Haro is now on Twitter!

Yes, that's right...we are now on Twitter! Log in to your Twitter account and follow us to see what we're up to during a typical day here in Haroland.

Tomorrow Haro creative director Pete Demos and I join our riders Eric Porter, Phil Sundbaum, and Blake Robinson for a 10-day photo safari up in Oregon to shoot our 2010 MTB catalog and get some video footage for an upcoming project. We'll be tweeting along the way!

You can follow us on Twitter here.

Fruita

On my way out to Grand Junction for the Ranch Style jam put on by grassroots cycles I stopped by Fruita for a quick singletrack session, here's a couple shots of the trail, it was smooth fast and flowy, super fun.  I'm racing slalom and doing the slopestyle this weekend so it should be fun, I'll keep you updated!

Featured Bike: Flightline Comp

Our Flightline series defines the phrase “less is more”. With everything you need in a mountain bike without anything you don’t need, each Flightline packs a ton of performance in a simple package. Crafted with sturdy high-grade aluminum frames and proven dirt-worthy parts, a Flightline is the perfect choice for your local bike path, commute to work or school, or favorite singletrack loop. Don’t be afraid to venture off the beaten path from time to time and get dirty.

You want to get into mountain biking, so now all you need is a bike. You want a bike that's lightweight and sturdy enough to keep up with your riding buddies. You're also thinking that you'd like to start with bike that's not terribly expensive but has a nice frame you can upgrade the parts on later if you wanted to. And obviously, it's gotta be fun to ride. Sounds like a tall order, right? We have just the bike for you: the Flightline Comp.

The Flightline Comp starts out with nice alloy frame with a double-butted downtube. Double-butting the downtube saves some frame weight since it involves adding material at the end of the tube where it's needed for welding and reducing the amount of tubing in the middle of the tube where it's not needed. This frame also has a lower standover height...which can be incredibly confidence inspiring if you are new to off-road riding. Trailworthy parts abound on the Flightline Comp...it has a RockShox Dart 2 fork with TurnKey lockout, a Shimano 9-speed drivetrain, and mechanical disc brakes. This isn't a poser trail bike by any stretch! It has everything you need to tackle your local singletrack.

Here are some spec highlights on the Flightline Comp:

• Alloy double-butted down tube frame with oversized tubing and low standover height


• RockShox Dart 2 100mm travel fork with preload adjust and TurnKey lockout


• Shimano Deore rear derailleur with Shimano Deore 9-speed shifters


• Hayes MX4 mechanical disc brakes


• WTB Speed V Sport SE saddle


• Truvativ ISO-Flow cranks


• Kenda Komodo 2.1 tires

MSRP on the Flightline Comp is about $710.

Sea Otter Highlight

Sea Otter was great this year, but I think I can speak for both me and Porter when I say that enjoying an In-N-Out Double-Double with FORMER vegetarian freerider Darcy Turenne was my favorite (and tastiest) highlight of the weekend.

Featured Bike: Sanford

Looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint and save a few bucks on gas each month? Why not start riding a bike? Our Metro series makes bicycle commuting a breeze. With triple chainrings up front, you'll be able to tackle most any hill with ease. An adjustable stem lets you ride in comfort and a seatpost with a built-in blinking tail light helps make you more visible to drivers. What better way to "go green" than riding a bike?

Like the rest of our Metro bikes, the Sanford features an aluminum frame which means it will never rust and is as light as a feather. All of Metro bikes are designed to be nimble and quick like a traditional road bike, but with flat bars, wider tires, and triple chainrings, they are much more comfortable and stable to ride. Even if you never plan to ride to work, a bike like the Sanford is a great choice for riders that don't like the hunched-over "twitchy" feeling of a road bike but still want to be able to ride longer distances on the road.

The Sanford has carbon fiber fork with an alloy steer tube for added weight savings. Carbon does wonders for dampening road vibrations! We also added eyelets on both drop-outs and mounts on the stays if you decide you want to add fenders and/or a rack. A nine-speed drivetrain will give you a wide range of gears for both the flats and uphills.

Here are a few spec highlights on the Sanford:

• Metro series lightweight aluminum frame


• Carbon fiber fork with alloy steer tube


• Shimano Deore LX rear derailleur with Shimano R440 9-speed shifters


• Ritchey cockpit components with Ritchey adjustable stem


• FSA Vero 52/42/30 crankset


• Vittoria Randonneur 700 x 35c tires


• Ally seatpost with built-in blinking tail light (battery replaceable)

MSRP on the Sanford is about $960.

