Submitted by
Alden Wadsworth
a Weekend Warrior
from Rockland ME USA
Date Reviewed: July 20, 2011
Strengths: Weight(heavier). front suspension, shocks, and rims are tough, no problems
Weaknesses: Shocks are too soft for peadling up hill.
Bottom Line:
I love the bike, but suspension is very soft. Frame is WAY to big for a smaller rider. Its a tough bike, and you will have fun with it, when you get used to it.
Strengths: frame seems to fit me perfect,handles well,
Weaknesses: headset is crap,fork sucks,rear shock is'nt much
Bottom Line:
I wrote in on this bike last year and since then the rear shock has self destructed and the swingarm has cracked.I would call my riding agg.c.c. not too burley. bike handles great(fox)but I just wonder how long befor another swingarm crack.
Submitted by
Zevik
a Weekend Warrior
from Tel-Aviv, Israel
Date Reviewed: September 16, 2004
Strengths: value - good parts for the price.
Weaknesses: marzocchi OEM fork was terrible. Saw TWO of the 2002 frames snap at the pivot. Just don't entirely trust this bike anymore, though haro did beef up the pivot welding for 2003 (and changed it entirely for 2004)
Bottom Line:
replaced the fork, and it transformed the bike entirely. Should have gone for the X3, mainly because of fork, but also drivetrain and brakes.
Submitted by
Tomoki Mori
a Downhiller
from Kawaguchi, Saitama, JAPAN
Date Reviewed: September 13, 2004
Strengths: -Good price for the bike! -Frame can be set up for many different styles of riding (I use it for freeride, Urban, Cross Country & so on) -Nice frame & design. -Killer Avid Mecanical Disc Brakes. -Overall great value.
Weaknesses: -It was expensive for me. Because I'm only a junior high school student. -The chain sucks. I't broked in 1 week!? -The fork is not the best. If you are going to do hard jumps you must change the fork.
Bottom Line:
The EXTREME X2 is a great bike. I like the design to. The frame is a little bit heavy for freeride. But it handles almost everything. It's a good trail bike for beginner.
Bike Setup: -HAYES Agressive Full Hydraulic Disc Brakes -XTR 9-Speed Chain -Marzocchi MARATHON SL (Front Fork) -Marzocchi Boss VR (Rear Shock)
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Martin
a Downhiller
from Missoula, MT, USA
Date Reviewed: May 28, 2004
Strengths: This is a burly bike at a super price!
Weaknesses: If your really going to abuse this bike, then you'd better put on a beefier fork.
Bottom Line:
The X2 is a great bike at an even better price. I've taken this ride down ski resort bomber runs, done urban jumping on it, and ridden the narrowest single track I could find. Buy this bike!
Bike Setup: The bike is super stable and can handle just about anything you have the balls to jump off.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
RobStar
a Weekend Warrior
from Orlando, FL
Date Reviewed: November 21, 2003
Strengths: Built like a tank - Killer price
Weaknesses: Handled like a tank
Bottom Line:
Three of us rented these bikes from Mountain Bike Heaven in Sedona, Arizona for a day. Very heavy duty bike; with the key word being heavy. The owner of the shop said these bikes held up very well in the rental fleet.
My regular bike is a Santa Cruz Blur X Disc which is a totally different animal. It always feels odd to ride a different bike and this was no exception. I never felt like I found the right balance points on the Haro. It definately is not the climbing machine my Blur is but the Haro weighs at least 12+ lbs more and cost about 1/4 of the Blur.
On climbs either the front wheel drifted or the rear wheel didn't lock up. I'm sure this is my fault as a rider but normally I can get fairly dialed in on a rental bike after an hour of riding.
On downhills and small drops the Haro felt very solid in the rocky terrain of Sedona, though I always felt like I had to be really super far back over the rear wheel to avoid an endo.
Clearly my Blur would not last very long in this rough terrain. The Haro is built to take it. My big surprise was when I found out how much the Haro costs. It rides like a bike costing twice as much.
Bike Setup: Standard with discs - large frame - I'm 5'11 170 lbs.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Ryan
a Weekend Warrior
from Cheshire CT USA
Date Reviewed: October 26, 2003
Strengths: -Good value -Frame can be set up for many different styles of riding (I use mine for FR and Urban)
Weaknesses: -I've seen on of these frames seperate where the swingarm meets the downtube.
Bottom Line:
This has been a great frame so far. A jack of all trades. If you get some really nice parts over time and then hook it up with the fifth element rear shock you can have a spectacular setup. I really only FR with mine for now but if need be it can deal with a XC ride. Having a psylo race up front also makes a huge change to this frame. Don't look at this bike if you are planning on XC racing, it is not intended for that (please dont cry about the weight is what I am saying) Big Huckers may want to up the ante as well ... Perhaps a Santa Cruz Bullit or the '04 Haro FR bikes coming out.
Similar Products Used: Santa Cruz Heckler (Big $$$)
Bike Setup: Psylo race, Avid mechanicals 7" and 6", Race face low riser, XT cranks, Salsa Bashguard, time Z pedals, XT deraileurs, Mavic f219 w/ Kenda Kinetiks 2.6, WTB Rocket V, and various other parts.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Erik
a Weekend Warrior
from Colorado Springs, Co.
Date Reviewed: October 3, 2003
Strengths: Good strong frame, killer brakes,rims,crankset,bars. overall great value for very minor cash.
Weaknesses: forks don't seem up to rest of bike,(just cracked lower fork tubes) flimsy front chainrings, and, although no problems yet, pedals are not great.
