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Hello. A fair number of Singletrack members will have had contact with Iain over the past few years, probably through buying and selling on the Classifieds mostly, or on ebay. I have no doubt that everyone's experience was with an honest, trustworthy and immediately likeable guy with a huge enthusiasm for mountain biking. I first got to know him several years ago through this forum when I bought a car from him! It turned out he lived only a few miles from me and we became friends.
Tragically Iain was killed on his motorbike on his way to work in November, leaving his wife and two year old daughter.
Iain had a substantial collection of interesting bikes, most of which are fitted with Rohloff hubs, which he loved. He was a highly skilled bike-builder and I actually think he got most pleasure from sourcing and building bikes with an amazing attention to detail; at least equal to riding them.
The reason for this post is firstly to say what has happened to Iain, and also that over the next few weeks (and months) I will be advertising his bikes, wheels, spares, tools etc etc. for his wife. It will appear like I've opened a shop given the sheer quantity of stuff that will appear, but obviously that is not the case!
So please keep an eye on the classifieds, especially if you are after a Rohloff equipped bike (eg. rigid Inbred commuter, rigid Inbred 29er, Nicolai Helius CC + geared Lefty Cannondale Rush, Birdy folder...)
Ian
Jeez - I used to love drooling over his bikes, one of the reasons I got an alfine.
RIP.
Hello Ian
Thank you for posting this, sad as it is. It's extremely sobering particularly given his family circumstances. I won't pretend that I knew Iain well but we bought and sold stuff from each other several times and as you say he always came across as a thoroughly decent chap with a passion for bikes.
RIP Iain
what Saccades said
So sad for his family 🙁
RIP
shitter....
RIP Iain
Really sad news. In my dealings with Iain, he always seemed like a decent guy and I hope he got some enjoyment out of the Pace frame he got from me.
Good luck with the sale of the parts - can I suggest that you label it clearly as the Iain McLay/testudograeca memorial sale as I for one would be willing to pay a bit over the odds for it - I hope that you get plenty of cash for his wife and daughter though clearly it'll be small consolation.
RIP Iain
Well said clubber, it would be a good idea to list it as a memorial sale or similar.
Sad news; my belated condolences to his loved ones.
I have a feeling that I met him once.
Sorry to hear the news.
Very sad news.
I knew Iain through the sale of my last bike Nicolai Helius CC Rohloff, and he also bought some other spares off me as well.
Talked on the 'phone quite a bit and was a really nice bloke, condolences to his family.
Sutts , if you need any help describing the white Nicolai, drop me an email, its a little different from the run of the mill frame.
RIP Iain
A sad loss
I can't even begin to understand what his young family must be going through but I send them by condolences & hope that they can build their lives up again.
I bought a few things from Iain now and again and my mate, Graeme, used to ride with him now and again. I, unfortunately, never got the chance. Iain seemed like a thoroughly nice bloke and my haert goes out to his family.
RIP Iain McLay
Clubber/luke +1 for the memorial sale
Condolences and best wishes to his family.
Same here - bought (and sold him!) a few bits from him over the years. Gutting news...
RIP
Very sad to hear this. Like most of the others, I only knew Iain through classified dealings, where he seemed a throughly decent bloke.
Condolences to his family, and best wishes.
My sincerest condolences. All the best and thank you for the post 🙁
Crikey, I rode with Iain a bit a few years back when living that way. His garage was something to behold and thoroughly nice and helpful guy. I still have a work stand I bought of him before I even got to know him. My condolences. Very sad.
I remember his ads, terrible news. RIP, mate 😥
really shocked.
he always seemed like a nice bloke.
🙁
rip
Sad sad news.
Like many others here, I bought and sold a few things to Iain, and he was always a top chap.
My thoughts are with his family.
P
testudograeca was always a name I remembered on STW, a community member - how unsettling to hear of his untimely death - RIP
RIP
🙁
rip iain.
sold me my first pair of proper forks back in 2005 - minute 3's
always a pleasure to deal with
thoughts with the family.
Wow, so sorry to hear that.
Thank you everyone who has posted so far for your kind words, I will pass them on to his family. There were 400+ people at his funeral who spilled out of the church and brought West Malling to a standstill for a while. I am sure there would have been many more there again, had more people been aware.
That is a good idea to label sales as memorial. At the moment I'm still discovering, labelling, photographing and roughly valuing bikes and parts. It's going to be a long process! Denis99, I'll mail you about the Nicolai cheers.
sorry to hear that ;-( condolences to his family
Condolences to his family.
