diff --git a/conn.go b/conn.go
index 85e212f..d12b8eb 100644
--- a/conn.go
+++ b/conn.go
@@ -9,10 +9,8 @@ import (
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"io"
 	"net"
 	"net/url"
-	"sync"
 	"time"
 
 	"golang.org/x/net/context"
@@ -28,9 +26,8 @@ var endline = []byte("\r\n")
 // ircConn represents an IRC network protocol connection, it consists of an
 // Encoder and Decoder to manage i/o.
 type ircConn struct {
-	ircEncoder
-	ircDecoder
-	lconn net.Conn
+	io   *bufio.ReadWriter
+	sock net.Conn
 
 	// lastWrite is used ot keep track of when we last wrote to the server.
 	lastWrite time.Time
@@ -108,106 +105,43 @@ func newConn(conf Config, addr string) (*ircConn, error) {
 	}
 
 	if conf.SSL {
-		var sslConf *tls.Config
-
-		if conf.TLSConfig == nil {
-			sslConf = &tls.Config{ServerName: conf.Server}
-		} else {
-			sslConf = conf.TLSConfig
+		var tlsConn net.Conn
+		tlsConn, err = tlsHandshake(conn, conf.TLSConfig, conf.Server, true)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
 		}
 
-		tlsConn := tls.Client(conn, sslConf)
-		if err = tlsConn.Handshake(); err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed handshake during tls conn to %q: %s", addr, err)
-		}
 		conn = tlsConn
 	}
 
 	ctime := time.Now()
 
-	return &ircConn{
-		ircEncoder: ircEncoder{writer: conn},
-		ircDecoder: ircDecoder{reader: bufio.NewReader(conn)},
-		lconn:      conn,
-		connTime:   &ctime,
-		connected:  true,
-	}, nil
+	c := &ircConn{
+		sock:      conn,
+		connTime:  &ctime,
+		connected: true,
+	}
+	c.newReadWriter()
+
+	return c, nil
 }
 
-// Close closes the underlying ReadWriteCloser.
+func (c *ircConn) newReadWriter() {
+	c.io = bufio.NewReadWriter(bufio.NewReader(c.sock), bufio.NewWriter(c.sock))
+}
+
+func tlsHandshake(conn net.Conn, conf *tls.Config, server string, validate bool) (net.Conn, error) {
+	if conf == nil {
+		conf = &tls.Config{ServerName: server, InsecureSkipVerify: !validate}
+	}
+
+	tlsConn := tls.Client(conn, conf)
+	return net.Conn(tlsConn), nil
+}
+
+// Close closes the underlying socket.
 func (c *ircConn) Close() error {
-	return c.lconn.Close()
-}
-
-// setTimeout applies a deadline that the connection must respond back with,
-// within the specified time.
-func (c *ircConn) setTimeout(timeout time.Duration) {
-	c.lconn.SetDeadline(time.Now().Add(timeout))
-}
-
-// rate allows limiting events based on how frequent the event is being sent,
-// as well as how many characters each event has.
-func (c *ircConn) rate(chars int) time.Duration {
-	_time := time.Second + ((time.Duration(chars) * time.Second) / 100)
-	if c.writeDelay += _time - time.Now().Sub(c.lastWrite); c.writeDelay < 0 {
-		c.writeDelay = 0
-	}
-
-	if c.writeDelay > (8 * time.Second) {
-		return _time
-	}
-
-	return 0
-}
-
-// ircDecoder reads Event objects from an input stream.
-type ircDecoder struct {
-	reader *bufio.Reader
-	line   string
-	mu     sync.Mutex
-}
-
-// Decode attempts to read a single Event from the stream, returns non-nil
-// error if read failed. event may be nil if unparseable.
-func (dec *ircDecoder) Decode() (event *Event, err error) {
-	dec.mu.Lock()
-	dec.line, err = dec.reader.ReadString(delim)
-	dec.mu.Unlock()
-
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	return ParseEvent(dec.line), nil
-}
-
-// ircEncoder writes Event objects to an output stream.
-type ircEncoder struct {
-	writer io.Writer
-	mu     sync.Mutex
-}
-
-// Encode writes the IRC encoding of m to the stream. Goroutine safe.
-// returns non-nil error if the write to the underlying stream stopped early.
-func (enc *ircEncoder) Encode(e *Event) (err error) {
-	_, err = enc.Write(e.Bytes())
-
-	return
-}
-
-// Write writes len(p) bytes from p followed by CR+LF. Goroutine safe.
-func (enc *ircEncoder) Write(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
-	enc.mu.Lock()
-	defer enc.mu.Unlock()
-
-	n, err = enc.writer.Write(p)
-	if err != nil {
-		return
-	}
-
-	_, err = enc.writer.Write(endline)
-
-	return
+	return c.sock.Close()
 }
 
 // Connect attempts to connect to the given IRC server
@@ -341,6 +275,7 @@ func (c *Client) disconnectHandler(err error) {
 // IRC server. If there is an error, it calls Reconnect.
 func (c *Client) readLoop(ctx context.Context) {
 	var event *Event
+	var line string
 	var err error
 
 	for {
@@ -348,8 +283,8 @@ func (c *Client) readLoop(ctx context.Context) {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
 			return
 		default:
-			c.conn.setTimeout(300 * time.Second)
-			event, err = c.conn.Decode()
+			c.conn.sock.SetDeadline(time.Now().Add(300 * time.Second))
+			line, err = c.conn.io.ReadString(delim)
 			if err != nil {
 				// Attempt a reconnect (if applicable). If it fails, send
 				// the error to c.Config.HandleError to be dealt with, if
@@ -359,6 +294,7 @@ func (c *Client) readLoop(ctx context.Context) {
 				return
 			}
 
+			event = ParseEvent(line)
 			if event == nil {
 				continue
 			}
@@ -384,7 +320,24 @@ func (c *Client) write(event *Event) {
 	c.tx <- event
 }
 
+// rate allows limiting events based on how frequent the event is being sent,
+// as well as how many characters each event has.
+func (c *ircConn) rate(chars int) time.Duration {
+	_time := time.Second + ((time.Duration(chars) * time.Second) / 100)
+	if c.writeDelay += _time - time.Now().Sub(c.lastWrite); c.writeDelay < 0 {
+		c.writeDelay = 0
+	}
+
+	if c.writeDelay > (8 * time.Second) {
+		return _time
+	}
+
+	return 0
+}
+
 func (c *Client) sendLoop(ctx context.Context) {
+	var err error
+
 	for {
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
@@ -402,7 +355,17 @@ func (c *Client) sendLoop(ctx context.Context) {
 
 			c.conn.lastWrite = time.Now()
 
-			err := c.conn.Encode(event)
+			// Write the raw line.
+			_, err = c.conn.io.Write(event.Bytes())
+			if err == nil {
+				// And the \r\n.
+				_, err = c.conn.io.Write(endline)
+				if err == nil {
+					// Lastly, flush everything to the socket.
+					err = c.conn.io.Flush()
+				}
+			}
+
 			if err != nil {
 				c.disconnectHandler(err)
 			}