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Ironhorse has gone out of business

djamgils

Monkey
Aug 31, 2007
349
0
Holland
Few of those shops are the quality of enduro. They stand behind their name and are all about serious qualituy.
Enduro Max bearings suck. You might as well use bearings without seals.
to make the max bearings they make a slot in the inner race to put the balls in. But the seals doesnt close the gap.

In my socom I used enduro bearings and NSK bearings. After 2 months the enduro bearings where seized and the NSK bearings where in perfect working condition.

Even the enduro bearings in my code levers are rotten.
 

Inclag

Turbo Monkey
Sep 9, 2001
2,750
439
MA
Few of those shops are the quality of enduro. They stand behind their name and are all about serious qualituy.
Ummm, no. There are tons of shops that sell bearings of very high quality... they just don't tend to mountain bikers because there are millions of applications aside from bikes where high quality bearings are needed.
 

dh gangster

Monkey
Jul 31, 2006
366
0
P en Doubleyou
Why is everyone worrying about not getting parts!!! IH will just be brought buy another company.. Just like DIRT said.. Keep your pants on...
In my humble opinion i think that article was written just to keep people buying the Ironhorses that are still being sold by that UK retailer...
Not necessarily that someone is actually lined up to buy them and that is just their hope.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
In my humble opinion i think that article was written just to keep people buying the Ironhorses that are still being sold by that UK retailer...
Not necessarily that someone is actually lined up to buy them and that is just their hope.
and to hide the fact that this is one of the signs that nazis on raptors are coming...

The info was posted on a couple of sites at the same time. I think mtbr forums were one of the first. They are also part of the conspiracy? Does W Bush and The evil turtle king from mario bros use it as a base for their operations? I think not.
 

Sghost

Turbo Monkey
Jul 13, 2008
1,038
0
NY
and to hide the fact that this is one of the signs that nazis on raptors are coming...
For some reason, at first I pictured raptors with nazi hats riding yamaha raptors.
 

JRogers

talks too much
Mar 19, 2002
3,785
1
Claremont, CA
Why is everyone worrying about not getting parts!!! IH will just be brought buy another company.. Just like DIRT said.. Keep your pants on...
Not that I particularly care one way or the other (don't own an IH or anything), but sometimes when a company goes under and is bought out, the new owners don't give much support to old customers and may stop honoring warranties, etc.- particularly if the old stock is sold and gone.
 

RMboy

Monkey
Dec 1, 2006
879
0
England the Great...
Not that I particularly care one way or the other (don't own an IH or anything), but sometimes when a company goes under and is bought out, the new owners don't give much support to old customers and may stop honoring warranties, etc.- particularly if the old stock is sold and gone.
Very true! Luckily i do not own a Sunday anymore..:banana:
 

eRod

Chimp
May 16, 2007
85
0
Specialized I think.
anybody know this for sure? if it really was specialized i wonder if they'll license dw-link...

EDIT...no more drinking a posting for me. missed the joke.
 
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skatetokil

Turbo Monkey
Jan 2, 2005
2,383
-1
DC/Bluemont VA
I always got great customer service from the guys at IH. Sorry to see it come to this... I like my Kumicho and I'll probably get another season out of it before she becomes wall art.

I must say I always wondered how they could sell complete bikes for less than the cost of the parts kit. I guess that explains it. Great deal for me while it lasted, but as we're seeing, creative accounting and management pillaging are not sustainable corporate strategies.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
I always got great customer service from the guys at IH. Sorry to see it come to this... I like my Kumicho and I'll probably get another season out of it before she becomes wall art.

I must say I always wondered how they could sell complete bikes for less than the cost of the parts kit. I guess that explains it. Great deal for me while it lasted, but as we're seeing, creative accounting and management pillaging are not sustainable corporate strategies.
No it doesn't. Most big companies just get good oem prices. If you knew how much a DHX shock costs oem you would go crazy.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,920
borcester rhymes
between sam jumping ship and this, sundays are going to be pennies on the dollar...

which is great, really, because I'll pick up two for the cost of a new frame, and be able to fix anything that breaks....and it's still a great bike.
 

boogenman

Turbo Monkey
Nov 3, 2004
4,290
973
BUFFALO
I must say I always wondered how they could sell complete bikes for less than the cost of the parts kit. I guess that explains it. Great deal for me while it lasted, but as we're seeing, creative accounting and management pillaging are not sustainable corporate strategies.
OEM parts are cheap guy. If you saw wholesale prices on most mid to high end bikes you would kill yourself. I wish I knew what the big 3 pay for a pallet of forks or shocks from SRAM or Fox :busted:
 

ska todd

Turbo Monkey
Oct 10, 2001
1,776
0
OEM parts are cheap guy. If you saw wholesale prices on most mid to high end bikes you would kill yourself. I wish I knew what the big 3 pay for a pallet of forks or shocks from SRAM or Fox :busted:
The prices for OEM parts are not as "cheap" as you and others might think or insinuate. Overall, margins in the bike industry are not very high. It's not softgoods margins, that's for sure! Also remember that OEM parts require bulk purchase, are not factoring in any duties or freight, and generally require long lead times. The "cheap" prices suddenly don't look so good once you pull all of those factors in. OEM sales drive unit quantity. If they weren't there, your aftermarket parts prices would surely be higher as the total units sold would potentially be cut by a large percentage.

