IRON HORSE 169s
The Iron Horse 169mm independent-style trucks from Barrio Fabrication have been out for six months. We've put them through hell — cattle guards, gravel roads, a genuine rodeo arena — and here's the verdict.
Disclaimer: Barrio Fabrication did not pay for this review. We paid for the trucks ourselves, like adults. We're telling you this because what follows is genuinely enthusiastic, and we need you to know it's real.
The Setup
We mounted the Iron Horse 169s on three different decks over six months: an 8.5" street deck, an 8.75" transition deck, and a custom 9" wide for the bigger bowl sessions. We skated them in temperatures ranging from 105°F in the Sonoran Desert to a genuinely unexpected snowstorm outside Taos. We ran them with every wheel hardness from 78a to 101a. We are, if nothing else, thorough.
The Construction
The baseplate is a forged aluminum alloy that Barrio calls "Mesquite Grade." We don't know what that means technically, but practically it means these things do not crack. We hit a cattle guard at full speed — the kind of metal grid that runs across ranch roads — and both trucks survived with only cosmetic scarring. The kingpin bent on the right truck; we straightened it with a wrench and kept going.
The Turning
Responsive without being twitchy. The geometry is tight enough for street carving but loose enough for the wide, sweeping turns you want on transition. The stock bushings are harder than typical (90a), which suits rough terrain skating perfectly — you don't want your trucks wobbling when the ground is already wobbling for you.
The Verdict
Buy them. 9/10 spurs.