prowlerjc

I see a distaste for Iverson's on this board, but is there REALLY anything wrong with them? I have one that I got just for riding around the hood, but if there is a real safety issue, I'd like to know.

Honestly, the 'it's heavy, and you can repair it with hand tools from Kmart' is a plus in my book. It isn't that heavy compared to my Giant Iguana, and I'm new to bike repair, so the no specialized tool is a plus for me.

For just riding around for leisure, is there anything safety related I should look out for?

Bianchigirll 

I am not familiar with the brand but I suspect it has something to do with the bikes generally being of the lowend of the quality spectrum. Personally if it is safe to ride and you enjoy and brand of bike is OK in my book (except most '80s and early 90s Huffy, Roadmaster, and Murray that pinched in dropout arrangement looks like a rolling disaster to me)

sailorbenjamin

The pinched dropout thing actually goes back to the dawn of time and it works, but it's sure ugly. I've heard complaints about the cheap deraillers being hard to adjust and not staying adjusted. I've had problems with dropouts being missaligned from the factory so you have to take a grinder to it to get the wheel in straight. The bearings are low tolerance, not really round or smooth. The races are stamped instead of machined. And the little seatposts won't hold my 225lb mass without bending.
I've got nothing against them personally but since you asked...Really the only two things that count on a bike are whether it's the right size for you and whether you like the color.

Giacomo 1 

I had an old Iverson Charger stingray bike when I was a kid.

It looked great, but I remember it being seriously heavy and I found it tough to keep up with my friends on their lighter Raleigh Choppers and Schwinn Crates and I had a real tough time doing a respectable wheely! Yeah, I was envious! I also remember the bearings making some noise, but I wasn't into maintenance when I was a kid, so who knows if it was really the bike or just lack of maintenance. Real solid bike though. Once you got it up to speed, it was a freight train!

I think they were built in England. Is that right?

Sorry, but that's all I can add on Iverson bikes, and to be honest, I didn't even know they made road bikes. Thanks for the memories though!

prowlerjc

LOL, pretty much my take on all things bicycle.

noglider 

It's a low quality department store bike-shaped-object that generally doesn't give good service and is hard to service as sailorbenjamin notes. But if it suits your needs, enjoy it. Sometimes you don't need much to be happy.

If you find yourself riding a lot, you'll want a nicer bike. You might keep this one as well, because you can lock it up and go places without worrying about it.

Italuminium

Just the fact you need to start a self affirming, apologetical thread sez enuf.

spacemanz

I thought this thread was going to be about clam chowder. But that's really Ivar's, not Iverson's.

mapleleafs-13 

i love my iverson's i don't know what you're talking about

rhm

I don't know about a distaste for Iversons, but we definitely have a distaste for threads without pictures. If you want us to rip your bike to shreds, let's have a couple nice well lit drive side photos. Then we'll talk!

Lascauxcaveman 

Wasn't there a guy here recently who was talking up how nice his Huffy Aerowind was, and how he had only $400 sunk into the thing? I remember a lot of the usual suspects here trying so hard to be polite...

dddd

I could never find an Iverson sized big enough, now that I'm long since grown.

As a teenager out east, I rode with a friend who had a flat-black Iverson road bike, with Suntour Honor derailer and steel rims.

He mostly kept up with me on my Raleigh Record, but he was 2 years older. His bike was also definitely quite heavy, entirely of steel.

degan

I had these in 5th grade. They were heavy and bulky but awesome in an ugly way.

mapleleafs-13 

but you bought them cause iverson was the man, one of my favorite PG's.



too bad i heard a lot of rumors of him being broke.... 160mill gone... maybe he was flossin toooo much..

Bustedlink

My Iverson Grand Sport 10 speed weighs 40 pounds, cost less than $40 with new tires, tubes, and a lube job. Rides like a dream, fits me to a T, easy to maintain, unbreakable Ashtubula cranks, and gets me where I want to go when I ride. I did 76 miles in a day on it once, and have done several 50 mile rides on it, and I'm 58.

sykerocker 

Back in the bike boom era (in Erie, PA, to be exact) an Iverson was the lowest quality, cheapest new 10-speed bicycle you could buy. The 10-speed version sold for $69.95, the 3-speed was about $15.00 less. By comparison, a Schwinn Varsity and Raleigh Record went for $100.00; a Gitane Grand Sport de Luxe was $130.00; the same big box or catalog store could sell you a Chiorda for $95.00; and a Huffy or Murray went for around $75.00. Columbia's were just under $90.00, and were the cheapest 10-speed we were willing to carry in the bike shop. They may have looked like the mass market bike, but components were usually better, as was the construction.

