I started riding bikes when I was 12 as a way to get around the gravel roads outside Iowa City, Iowa. I started racing when I was 16after seeing the Tour de France on television. At 17, I started working as a mechanic at my first bike shop job. I was hooked. And for the next twelve years I continued to wrench, tour, race and commute, constantly exploring disciplines, physical limitations and the incredible geography around me.

In 2000 I moved to Portland, Oregon where I took a job as a bicycle courier for five and a half years - the last two of which I helped start and run Portland’s only bike messenger collective. Cold, wet and dark mornings in the winter and endless hours of sunshine in the summer. For years I worked all week to ride and race on the weekends. In 2003, I finished second in an unsanctioned “rando-cat” from San Francisco to Portland, completing the 750 mile route in 4 days.

Over the years, miles and with over 80 frames built, I have refined my own personal style of cycling routed in speed, distance and self reliance.

My experiences as a cyclist, my style and my love for the machines that make it all possible culminated in the creation of Ira Ryan Cycles which unoficially debuted in 2005 when I built my first frame and raced it 325 miles over 24 hours to win the inaugural Trans-Iowa Race. Gliding over moon lit gravel for hours and hours on a bike I made with my own hands, to win the Trans-Iowa, is an experience that will forever influence my riding and commitment to the craft of bicycle building.

I continue to race and ride what I build and believe the ride quality of a hand built steel bicycle frame is the best in the world.

Over the last couple years I have ridden and built frames for the Rapha Continental where we have documented some of the most amazing rides in America. In the late summer of 2009, I have had the opportunity to race in the first ever Cent Cols Challenge in the French Alps completing 100 cols in 10 days of riding 180 to 200 kilometers a day. This chance to race in France further honed what I put into each and every bike I build.

It seems that I have only been building frames for a short time but it has taken years to amass the knowledge and experience to make a frame that is designed well, build beautifully and performs precisely.

Cheers, Ira Ryan Cycles