Admittedly, one of the things I love the most about by job is seeing ideas come full circle into product...and being able to have first crack at putting prototypes through their paces. It's pretty cool.
We've had a ton of success with our line of Mary XC and Mary SS 29er mountain bikes. The price, look, colors, and spec on these bikes are dialed and people love 'em. They aren't expensive (relatively speaking, of course), but they aren't cheap either so we had a few requests for a down-spec'd cheaper version of the Mary bikes down in the 5 to 6 bill range.
So away we went to accomplish such a feat. The current Mary frames are made of crmo steel and are built in a really high-end factory in Taiwan, so they are pretty expensive. In order to bring the pricing down on these new bikes, crmo was out of the question so these bikes would have to be alloy.
MTB Product Manager Pat Crosby whipped up some drawings based on the same geometry as the Mary frames and voila! Just a few months later, we've got prototypes. Pat wasted no time in getting these babies built up so we could see how they rode. In fact, mine was built and ridden at the local trails all within about 3 hours of the box hitting the warehouse floor. Hey, that's how we roll here at Haro. We don't mess around when it comes to brining YOU cool product.
How'd it ride? Awesome. It's alloy, so it doesn't have that lively crmo ride, but it's lighter and stiffer, that's for sure.
Does this bike have a name? We're leaning towards Ally; she'll be like Mary's little sister. We're hoping to have these bikes dialed and ready for sale in the spring.
Pictures? Of course I have pictures. Just remember...this is just a prototype and won't come spec'd as shown.
Enjoy!
7 comments:
I just LOVE proto rides!
Kinda looks purdy.
Hell yeah! I just had to give up a mary xc i was demo'ing and miss it already. Looking forward to getting my hands on one of the Al frames to compare. Might be more in my $$$ range anyway. Thanks for the peek.
what a novel idea to make bikes more affordable but not skimping on quality. for those that may not want to spend $1500 or more on their first 29'er to see if they like it and find out if it fits them, this provides them a sneak peak into the world of the 29'er.
the gussets near the headtube look nice. i would love to get on this bike and give it a try! it acutally looks 'flickable!'
props to everyone at Haro for smart ideas!
lastly, not so sure the 'Ally' works for me....could be a little bit 'too girly' for me. considering the sterotype of the 29'er buyer, maybe 'Martha' (keeping the 'M' in the line, like Mary) is something to consider.
"if you think you are too bad for the Mary, the Martha may be the bike to smack ya around!'
lastly, remember the old Ibis Mojo 'handjob' that helped with the cablerouting? Is there anywhere on this bike, such as the dropout where you could put a beer bottle opener?? these little touches add some character to the bike. if it can't be done on this lesser expensive line, can it be done on the Mary or is there something on the bike similar to that?
inquiring minds want to know!
to the freaks at Haro, great job!
Looks good. Hopefully frame weight will be on par with what the XC racing crowd is after. If that be the case - there's no stopping ya.
Agreed on the Ally name - maybe a bit too soft.
And lastly, I think the bottle opener thing is a bit overdone at this point. Personally, I'd like to see some other cool new little gadget incorporated into the frame. Something new and fresh. Don't ask me for input though, I'm all talk....:)
- Matt
Are you planning a single speed version, like the Mary SS? I think this would be a nice addition and is something I have been looking for.
How about Marie for the name?
Mike
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