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2011 bike preview
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No Xeon, no Sonix, no SS bikes....
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I'm not feeling the love. :nonod:
In 2010, Haro came out with a really lame pink color scheme for the Mary SS, and in 2011 they cancel the Mary SS due to "the single speed sector of Haro's bike line -- once one of its core business -- had diminished from a torrent to a trickle." Coincidence? I don't think so.
Let me see... no 650B, no SS, and the return to single-pivot elevated chainstays when the rest of the industry is moving towards 4-bar linkages. Haro seems to be trying to compete with Magna for the low end. I am completely not interested.
This is from somebody who completely loves his Mary SS and rides it everywhere. I'm not a Haro-hating crank. But in my opinion, this is an extremely lame lineup for 2011.
In 2010, Haro came out with a really lame pink color scheme for the Mary SS, and in 2011 they cancel the Mary SS due to "the single speed sector of Haro's bike line -- once one of its core business -- had diminished from a torrent to a trickle." Coincidence? I don't think so.
Let me see... no 650B, no SS, and the return to single-pivot elevated chainstays when the rest of the industry is moving towards 4-bar linkages. Haro seems to be trying to compete with Magna for the low end. I am completely not interested.
This is from somebody who completely loves his Mary SS and rides it everywhere. I'm not a Haro-hating crank. But in my opinion, this is an extremely lame lineup for 2011.
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Sadly, the numbers don't lie. We have been seeing the SS market dry up for quite some time. So has the high-end FS market. It's been a tough year for the bike industry. It's easy to say "lame" until you walk a mile in someone else's shoes and see the numbers from our perspective.
Sad statistic: the sale of full suspension bikes accounts for less than 5% of ALL bike units sold for the ENTIRE domestic bike industry. And that 5% is owned by Trek, Giant, and Specialized. While working on high-end FS bikes is fun, it's not where profits come from. 80% of most all bike manufacturers sales come from bikes that sell for less than $500.
We're not abandoning the FS market; we're merely taking a bit of a break while we develop a new model. As the article on MBA states, we're working on a new FS bike that will be introduced in the 2012 or 2012 model year. The main reason we won't be continuing with the Sonix and Xeon bikes boils down to frame minimums. Unfortunately, we can't meet them so therefore we cannot place orders for these bikes.
Keep in mind that you also aren't seeing the entire lineup...these are just a few bikes that MBA decided to spotlight.
Sad statistic: the sale of full suspension bikes accounts for less than 5% of ALL bike units sold for the ENTIRE domestic bike industry. And that 5% is owned by Trek, Giant, and Specialized. While working on high-end FS bikes is fun, it's not where profits come from. 80% of most all bike manufacturers sales come from bikes that sell for less than $500.
We're not abandoning the FS market; we're merely taking a bit of a break while we develop a new model. As the article on MBA states, we're working on a new FS bike that will be introduced in the 2012 or 2012 model year. The main reason we won't be continuing with the Sonix and Xeon bikes boils down to frame minimums. Unfortunately, we can't meet them so therefore we cannot place orders for these bikes.
Keep in mind that you also aren't seeing the entire lineup...these are just a few bikes that MBA decided to spotlight.
Sad
I am very sad that you guys gave up so quickly on the 650b market. I was eagerly waiting for the 650b Xeon (or Sonix) that was hinted upon. :cryin:
I thought the Beasly was cool, but if you had used an X-Fusion fork you could have hit a lower pricepoint than the White Brothers fork allowed. That might have helped sales.
I am DEVISTATED that my favorite bike, the Xeon, is done. Gutted. :cryin: :sad:
I am very sad that you guys gave up so quickly on the 650b market. I was eagerly waiting for the 650b Xeon (or Sonix) that was hinted upon. :cryin:
I thought the Beasly was cool, but if you had used an X-Fusion fork you could have hit a lower pricepoint than the White Brothers fork allowed. That might have helped sales.
I am DEVISTATED that my favorite bike, the Xeon, is done. Gutted. :cryin: :sad:
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Regarding 650B, we're sad as well. We believe in the technology as do many riders, but the biggest hurdle is dealers hate it. Quite honestly, the fact that dealers would not support the platform was the biggest reason we decided not to move forward with it. When I go out in the field and visit dealers, I was really shocked to hear things like "We won't support a 3rd wheel size" or..."I don't want to order 650B tires and tubes" or..."These off-standard wheel sizes like 29er and 650B just confuse my customers".SSteel said:
We're a small company...we can react quickly. We were one of the very first adopters of the 650B wheel size on production bikes, so we can just as easily get back into it if demand warrants. It's going to take a bigger company (like one of the big 3) than us to endear the technology to dealers. Once that happens, we'll gladly jump right back in!
I feel your pain, I bought a xeon over a SC Nomad because the price was so much better on the xeon. I love this bike, it pedals so well for a six inch travel bike. I love taking this bike to gooseberry. I would love to see haro come out with another six inch + bike. When I finally trash my xeon, i don't know what I'm going to replace it with. I just don't see the shift handling gooseberry Mesa, as well as the xeon.SSteel said:
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Manufactures take into account possible warranty or goodwill issues and generally have a certain number of this product on hand but yes the supply may deplete if the demand is higher than anticipated. From what I have heard on the forums their has been no issues with the 650b. You could always buy a frame and store it on your wall as art..djembe975 said:
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Like Dogon said, we do have 650B frames in our warranty stock. If we were to run out, we would handle warranty issues on a case-by-case basis and find a solution that would equitable and fair to everyone.djembe975 said:
Look at it this way. You have an opportunity to really focus on the "less than $500" bikes and make them stand out.downhilljill said:
When those people are ready to step up to something more, hopefully the economy will be going again and Haro will be have 29er, 650b, and FS rigs new and improved.
One thing that you may consider...I like 26" mtbs with 700c disk wheels (like the Cannondale Bad Boy). If you could build one 26" hardtail frame that could accept some 700c wheels and tires (maybe 650b wheels and tires) then you have two (or three) potential models built around a single frame. Just build a cool rigid fork for the city-specific model.
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I suppose this makes sense. My local Haro dealer never had any Mary, Beasly or Sonix bikes on the floor. Just lots and lots of Heartland comfort bikes, with a couple of Flightlines. No wonder you couldn't sell these higher end bikes when the dealers refuse to stock them.
I guess he's too busy fighting with Walmart (just down the street) for the bottom end of the market.
I guess he's too busy fighting with Walmart (just down the street) for the bottom end of the market.
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That Flightline 29er has my interest. I recently upgraded from my Flightline Comp to a Santa Cruz Superlight since Haro didn't have a FS that seemed to work for me. Now I want a HT 29 to go along with it, and that new Flightline looks great. I like the graphics, and the polished welds look amazing. Any idea on weights and prices?
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