Submitted by
Sam
a Weekend Warrior
from Scotch Plains NJ
Date Reviewed: December 11, 2009
Strengths: The bike is very light. The front fork is very nice. It can be adjusted from 100mm of travel to 130mm of travel. The adjustable fork makes the transition from riding trails to street easy. There is no pedal bob when pedaling.
Weaknesses: Came with a blown rear shock, but that because I bought it used. My only complaint would be the handle bars. For my taste, there a little narrow. I prefer wide bars, but that can be easily changed.
Bottom Line:
I love this bike. I bought it used and it is still in great condition. My favorite part of the bike would have to be the front fork. For riding trails I adjust the fork to 130mm. When im cruzing around town I change it to 100mm. The rebound of the shock can be adjusted too. Over all, this bike is amazing. All my friends are jealous and are always asking to borrow or ride it! Its a must have!
Strengths: This is for the 2007 MK III Sport. Love the MK III DW link Suspension. It climbs much better than I could have hoped and the Fox Float R is really plush. Id read not so great reviews on the Rock Shox Tora 302 and the WTB Speed disks but with at least 200 miles of single track with plenty of small 2-3 ft drops the rims are still as true as the day I bought the bike and the fork hasnt given me one problem at all
Weaknesses: Not to crazy about the Sram sx5 shifters, and am gonna upgrade those and the Derailers to X9 when the need arises
Bottom Line:
Ive been really happy with the bike so far. Other than cable stretch and some minor derailer adjustments I havent had one complaint at all on the whole setup. Im really impressed with the suspension of the DW-Link. I researched online for quite some time before the I purchased it and found that It was one of the best bangs for my buck I could find as far as frame quality and I could upgrade components as needed.
Similar Products Used: Test rode the Kona Kikapu deluxe
Bike Setup: Fox Float R rear shock, RS Tora 302, Sram X7 Drivetrain with FSA Alpha Drive cranks, Hayes MX4 brakes, Crank Bros Candy C pedals
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Josh Greene
a Weekend Warrior
from Brockton,Ma
Date Reviewed: February 26, 2007
Strengths: Super smooth ride! No pedal bob. Plenty of travel when you need it. Good climber and great desender.
Weaknesses: The Manitou Black could be better but then I should have saved longer and bought the compor expert MKIII.
Bottom Line:
I have had two short test rides and one good long ride on this bike. I would have say my riding style leans more towards XC but with a little FR mixed in. And as a point of reference I own a rigged Ted Wojcik that can never be replaced. I love the hardtail feel but full suspension will help me ride long in a ride and in life. This bike did great climbing up long hills and even better coming down the hills. We have set up a little playground of logs and rocks etc... This was a good test of the suspension I thought and the bike and I performed great together. I folllowed the playground off with a nice three foot drop that used only half the rear travel and was very plush. Then went did some XC hammering. This bike was a pleasure to ride and I have to dig deap to think of any downsides. The fork is the only thing that comes to mind. It performed fine I thought I am sure a nice Pike or Talas would have been different but then I wouldn't have spent $1099 either. With time I will upgrade the shock for performance reasons and the tires and wheels sets for weight and the bike I feel will be well balenced under 30lbs.(I'm guessing around 27-28lbs, I have it digitally weighed at 31.25lbs at the shop.)all mountain machine.
Similar Products Used: Santa Cruz Heckler, Ted Wojcik Solution, Specialized FSR Expert
Bike Setup: Almost everything is stock. I did swap out the brakes. The bike came with Avid BB5 and I swapped with a newish set of Shimano Deore Hydr. brakes. I love the easy of set up on these brakes.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Mike M
a Cross Country Rider
from San Diego
Date Reviewed: September 23, 2006
Strengths: Value. Ride quality. Shift quality. Handling.
Weaknesses: Crankset
Bottom Line:
This bike is a great value. The ride is nearly perfect. I can stand on steep uphills and it just keeps on going with no suspension bob. The crankset causes the chain to get hung up, but I am replacing it. Every other part of the bike is fantastic. I had to adjust the position of the front derailleur to keep the chain from dragging (slightly) on the front derailleur when I was on the middle chainring and top or bottom gear. The drivetrain makes NO NOISE. It shifts even on extremely steep climbs. My first time with SRAM and I am a true believer. I recommend this bike to anyone. The price is low in spite of the great components, because nobody knows the name. If you don't want to pay for a "name" ie (specialized, trek, cannondale) you should get this bike and end up with a better product.
