here is my custom lynskey with a SL lefty and hollowgram crank - i love it!

[IMG] [/IMG]

Love that Eriksen OP 🙂
[url= http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6187/6036086327_116cfce196.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6187/6036086327_116cfce196.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheldona/6036086327/ ]IF[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/sheldona/ ]sheldonattwood[/url], on Flickr
IF With Kent Eriksen post 😉

[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4061/5129105496_614373e7c8.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4061/5129105496_614373e7c8.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheldona/5129105496/ ]IF[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/sheldona/ ]sheldonattwood[/url], on Flickr
IF with gears

Not sure whether these two are worthy?
[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3114/3088010616_753040f5f6.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3114/3088010616_753040f5f6.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheldona/3088010616/ ]The Spot (HDR)[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/sheldona/ ]sheldonattwood[/url], on Flickr

My Spot Brand

and the wifes one off Singular
[url= http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6217/6208536818_d94de21dc8.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6217/6208536818_d94de21dc8.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheldona/6208536818/ ]Mandi Singular[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/sheldona/ ]sheldonattwood[/url], on Flickr

http://blackmountaincycles.blogspot.com/search/label/What%27s%20in%20the%20stand

Black mountain cycles has more nicheness than a niche thing. Having Steve Potts, Tom Ritchey and Charlie Cunningham on the doorstep can't hurt.

My 1996 DeKerf Team

i wouldnt say ordinary i would say they are understated plus how does a bike having been ridden means its not pron, surely you dont pay all that money to not ride it?

The Donhou is awesome so can we see some more pics please?

and i'm now missing my DeKerf and craving an Indy Fab 😆

Can i join in with my Blacksheep then.

Half made.

[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4154/5035045433_7f684b65c7.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4154/5035045433_7f684b65c7.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/5035045433/ ]100_1052[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/stu-b/ ]singlespeedstu[/url], on Flickr

Made a bit more.

[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4129/5035664086_35d10b2df3.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4129/5035664086_35d10b2df3.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/5035664086/ ]100_1054[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/stu-b/ ]singlespeedstu[/url], on Flickr

Finished.

[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4113/5040560393_b6e56b6713.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4113/5040560393_b6e56b6713.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/5040560393/ ]100_1059[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/stu-b/ ]singlespeedstu[/url], on Flickr

Built up. But soon to get some changes.

[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5098/5527186040_30a0fe41dd.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5098/5527186040_30a0fe41dd.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/stu-b/5527186040/ ]2011_0314boatsanddaffs0026[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/stu-b/ ]singlespeedstu[/url], on Flickr

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my favouritist bike ever 😀

check that out! thats no huge "Giant" factory in Taiwan full of machines and conveyer belts. Did you see what i did there? 😉 😆

Not overly feeling the expensive one-off thing. Expected more individual looking bikes.

its not so much the looks of a custom its the ride 😀 mine was designed for me so that it feels perfect,not necessarily better looking

Not overly feeling the expensive one-off thing

That's the thing with a custom build. It's what the [b]owner[/b] wants not what [b]someone else[/b] wants. 🙂

ALL of the Indyfabs are doing it for me. None of the others though 🙁

do these count?

[url= http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4072/4230234601_9a5ba88627_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4072/4230234601_9a5ba88627_z.jp g"/> ?zz=1[/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/27335592@N04/4230234601/ ]DSC00784[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/27335592@N04/ ]mr_mo12[/url], on Flickr

I like and can appreciate a skinny tubed, beautifully crafted custom/limited run hardtail. Some of them are lovely (some are pretty fugly ie that dekerf).

But while they are very pricey frames they aren't significantly more than say, a carbon full sus. In fact some of those builds would be quite a bit less than a "money no object" build full sus, say a bos suspended mojo slr with carbon wheels etc, which on any real mountain bike trail should have quite a performance advantage.

And when you get right down to it, from a distance of a few feet they are no nicer than a mass produced 853 cro mo frame. In fact many of them have pretty horrible decals and finishing kit. So are they just bike porn by virtue of obscureness and minute detail?

Obviously what floats a persons boat is totally subjective, but these bikes strike me as being akin to a jag e-type replica in a world of ferrari 458s and 911 turbos.

[img][url= http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1436/5140789044_6eeb187630_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1436/5140789044_6eeb187630_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhampshire/5140789044/ ]if ti deluxe lefty 29er[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/mhampshire/ ]SoFaKiNg.[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[url= http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2705/4197291439_a6daac754c_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2705/4197291439_a6daac754c_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhampshire/4197291439/ ]phil wood 29er.[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/mhampshire/ ]SoFaKiNg.[/url], on Flickr
[img][url= http://farm1.staticflickr.com/81/282231362_375b975ce1_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm1.staticflickr.com/81/282231362_375b975ce1_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhampshire/282231362/ ]IF[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/mhampshire/ ]SoFaKiNg.[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[img][url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhampshire/183490742/ ]
[img] ?
zz=1[/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhampshire/183490742/ ]PIC00033[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/mhampshire/ ]SoFaKiNg.[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[img][url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3184/2990952715_8a7f43e80b_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3184/2990952715_8a7f43e80b_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhampshire/2990952715/ ]phil wood[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/mhampshire/ ]SoFaKiNg.[/url], on Flickr[/img]

