12/24/2008

Wednesday News

With this being a holiday week, we don't have a whole heck of a lot to report, but there are a few nuggets you all might like to hear about.

  • We heard a rumor that Haro's Phil Sundbaum rode his Steel Reserve 1 down the Olympic Bobsled course in Innsbruck, Austria. Of course, we cannot confirm nor deny this rumor...but this image of Phil that Aaron Lutze posted a couple weeks ago might hold some valuable clues:

  • Remember the great bicycle heist we had right after Interbike a little over a year ago? We had 30 bikes stolen from our trailers parked behind the headquarters. Within just a couple of months of the theft, arrests were made and the sheriff's department recovered 9 bikes however the rest have been unaccounted for (but rumored to still be in the area). Well, we're excited to report that we recently recovered 4 more stolen bikes from a dirt bag trying to sell them on Craigslist. We're hopeful that this recovery will lead to some sort of confession about where the rest of the bikes are and more arrests of the idiots involved. Huge props to the local sheriff's department...they have been nothing short of helpful and attentive to our case. If nothiong else, we figured maybe we can learn a thing or two from this video:





  • Last but not least, we just want to wish everyone out there a very Happy Holiday season! We really appreciate all the support over the years. Haro wouldn't be what it is today without our friends and fans like you. So no matter what you celebrate this holiday season, be sure to take the time to do a little celebration on two wheels!



    12/23/2008

    Southern Roadtrip

    So I just got back from a great trip with Chris and Morgan from Bike mag down to the Southern US.  I met up with them in Atlanta, and we continued on up through South Carolina, Tennessee, and ended up in Louisville Kentucky riding my favorite home trails.  I'm not going to go too in depth about the trip because you'll be reading about it next year in Bike, but I'll give you a few highlights.  First of all, there are tons of amazing trails down south.  Every day we were riding some of the funnest trails I've ever ridden, proof that you don't need lots of elevation to have fun.  I was especially surprised about Windrock TN, that place has legit downhill trails, the real deal, I was a little undergunned on my Xeon, but as you can tell in the quick videoclip I made do!  That was actually like a 20 foot out by 5 foot down gully gap, pretty fun!  The trail had fun stuff like that from top to bottom, and a huge crew of riders shuttling and digging every weekend.  We even ran into a father and son from Chicago that would make the 8 hour drive down there every couple weeks!!  Oh yeah, we also found out that they sell roman candles and m-100s and the sort in gas stations in TN!!  Another highlight of the trip was introducing Chris and Morgan to Ft. Duffield, my favorite place to ride growing up.  They also got to meet the man responsible for that place, Bruce Montana, the living legend.  You'll hear more about him in the article.  The coolest part about the whole trip really was the fact that almost every day, we were riding amazing singletrack, and our guide was the person who actually built the trail, thats pretty cool.

    This photo is from a restaurant called the right wing, it was amazing we actually got to meet McCain and Palin there while they were campaigning!

    Rainy day, cold, wet, but fun ride.













    Louisville skatepark, its amazing, must visit when in town!






    As you can see we were pretty packed full.
    Gully gap on the xeon, that bike is tough!

    12/19/2008

    The Cove Bike Shop now carries Haro MTBs!


    North Vancouver's famed bike shop The Cove is now stocking Haro mountain bikes! The Cove is one of Vancouver's most popular "gravity" bike shops located in the heart of the gravity mountain bike mecca. Be sure to check them out next time you are in the area or on your way up to Whistler!

    12/18/2008

    Thursday News Feed

    I've got a few little newsworthy Haro tidbits to share with you so rather than do three separate posts, I figured I'd just combine them all into one.


    • "Pimp my Ride": our friends at Snafu BMX have one of our Steel Reserves they are using as a form, fit, and function test bike for their line of urban/DJ MTB parts. They installed new Snafu bars, cranks, pedals, saddle, seatpost, and grips. Dang, she sure looks purdy. Check out the whole story here. The Snafu MTB line is looking damn good. I have a set of the 4130 bars...they are so light I had no idea they were crmo until I read the label etched into the bar. Good stuff.






    • We got a nice e-mail from a a Haro fan who attached some pics of his 1993 Escape in pristine condition.
    Hi,

    I just wanted to share my enthusiasm for Haro
    MTB’s!! I
    absolutely love my 1993 Escape and have kept it in
    original condition after
    all these years. Please you will find a pic of my
    bike attached and feel
    free to share with the rest of the world my
    excitement.

    Keep on
    Trekking!!

    Sam Ballard
    Austin,
    Texas



    I love seeing pictures of our older bikes that have been so well taken care of like this one has. Thanks for sharing, Sam!

    So there you have the Thursday newsfeed. Happy trails, ya'll.