-ska todd
 

skatetokil

Turbo Monkey
Jan 2, 2005
2,383
-1
DC/Bluemont VA
What I'm saying is go compare the Satchem or 7point or MKIII being sold at Randal Scott with bikes in the same price range elsewhere. You will notice a HUGE gap in the parts spec. I kept asking myself "How can IH afford to do this? What are they doing differently that allows them to undercut all the other manufacturers who presumably get similar OEM deals from SRAM?" Unless the rest of the industry is price fixing or they have some revolutionary new cost saving technology, there shouldn't be enough margin to allow those kinds of differences, at least not for long.

It got to where you could have bought the frame of your choice and a complete 7point, thrown the IH frame in the garbage and still come out ahead on the build. I didn't bother to do the math at the time, but the parts on my Kumicho at sale prices available to the average joe would have come very close to the $1400 I paid for it out the door.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,920
borcester rhymes
I think part of the reason is the quality of the IH frame. Paint, spec, QC, material, really seems to be lacking compared to other manufacturers. Design is one thing, but the manufacturer has to follow up.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
What I'm saying is go compare the Satchem or 7point or MKIII being sold at Randal Scott with bikes in the same price range elsewhere. You will notice a HUGE gap in the parts spec. I kept asking myself "How can IH afford to do this? What are they doing differently that allows them to undercut all the other manufacturers who presumably get similar OEM deals from SRAM?" Unless the rest of the industry is price fixing or they have some revolutionary new cost saving technology, there shouldn't be enough margin to allow those kinds of differences, at least not for long.

It got to where you could have bought the frame of your choice and a complete 7point, thrown the IH frame in the garbage and still come out ahead on the build. I didn't bother to do the math at the time, but the parts on my Kumicho at sale prices available to the average joe would have come very close to the $1400 I paid for it out the door.
Because you compare IH to higher end of the market companies. Look at some kona or mongoose builds (the EC-D for last few years had amazing spec). Devinci has great price in the uk, glory has great spec on their DH bike. I'm not talking about design quality but build quality where IH wasn't as high as some ppl though it was. Also if you know how to look for the deals you can get such deals with many bikes.

PS. Around here you can get a supreme dh bike for only 25% more than the frame ( with some extras so let it be 35%). It's nothing strange.


Todd don't know for others but I wasn't really speculating it was some kind of a steal or that the prices were unreasonably low (well unless it's a catalog part you rebrand ;) ). The low prices come from what you've told and it all makes sense but simply some ppl don't get it. Still the ones I got to know are pretty nice deals if you could get that price for yourself ;)
 

Bikael Molton

goofy for life
Jun 9, 2003
4,010
1,146
El Lay
just saw this on the rs cycles site...

Warranty: Randall Scott Company Will Directly Honor Iron Horse Manufacturer Warranty and replacement parts for Bikes Purchased through Randall Scott Company All Iron Horse bicycle frames purchased from Randall Scott Company are warranted by Randall Scott Company to be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal
 

klunky

Turbo Monkey
Oct 17, 2003
1,078
6
Scotland
What I'm saying is go compare the Satchem or 7point or MKIII being sold at Randal Scott with bikes in the same price range elsewhere. You will notice a HUGE gap in the parts spec. I kept asking myself "How can IH afford to do this? What are they doing differently that allows them to undercut all the other manufacturers who presumably get similar OEM deals from SRAM?" Unless the rest of the industry is price fixing or they have some revolutionary new cost saving technology, there shouldn't be enough margin to allow those kinds of differences, at least not for long.

It got to where you could have bought the frame of your choice and a complete 7point, thrown the IH frame in the garbage and still come out ahead on the build. I didn't bother to do the math at the time, but the parts on my Kumicho at sale prices available to the average joe would have come very close to the $1400 I paid for it out the door.
Surely the point of this thread is that Iron Horse could not afford to cut the prices through Randal Scott. They did but then they went bust.
If they had sold bikes at similar prices to other dealers then they might still be making bikes!

I guess the difference in price that you noticed between Iron Horse and the rest of the industry is the difference between a company making some profit and a company going under.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
Surely the point of this thread is that Iron Horse could not afford to cut the prices through Randal Scott. They did but then they went bust.
If they had sold bikes at similar prices to other dealers then they might still be making bikes!

I guess the difference in price that you noticed between Iron Horse and the rest of the industry is the difference between a company making some profit and a company going under.
If I remember correctly the IH PARENT COMPANY went bust not the IH itself so the prices may be far from relevant. Bad financial decisions(ie. investments etc. ) are far more often cause of companies going bankrupt nowadays.
 

ska todd

Turbo Monkey
Oct 10, 2001
1,776
0
Todd don't know for others but I wasn't really speculating it was some kind of a steal or that the prices were unreasonably low (well unless it's a catalog part you rebrand ;) ). The low prices come from what you've told and it all makes sense but simply some ppl don't get it. Still the ones I got to know are pretty nice deals if you could get that price for yourself ;)
I've explained it to some people akin to if you were to go to Costco to buy a steak. Sure, that steak costs 1/2 of what it would cost in a supermarket but, that's only when you buy 5X what you actually need for your own use. And, like said steak, the better the restaurant the steak is sold at, the higher the price. That's why at Peter Lugar's it'll run you $50 for the steak you buy at Costco for $5 or $10 at Stop N Shop or $20 at Outback or $30 at a better neighborhood restaurant.

-ska todd