[img][url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3231/2685442768_904ce73284_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3231/2685442768_904ce73284_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhampshire/2685442768/ ] upside down indy fab[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/mhampshire/ ]SoFaKiNg.[/url], on Flickr[/img]
[img][url= http://farm1.staticflickr.com/45/183490742_5c222b322d_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm1.staticflickr.com/45/183490742_5c222b322d_z.jp g"/> ?zz=1[/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhampshire/183490742/ ]PIC00033[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/mhampshire/ ]SoFaKiNg.[/url], on Flickr[/img]

All them bikes in that last post are fakes.

Nothing that good tbh, let me get some pics of my Five! 😀

Love Ringo's (what is it?), the Blacksheep and that pink Singular looks spot on, too.

So what's bike pron then? Being delicious? Over the top expensive? Exclusive? Rare? Exotic?
Probably craftsmanship, attention to detail, ingenuity and aestethics play a role.
Unattainability even? And yes, nice pictures help to appreciate it.

And is bike pron what you necessarily want to have in your shed? I don't know, I like the pictures but I don't necessarily want to live with them every day and here's probably a parallel to the real pron. 🙂
What I like though is that some people can still build them and that some people spend their money on it and even ride them. For us all to admire them (the bikes) and to share the enthusiasm for them.

So the picture below is not meant to be bike pron but it's probably the Cindy Crawford of my bike youth:

[img] [/img]
Germans Team Ultrastrong (the yellow stuff is solder, it's fillet brazed, blasted and then clear coated)

All them bikes in that last post are fakes.

uuuuhhhh, a little thick make-up but definitely bike pron

[img] [/img]

and the bike from next door that could win a beauty contest any time

[img] [/img]

cheap chinese copies, just like them bikes of yours

Hock how long is that stem on the specialneeds ?

Mine are all copies of cheap chinese copies

voluptuous 50s bike pin-up

[img] [/img]

Hock how long is that stem on the specialneeds ?

too long for my back nowadays... 😐

there is something quite lovely about that white stumpjumper.

(ignoring the stem obviously)

do we mean 'porn'? - or do we mean 'beautiful'?

porn is something you wouldn't show your mother.

beauty is audrey hepburn.

(i've been drinking chimay - i may not be making much sense)

mines one of them fake indy fabs 🙂

(this) Serotta = pron
the Stumpi = beautiful (despite the dodgy stem)

mines one of them fake indy fabs

So what's bike pron then? Being delicious? Over the top expensive? Exclusive? Rare? Exotic?
Probably craftsmanship, attention to detail, ingenuity and aestethics play a role.
Unattainability even? And yes, nice pictures help to appreciate it.

For me bike porn is exclusive, rare, exotic, superior craftsmanship and basically everything you have mentioned there except OTT expensive. Reason being that you can buy a custom steel hardtail from any of the manufacturers mentioned in this thread quite easily for what you would pay for a good full sus bike now. i tend to ride hardtails most of the time and keep the full sus for the trail centres so hardtails do it for me. A lot of people on here would think nothing of dropping £3k on an off the peg full sus bike and i'm sure you can buy a custom hardtail for that.

OP pic 3, I just had a "welding" moment....

so, I've always wanted an Indy Fab Deluxe, but doubt I'll ever buy one.
where do you get the fakes? how do they differ?

Anyone with an EWR OWB! There's niche for you!

Sofaking imports the fakes, email him for more details

Seeing as we're allowing custom fillet brazed British steel, here's a '94 Dave Yates Swamp Donki. One of his Donkis Nobs with longer top tube and custom mounts for the old Hope mechanically actuated disks. 2x8 gearing and short cage mech another future prediction.

[url= http://farm1.staticflickr.com/27/48330337_4c81f49967.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm1.staticflickr.com/27/48330337_4c81f49967.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickw3216/48330337/ ]Right[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/nickw3216/ ]nick3216[/url], on Flickr

These days I mainly ride this

[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3449/5711351228_9d3e8d7458.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3449/5711351228_9d3e8d7458.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickw3216/5711351228/ ]It just works[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/nickw3216/ ]nick3216[/url], on Flickr

Obviously what floats a persons boat is totally subjective, but these bikes strike me as being akin to a jag e-type replica in a world of ferrari 458s and 911 turbos.

More Lotus 7s in a world of Monster trucks. Many of these bikes are the result of years of riding, and while they may not be as flash and expensive as an off the peg full susser built up with bling parts the "performance advantage" of which you speak depends on the use to which you're putting them. And some of the riders don't need skill compensating travel and wide bars and stannah shorelift trails to get their kicks.

porn doesn't all have to be all brash Jemma Jameson in perspex heels.

