Haro numberplates

Bob Haro, the freestyle legend, was pretty much an entrepreneur back in the day. He started off by making numberplates, using a hot stove to bend plastic...just to earn a little money. He made these plates for friends of his and pretty soon, everyone wanted a number plate made by Bob Haro. I never had one of his plates back in the day...I had a Zeronine plate. But most of the BMX pros back in the day had Haro numberplates.  They would not look out of place even at the races today!

Haro Race Lite 2011

I have always liked Haro Bikes. Since day one, they have been churning out quality bikes at affordable prices and they last a long time. My Backtrail X24 cruiser is proof of that. And it is still with me after all these years and still riding great.

Which brings me to the topic of this new bike by Haro, called the Race Lite. All I can say is, nice colours. The specs of the bike are as follows.

Frame	7005 Alloy w/fully internal head tube - 21" TT
Fork	Sinz Stealth Carbon 1-1/8" Threadless
Grips	SINZ Sticky Grips
Handle Bar	Full Crmo 8" rise
Cranks	"2-pc Alloy 175mm, Euro Sealed Bearing external cartrige BB"
Gearing	39/14 Cassette cog
Tires	Intense Micro Knobby 2 20x2.125 F/20x1.75 R
Hubset	36H Alloy Shell sealed bearing / Cassette rear
Rims	Alienation 36H Deviant DW Frt/36H Runaway DW Rear
Seat/Seatpost	Haro plastic Pivotal seat w/Pivotal post
Pedals	Haro DX Alloy
Rotor	N/A
Pegs	N/A

Looks like that they are going the Kuwahara way (new-school, not old-school) of using Deviant as their main supplier of rims. What I would replace is the SINZ carbon fork and get a Supercross fork that is WAY stronger and weighs about the same. As for cranks, well, everyone seems to be gearing (pun not intended) towards aluminium cranks nowadays. I would personally change the cranks to Promo Powerbites. But all in all, it looks a pretty killer bike...but it is not a thrasher. So much for those days when one could do some nifty tricks, even with a race-bike. For me? I would rather wait for the SE Racing PK-Ripper looptail that is about to be released. But I am rather torn as I do love Haro.

Police get BMX to 'break down barriers' with youths

You will not see this happening in Singapore anytime soon

The article is from Bike Radar and is located here

Police on mountain bikes are a common sight in many cities around the world, but Leicestershire Constabulary reckon they've found an even better tool for urban crime fighting – the BMX.

While it may not afford officers the same dignity as a larger wheeled bike, the force reckon their new Haro F3 will "break down barriers" when police meet young people on the streets and in parks.

PCSO Vince Preston, from Oadby and Wigston local policing unit, said: “It's a size the children can get on, and it helps build a rapport with them. Kids are more open to speaking to you than if you're on a larger bike or on foot patrol."

The marked-up blue and white machine will also be used for school safety sessions – and officers reckon it'll come in handy for catching criminals too. PCSO Preston said his experience using mountain bikes showed how valuable they were for tracking suspects, and he reckons that in the majority of cases a BMX is quicker and easier to manoeuvre.

“In a car, they can hear you a mile off, but on a bike you're virtually silent," he said. "This area has lots of alleyways which I know and can use, so often I can get to an incident at least as quickly as colleagues in a car. And while you're on patrol, you can communicate with members of the public and you can see and smell more than being in a car.”

Haro Bikes' UK distributors have supplied the bike free of charge. Brand manager Adam Garner said: “Moore Large and Co are delighted to be involved in this fantastic project. We're hoping it will help gain respect between the police and Leicestershire’s youth. I'm looking forward to supporting Leicestershire police over the coming months and watching the project make a positive influence on the local community."

It's unclear how the F3's stunt pegs and 360-degree gyro will aid crime fighting; maybe officers hope to stun offenders into submission with a succession of grinds and barspins, or maybe they'll use the pegs to give colleagues 'backies' when chasing more than one suspect?

