Buyer sought for Iron Horse as parent company "goes bust"

Iron Horse (Ian Kelleher)

The forums have been buzzing all day with rumours about the demise of mountain bike brand Iron Horse. We spoke to UK brand manager Martin Astley to get the truth.

He told us that Iron Horse's parent company has gone bust, but assured us that the brand looks set to be sold to a new owner. 

Martin insisted that, contrary to internet gossip, warranties would be honoured and people with Iron Horse bikes would still be able to get replacement parts.

He told us: "The truth is that World Wide Cycle Supply, the company that owns the Iron Horse brand, along with K2, Columbia Sportswear and Jeep Bikes, has gone bust. K2, Columbia and Jeep have been sold to a new company formed by Worldwide employees called East Coast Cycle Supply. 

"The Iron Horse brand will be sold to somebody – the deal is being done at the moment – so although people are saying Iron Horse has  'gone under' that's not the case at all. Iron Horse will continue, it'll just have a different owner. We don't know who it is yet, but we should know next week."

Martin insisted Iron Horse owners had nothing to worry about, saying: "We (Iron Horse's UK importers Jim Walker) will continue to do warranties in the UK and we are planning to continue forward with Iron Horse. Whoever buys Iron Horse, we will continue to work with them. 

"We don't want Iron Horse customers to panic. We will continue to service their bikes and we still have parts. A lot of the stuff that's been said on forums isn't accurate. Hopefully we'll be able to make some kind of announcement next week."

We contacted Iron Horse in the US and World Wide Cycle Supply to see if they wanted to comment on the situation, but have yet to receive a response.

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