Goodbye to the Iron Horse

Today I said goodbye to my first mountainbike, my Iron Horse Warrior 3.5. I bought it last July, and was not sure about whether I would take to the whole mountainbiking experience. It was a great starter bike, and it definitely served its purpose in helping me try out the hobby to gauge my interest without too much of an investment.

After just a few rides on it, I realized pretty quickly that I was going to love biking. I also realized that a heavy HT was not going to be ideal on most of the trails I was riding. The problem for me at the time was that I couldn't justify purchasing a new bike so soon after just buying the IH, so I figured I would just have to make it work for a while. Then, in October I was presented with an offer from Billy to purchase his year-old FSR, which I jumped at in about two seconds. I had Billy cannibalize a few of the nicer components off the IH and swap them with parts from the FSR, including its Marz fork, and at that point the IH was relegated to backup bike.

The IH sat untouched until January, when I decided to take it out on my neighborhood ride because the FSR had a broken shifter and I was awaiting new parts. It was on that ride that I realized that I would not be riding the IH anymore. It wasn't horrible, but it could not compare to the full suspension goodness of the FSR. Also, the fork that I swapped to the IH was nowhere near as plush as its original (which now resides on the FSR,) making every bump and rut a teeth-rattling adventure. And not in a good way.

So back on the garage rack the IH went, and I vacillated about whether to keep it or not for the next couple of months. It was nice having an extra bike, and Adam did ride it for the debacle that was the Daley Ranch ride in January, but I realized that I just didn't really need it anymore.

I had listed the IH on craigslist a couple of times since January, and while I received some interest (one guy wanted to trade me some trinkets and beads or something for it) I didn't have any serious offers. Then I re-listed it again on Friday, and got an email this morning after church that someone was interested in seeing it.

We made an appointment for this afternoon, and after a brief test ride around the 4S Commons parking lot, the buyer took it home just a little while ago. He paid my full asking price, which was not a whole lot less than what I paid for it originally, and very close to what I paid for the FSR (which was a smoking deal and a blessing from Billy).

So it is with a tinge of nostalgia that I say goodbye to the IH. I'm not exactly sad, because I know that I would not ride it often, if ever, again. But it was the vehicle for my entry into this hobby that I enjoy very much, and for that I am grateful to it. I hope its new owner enjoys it very much.