    12/17/2008

    Trouble on the High Seas

    Sadly this week we lost a container to the great Pacific Ocean that was headed for our East Coast warehouse. It housed all the X7s, Shift R1s and Beasley SS (Size 20") bikes meant for the East Coast. This was also a split container that had a lot of Masi road bikes from our sister company. If you have an order in with your local dealer for anyone of these bikes, you might want to call them up and have something brought from the West Coast.

    On to better news:

    The Great Pacific Sea Turtle League has new bikes for their local DH races. (Haro will be their un-official sponsor.)

    And King Neptune finally heard about 650B.

    12/12/2008

    What's an off-season?

    Most riders are roasting chestnuts next to an open fire at this time of the year, but Phil and I are getting back on another airplane. This time, we're headed to Munich, Germany. We are going over for a press tour with Adidas, one of our new sponsors for 2009. We are really fired up for this trip, as they have a bunch of really fun stuff lined up for us.


    We made it safely to Munich, Germany today, where we met up with Mike and Sonja from Adidas. There was snow on the ground when we landed here in Germany, so it's a good thing that we brought our studded Kenda tires with us!


    We got a new GoPro camera before we left for Europe, so we tested it out on the flight over. I just threw a few clips together from our flight...check it out! This is pretty much a "day in the life" of any pro rider these days. We have something really cool up our sleeves with the GoPro camera this weekend, so stay tuned!

    GoPro Travel Video to Munich from Aaron Lutze on Vimeo.


    Oh, and here is a little hint as to what we're going to be using the GoPro cameras for over the weekend. This ought to be good...


    12/11/2008

    Featured Bike: Shift R7


    At a glance:
    Intended Use: Cross Country Trail
    Travel: 120mm front and rear
    Sizes: 16”, 18”, 20”, 21”
    Weight: 30 lbs
    Color: Tucson Sage
    MSRP: $1,905

    We created the Shift R7 with one simple goal in mind: to make an affordable full-suspension trail bike that didn’t need any upgrades and rode great right out of the box. The Shift R7 shares the same simple, proven, tried-and-true single pivot suspension frame technology that many of the world’s best bike manufacturers have used for years and still continue to use today. There’s a reason why this technology persists…it works and it’s hassle-free. Single pivot suspension bikes are great all-around performers. They climb efficiently and descend well. Advances in rear shock technology with improved internal valving and adjustments to control rebound and compression damping have helped single pivot bikes go from good to great. And with only one main pivot to worry about servicing, you can spend more time riding instead of fussing with checking torque values on a variety of complex links and replacing half a dozen frame bearings.


    The Shift R7 features a buttery smooth Marzocchi 44LO 120mm fork with lockout and an alloy steer tube. A RockShox Monarch 3.1 rear air shock sucks up all the hits with ease plus with sag gradients printed on the body of the shock, setting up sag is a breeze. Ultra-crisp shifting on the R7 comes courtesy of the SRAM X.0 rear derailleur, SRAM X.9 front derailleur, and X.7 9-speed shifters. When you need to slow down, you’ll be glad you have Hayes Stroker Ryde hydraulic disc brakes to help you do so. Shimano M475 hubs laced to Ritchey OCR Pro rims and paired up with Kenda Small Block Eight tires keep you rolling down the trail. Add Ritchey cockpit components, Truvativ Fire-X cranks, and a WTB Rocket V Comp saddle to the list of components and we think you’ll agree that there’s not much you’ll need to upgrade down the line.

    If you are thinking about buying a Santa Cruz Superlight with the X9 XC package but just can’t justify plunking down such a huge wad of cash, the Shift R7 might be the bike for you. Don’t get me wrong, Santa Cruz makes some fantastic bikes but it’s worth mentioning that both the Superlight and the Shift R7 share more in common than you might think. Both frames are made overseas. Both share the proven single pivot suspension technology discussed above. The biggest and arguably the most important similarity these two bikes share is their geometry. Check this out:

    Santa Cruz Superlight (Medium/17.5” size)
    Top Tube Length (c-c): 23”
    Head Tube Angle: 71 degrees
    Seat Tube Length: 17.5”
    Seat Tube Angle: 73.5 degrees
    Wheelbase: 42.1”
    Chainstay Length: 16.7”
    BB Height: 12.3”
    Standover: 28.7”


    Haro Shift R7 (Medium/18” size)
    Top Tube Length (c-c): 23”
    Head Tube Angle: 71 degrees
    Seat Tube Length: 18”
    Seat Tube Angle: 73 degrees
    Wheelbase: 42.2”
    Chainstay Length: 16.9”
    BB Height: 12.5”
    Standover: 30.8”


    Looks pretty similar, right? Where you won’t see similarities is in the amount of travel and in the price. The Shift R7 has ¾” more travel and costs half of what the Superlight does equipped with similar spec to the Shift R7 (which would be the X9 XC package).

    Like I said before, this isn’t an attempt to bash Santa Cruz by any stretch. They make some mighty fine bikes. We just recognize that not everyone has $3,800 to spend on a mountain bike. The folks who don’t have that kind of cash still deserve a bike that’s spec’d well, rides great, and looks hot.

