Adds another bankrupt bike company to its fold, Iron Horse snatched from BK court for $5M joins the proud family of other BK bikes Schwinn, Cannondale, GT, Mongoose, sounds like they are now bound for the department/sporting goods stores everywhere.
Pacific Cycles/Dorel
- Thread starter socal_jack
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That just means I can afford one now. Yeah for me!
That is a bunch of BS. They need to get new life into those old companies. it is going to be sad when I see a gt in wal-mart. It was sad enough when I seen a schwinn there. All gt's will end up looking like the standars P.O.S. pacific bike. It is a sad, sad day to see this. (insert taps here) and a moment of silence. Now all the cool gt chrome bikes will be cheap chrome bike that will rust in less time.
Iron Horse has been selling in ....'s Sporting Goods for a while, at least 3-4 years. It'll be nteresting to see what happens to the brand. Also,Nirve sells in Target stores and has been for a while. Hasn't seem to have hurt that brand any.
Iron Horse like alot of brands has always had a dept store line and a high-end line for dealers like Schwinn, Mongoose etco. But Dorel said Iron Horse would only in that channel now. to their credit I think Pacific has done a really good job reviving GT and Mongoose. time will tell with Cannondale.
I find it odd that on a web site geared towards "Rat Rods" how many noses are in the air. I did not notice it when I first started coming here, but it is getting to be more and more common. "I only ride brand x bicycles"! Well whoopy, I ride what ever bike I find in the trash and make workable. No nose in the air here! A bike is a bike, and it is ONLY a cool bike if you make it one! So please, I'm begging of you, bring the noses back down to Earth, the world will be a better place.
Buck Masterson said:
For some it may possibly be a bit of snobbery, ( wow, that is one goofy looking word ) but In my eyes it's the larger picture of one or two major bike companies dictating the market as well as one mega-store dictating what will be served to the consumer.
When I wander off to the bike sections at Target or Wal-Mart leaving my wife to shop on her own, I just stand there and try to figure out what components or frames that I would want on any of my builds. Sadly to say about the only things that I would want would be the tires, some of the saddles, and a few of the frames. I realize that many of our cherished brands of dept. store bikes that we had back in the day even had worse build qualities, ( just look at the welds on some if those old frames ) but the parts were often times built with higher quality steel and chrome. Have you looked at the " chrome" fenders on the new Schwinns? They look like the inside of my Pabst can and are probably weaker.
I also think that there is a lement for the loss of the independent bike company, and everything that we old farts remember as being part of the American landscape that is now left vacant and for sale.
Well said gashuffy. Mine was a lament as an owner of an 2006 Iron Horse, they lost the license to the DW link rear virtual pivot the year before last, wiped out their line pretty much. Allegedly the owner was a Dbag, a long thread on the demise over the last 2 years on mtbr, sad.
At 50 pounds not for the feint of heart (especially pedaling uphill : :wink: ), but it's taken everything my 200 plus # could throw at it minus a few popped spokes, and I finally need to change the fork oil. They'll not be making anything close to it anymore.
At 50 pounds not for the feint of heart (especially pedaling uphill : :wink: ), but it's taken everything my 200 plus # could throw at it minus a few popped spokes, and I finally need to change the fork oil. They'll not be making anything close to it anymore.
I don't think there's as much snobbery as there is disappointment in the trend towards ever shorter frames and flimsy Chinese parts. I paid a little more for my Pacific "Schwinn" than the Huffy right next to it, it was clearly better. It's straighter, lighter and a little larger than my thirty year old Huffy, but there's no way it can handle as much abuse, much less compared to bikes from the '60's and earlier. I also replaced a few mechanical bits w/old parts because even after years of use they were still better. SOME lbs have higher priced bikes that are even worse, while others have decent bikes, but like everything else they aren't getting any cheaper.
deorman said:
Well put deorman. I tend to think this is the heart of the matter.
I look back to the bikes of my younger days - the Redlines, GT's etc -those bikes were such an integral part of my (and my friends) world. They really meant a lot to us, we were part of a bigger something. It's hard to explain the feeling, you felt like those machines were made just for you, and they were the best in the world, not like that "crappy old bike" you had when you were little*. It was our time and those bikes were at the center of it all.
Or to put it another way, it was like owning a Ferrari at age 14 and by the time you hit your 40's, Ferraris are being made by Yugo and sold at Wal-Mart.
So yeah, when I see a POS branded as a GT at the local big box, I feel a little sad, and a whole lot older.
-Mp
* I have no doubt we were at times, elitist little SOB's, what with our fancy bikes and all. I plead immaturity :mrgreen:
