Weigle, Wojcik, IF, Serotta, Fat City: End of an Era?

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by Blown Reek

There's really nothing to change since there's really nothing different from what they were doing back in the day versus what's going on today. Unless you're talking about something that is different (like what Argonaut and Pursuit are doing), it's pretty much all the same. Metal tubes welded, metal and carbon mixed, your choice of paint/finishes- that's pretty much it.

I disagree - builders like Firefly and Vanilla (and latterly Sturdy and Bastion) are pushing the craft forward with innovations in dropout, brake mount, bb shell and yoke design. Some are reviving lugged or socketed construction through advancements in 3D-printed Ti. IF isn't keeping up with any of that, as far as their potential customer can see.

What I always appreciated (and tell a lot of folks) about the builders mentioned at the top of this thread is that the bikes they made were being used for riding unsealed road and trails long before the terms 'Road Plus' and 'Gravel' became market segments.

I arrived on the East Coast only 9 years ago, and my first big out-of-town ride was the Taconic 150 with NYC Velo. The riders that showed up were mostly seasoned racers on some truly lovely handmade road rigs from IF, Firefly, Spooky, Rosko, Parlee and Pegoretti. Not a disc brake in sight, and the chubbiest tyre there was a 28mm Ruffy Tuffy on my buddy Ian's Darkstar. Ian wasn't alone in running such a setup though, and it made me realise (from the saddle of my alloy LeMond on 100psi 23s) that a subtle increase in tyre size and reduction in pressure could open up many more routes to a rider.
I knew a thousand riders had been where we rode that day, and that the framebuilders of this region were already supporting that riding style by offering a smidge more tyre clearance and geometry for medium/long-reach rim brakes.
It's a shame that bikes like that aren't at the front of most consumers minds when shopping these days, as many folks really don't need such wide-range cassettes, overbuilt frames or even disc brakes.