🙁
Ditto what Clubber said above.
Sad news, RIP.
Again, terrible news. I was another satisfied customer on the classifieds. Condolences & best wishes.
i bought from him in the past. never had a problem.
sad sad news. R.I.P
I think he sold me my first decent set of lights (and he stuck sweets in, a Milky Bar Buttons IIRC - I think Wiggle nicked his idea 😉
RIP
I had a few dealings with him from the STW classifieds, top bloke. Really sad news and puts things into perspective. RIP fella
Thank you for bringing this sad news to our attention; my sincerest condolences to Iain's family.
I too had dealings with him and it was always a pleasure.
Sutts, I knew Iain reasonably well and went to his funeral. It was truly moving and Natalie was so brave. I only live down the road in Maidstone, so if you want any help with the sale, please let me know. I'm not working at the moment so have some time on my hands. Email in profile.
Boris
;-( Sad sad news really sorry to hear please forward my condolences to his family, he was such a great guy to deal with. RIP
Hi Boris. Thanks for the offer of help, I may well be in touch - I'm in Maidstone as well. I will never forget Iain's funeral. Like you say it was very moving, a lot of people obviously cared about him a great deal.
Life can be so sh1t.
I use to go to Iains house to see his bikes, talk crap about bikes and drink strong coffee. Got to know him a bit after his motorbike accident 3-4 years ago when he was t-boned whilst on duty in North London. My work moved away and we drifted apart :O(
Such a shame and such a waste. Thoughts out to his Mrs and little one.
The sale will be massive as his garage was better equipped than most shops. Iain has a tool for everything and some tasty storage for them to boot.
RIP fella :O(
might be an idea to list his tools seperately and email me and the other shop who may be opening up a list of them...ive got loads of contacts and could shift them for you.....
That would be fitting Chris. Iain had the tool to do "everything" to a bike. He puts my modest collection to shame.
That really is awful news. I only recognise the name from bm, but its obvious from the posts here and the details of his funeral that iain was a fine human being.
It's only a thought, but perhaps stw would allow an auction for some of the bits for sale? Not necessarily easy, but it might help to get a good price for the bigger stuff without using evilbay.
As per many posts already, v decent bloke. Bought a couple of bits from him, and always went to pick them up as his garage was a joy to behold. Thoughts to his family
I only remember the name from his posts on here and never had any dealings with him, but it's awful to hear such news of any fellow STWer. My condolences to his family.
That totally sucks. I was another happy classifieds user, having bought some rims from Iain in the past.
Maybe, given the interesting collection of bikes and kit he owned, the "auction" should go on the front page instead of the classifieds?
Sorry to hear this. The username testudograeca I remember from the old STW forum. I went on a silly kents ride some years ago so may have met him as well.
RIP.
I am going to deal with the bikes first as much as possible, with tools, lights, wheels and spares after that. At the moment I'll stick with the classifieds section with guide prices, and if people wish to make offers publicly or privately by email then I will go from there.
Nicolai Helius CC (Rohloff specific) and Moots Ti Psychlo-X YBB complete bikes are likely to appear first. Both mint.
Awful news, always seemed like one of the good guys. I'll look out for the sales. Least we can do.
Very sad. Nothing will really give consolation to the family, but hope we on here can do our bit to help.
So sorry to hear that. I exchanged bits and cash with Iain over the years and he was one of the folk that you're glad came onto places like STW. Sound & honest.
Thoughts to his family.
To give you an insight in to the sort of guy Iain was, let me tell you what happened a few years ago.
Sillykents went to Scotland on a biking trip and on the second day one of us had a crash entering the EWOK village at Glentress. Carls ankle was certainly broken and whilst the rest of us were flapping about, Iain calmly took charge in organising the ambulance, reassuring Carl, and phoning his wife (a paramedic) for expert advice is how to treat Carl. We had borrowed a jacket from some lads to keep Carl warm, and arranged to give it back to them at the trail centre. However by the time we got back to the car park, the lads had long gone. But Iain had told the lads they would get their jacket back that day. So when we got home and everyone else was exhausted and crashed out on the sofas, Iain did a 100 mile round trip to return the jacket, because that was the right thing to do, and he always did the right thing.
Just an example of the sort of guy he was. I really miss him.
whys it always the decent good guys that have to leave us? ive onyl lost a few people i know who were close to me but ive heard and met a lot of folk who've lost really decent people....seems very wrong!
condolences to the family and his mates.....