Bottom Line:
I don't think for the money, you can touch this bike. good components where it matters,(mostly).Good cockpit (I'm 6ft, 165lbs). I typically do 3 to 4 ft. to flat dropoffs with a couple of 5 and 6ers in there, mostly rock and urban assault, and the fork has been the only victim so far. However it seems to me this fork is not a good match for this bike, and Marzocchi is hooking up a crash replacement discount, nice! Bent the front chainrings on my second ride. Although not a fan of going up hill, the x2 does ok, and that's coming from a hardtail. Good inexpensive bike for budding freeriders/downhillers, but not experienced big huckers. I would prefer something lighter (werks series) for xc, but i'm lazy!
Similar Products Used: haro werks 1.0, couple of Raleigh piles?!
Bike Setup: Marzocchi Z.1 Freeride fork on the way, new pedals, and front chainrings on the way,salsa tooth fairy (too late)heavy duty inner tubes.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
danny
a Weekend Warrior
from gilbert, AZ
Date Reviewed: July 30, 2003
Strengths: the price. for a full suspension bike its a good price, and im only 16 so 800 bucks is hard to come by. so far i have had very little problems. i like the frame alot and the way the bike rides. i ride alot of bmx and i know that haro has a pretty good reputation for bmx bikes so im shure there mountain bikes are good too
Weaknesses: bent the big chain ring. when i had the EXR fork it bottumed out alot and had way to much rebound also it was starting to leak oil, the rear shock is not the greatest.
Bottom Line:
overall this is a great bike to start out with and does not brake the bank, but you do get what you pay for. i think that if your not doing anything to crazy this is a great bike.
for the money i paid, or even the suggested retail prce of this bike, you can't go wrong. i recently brought this bike out to colorado with me to do some freeriding, and it perfromed so inredibly well that i can't justify giving it less than 5 stars for its value and overall goodness.
Similar Products Used: trek diesel, trek fuel 98, gary fisher sugar, specialized p3,
Bike Setup: completely stock
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Adam
a Cross Country Rider
from Seattle
Date Reviewed: July 9, 2003
Strengths: good value, strong frame, ok componets.
Weaknesses: I know you get what you pay for and this bike is less that $1000.00, but I guess I can list my gripes: The fork - they market this bike as having 4" travel up front. This fork gets 3" max on big hits and has NO rebound damping. Soon to upgrade to a real fork. The big chain ring - I bent the steel big ring on my first ride. I replaced that heavy p.o.s. with an aluminum one soon after. Rear shock - Works fine but makes an odd "clunky" sound sometimes. It's probably not a problem, though. I also don't like having the word EXTREME in bold letters on my bike. It is a silly marketing word that should not be used anymore.
Bottom Line:
I'm having a ball on this bike! The brakes are great, the seat is ok, the shifters, handle bar and tires are fine and the rear suspension is working great for me. In spite of my few gripes, I would recomend this bike to anybody looking for a low price trail bike.
Similar Products Used: I rode a Ti-Cycles Skookum for many years prior to this.
Bike Setup: New grips, new clipless peddles and that new chain ring are the only changes so far.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Jack Slater
a Cross Country Rider
from Austin, TX, USA
Date Reviewed: July 8, 2003
Strengths: Great components, great ground clearance (have yet to bash the chain ring), Marzocchi's are very stout and durable, price can't be argued with. Easily half what the next "up" bike costs. Handles my Clydesdale rear without complaint.
Weaknesses: So far none found. I have no gripes with the LX gearset. Maybe Haro could have offered a lifetime frame warranty instead of the 5 year, but who else does anymore?
Bottom Line:
I spent 6 months looking for my next bike. I rode each one listed above for at least a full day on the same trail before I decided on the X2. I narrowed the choices down to the Haro and the Jamis. I really liked the Jamis but could not justify the extra $600 for it. The Haro rode just as well (felt lighter too) and I have no regrets 3 months and 300 miles later. It still rides and looks like the day I rode it out of the shop. If you ride to ride and not to impress your friends with an expensive bike, there really isn't a better bike for anywhere near this price, IMO.
Bike Setup: Besides changing out the stock 17.5 frame neck for the one on the 19 frame, it's all stock.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Jamal Tinkov
a
from Newfoundland,Canada
Date Reviewed: July 1, 2003
Strengths: The Frame is solid for what i do, the deraileur holds up well, i really like the rims and tires. Hadlebars are good back shock is nice and beefy good welding up front.
Weaknesses: Front shock is rock hard needs good break in time, One of the chain links bent the first 10 mins i was riding it you have to be really careful changing gears, make sure that you use them the right way
Bottom Line:
This bike is really nice for the money i have done a 10 fotter to a transfer the bike held up fine the rims are great i did 230 stairs set on it today and it held up fine u just have to be careful with the gears and this is a great bike for the price.
Submitted by
Darrick Thompson
a Weekend Warrior
from spokane,Wa,(USA)
Date Reviewed: June 23, 2003
Strengths: it kicks ass for under 1k the exr is more of a xc fork but i am 14 and 120 poubds so i set it a little heavy and rock and roll so far i have only dropped like 5 ft cliffs and and a six set but it holds up really strong welding
Weaknesses: shifters, brake levers andseat post thats bout it.
Bike Setup: all stock for the exception of new levers and bash guard
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
James Nivin
a Weekend Warrior
from Santa Barbara CA
Date Reviewed: May 30, 2003
Strengths: Really good solid frame, Haro really fixed the problems that were on the 2002 model. Good feel, very manuverable. Nice headset, and bars.
Weaknesses: The bike comes with a terible fork as far as i'm concerned. The rear shock u might want to replace, depending on the type of riding you do.
Bottom Line:
This bike is well worth the money. I have gone of 6 and a half foot drops on it, and it takes it fine. Good starter freeride bike. I also like how it has the cockpit feel.
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Gary Fisher Sugar Team Issue
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Yellow and blue frame
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