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Iron Horse
Hollowpoint Sport
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Submitted by
Zac Rogers
a Weekend Warrior
from El Segundo, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: September 21, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Mt. Spokane | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$1000.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Price, DW Link Suspension Design, suspension travel | | Weaknesses: | Cheap stock components, paint, weight | | Similar Products Used: | Specialized, Trek, and Giant full suspension designs | | Bike Setup: | Nothing is stock anymore, Manitou Minute 2:00 fork, Fox RP23 rear shock, Easton EA 50 Seatpost and Handlebar, Easton EA 70 90mm stem, Shimano XT Shifters, Derailleurs, Cassette and Hubs. Mavic 317 Rims, ODI Lock-on grips, Avid Ti Brake Levers, ARS Seat (Best ever!) | | Bottom Line: | I love this bike. Sure the stock components were totally cheap, but I have upgraded almost everything except for the cranks, bottom bracket, and headset. I will upgrade those too when I break them. Basically, my goal was to drop as much weight as possible. Now I have a 29 pound, 5" travel trailbike. Ironhorse customer service is great. When I upgraded my rear shock, I emailed them questions and they responded within 2 hours. Ironhorse rules! | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Gesha
a Downhiller
from Walnut Creek, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: October 21, 2005 | | Favoriate Trail: | Lime Ridge Open Space Trails | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$1300.00 | | Purchased At: | Performance Bycicle | | Strengths: | The frame is solid, and overal great parts. Also good customer service. | | Weaknesses: | So far, there have only been two problems. The first is the hydraulic disk brakes. Personally I suggest that if you can, go for the normal disk brakes. So far the hyraulics have only been a pain. They are great when they work, but unless you know how to bleed brakes, then you will be in the shop alot if something goes wrong. The other problem is theat the standard derailers have been giving me problems lately. Thinking of possibly upgrading soon. | | Similar Products Used: | None | | Bike Setup: | Stan's No Tubes (simpliy put... the best), Hayes Hydralic Disk Brakes, Rock Shocks Duke front suspension, Manitou Radium RL rear shock, Shimano Deore Xt deraliers, Maxxis tires, Mavic rims, and Smimano pedals (clip-ins). | | Bottom Line: | Overall this is a great bike for begginer rides, but depending on how much you know about bikes, maybe go with something a little less high tech. I have done drops, jumps, everything with this bike, and the frame and shocks have given me no problems what so ever. I once had a small problem with the stock manitou shock, but Performance sent it back, and in return Manitou upgraded my shock for free, just because of the inconvenience. Also so far Performance bike shops has given me the best customer service yet. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Zachary Rogers
a Weekend Warrior
from El Segundo, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: March 5, 2005 | | Favoriate Trail: | Mt. Spokane | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$1000.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Price, suspension travel, dw link design | | Weaknesses: | Weight, some cheap components, paint. Also the rear shock bolt started to dig into the frame so I had to add more washers to stop the bolt from pulling through the frame. | | Similar Products Used: | Treks, Giants, Specialized | | Bike Setup: | Easton Magnesium MG60 10 degree stem, Easton EA 50 seatpost, XT front and rear derailleurs, cassette, chain, and shifters. I have also upgraded the wheels to Mavic 317 disc rims and XT hubs to drop more weight. I plan on switching out the rear suspension to a Fox or Progressive 5th Element to drop even more weight. | | Bottom Line: | I can't complain about this bike. It has served me well. It has taken all of the abuse that I have given it and held up well. I would eventually like to upgrade to a Turner, Ellsworth or Intense but this bike got me into the world of full suspension without sending me to the poorhouse. | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
John
a Weekend Warrior
from Indianapolis
Date Reviewed: September 21, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | The next one | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | gift | | Strengths: | Suspension, DW-Link, XT derailleur, Avid levers, Hayes Mech Discs (love Hayes' choice of pads), solid frame construction | | Weaknesses: | Cable routing through rear gusset wears on the cables, Weight-could be lighter. Riser handlebar (I strongly prefer a flat bar) | | Similar Products Used: | Tried too many to mention | | Bike Setup: | Stock with EA-70 stem and EA-70 flat bar | | Bottom Line: | DW-Link is great! Works as promised for maintaining frame geometry during handling and braking. Pedaling is as efficient as on any FS I've ever ridden (inc. some bikes at multiples of the price). Better components than most any FS bike in its price range. I would buy this bike again any day. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Dano Lemieux