That's terrible. I bought a set of wheels from him 3-4years ago, he was a cracking chap.
If another vehicle was involved I hope they get the scum responsible for his death.
It would seem there was: http://www.policememorial.org.uk/NationalRoll/2009/NPORH_2009.htm
Iain Stuart McLay
Police Sergeant
Metropolitan Police
Died 2 November 2009, aged 42
Fatally injured while travelling to report for duty in the early morning
when his motorcyle was involved in a road traffic collision at Lewisham.
Iain was appointed in February 1986 and was attached to the Specialist Crime Directorate Intelligence Bureau having previously served with the Territorial Support Group.
He is survived by his wife and daughter aged 22 months; his parents and brother.
Condolances to his family.
Reading that page is very moving. The Police still risk their lives for the rest of us.
I remember his posts too. Tragic news.
Please send my sincere condolence to Iain's family.
A very nice guy who I got the chance to communicate with via email on everything Rohloff. Also bought few items from him.
I can still remember clearly me ogling his On-One Tibred with sub-fork on his website.
RIP.
Very sad news, RIP.
That police memorial site is thought-provoking and moving too.
It is great that so many of you knew Iain to one extent or another. Boris's story sounds typical of him. I recall going on a mtb day-trip to France with Iain during which my rear mech imploded. He cheerily rigged up a very effective repair whilst simultaneously taking the pi55 out of me for having too many gears (he was on his Rohloffed Thorn Enduro).
I had coffee with him at his favourite Portugese cafe in Maidstone a few days before he died, and although he had a lot going on in his life with family, work and a house extension he was always interested in what other people were doing and willing to give up time to help with anything. I miss him and bitterly regret not making more time to go riding with him.
Iain on the left:
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
Please pass on my condolences to his family. Very nice person to do buisness with.
Really sad news, RIP Iain and condolences to his family. Only dealt with Iain on classifieds but seemed like a thoroughly decent bloke and was clearly anxious to make sure I was happy in our dealings, which were flawless.
sutts - please point his family to this thread when you think the time is right, hopefully it will be some small comfort that he is missed in some way by many people in here.
Nicolai is now on the classifieds with pics.
Iain you'll be sadly missed mate. My condolences to his wife and little one
Iain's wife Natalie read through this thread last night and asked me to thank everyone for their kind comments about Iain.
Some of his lights, bars, headsets and other bits will be coming up on the classifieds soon.
Very sad, had plenty of dealings with Iain over the years & tbh was wondering where he was. Thanks for posting this.
Only just spotted this 🙁 - I remember Iain's posts well. Sad news . . . RIP. Condolences to all his family.
😥
Iain was my uncle, and every now and again I come on this thread just to read over the nice things you have all said about him. It's really good to know that he touched and impacted so many people's lives, even in a small way.
It's comforting that everyone remembers him in such a fond way. He was always very appreciative of his friends that he met over this.
He was such an astounding man and always made time for others. He is sorely missed by many.
Sad to see this bought up again, but not in a negative way, sometimes you just need reminding that life is precious & not to be trifled with.
We all take a risk to a greater or lesser extent. I'm glad it brings you solace ST, bikers are generally a really nice bunch that you can turn to if needed.
Remember him well.
Yeah, very true.
So I can tell, it's really nice to see how everyone remembers him. Thank you 2U2R
Hi ST. I still miss Iain a lot, can't believe over a year has gone by.
🙁
I knew I recognised the name .. I bought some Marzocchi Marathons from him in 2006 - They are still on my bike now.
Decent chap.
Missed the original thread, my apologies.
Was never fortunate enough to have met Iain, however I did chat with him a few times on the phone whilst buying some of his kit. Came across as a genuine nice guy, friendly, helpful.
My condolences to his family, it's never easy losing a loved one, seems especially more poignant this time of year 🙁 🙁 🙁
RIP Iain
Must have missed this originally, very sad to hear. Just to add my story...
I bought my first 'decent' bike from Iain, a brand new GT Zaskar Race - very nice light frame. He spent a while chatting to me and asked my plans for it and then took the time to face the BB and head tubes for me using tools from his immaculate workshop!
Nice guy, very sorry to hear this.
I cant believe I missed this thread. I had dealings with Iain. One of the most honest & totally sound STW folk I've ever come across. Really was, & absolute gent.
One year on I hope his Wife & little one are doing ok. Bless them.
Hi Sutts,
Didn't realise you'd posted to me, but I'm the same. I still think of him every day, and can't believe that it's been almost a year and a half already.