    If you are a cross country trail rider looking for a full-suspension bike within the 4” to 5” travel sweet spot, add the Shift R7 to your test ride list. When you go on a riding trip to Moab with the money you saved, try not to rub it in too badly with your buddies who bought more expensive bikes.

    For full spec and details about the Shift R7, click here.

    Happy trails, ya’ll.

    12/09/2008

    Just another small step towards saving the planet...



    This isn't an attempt to "greenwash" you by any means, but we do what we can to help save this great planet and preserve our resources. We have a recycling bin here in the office so cans, paper, and plastic can be recycled into new materials. We printed our catalogs on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper in order to help fight global deforestation. We support IMBA and Bikes Belong to help ensure people have places to ride their bicycles. Several people commute to work on their bicycles not only for exercise but to also help reduce pollution and traffic.

    We're proud to announce that we're now a supporter of the Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of the world's oceans, waves, and beaches. A portion of each of our Railer and Zimzala beach cruiser sales will go directly back to the Foundation to assist with their ongoing efforts.

    So we can share the Surfrider Foundation’s mission with the masses, we have placed Surfrider Foundation hang tags on all Haro Zimzala and Railer beach cruiser models.

    For more information about the Surfrider Foundation, visit http://www.surfrider.org/.

    If we all take a few small pedal strokes towards living a "greener" lifestyle, the environment stands to benefit by giant leaps. We're doing our part to reduce the impact our footprints (and tire tracks) make on this great Earth.


    12/08/2008

    SPOKE + Facebook

    As mentioned a few posts earlier, Phil got the cover of the latest issue of Spoke Magazine down in New Zealand. That issue turned out to be the highest-selling issue of Spoke ever printed, so much that we had to beg, borrow and steal to get our hands on a couple copies for ourselves!


    Caleb had a poster-sized version of the cover printed up for Phil, since it was his first magazine cover. That tailwhip shot took a monumental amount of work to put together, and throwing down nasty tricks like that in an area that is hours from any medical attention (but chock full 'o deadly Black Mamba snakes!) was an absolute feat. Phil did it without a second thought--and if you look closely at the cover, you can actually see the thorns in his front tire.

    If you're on Facebook, make sure to add Haro Bikes to your page! Add in some photos of your bikes and any other Haro-related images and videos. We've posted most of our Summer Of Shred content on there, as well a few other photos and videos. Here's the link.

    12/03/2008

    "Lightning Bolts" BMX Art Show

    Hey, we aren't shy about our roots to BMX...in fact, we're downright proud of our BMX hertitage since it's what has made our MTB's what they are today.


    Lightning Bolts Art Show presented by Nike 6.0 is a BMX-inspired exhibit created around the historic introduction of BMX as an Olympic sport. Nike teamed up with BMX Hall of Famer, Bob Haro, recreating his iconic number plate as a blank canvas. A select group of contemporary artists, each sharing a cultural connection to BMX, were invited to partake. Unique works from artists such as Nick Philip, Andy Jenkins, Rich Hansen, and Michael Lau debuted in Beijing, China on May 13th and have since shown in Portland, OR, and Tokyo. The final exhibit will show at the Montalban Theatre in Los Angeles, CA from Dec. 10th- Dec. 14th.

    For this final exhibition, all the numberplate artwork will be auctioned off to benefit the Athlete Recovery Fund, a fund established to aid injured action sports athletes. Haro's creative director, Pete Demos, was among the BMX industry artists invited to create a numberplate for the exhibition and auction.

    Pete Demos' Plate



    If you'd like to attend the exhibition, see pictures of the other numberplates, or even participate in the online auction for the plates, click here.


    Great cover!


    Haro athlete and slopestyle shredder Phil Sundbaum graced the cover of the November issue or New Zealand's Spoke magazine. Caleb Smith snapped this photo of Phil throwing down a nice tailwhip on his Steel Reserve 1 while traveling with Phil and his crew on their African adventure this past summer.

    12/02/2008

    Dennis Enarson

    Not sure if you guys read the Haro BMX blog as well, but if not, you need to check this out.  Dennis Enarson's part in the new Nike 6.0 video is ridiculous.  Even if you don't ride bmx or anything like it, check this out, it's pretty amazing.  

    http://www.vitalbmx.com/nike_enarson_video

    Haro MTB fans unite!



    Did you know that there is a forum dedicated to Haro on MTBR.com? OK, now you know.

    If you haven't checked it out already, this is a great place to post pictures, connect with other Haro owners, get information about Haro bikes, and ask questions. Haro Product Manager Pat Crosby (PatSS) and myself (DHJill) visit the site on a daily basis just to see what's going on in Haroland and answer questions people have posted.

    To post on the forum you'll need to register with MTBR.com, but it's free and just takes a few minutes. No registration needed for "lurking".

    Go to the Haro forum on MTBR.com by clicking here.