a Cross Country Rider
from colchester,vt,USA
Date Reviewed: April 26, 2004 | | Favoriate Trail: | anything technical | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Price Paid: |
$850.00 | | Purchased At: | supergo | | Strengths: | cool looking, great spec for the price. Full seatpost, too bad the suspension couldnt handle the terrain to use this feature | | Weaknesses: | SUSPENSION!!! I weigh 220lbs, answer does NOT make a spring strong enough to hold up a clydsdale. The cane creek shock could not hold my weight even after pumping it up to 260psi, which is probably way over what it should handle. Swingarm can hit seat tube and put a nice little dent in it after bunnyhopping. Cable routing sucks. Supergo doesnt know how to build a bike | | Similar Products Used: | K2 beast, cannondale jeckl, k2 lithium(the replacement to this hollowpoint), jamis xlt 1.0, specialized fsr enduro, giant NRS, AC-1, VT 3.0 ,Kona stinky, coiler, kikapu, dawg, rocky mountain slayer, edge, GT idrive 2.0, | | Bike Setup: | stock | | Bottom Line: | I will admit that it is hard to find a bike that can handle my need to jump off stuff and ride really fast when I weight what I do, but when I buy the heaviest spring for the fork and can still bottom it out pushing down on it without jumping.... thats sad, marzocchi currently is the only people that seem to know how to deal with us clydsdales, which is fine, they make better forks anyways. and the rear suspension was worse, I can see not having a shock that can hold me, thats almsot normal, lol, but most systems have a stop on them where they wont hit the seat tube upon bottoming out, or at least wont hit it because of design. I was GOING to have some fun with this bike, jumping off and over things, riding down some technical trails, but on my first ride through my driveway when I discoverd that the suspension was SO weak, I didnt dare. As you can see I have tried almost every bike I could find in the 4-5" all-mountain category, I rode the beast for 6 years, I bought that on-line and thought I would get lucky again this time, but that is not so. I am mostly disapointed cause I wasted $60 shipping it back and forth. However, please, if you are a lighter weight rider(I wouldnt say over 150lbs, when the shocks were fully pumped and the heavier spring my 130lb roomate liked how it felt) then disregaurd this review, it would be a totally different experiance for you and I assume that it would work great. The suspension didnt move much when I pedaled, which was odd considering that blinking seemed to bottom it out, its a great working suspension should you never bottom it out and dent the frame. Beware though, if you dont know your way around a 5mm allen then dont buy online, supergo cut the fork steerer even with the stem, I had to buy a 1/4" spacer to get the thing to fit, if you dont know how to do this you will get hurt. I will say that the black sport had a rebound adjuster that suprized me in a good way, though to get 5" out of it you have to take it all apart, easy to do but complicated. A quick release seatpost clamp would have be | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Marcin
a Cross Country Rider
from Poland
Date Reviewed: March 11, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Purchased At: | Getawaybikes.com | | Strengths: | - rear suspension
- geometry
- look
- price
- customer service | | Weaknesses: | - weak paint
- some components could be better but I can't complain for this price | | Similar Products Used: | nothing like that | | Bike Setup: | Stock except: AVA RL, Connex 908, various pedals | | Bottom Line: | At the beginning I would like to sorry for my English, I'm doing my best ;)
Most people reading this rev. probably consider a purchase of 2004 model so I'll describe mostly the frame which didn't change a lot.
As some other reviewers noticed it's not a xc-race machine nor a bike for riders who want a "ride and forget" bicycle (are there any?). If you take a little care about it you won't be disappointed. It is truly trail/enduro bike to ride everywhere, up and down, in smooth and rough terrain, excellent for short, aggressive rides and long weekend escapades. Very similar design to some $2000+ frames. The only change for 2004 (beside much better components) seems to be a swingarm. That means it is proven, well done construction. Complete bike with not bad components and the best susp. design today available in the price far below frame cost of other manufacturers. That's why I bought it.
