oship

Title tells the story! I crashed my IRO fixie (steel frame, flip hop hub, I think the model is Mark V) a couple months ago. I’ve since bought a new bike and am looking to sell the fixie to make space, but I don’t know whether to sell it for parts, sell it as a project bike, take it to a bike shop, or make some repairs and sell it used. I’ll attach photos to my profile (I’m a newbie and can’t post URLs/pics, but try this: bikeforums dot net/g/picture/28743786). To my untrained eye, the bike currently has the following characteristics:

Cons:

• Dented rear rim
• Snapped rear brake lever
• Scuffed seat, bar grips, front fork
• Seized seat post (from previous owner, shame on me for not checking before buying used)

Pros:

• Frame and forks are structurally sound
• Front wheel in good condition and spins true
• Tires hold air
• Brake pads new
• Generally a cool bike B-)

Is it totaled? Is it valuable? I understand the IRO frame has a following, but the seized seat post and stickers might make it unmarketable. Any thoughts are welcome!

JohnDThompson 

Pic assist:




The wheel looks to be rideable, although the dent will cause an annoying bump with every wheel rotation and a "grab" every time the dent passes the brake pads when using the brake. It's unlikely that this could be "trued" out; a replacement rim or wheel is the best fix. The brake lever can be replaced. They aren't expensive or difficult to replace.

veganbikes

You shouldn't buy a fixie too many problems. I like to buy a bike that doesn't need any fixies because in that case it would be a brokie.

Without the joking, if the frame and fork are good then just replace broken parts and ride the bike.

Russ Roth

Doubt its got much value as is, especially with stuck post and stickers,there'll be someone who will buy it but expect to let it go for peanuts. Unless there's some big name after market parts it won't get much there either, easiest to save the good parts and toss the rest or fix and ride.

base2 

The frame is steel. There are options for the stuck seat post.

A brake lever is only a few dollars.

The wheel is going to be the expensive part of this ordeal. But whose to say you can't re-rim the existing hub? $40 in spokes & $20 for a cheap rim. Lace it in an evening & pay a shop $35 for a tune & true. $100 & done.

I say keep it & pay the cost of admission. Perhaps learn a thing or two along the way?

PhilFo 

Agreed with the previous posters. This is a couple hours worth of relaxed wrenching (including the wheel relacing) and it's a learning opportunity. It's also another reason to not simply dispose of a durable good, but fix it and maintain it. Maybe give yourself a riding break and stick a freewheel on it. Or simply have two bicycles, no harm in that, unless you live in a shoebox. I just got yet another "beater" bike and this will make for a total of nine regularly used bikes in my basement.

Bianchi pc

Nah it's trash - send it to me and I will dispose of it for you free of charge.

for real - as the Tom waits song goes "there's nothing wrong with her a hundred dollars won't fix"

79pmooney

The big question - the stuck seatpost. If your seat height isn't right and you cannot pull it out, can that frame and get another. (And I'd say this even if you didn't crash.)

If you can get the seatpost and seat right, replace the rear rim/wheel and brake lever and keep riding. (No rush on the wheel but it will drive you nuts, especially as a fix gear, And don't even think about running a gear that is an even number of wheel revolutions per pedal stroke. (48/16 for example.)

oship

The seat height is just a tad too high — I was able to ride it fine but wish I could move it a half inch or inch down. I’ve tried to remove it but I’m pretty sure the aluminum post has fused with the steel frame, and I’m generally lacking in tools to remove it.

What do you mean by your last sentence? The bike right now is running 48/16. Is it a matter of consistent wear on the tire?

TejanoTrackie 

If the seat height is incorrect and cannot be changed, then the frame is useless IMO. Get rid of it and get something that fits you properly.

oship

I understand. At this point, I’m leaning towards selling the bike for cheap since I don’t have room for two bikes. I wouldn’t sell it with the defective rim, so I like the idea from the folks’ previous replies to replace and relace the rear wheel. At that point it would still have a fixed seat post, so I’d probably let it go for $150 or less

TejanoTrackie 

You'll need to find a buyer with exactly the correct leg length to work with the seized seat post length. Why don't you just strip it down, rebuild the rear wheel, buy a new brake lever, keep the fork, find another frame and seat post, and then rebuild it ? You can then either throw the old frame with the seized seat post in a dumpster or use it as wall art.

Bianchi pc

Lots of bike restoration videos online and on YouTube where mechanics are successful removing a seized seatpost from old rusty bikes - spraying,soaking, hammering in the right combination may do the trick. I'd ask a mechanic or two to try and get it out before I gave up on the whole thing...

rustystrings61 

regarding the seat post - I will mention I had success involving the use of Corrosion Block spray as a means of breaking down the galvanic corrosion that had built up in one of my bikes. In this case, the seatpost AND the frame were both aluminum, especially challenging. In the end it involved lots of Corrosion Block and considerable force exerted by the LBS manager after we locked the top of the seat post into a massive bench vise.

Please note that this was an EXTREME case. I have had multiple aluminum alloy seat posts stuck in steel frames through the years and have been able to free ALL of them - so long as they involved in integral seat post. I would recommend fitting a cheap steel-railed saddle that you don't mind destroying, do repeated soaks of whatever anti-seize/frozen post relieving liquid you prefer - I kinda like PB Blaster myself, but all sorts of penetrating lubes work. Some swear by ATF (automatic transmission fluid) as a solvent. I have sometimes resorted to using a 3-foot length of galvanized plumbing pipe as a cheater to help force the saddle around to break the post free.

The late, great Sheldon Brown's opus on stuck seatposts may help. Regardless, this bike is NOT junk nor should it be junked. It just needs some repairs. As a heretic, I will note that if I could find a rim with the same effective rim diameter as the damaged one, I would simply tape the new rim onto the old one with the spoke holes properly aligned and move the spokes over one at a time until you're free of the damaged one. True and tighten and you're done. Done it many times with no issues.

The IRO had quite a following a few years back - oh, crap, 15 years now? At any rate, they were highly regarded, and I think this variant was the basis for the bike a guy on this forum used to ride up Mont Ventoux FOUR TIMES IN ONE DAY. Just for that, I would say fix it and ride it!

As far as scuffed, scratched, etc.? Aesthetics. I'll include a gratuitous pic of maybe my personal favorite fixed-gear ever, a battered '71 Gitane Tour de France converted to road fixed operation. It looks like utter hell and it is THE smoothest gliding bike I own.