What do you think of an iron horse

[Rocky_Motor]

He's askin 150 for it. 2 disc brakes is the real feature I'd say. I'd probably use it for a full build including a jack shaft and rebuilt motor.
Just a thought, I always liked those iron horse bikes.

[happycheapskate]

I have an Iron Horse from Nashbar and really like it, except the fork (no damping or anything, a little flexy, but it works). I re-lubed all the bearings and the fork with green auto grease, and it's running smooth. I put a Dax friction drive on it, and it had rack eyelets that worked out well.

If the bike you are looking at is not dinged up and the components aren't worn down, $150 should be ok. See if they will do $100 or $125. Check the chain with a 12" ruler as a starting point. Measure for your engine kit before you buy. And don't forget to get rid of the dinky rubber rim strips! (gorilla tape OWNS).

[Rocky_Motor]

Well he says hardly ridden (nubs still on tires). But measurements are most certainly key since I want to put an engine in-frame if I do. Would be all out with a jack shaft. This bike would mainly serve as the big build bike with all sorts of things. Seems like a nice one especially the dual disc brakes.

Soon as the car is out of the mechanics I'll go take a look at it

[wheelbender6]

Iron Horse makes good bikes. Used bikes with f/r disc brakes usually sell for over $300 on craigslist in my area.

[Rocky_Motor]

I've asked in past threads but got to ask again.. Why do people believe that the aluminum frames can't hold up to the engine? They should last longer than the life of the bike before they are in any particular compromised shape. I mean the engine is made out of a lower quality aluminum even.

[happycheapskate]

Try it and see, but the consensus is that thin-walled aluminum tubes fatigue faster and fail catastrophically. The happytime seems the most prone to cause this because of the clamp type (directly on the frame tubes), and because of people running their chain too tight. When I first built my happytime bike (steel) I couldn't stand to ride it more than 1/2 hour, bc. of the vibrations numbing my feet. A better chain, and a spring tensioner relieved that.

If you put a weeder type motor on a rack drive, it should be way less of a problem. The weeders have a lot shorter stroke, and the vibration forces will be focused on the seat tube junction and dropouts.

[Rocky_Motor]

Well with this bike I'd use a shift kit so luckily chain tension wouldn't be an issue. A build for this summer and in the meantime a bike to use back and forth with my MaB at school. I read up on the rotten orange and it seemed like a great idea how he built his mounts just to be safe. I'd maybe put a thin piece of rubber in between it too. With good steel studs of course.

I suppose that there's nothing wrong with taking the extra time to make a mount that will spread the strain out over a larger surface area.

[happycheapskate]

In that case, you'll probably be fine, just make sure there is not so much rubber that the engine can oscillate. If you just use some rubber shim under the normal clamp, I don't think it will have any problem, as long as your fasteners are tight and cannot contact the frame. Best of luck. I think many of the Iron Horse frames look really good. I like the ones with the boxed chainstays and disc brake mounts the best. Then you can convert later if you get a good deal on brakes.

[Rocky_Motor]

Well I hope the guy replies, I'd really like to get this bike.. But there isn't much you can do if they don't supply a phone number and don't reply to your email.

[F_Rod81]

They are decent bikes to use for a build. A local here (steampunk) has used one before and it did well. Ironhorse's are very similar to the Diamondback mountain bike lineup.