1st IF= 1st love

[Upchuck]

Frame: IF Steel Deluxe SS specific ('97)
Fork: IF rigid steel fork (pictured Vanilla 100RLC)
Rims: Mavic 517
Hubs: Phil Wood
Tires: Kenda Nevegal 2.3F/2.1R
Pedals: 959
Crank: Middleburn 180mm 32T(pictured Truvativ)
Chain: SRAM PC1
Rear Cogs: ENO 19T
Bottom Bracket: Phil Wood Ti
Front Derailleur: NA
Rear Derailleur: NA
Shifters: NA
Handlebars: On One Mary Bar
Grips: ODI Lock On Rogue
Stem: Thomson
Headset: Chris King
Brake set: Avid SD 7
Saddle: WTB Stealth Ti
Seat Post: Thomson
Paint: Matte Black
Weight: sub 20lbs with rigid fork
http://gallery.mtbr.com/data/mtbr/502/medium/236688IF1x1small.jpg
http://gallery.mtbr.com/data/mtbr/502/medium/236688IF1x1small2.jpg

[rockyrider]

The first cut is always the deepest. :D You never get over the first one.

[ifrider]

Great IF SS! I love it! Gotta love those old IF's. Guessing you had this one repainted and redecaled? Ride it like you stole it.

[Upchuck]

Great IF SS! I love it! Gotta love those old IF's. Guessing you had this one repainted and redecaled? Ride it like you stole it.

Nope. Proud to say she's still wearing her original paint. Back story:
About 8 years ago, a close friend had a mid-90's VooDoo Bizango. He broke off one of the rear brake posts in a nasty wipeout and thought he'd have to retire the frame.

I suggested he send it to a welder and have a new one put on. And since it was being worked on, to have horizontal dropouts added to convert it to a SS. He paid for the repairs/conversion. I paid for a clear powder coat paint job. I also had the parts for a SS build and wrenched on it in my garage one night.
http://gallery.mtbr.com/data/mtbr/500/medium/236688Picture_158.jpg
http://gallery.mtbr.com/data/mtbr/500/medium/236688Picture_156.jpg
http://gallery.mtbr.com/data/mtbr/500/medium/236688Picture_159.jpg
My buddy and I agreed I'd ride it for a month and then he'd get it for a month, since we live 2 hours apart. I was dead sure he'd hate pushing a big gear on the climbs and was prepared to pay him handsomely for the frame.

After he had it for a month I got a check in the mail for my parts. :eek: My wife knew how much I loved that bike and, unbeknownst to me, started looking for a replacement.

She searched all of the LBS's and made calls to all of my friends to get advice. After they told her how much I drooled over the IF booth at Interbike a few months earlier, she made a call to the folks over at IF.

They told her they had a 1997 SS specific frame hanging in their shop with a matte black paint job. Some guy ordered it and never claimed ownership. She knew this was meant to be since my favorite color is matte black and IF wasn't offering that color anymore.

Christmas came and there she sat under the tree waiting for me to have my way with her. Oh, and the frame was sitting right next to her. ;)

[Billy2FAT]

Man have you got a nice collection of bikes !