The early days of mountain biking were chock full of strange designs and concepts. Over time many of these coalesced into what at the time was considered standard geometry, which itself evolved as the sport changed and took on new challenges. Most builders fell inline with those standards and tweaked small elements here and there to optimize the design but largely followed the same formula, as far as hard tails are considered anyways.
There were however those who did not. Among those radical nonconformists were Rod Moses and Ray Baldwin collectively known as Interloc Racing Designs or IRD. They were well known among the MTB community for their component designs including U-brakes, seat posts, stems, the first infinitely butted Aluminum handlebar and the worlds first remotely actuated dropper post!! But few knew that IRD made some bikes too. The lineup included the Strokers (full and semi), the Circuit Racer and the FS. You can't talk about IRD bikes without starting with the cranks. Sure they had insanely short 16" chainstays, 13.5" bottom bracket height, 25" top tubes, and 76 degree seat and head tubes (TBR)... but the cranks... the Sequoias of pedal arms!! I don't think you could get an IRD bike with anything shorter than 190mm and a few came with 230s! Yeah, think about that for a minute...
I mean, when you compare the cranks to the 25.5" top tube they don't look that long...
In talking to Rod you get the sense that he wanted to build a bike that not only climbed well but it made it easy on the body. He is not fond of the roadie mentality that you get a short 170mm crank and make it up in RPMs, "that's for people who don't value their knees" he'd say. He wanted a forward climbing position and leverage / torque for a smooth climbing machine. Although my seat time in this bike is limited thus far (and plagued by technical errors), I can unequivocally confirm that it does make climbing easier (full ride report coming in the future). The ultra short stays coupled with that much moment arm translate into a comfortable cadence up the steepest of terrain.
The frame is constructed of straight gauge aircraft grade chrome-moly with a 1 3/8" down tube and a 1 1/4" top tube. This makes for a relatively stiff and responsive front end. The rear is quite compliant, by design, with 3/4" chainstays and get ready for this 1/2" seat stays. The lack of a seat stay mounted brake bridge keeps things nice and soft. Finishing off the frameset is IRD's own RID race suspension fork with 1 3/4" of travel vertically and a solid 1/2" fore and aft. The post, bar and stem are all IRD as well.
The front fork has taken a bit of time to sort out as the original was damaged when the original owner rode into an ATM with the bike mounted on roof. Luckily I was able to source another fork and get the bike going while Rod attempts to repair the original. Front brakes are IRD Switchlock which represent an early attempt at linear pull brakes. What they really are is the most difficult brakes to set up properly. They demand brake levers capable of longer cable pull, something period correct levers don't quite afford. A modification I'll have to explore in the future.
The curves on this rear end are unlike most other bikes of the time. Both functional (tucks rear tire in tight under the seat) and highly aesthetic they give the IRD Stroker a certain fluidity from the back that is otherwise betrayed by the spartan main triangle.
Gorgeous rear entry dropouts allow for easy wheel changes and are one of the more eye catching design elements of the frame.
Reinforced seat cluster keep things tidy and clean at the top. About the only thing this bike is missing is the IRD Remote QR (RQR) which I'd install if I didn't have to drill out the seat binder to accommodate the larger diameter bolt, something I haven't quite gotten the cajones to do to this lovely frame just yet. Though, I must admit I spent a lot of my ride time stopping to adjust the seat height on the descents, an adjustment that took the bike from scary to downright hospitable.
Cranks for the IRD bikes were exclusively made by Bullseye because nobody else back then could make cranks that long. This particular bike has 210mm cranks which are not as long as some other Strokers out there, but definitely longer than most of the semis.
Zerq grease port enabled you to shoot some grease into the BB shell, and I guess maybe flush out the bearings... but given there were no guides to route the grease you literally had to fill up the entire volume of the shell before anything came out and that's just nasty...
I never liked these headsets, until I got one on this bike. Seriously, there isn't another headset on the planet that would look better here... that's a fact!
My second third favorite IRD component (#2 goes to the seatpost) is the IRD Rotary U-Brake. Unlike the Switchback this one is relatively easy to set up and dial in and while a bit grabby at first, once you get used to it is quite an effective means of arresting your momentum. This particular bike had problems with the straddle cable bottoming out on the cable guide. I tried a different brake with a slightly different anchor point which effectively moved the straddle cable back and it all works now.
For some reason this bike is missing the chain anti suck plate which would have been bolted to the brake stiffener plate. Something I'll have to remedy at some point.
The rest of the build is rather standard Shimano Deore XT, which Ritchey brake levers. The hubs are laced to rather rare FIR rims. FIR is an Italian company better known for their line of road racing rims. But apparently they also made some high quality off road rims in the early 90s.
Again... love those dropouts!
I've really come to enjoy finding and getting to know these non traditional bikes. I think anyone can jump on a Yeti ARC, or a nice Ritchey or something and have a great time and say tired old cliches like this bike climbs like a scalded cat or it's really solid on descents or whatever. Often times that's all true, but it's true for most 90's hardtails that are worth their salt. Sure there are some standouts like the WTB Phoenix (have yet to try a steel one) and a few others, but I think there is so much uniqueness out there that begs to be discovered. So, while I think a Phoenix or Cunningham will be tough to beat for all around competence and quality, bikes like the IRD Stroker, Grove Innovations Hard Core and a few others pushed the envelope of design in one specific dimension and gave us something unique and exciting. I for one a excited about these footnotes in MTB history and look forward to getting some serious miles behind the bars!
A great write up for a very unique bike.
ReplyDeleteCan’t wait to read more of these in the future!