Frame - geometry is great for enduro; no bobbing when ridding on horizontal surface and only a little on climbing when you are pushing pedals hard – higher cadence helps; rear wheel travels up and backward - it gives few advantages over all designs without a dog bone: the susp. is more sensitive, less stress is applied to the rear wheel and the whole bike, when bobbing occurs it is divided on vertical and horizontal movement so rider doesn't feel it considerably; high leverage (higher than in Blur) guarantee plushness and sensitivity; 5" of travel beside all the good means longer distance from the saddle to the ground and higher center of gravity; it has a bit of left-right flexibility but only a little and it doesn't grow up; continuous seat tube gives you pretty much versatility; the material is 7005 Al so you don't have to afraid about flying stones and small crashes; and the look - just great!; only the paint is weak.
Getawaybikes - the best bike shop I ever deal with. Extremely nice and dealable people; very honest (and Iron Horse cust. serv. as well) - that's why I have AVA instead of Vanilla :) Highly recommended not only for bikers from outside of US. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Alex Bowerman
a Cross Country Rider
from San Luis Obispo
Date Reviewed: December 2, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | Anything with rocks and stuff... | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$930.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | NO pedal bob, as far as I can tell, and you don't even need lockout for your rear shock. Very little flex. DW-Link just works. It isn't sluggish and squishy like some FS bikes I've riden, and feels firm until its needed. | | Weaknesses: | None that I can see. Well... the stock tires weren't great for the type of terrain we have around here (loose stuff), but I can't blame them for that (how are they supposed to know what the ground looks like where I ride?) | | Bike Setup: | Upgrades: Cane Creek AD-12 rear shock, 120mm Marzocchi MX Pro ETA fork, Shimano XT hydraulic disc brakes, Panaracer Fire XC Pro tires. | | Bottom Line: | I am posting this mostly as a review of the frame. I had some issues with some of the cheaper components that were on this bike stock, but I can't complain, because I knew what I was buying. Overall, I highly recomend this bike. I ride it just about every day in very rocky, rough stuff, and it doesn't quit. The suspension almost seems like it knows when you are climbing and just shuts off. You can look down at your rear shock and its just sitting there... not bobbing around. But then with you get to some roughness, or point it downhill, you get your full 4.5 inches of smooth travel.
This bike will be great for anyone who wants a bike that does it all. Usually they say that the jack of all trades excells at none, but I disagree. This is efficient, for cross country (no, its not a race bike) and plush for downhill.
I can honestly say I have no complaints whatsoever about this bike. Highly recomended. 5 flamin' chilis. mmmmm chilis.... I'm hungry. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Zac Rogers
a Weekend Warrior
from Sherman Oaks, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: November 19, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | Santa Monica | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1000.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Frame, Component selection, Price | | Weaknesses: | Weight | | Similar Products Used: | Trek Fuel 80, Giant NRS | | Bike Setup: | Easton EA70 0 degree stem, XT front derailluer, otherwise stock. | | Bottom Line: | I love this bike. You can't get a bike even remotely close to it for the money. The only component I didn't like was the 15 degree rise Koski stem, so I switched to a 0 degree stem, for a more agressive riding posture but that's probably just a personal thing. I plan on upgrading to full XT components, and a lighter rear shock eventually to drop weight but I really have no complaints! Could anyone out there tell me the best setup to route the cables? Supergo really did a crappy job on that. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Chris
a Cross Country Rider
from Bakersfield, CA
Date Reviewed: September 5, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$1000.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Geometry (climbing is nothing), linkage (new linkage is nice w/ 2 travel settings), very solid feel | | Weaknesses: | BB-I have had some creaking, but I expected this from Truvativ; they just don't make quality BB's...Manitou fork is OK, but the Black Comp would have been a better choice | | Similar Products Used: | Fisher | | Bike Setup: | XT shifters and Fr. Der, else stock | | Bottom Line: | I love the confidence this bike inspires in me. The frame is basically flawless. I have had no problems with any of the components except some creaking of the crappy Truvativ BB.
If there is a weak point to this bike, it is the fork, but for a couple bills you can take care of that if it ever goes...it's not like the fork is overweight or anything...it just doesn't perform as well as the Black Comp or Marzocchi ETA etc.