We're heading to Sea Otter!

If you're going to be attending Sea Otter, be sure you stop by the Haro booth! You may not recognize us at first since we'll be debuting a whole new look sporting our new logo. Not only did we re-wrap the truck and trailer, but we also got a new tent canopy made to match the rig. It looks pretty sweet!

We'll be in the demo area over by the pump tracks in space #900. We'll have a whole fleet of demo bikes available for test rides. We'll have several Beasley 650B bikes, Marys, Sonix, Steel Reserves, and Xeons, so come on by and take one (or several) for a spin.

See you there!

(A special thank you goes out to Carol at CJ Norby Signs in El Cajon, CA for doing a great wrap job on our rig!)

Marathon day

So lately I've been trying to see how many activities I can pack into one day, it's been pretty fun.  The other day I started out with a big backcountry ski trip, then went to some bike jumps, then went to Doug Dalton's pumptrack.  The ski trip was pretty unique because it was a route that no one is allowed to ski except for on special occasions.  The trip was with a few Sundance ski resort patrollers, and we we're lucky enough to get to take the lift up to the top of the resort where we started climbing, even though the resort was closed for the season!  From there we started skinning up the ridge above the resort (skinning is when you put "skins" on the bottom of your skis that enable you to walk up the hill, they stick to the snow so you won't slide backwards but will slide forward).  The climb was mostly on pretty narrow ridgeline and it definitely kept you on your toes the whole time, one mistake could send you for quite a ride down the hill.  It took us about 2-2.5 hours of climbing to get to the top, including a couple sections that we had to put our skis on our back and climb on our hands and knees because it was so steep, 53 degrees to be exact!  The way back down was awesome, we had great snow and got to make a ton of good turns all the way down.  

After I got done skiing I went home quick, changed clothes, grabbed my Steel Reserve and my dog and pinned it down to i-street where I met up with Derek and Blake and some other friends.  Had a good session there, and then we all drove back up to Doug Dalton's house for a quick pump track session before dark.  It was a pretty fun day, I'll keep you updated as I try and pack in more activities!

My friend Tracy who got me in on this trip.  If you look closely in this picture you can see the top of the resort on the snowy point at the top of the photo, thats where we climbed from.  We're about halfway up here.

My sweet Unity skis, they are huge!!  That's Deer Creek reservoir in the background.

Our tracks coming down the first pitch, with one guy skiing.

Caleb Cambern, making a guest appearance from Colorado.

The legendary double D, shredding the home pump track with his dog Raven.

Allride tour in town

Kirt Voreis just came through town for a couple days, along with his mechanic (and shredder) Travis Lucas, and a couple up and coming riders in the Allride Acadamy Austin and Bryce. When they first got here it was kinda rainy and nasty so we went straight to Ogio to ride the miniramp and the foam pit, it was super fun. About halfway through the day the rain let up and it got nice and sunny out so we went to Tanner Park and spent about 5 hours digging and got the main line running for the first time of the year. Anyway it was a great couple of days, everyone had a blast, and the best part is that the trails are running again!!!

Austin first, then Bryce.

L - R Bryce, Austin, Kirt, Travis

SOS Woodward + Extreme Playgrounds

The Haro mtb crew met up at Woodward earlier this year for a little training session, and now after three months of nonstop travel, the edits are starting to come together. If you scroll back a few months, you can see the pics from our trip, and we're hoping to have the edit done before Sea Otter hits. Highlights for this segment include Phil's music request "Break the Ice" from the movie Rad, Wilson's attempt to earn Phil's spare bike via an incredibly difficult trick list, and plenty of riding from Randy Spangler's new dirt creation, Woodward, and everywhere in between. There is even a cameo by Jill Hamilton in this segment!! Stay tuned!


If you're in Europe and you are missing Sea Otter, get yourself over to Duisburg for the T-Mobile Extreme Playgrounds event this weekend! Phil will be there again this year, and so will NOFX! Oh, and if you're not in Germany or at Sea Otter, not to fear, you can just watch the event live right here on the Haro site!

Featured Bike: Extreme X6 Expert

Just as the name implies, the Extreme series bikes are made for the bigger stuff: jumps, drops, rocks, downhill, and stunts. Terrain that no cross country bike would dare go. But just because these bikes are bred for gravity doesn't mean they also can't take you to the top of the hill. Just put your seat up, shift into the granny gear, and enjoy the ride back up to the top...just so you can come blazing down again.