Bike Setup: This is the Mark III Comp. SRAM X7 Shifters. SRAM X9 and XGEN derailleurs. Hayes Nine hydraulic disk brakes. Truvativ Firex Crank. Eggbeater clipless. Reba Race fork, Ario shock. WTB hubs & seat. SRAM Cassette. Shimano chain.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Owem
a Weekend Warrior
from Calgary, AB, CA
Date Reviewed: May 25, 2006
Strengths: Fantastic customer service.
Weaknesses: Poor frame design.
Bottom Line:
This is the follow-up to the follow-up. Iron Horse replaced the frame with a 2004 Hollowpoint Team frame. In their words "several failures" had happened with the Sport model.
Have had problems with the Team frame, bought the Specialized at an auction for $325 CDN.
Would I buy another Iron Horse? Probably not, unless heavily discounted.
The value was low, the overall was great as the company did come through every time I emailed them with a problem.
Submitted by
Dominic
a Cross Country Rider
from Chicago area
Date Reviewed: October 26, 2005
Strengths: DW-Link is awesome (works similarly to VPP or Maestro) Sturdy XC frame built to take some abuse Sticky tires
Weaknesses: Few creaks, but plenty other bikes develop noise over time. With the rear triangle design, wet, muddy leaves pack up behind the front der easily, but I try not to ride when wet anyway.
Swap out stuff if you want it lighter, or just eat better ;)
Bottom Line:
After breaking my hardtail, I wanted something sturdier. A car accident & back rehab drove me to a softer ride. FS was a definite, but the choices were hard to filter thru. Being able to ride a bike that didn't need a top-end shock to perform was enticing - lower replacement cost when it gives out. Pedalling well meant I could keep up w/ my faster ride buds.
I've had mine for 18 months and haven't regretted it. The suspension works as advertised, I sit through anything small on the trail and jump off of tall roots or ramped log piles w/ a soft landing. I swapped out the tires for Kenda Karissmas and slid around. Hansventures went back on, no more sliding around.
Bike Setup: Mostly stock, w/ Psylo fork instead of stock Duke and shorter stem because of the long TT.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
mike
a Weekend Warrior
from boston, ma
Date Reviewed: September 21, 2005
Strengths: great components for a cheap price
Weaknesses: Well this is a follow up to my previous review (I gave it way to many stars then) The problems are: 1) Chain suck -- Chain gets caught between the pivot and the small ring. The chain will either bend or be very difficult to get out. 2) Too many creaks. The joints were not designed to avoid creaking. Lots of metal rubbing on metal. There is a big difference in the VPP joints. (you get what you pay for) 3) I have a heckler now and it climbs better and it is a single pivot. 4) You can't buy the tires anywhere. so don't get used to them
Bottom Line:
This bike is a maintanance nightmare. It is not worth it.
Bike Setup: fox talas, sram , and highroller tires
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Owen
a Cross Country Rider
from Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 31, 2005
Strengths: Light, Fast
Weaknesses: Broke the frame, seat post tube, just below the suspension weld.
Bottom Line:
I wrote a review a while ago. This is the follow-up. This was a fantastic bike. Note: WAS. I broke the frame, but never rode it hard. Its primary use was as my commuter bike. No Jumps, no crashes, plenty of TLC. Because if it fails, I have to ride the bacteria factory known as public transit. I'll keep everyone up on how IronHorse responds to my warranty questions.
Submitted by
Mark Keiser
a Weekend Warrior
from Ephrata, PA
Date Reviewed: June 22, 2005
Strengths: Price, Parts for the price.
Weaknesses: Rear shock
Bottom Line:
Great bike for the money (Purchased for approx. 50% off originl retail price). For a first time full suspension user, it was a relatively easy transition. The only major change I plan to make in the near future is to eventually replace the rear shock with one that is equipped with a lockout.