For the money, you get waaay more than you pay for. Ride the fork until it dies, buy a new one....but the frame seems to be bulletproof.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Matt Atkinson
a Cross Country Rider
from H.B. Cal. USA
Date Reviewed: September 4, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$950.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Good suspension and componets for the price. | | Weaknesses: | Manitou black sport shocks leak oil and supergo tells me it is NORMAL. Front derailer was rubbing on the chain when under a hard load, supergo adjusted it and now the chain comes off! They say the frame or the crank has to much flex in it (I only weigh 175 lbs.) and are offering me a Specialized Enduro for 250.00 more than the Iron Horse. | | Bike Setup: | stock | | Bottom Line: | I dont know who sucks Iron Horse or Supergo. Trying to decide on buying the Specialized from Supergo or getting my money back and going to Jax bike center and buying a Trek liquid 10 for 1099.00. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
steve
a Cross Country Rider
from bushnell, IL
Date Reviewed: September 2, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$950.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Bike has performed as I expected with no problems. | | Weaknesses: | Leery about ISIS drive | | Similar Products Used: | This is my first FS | | Bike Setup: | Stock with XT shifters | | Bottom Line: | I don't understand why this guy below is rating the bike so poorly because he had BB issues. Most likely it was a Supergo installation problem and it wasn't torqued well/greased well, blah blah blah. Also with the housing and cable issues...is that really an issue with the bike or with the installer (supergo)?
This bike has been great for me. There is just no other bike in the $1000 range that has as much to offer in suspension and components. It climbed the best of any bike I tried (and I tried many) and the suspension is so nice on rocky sections. The Manitou front fork is great...better, I think, on the 100mm setting at least for how I ride (mostly XC).
I was worried about getting a bike with so much travel, but it has proven to be a solid feeling bike just as I was told. Try it out. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Josh
a Cross Country Rider
from Marshall, NC
Date Reviewed: September 2, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | downhill spot in Hickory | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$930.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Very sturdy, powerful brakes, front/rear suspension combination is nice, tires are great for hardpack and anything dry | | Weaknesses: | I am quite skeptical of the Truvativ parts. I haven't had any problems yet but I see others have. Also, Supergo did not do a good job with the cable routing or torqueing, etc. It is not the lightest bike out there. | | Similar Products Used: | Fisher Sugar 2, Jamis Dakar, old crappy hardtail | | Bike Setup: | Upgraded to XT shifters and Fr der, Ritchey pedals, otherwise stock | | Bottom Line: | I love this bike. I ride mostly aggressive XC on very rocky trails and have found that I can put it through anything from all-day XC to small drops without any problems. The linkage is great...huge improvement in bob over other bikes I have owned, while not sacrificing "plushness" when it is needed. The suspension is quite active, but is not sloppy. Climbing is a huge improvement over some single pivot designs I have tried. The Hayes discs work perfectly every time. I've never had any issues with any part of the bike.
I have a feeling that at least some of the problems other riders are encountering are due to the lack of proper tune-up before riding. I found that I needed to grease everything, including the BB spindle and threads, and had to do a bit of work undoing the nightmarish job of cable routing that Supergo did. I also had to torque the crank to spec, because it was waaay too loose. If I hadn't done this, I most likely would have had the same BB issues listed below. The rims were also in need of truing before I rode. Supergo is great, but you just can't trust some online retailer to set things up for you correctly.
If you are looking for a value-oriented FS bike that will perform well, this bike should be on your short list. It weighs right around 30 lbs, so it isn't the lightest bike ever, but you're hopefully not expecting much more at $1000. For the price, I really don't think there are many bikes that can touch the Sport for its combination of component group and suspension performance. Just make sure you tune it up well if you buy it online.
I'll give it full 5-chili action because I have had zero problems that were actually caused by the bike. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
marco
a Cross Country Rider
from austin, texas
Date Reviewed: June 24, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$999.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | This is an update to my previous review. | | Weaknesses: | 1) Housing really sucks. When I brake hard the housing comes of the holding spots, making the brakes tighter.Each time, I have to get off the bike and put the cable/housing back into place..This usually happens after a downhill with lots of bumps.
2) I broke the chain with no effort at all (SRAM 49, this was stock, I did not know they still manufacture this item).
Supergo sent a SRAM 99 as a replacement (quality sucks but service is great).