Construction appeared to be identical to a Huffy or Murray, but they were cheaper. The Iverson used 26x1/38" wheels, and was nothing more than their 3-speed with the rear hub changed to allow a 5-speed freewheel, single chainwheel and chain guard replaced with a double and pie-plate pants guard, and drop bars. The stem was the same stamped steel one they used on the 3-speed.

Now, where I get my attitude against them is that I can clearly remember on three or four occasions (40+ years has dimmed the memory a bit) fairly new (under one year old) Iverson's were brought into the shop with the headtube snapped off from the frame. This was the only brand we ever saw come in in this condition. Murray's, Huffy's, Rollfast's seemed to have slightly better quality control and were welded together with a bit more care. Well. when you're talking production quality, some brand has to come in last, and back then Iverson seemed to be clearly it. Yes, kids were rough on those bikes, why do you think we sold so many Varsity's?

Does that mean those of you who are commuting with Iverson's are riding walking time bombs? I doubt it. At least you're in no more risk, and possibly less, than someone with a Lambert with the death fork. Which, incidentally, I've never heard a FIRST PERSON story about one snapping while riding. Every incident I've ever been told has been the invariable friend of a friend of a friend variety.

Phil_gretz

I remember the Iverson 10-speeds that were sold in my local department stores in the early 1970s in southern NJ. During the bike boom, we all wanted French (or gasp, Italian) bikes, so we scoffed at the Iverson, Columbia, and their ilk. I never rode one, nor do I recall seeing one ridden. Ever. My lowest bike was a C.Itoh with steel rims and Cherry brakes, an horrifically heavy and dead ride. The Mercier was a significant upgrade, but still entry level.

My 1977 Fuji S-10S is worlds better to ride - and it was meant to be an "everyman's bike", just a hair above the European entry level bikes. Fuji hit that mark dead on.

But to the OP, if an Iverson fits your needs and you're riding it, then great. Better than having a $2500 carbon bike and not riding.

Cougrrcj

When I first went down to Ohio State in the fall of '76, I had my '74 Fuji 'Special Tourer', and one of my roommates had an Iverson ten speed. The Special Tourer was all-steel, as was the Iverson, but at least the Fuji had a three-piece (steel) cottered crankset and the Iverson was a one-piece crank. The Fuji weighed in at around 34-35 pounds, whereas the Iverson was closer to 40. Jim, one of my other roommates, had a Viscount Aerospace Pro (with 'death fork') that was a quantum leap above our bikes. The three of us would go out riding from campus to out west of Columbus. We had a hard time keeping up with Jim and had to rest every couple of miles. Once, after riding Jim's Viscount just for a couple of miles, I was hooked. I went home one weekend, paid a visit to my 'home' LBS, and bought my current S-10S as a scratched floor model that nobody wanted. What a difference!!!

prowlerjc

Thank, that's the kind of info I was looking for. I'll check the head tube for cracking.

Thanks for the info on the wheels, too. I may need new rims and knowing its a common size helps.

prowlerjc

seedsbelize 

true. Rodman too. And the C and V connection is?

Dan515

Sorry to act as a thread necromancer.

At my grandparents' house, i found one of these Iverson road bikes in storage. The drivetrain looks like it needs work, and the wheels have some corrosion. Tires are dry-rotten.

My question is, even though these are infamous cheap bikes, would it be worth it at all to just turn it into a beater singlespeed errand bike? Or is it not even worth the effort?

Kactus

Never heard of them. They must be an East coast thing.

USAZorro

I grew up in the east and never heard of them either.

Dan, it might be helpful to figure out what new tires, tubes, chain, servicing bearings and cables, etc. will cost, and compare that to what it would cost to get a nicer bike on CL. I am thinking that when all is said and done, Plan B will sound better.

OldsCOOL

Never heard of them.


I dont like Varsity's or Huffy's but I could make room for one more.