where did IRO come from?
 

where are the iro frames sourced? the logic follows this....if The Hour=Flite 100, Formula Hub=every qualioty budget hub out there, etc etc.

What is the story with IRO? i got to thinking last night, Ive owned a mark v for close to a year. The way that the fork/track ends are welded on to the seat stay/chain stays sort of makes me think that these frames were/are sourced from a factory that generally serves a major bike company. I dont want to say/think that its just (for an example) a trek frame with different ends welded on. That wouldnt make sense because the BB is higher. Or, did Tony/iro subcontract his design to have it made?

What is the story? i ask because the design process is always interesting.

oh yah, another iro thread right?

but presumably he can determine what geometry they make the bike in addition to just deciding whether to have dropouts or track ends.

The generic **** factory in Taiwan.

call tony

How do you pronounce IRO? I always thought it was eye-are-ohh, but I've also heard it pronounced ear-oh.

EYE-row.

dunno but i added a C and K to the end.

Dude I know crossed out the R.

I O!

It's not quite as illustrious as that.
What does it matter, though? The likely scenario is that Tony came up with a design and found the company that was willing to weld it up in good enough quality for the lowest price. Quite a reasonable angle of attack if you ask me. The lucky winner was some Taiwanese factory or another that makes bikes for half the world. That's all there is to it.

not sure if search is working at the moment, but for those that care, the specific factory is mentioned at least once somewhere on the board. Probably linked too as well, there is a site where you can basically become your own iro if you so choose (and have the dough to buy bulk). Kogswell is getting stuff from the same source.

I think they're made here. http://www.maxway.com.tw/
With a large enough order you can get your own geometry.

That's how Tony pronounced it over the phone/when I went to pick it up in person.

Although I've also heard him say it doesn't really matter how you pronounce it.

From their site:

O H!... *throws up*

neither of these are true, but whatever

It means color

what does
?

after looking at that site, i kinda want a new MAXWAY frame.

unless any new bike (including fancy carbon road bikes) explicitly says otherwise, its safe to assume that it came from one of a handful of generic Chinese/Taiwanese companies that make a frame to a brand's spec's then slap a sticker on. everyone uses them.

iro, in Japanese

I was just discussing this company name and how we never hear a lot of what we read about on the internet actually pronounced verbally.. I always assumed it was pronounced similar to Giro not sure why. I have heard the, "Well I spoke to the company directly and it is this blah blah," justification for both I-R-O and EYE-row.. Oh well.

jayrooney wins:

http://www.maxway.com.tw/uploaddir/product/Y2T28-M.jpg

also, EYErow wins.

I R O Speedwagon