3) The Truvativ BB was squeaking and had some play. I took it to a local shop..It had to be replaced...the shop (Bicycle Sport Shop -Clay did a great job) is taking care of sending the part to Truvativ and getting a free replacement thru Warranty; BSS is just charging me $15 for labor. I'll see if I can get a refund from Supergo. Never bought or used Truvativ before and surely will never buy their products again. Hey I am no Hulk (5'6", 150lbs) and was able to ruin the f&*@! botom bracket!! unbelievable to me.
| | Bike Setup: | Stock with SPD M545 pedals | | Bottom Line: | Price still rules but all these quality issues are starting to annoy me. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Eric
a Cross Country Rider
from Belpre, OH
Date Reviewed: June 16, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | Copper Head | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$999.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Overall ride, good components (mine came with a coil-over Fox for the rear shock, instead of the Cane Creek air), good geometry (balanced for climbing and descents), climbs great for full-suspension! | | Weaknesses: | rear mud clearance, front disc brake doesn't have caliper adjustment | | Similar Products Used: | Schwinn S-30, Trek Fuel 80, Specialized Rockhopper FSR | | Bike Setup: | Stock (see IH website) except for rear-shock | | Bottom Line: | A great all around trail bike. This bike is not the lightest or the heaviest. Good suspension design. If you’re looking for a bike that is hardtail-esque except on the downhills, this is not it. The suspension doesn’t bob, but is fully active for small to large hits. So far this bike has taken a pounding and kept on going, no problems yet (over 2 months). Right now, it has Maxxis Larsen TT 2.0s on it, I don’t think the frame would take any bigger tire, so if you’re looking for something to put 2.5s on, look elsewhere. The coil-over Fox Vanilla R works great, much more plush and resilient than an air shock. The Manitou Black Sport isn’t bad, no problems. Koski parts are great, good drive train (came with XT rear derailleur), and ISIS drive works great, no creaks. Overall I’m very happy with the bike, the 4 pivot suspension works great and the value is outstanding. Other brands are $300 to $400 more for the same type of design and component mix. And best of all… no interrupted seat tube like on other designs! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Marco
a Cross Country Rider
from Austin, TX
Date Reviewed: June 6, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$999.00 | | Purchased At: | Supergo | | Strengths: | Value; Components; Not so heavy for a full suspension; Easy to assemble. | | Weaknesses: | Cable housing seems too long and too thick for the frame. Cable routing could be better; One pivot support on the frame accumulates lots of mud.
Nice looking frame although some of the welding spots look cheap.
| | Similar Products Used: | This is my first full-suspension; Gary Fisher Marlin; | | Bike Setup: | Stock + SPD 545 | | Bottom Line: | I tried the Specialized Rockhopper, Haro Extreme 3; Marin East Peak; Giant NRS3, G.Fisher Sugar 2+; Trek Fuel, all of them in the $1000-1400 price range...none of them had the mix of components the Hollowpoint has...I really liked the NRS3 but similarly equipped (NRS2) is at least $400 more.
The fork seems soft but it's fine for my weight and type of riding after some adjustments(I'm 150lbs and do mostly XC, no big drops or anything along those lines...)
Rear shock is fine, I set it up as very responsive and has no noticeable pedal bobbing.
The bike climbs well. I do have some issues with the disc brakes rear is fine but front squeaks like a hungry baby..(I wonder if the pad material is different f/r..).
I was concerned about ordering online; Overall the guys at Supergo were great. The bike did come carefully packed although the rear tire was flat; it had a minor paint scratch on the chainstay and brake cable (front) was long. it needed a tune up, which I could have done myself but decided to take it for a tune up at REI just to make sure everything was working fine (they did a pretty lousy job by the way...)
I will definitively update this review in the future.
My advice: if you are shopping around for your first full suspension and are planning to spend $1000-$1200, and want also disc brakes get this bike and save the money to upgrade components or to get a roof rack.
Best bang for the back in the $1000-$1400 full suspension range. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jim wlson
a Downhiller
from wahiwa, hi
Date Reviewed: June 3, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | st lewis | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$1000.00 | | Purchased At: | bike shop | | Strengths: | good light frame, decent extras | | Weaknesses: | cane creek ad 5 air shock | | Similar Products Used: | rock shock, steppenwolf tycoon | | Bike Setup: | look on the iron horse web site | | Bottom Line: | If you buy this bike you will have a nice easy ride. but before you take it to the trail you will need to get a replacement shock. the cane creek ad5 was not made for the bike. i weight 160 lbs and i had 190lbs of pressure and the bike was super plush. i couldn't jump a speed bump without bottoming out. i suggest a shock with coil over instead. clip in peddles are for weenies, so get new ones. with the manitou black and the rock shock deluxe the bike will do well on the trails in hawaii. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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