Similar Products Used: None. This is my first full suspension bike.
Bike Setup: Replaced the pedals with ATAC pedals, otherwise it is stock.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Will Easland
a
from Laguna Niguel, CA ,U.S of A
Date Reviewed: January 2, 2005
Strengths: brakes,control, suspension front and back,every thing easy to adjust
Weaknesses: pedals
Bottom Line:
bottom line is this is a great bike. I was trying to decide between a downhill bike and this. take this you have enouph suspension to last a really hard hit and you can still ride it around town like it's a road bike ( i never would ). People have been dissin the tires but these are the best tires i've ridin on you feel like you can grip onto anything. The bike is light with the tires you dont need to make any lighter. It comes with plastic pedals and a long neck like i said plus you need new grips or gloves because the grips are thin. great look
Strengths: The price is unbeatable! I'm an ex-BMXer. The shocks work well for jumping and bunny hoping. I'm also very impressed with the disk brakes.
Weaknesses: The tires are very heavy, but they can take a beating! As soon as the tires wear out, I'm going to a lighter pair. This will take about a pound and a half off the total weight.
Bottom Line:
This bike is great for the aggresive rider. I love rocks, streams, logs, ditches, jumps, and roots. This bike takes them all very nicely.
Submitted by
Owen
a Cross Country Rider
from Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Date Reviewed: December 1, 2004
Strengths: Light, Fast, Durable.
Weaknesses: None
Bottom Line:
The bike was purchased 1 year ago this week. From March 1 to December 1, 2004 I rode 4500km (2800 miles) on my daily commute. The bike has had new tires and brake pads replaced at 4000 km. I've never had a single problem, it rides beautifully. It is very fast. I've caught people on Triathlon bikes, recumbents and road bikes. The "big red truck" is fantastic. I'd buy a second one in a heartbeat.
Submitted by
Robertg
a Weekend Warrior
from New Milford, NJ
Date Reviewed: November 29, 2004
Strengths: Everything is great, component spec is great at this price!
Weaknesses: None so far
Bottom Line:
This is a great bike. I purchased this bike as my first full suspension and I couldn't be happier. This thing has already hit the trails a bunch of times in the short time that I have had it, and it handles everything really well, including climbing. The DW link is great and makes climbing a breeze (now if only I had better lungs). For the money, this bike can't be beat. Eventually I will replace parts, but that is only when they become work or because of damage due to my own use.
Strengths: Unbeatable for the price. Hydraulics, Duke, QR,
Weaknesses: A tad heavy.
Bottom Line:
SUPER bike for the price. If you are looking to sort of do it all for $1000-$1500 this is the rig for you. if you are hung-up on weight MAYBE not. Swap the tires and tubes for short money and you can end up with 27-27.5 lb super bike. Brakes a little finickey, but with some adjustments or help from your LBS they are fine. The only thing is a bushing (actually a "linkage reducer" basically a bushing that attaches the rear shock to the frame) which comes from the factory terribly out of spec. this is a great bike for the $. IH and Manitou know of the problem, and will send the correct reducer for free (just feels like a tiny bit of play if you gently lift the seat, almost feels like the headset is loose. it's not a prob just an annoyance and can't be felt when riding) Other than that I have no issues whatsoever. DW link rear suspension WORKS! Great climber for the weight. Climbs much better than my Fuel or Sugar. I feel like I stole it for the $. Great bike. Feel free to e-mail me @ mannion@adelphia.net with any ?, I'll do my best to help you out.
Strengths: Overall value. Of all of the bikes that I reviewed, this one had the best value given the component specs.
The dw-link suspension. The suspension on this bike was definately well designed. There is very little pedal kick, making it an excellent climber, and with 4.75" rear travel, the ride is very plush when the trail is not.
Weaknesses: Nothin major so far, but I had to be picky, I would say weight.
Bottom Line:
Overall, I would definately recommend this bike as an intermediate level all-mountain bike. The Expert, in my opinion would be a worthy upgrade, but i am definately happy with the performance of this bike. So far, it seems to do it all, as it climbs and descends well.