I'd like to give Sofaking's Phil Wood 29er a good spanking

Can't seem to post images on my iPad but I would have thought stuff like this is more bike porn than ordinary pictures of ordinary looking bikes that cost extraordinary amounts of money.

http://www.thefancy.com/things/283752327/Titan-Luxe-Track-Stem
http://www.thefancy.com/things/245430033/Montante-Maserati-8CTF
http://www.thefancy.com/things/283771253/Fast-Boy-Cycles-Custom-Bicycle

when i saw that serotta t max,a little bit of wee came out 😳 😀

nick3216 -
short cage mech another future prediction.

We were running road mechs in 1988.

And some of the riders don't need skill compensating travel and wide bars and stannah shorelift trails to get their kicks.

Ha ha...need to justify your choice? Steve Peat needs skill compensation then?

Ha ha...need to justify your choice? Steve Peat needs skill compensation then?

Ha, your inferiority complex is showing.

At least I have the skills and confidence to make that choice. I don't have to justify it to myself never mind Internet keyboard warriors. And indeed, sometimes I do ride wide bars and longer travel. My world is not black and white.

Steve Peat uses those things to enhance his already not inconsiderable skill. I remember him riding and beating people in a narrow barred Kona hardtail though. What a fatuous non-sequitur you raise.

Wow that black sheep stuff looks gopping!

At least I have the skills and confidence to make that choice.

Good job cos that hunter thing is bloody hideous. Looks like a wolfhound having a shit. Did you get those wheels for free? 😀

Hmmm, I just don't get it.

Bikes can be nice looking, or ugly. The name that is written on the downtube and how nice they look are not related IMO. So then it's just brand snobbery. You can talk about the time invested and what not, but an off the shelf (top end) FS bike has had far more man hours put into it's design than virtually any custom made hardtail.

For me bike porn is exclusive, rare, exotic, superior craftsmanship

Something like a Scott Scale 899 fits that bill. Does that count? Or does it not have a cool enough name on the downtube? If a Stumpjumper counts (which fitted none of the criteria when new) will the 899 count in 15 years? What changes in that time? It gets a bit older.

It all seems a bit "I'm going to swoon over this because I feel I should".

What's the point in having a fake IF?
It's not like a gucci handbag - surely the point in ownership is the craft and people that crafted it, not the stickers!

Anyway - here's mine. Still haven't taken new photos nearly 8 years on...

[img] [/img]

Shame about the brake mounts on the forks, but hey

Hmmm, I just don't get it.

clearly. its as much about all of the above mentioned factors and having a bike made for you specifically as opposed to a general off the peg bike. Seems we're gettting away from the original topic here though. plenty of people saying they dont get it and these bikes look ordinary. Go look at something else then.

How many times have you heard about angles being tweeked year after year. A custom builder will do that for you first time around and its 9 times out of ten perfect.

Aah, I see, so people are posting things that aren't cool enough to be in your 'club', which is skewing it.

I didn't say they looked ordinary, I said that it seems slightly odd that people are getting all excited about something because of what it says on the downtube. If all the bikes in this thread were totally unbranded how many of them would be of interest?

How many times have you heard about angles being tweeked year after year. A custom builder will do that for you first time around and its 9 times out of ten perfect.

But there is no panacea, it's not a case of 'getting it right' - or there would only be one bike design. A custom builder can design to your spec, and IME all the custom bikes I've seen look pretty awful, generally with 2ft of head tube or sommat, so presumably owners feel they have to pursue that avenue as they're too freaky to ride off the shelf.

Or... custom builders feel they have to do things radically different to the off the shelf manufacturers as you'd be a bit peeved if you went to a custom builder and got a Specialized replica at 5x the cost.

Seems we're gettting away from the original topic here though. plenty of people saying they dont get it and these bikes look ordinary. Go look at something else then.

The thread title is bike porn, people are disagreeing with your definition. Very defensive aren't we. You basically admit in the OP that i's not about how the bike looks it's about the name on it.

So then it's just brand snobbery.

Basically. If people feel good about having a 'special' bike then why not I suppose - I just wish they would be a bit more honest with themselves about the reasoning behind it.

lol getting head angles tweaked, frame builders building what you want etc.

People don't know what they want, they know what they like.

A lot of people were set in a mind set with old school geometry a few years ago and would have happily carried on with steep head angles etc, except the industry including the likes of Brant etc tried new things and everyone is now benefiting from their ideas and test bikes.

So its typically that someone wants something unique, but that rides no different from your average Taiwanese frame.

Sofaking imports the fakes, email him for more details

What's the point in having a fake IF?

I thought my IF was real until the flaws were pointed out to me

yeah they are not easy to spot from the real thing

[i]Shame about the brake mounts on the forks, but hey [/i]

never mind the brake mounts what about your lawn!

Anyway - here's mine. Still haven't taken new photos nearly 8 years on...