Haro X24

Just saw this on Haro Bikes revamped website. Funny thing is, they are using the design of yesteryear, with the same graphics and the familiar chevron logo that was around when Bob Haro ruled the roost. I thought I would check up on the Backtrail X24 cruiser that they have because I happen to have a 2000 Backtrail X24 and it rocks.

I came across this bike. Looks ok and then I did some checking on the specs. Check this out:

Frame: X24 Crmo DT – 21.7" TT.
Fork: 1 1/8" Full Crmo- Threadless
Handlebar: Hi-Ten- 5.25" rise.
Crankset: Haro 3-pc Crmo USA Sealed Bearing- 175mm.
Gearing: 39/16 Freewheel.
Tires: Kenda K-Rad 24×1.95 Front and Rear
Hubset: 36h 3/8" Frt / 14mm Rr axle w/Alloy Shell
Rims: Alex 36H Alloy

Looks like Haro cut some corners on this cruiser. What is with the hi-tensile steel handlebar and having the downtube on the frame the ONLY tube made of chromoly? Yeah Haro...you may bring back the logo of old but honestly...you guys need to bring back the quality of old too!

Aftermath of the old-school BMX gathering in East Coast

It was a resounding success. More people joined us and it was a great way to meet new friends. This is a classic shot of Peter Chua, an old-schooler from back in the day, with his son on a Haro Freestyler. His son was having a blast and I must say, so were all of us. It was a great day and all the pics are available on the forums here

Something fishy about the new Haro

Check out this new Haro Master Freestyler retro edition. Looks nice, doesn't it? According to their website, they say

It took us two years to get this bike out of the vault, but it feels like 30.

There have been some rumblings on VintageBMX and BMX Museum that this new bike is not all it has been made out to be. The first Haro Freestyler from 1978 was made by Torker, and was made of 4130 chromoly. This one is a trimoly bike which means the frame's main tube is made of chromoly steel and the other parts are made of hi-tensile steel. It seems that they tried to cover it up on the website, saying it is chrome (which it is) but conveniently left out the moly part. The links to VintageBMX and BMX Museum should shed more light on theissue.

But here is the shocking part. When a VintageBMX member sent an email to Haro asking about it, he got tossed off. Further proof that bike companies nowadays are all about money. The reply is below:

you're an angry guy...guy. Chill out and realize that we have almost sold out of these bikes spec'd as is. I am sorry for the lack of Chromoly, but with the quality of HI Ten on the area's that we decided to put it, it held up perfect during testing and because of this, we were able to keep the price at $550.00 for the whole bike.

Some kind of customer service right? Testing? Yeah right. Lucky for me my Haro Backtrail cruiser is made of full 4130 chromoly. I will not be getting this bike. No way, Jose.

A cool Haro race bike

I came across this rather nice looking Haro bike (Haro SR-20) on their website at http://www.harobikes.com and I am sure that it will be a pretty competitive race bike. The reason I say so is because I have seen many Haros in Singapore and I am pretty sure that their distributor will bring in bikes like these. The specs are:

# 7075 T6 Alloy frame w/21.25” TT and Internal Headset.
# 100% Chromoly Fork.
# 175mm Chromoly 3pc Crank w/European Bottom Bracket.
# Alloy Sprocket with CNC Machined Teeth.
# 36h Wheelset w/Alloy Alex Doublewall rims and rear Cassette Hub.
# Intense Haalo Tires.
# Alloy Micro-adjust Seatpost.

Check it out on the Haro website!

Post Chinese New Year weight gain

Go on, admit it. I think many of us are feeling kind of bloated after consuming all those Chinese New Year goodies. Maybe some time on the bike will help to lose those extra pounds gained. I know I did. Went for some long rides during the day sometimes with a 42-pound Haro Backtrail X24 cruiser that did lots to to reduce the bloated-ness. Good weight training I say. the BMX bike is probably one of the best bikes to use to lose weight. By nature of the sport, it is a singlespeeder. That means only one gear. Ride that bike everyday for some distance and I guarantee that you will lose some inches around the waist. For me, singlespeed all the way!