The Extreme X6 Expert has 5" to 6" of adjustable travel, which makes it super versatile. Switching from the 6" setting to the 5" setting is as easy as moving the shock position on the swingarm mount from the lower set of mounting holes to the upper set. As with all of the bikes in our Extreme series, the Extreme X6 Expert features our signature hydroformed top tube...this method of shaping aluminum tubing with liquid increases tubing stiffness without added material (and added weight!). One single main pivot with a sealed bearing makes our Extreme bikes really easy to maintain...something to think about if you are considering one of the more "complex" suspension designs.

We added some nice custom touches on this bike. The graphics on the Syncros AM bar and stem were custom painted for us to match the frame colors. You won't be able to order those in that colorway anywhere. Same goes for the decals on the Marzocchi 55 TST2 fork...that colorway is only available on our bike. We also took the time to add white rims and grips to complete the look of the bike.

Here are some spec highlights on the Extreme X6 Expert:

• Adjustable 5" to 6" travel alloy frame with sealing bearing main pivot and hydroformed top tube


• Marzocchi 55 TST2 160mm travel fork with 20mm thru-axle


• Marzocchi Roco R rear shock with piggyback


• SRAM X.0 rear derailleur with SRAM X.9 9-speed shifters


• Hayes Stroker Ryde hydraulic disc brakes


• Custom painted Syncros AM cockpit components


• Truvativ Hussefelt 2.0 crankset

MSRP on the Extreme X6 Expert is about $2,175.

Springtime in the rockies

It's finally nice weather after all the snow we've been getting out here, so the first order of business is getting the jumps running again. First I went to Blake's house and we started rebuilding his jumps, Blake was trying to look like a male model. It was pretty warm. The next day Blake couldn't make it but Derek and I went down to Tanner park and started tuning them up, if you can't tell, it's the best dirt in the world. Anyway, all the jumps will be running this week, can't wait!!! Oh yeah, Blake's house is sweet cause you get to hang out with the sheep and chickens and dogs too, I love it down there.

Lots of Haro love in May Mountain Bike mag

Mountain Bike magazine really showed Haro some love in the May issue. Not only is Eric Porter gracing the cover aboard his Steel Reserve 1, but we got some really great coverage on the Beasley 650B bikes as well. Since Haro is one of the few bike manufacturers on the forefront of the 650B movement, the editors of Mountain Bike called on us to give them some info and a bike to test. We sent them a Beasley 1 x 9 which got really high marks from the test editors (page 46). They also ran a piece that's basically an overview about 650B and featured a picture of a Beasley SS (page 44-45). There's also a little sneak peak of our prototype Sonix 650B that will be released later this year (page 48).

Check it out! It's on newsstands now or better yet, pick it up at your local bike shop if they stock magazines.

Featured Bike: Beasley SS

What the heck is 650B anyhow? At 27.5”, 650B is a wheel size that measures halfway between a standard 26” wheel and a 29” wheel. The advantages of this “tweener” size is proven 26” wheel frame geometry can be used with this larger wheel size, which gives you big-wheel performance advantages like better stability and improved traction without the big-wheel bike feeling. Think of it as the having the best of both worlds rolled into one phenomenally fun mountain bike.

Our Beasley SS is crafted out of double-butted 4130 cromoly steel. Steel aficionados will tell you that steel rides like no other frame material out there...it's lively, compliant, and makes everyday rides feel pretty darn special. This frame features an eccentric bottom bracket which makes tensioning your chain and removing the rear wheel a snap. Horizontal drop-outs on a singlespeed are just a pain in the butt.

The On-One Mary bars used on the Beasley SS may look a little unconventional, but we encourage you to give them a shot. You'll find these swoopy bars are really easy on your wrists and put your arms and hands in fantastic position to maximize the leverage you'll need when you climb with just one gear. If you decide you want to add a suspension fork down the line, the frame and fork have been suspension corrected based on a 100mm travel fork.

Here are some spec highlights on the Beasley SS:

• Double-butted 4130 cromoly steel frame with eccentric bottom bracket


• Custom made 4130 cromoly steel fork; suspension corrected


• Truvativ Fire-X 1.1 singlespeed cranks


• Avid BB5 mechanical disc brakes


• Pacenti Neo-Moto 2.3 650B tires


• On-One Mary bars


• Ritchey cockpit components

MSRP on the Beasley SS is about $980.

Beasley SS Video...click here!