I thinned the herd recently to free up some garage space and have less guilt about bike hoarding. Off to Chicago went the Cannondale single speed and Craigslist took care of the Salsa Fat Bike. The third bike to go was the IRO Model 19. This is a bike I've had a pretty colorful history with.
4th of July ride
2012: Bought the frame from Community Cycles
Buying a stolen bike? Near as I can tell, the thief probably didn't realize what to do with the eccentric bottom bracket, and then in a weird act of integrity decided not to trash it and donated it. I set it up as a fixed gear, complete with disc brake and bar spin hacks.
2013: Sold back to the guy who it was stolen from
Having no idea it was hot when I got it, I listed it on Craigslist after losing interest and a friend of the previous owner contacted me. In a poorly executed sting by him, I ended up selling it back to him for his friend.
2014: Bought it back from him
Wanting to see what the single speed mountain bike racing scene was all about, I sent the owner an email asking if he wanted to sell the bike back to me and he was friendly and agreeable. I raced it in the CU short track series for a season.
Short track racing
After that I set it back up as a commuter and was just tooling around on it. It was a good bike to ride to work, but more effort than I was enjoying.
Commuting in style
With the addition of a real commuter to my stable, the IRO was relegated to hanging up in the garage.
2016: Sold it to TradeDesk guy
Upon the great purge of early 2016, the IRO was off to a new home. I sold it to a cool guy working at a local company called The Trade Desk. He was planning on setting it up as an office bike. He sent me a picture of some work he did to it recently:
Fresh paint and front wheel
It's been a wild ride, baby, but it's great to see the new owner is taking care of it and putting new life in a bike with a lot of soul and a fun history. So long, IRO, thanks for the memories!
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