iron horse ars 4.0

You are looking at a 1999 Iron Horse ARS 4.0, and I had to look that up because these were not all that popular. It is unusual though, and we're going to find out if that makes it desirable... 

Wikipedia tells us that Iron Horse started in 1987, but the first I know of them was Dave Cullinan winning the '92 World DH title on one. Except that it was actually a Sintesi Verlicchi made frame. But whatever - the buzz from Cullinan's performance propelled Iron Horse to be one of the most successfu - wait, no. That didn't happen. They got a bump from that, made some unusual bikes, and lasted through 2005 when they went bankrupt and were swept up by the Canadian venture capitalist operation Dorel Industries, owners of the Cannondale, GT, Schwinn, and Diamondback brands.

The ARS 4.0 here was a $600 bike with the kind of middle of road parts you'd expect. The hook was that 'A-frame' frame. Reminiscent of the GT 'triple triangle,' the a-frame surely provided something to grab the consumer's eye on the sales floor. I don't know that it provided much else beyond extra weight.

I'd love to know how they got away with that blatant rip-off of the Ferrari logo.

I intended to buy this as an experiment; can I upgrade it with modern parts and make it something desirable? At $50 it seemed like a great starting point. As I was talking with the seller, he mentions the slicks on it, and says he keeps off road tires on the other bike for trails. I ask what his off road bike is, and he says 'another one. It's also for sale. I'll give you both for $100 if you want.'

You are looking at a 2000 Iron Horse Raider, and I've already started stripping parts off it. It didn't look a whole lot different when I got it - mismatched wheels, awful grips, laughably long stem. But, what both bikes had that I needed, was 8spd drivetrains. Because with an 8spd rear hub, I can put a modern Shimano Cues drivetrain on it, with 9 or 10, or even 11 speeds. I think - not sure about 11 to be honest.

The plan is to make this more modern - lose that crazy long flat stem, get a 1x9 drivetrain so no finicky front derailleur, and then figure out if we want knobby tires, or slicks.

The other reason I went with these bikes is that they have the most popular crank BCD - the bolt pattern for chainrings - allowing me to get cheap narrow/wide chainrings. I've got shorter stems and better bars, and hopefully a better seat, so I think I can make some decent bikes for light weekend activities.

I'll definitely update once they come together, I'm hoping for Cues to arrive any day now.