In this country, the frame manufacturer Independent from Somerville near Boston/USA is almost unknown. Only a small group of insiders know about the bike forge, which confidently prides itself on building the best custom bikes in the world. Around ten former employees of the former cult MTB brand Fat Chance founded the new brand Independent in 1995 with the help of state and church funding. The name was chosen deliberately, the company is owned by the employees and is run as an independent co-operative - a business model that is not exactly typical for the USA.
Contrary to the growing trend in the 1990s to build racing bike frames from aluminium or carbon, Independent chose steel exclusively right from the start. Titanium was added in 1999 when a former Merlin employee joined the company. Today, the range extends from singlespeed hardtails to high-end titanium racers. There are no fixed geometries, customised paintwork is no problem, every design is made to customer specifications. For those who like it really classy, the head tube badge is engraved with the company logo in pure gold. Price: 2,000 US dollars - extra.
The welders from the east coast made our stainless steel racer "SSR" from the brand new 953 pipe set from pipe manufacturer Reynolds. This is a stainless steel alloy. The advantage of the steel, which looks almost like titanium, is its corrosion resistance - there is no need for paint. Depending on body size and intended use, suitable tube cross-sections and wall thicknesses are selected and the end reinforcement of the tubes is customised. The wall thicknesses of the top and down tubes are only 0.3 to 0.5 millimetres - with tube cross-sections of 32 millimetres for the seat and top tube and 35 millimetres for the down tube. For comparison: Columbus' "SLX", the classic steel tube set, had wall thicknesses of 0.6 to 0.9 millimetres with tube cross-sections between 25.4 and 28.6 millimetres. The "oversizing" construction method, with which lighter frames with greater rigidity can be produced, is therefore also possible as a stainless steel version with the 953 tubes.
Attention to detail can be seen in the filigree, CNC-milled dropouts of the "SSR", or in the almost invisible tube reinforcement between the down tube and head tube. The head tube badge is a true declaration of love for the bike, which would also attract attention in a jeweller's display.
Before the laboratory test and the test rides with the Independent, the test riders also initially inspected the bike with their eyes only. Result: full marks for craftsmanship and finish. The exciting question now was whether this steel racer, whose weight is on a par with a mid-range aluminium frame, could also keep up with the aluminium and carbon frames of current racing bikes in terms of riding safety and power transmission. However, it turns out that the "SSR" is nowhere near as stable on fast, twisty descents as a stiff carbon bike of the latest design. The carbon fork from Reynolds, which lacks lateral stiffness, also contributes to this. However, there is no serious tendency to flutter, the "SSR" always remains controllable.
The very good comfort values are pleasing. The fork and frame achieve good, almost very good marks in this category. It is difficult to make any statements about the riding position and steering behaviour, as each frame is made to measure and these characteristics can therefore be individually adjusted. For the same reason, we have not rated the equipment.
However, if you compare the weight and stiffness values of the "SSR" with other steel racers, they appear in a different light: a steering head stiffness of 70 Newton metres per degree with an adjusted frame weight of 1,581 grams results in the best STW value that TOUR has ever determined for a steel frame.
If you order your dream racer from Independent, you get a completely unique piece. Geometry, tube dimensions, paintwork - everything is customised and delivered within eight weeks.
PLUS: Individual craftsmanship with attention to detail
MINUS: not recommended for athletic pass riders
* Projected dimension from centre of bottom bracket to upper edge of head tube; saddle/head tube cant at 75 cm seat height (centre of saddle frame to upper edge of head tube).
** Adjusted weight for frame size 75 and fork steerer length 225 mm.
*** Individual grades with different weightings are included in the overall grade, but only some of these are given for reasons of space.
Photos: Matthias Borchers
