[horton]

Im pretty sure this is the bike I want, so Im hopefully picking one up tommorow

the only changes I plan on making are sticking a decent front brake on and maybe changing the pedals.

anything else I need to do to this bike?

Im not going to be doing anything really hardcore on it, Im just using it as a play bike.

oh and are these bikes nice and strong? cos thats the reason Im getting this one, Ive had to many **** MTBs and killed them so I dont want to kill this bike as well.

 

[horton]

oh and is it worth putting pegs on a 24inch bike?
Im used to riding MTBs so will I be able to learn to grind on this bike? or do u need a 20inch bike for grinds?

 

[pnj]

i've never seen this bike in person but I just check out the specs on this website http://www.midtownbikeco.com/specifications22.html

and it looks pretty good. it should hold up fine for quite awhile.

how much does this thing sell for? I couldn't find a price anywhere

 

[jodysbike]

My buddie Daniel has last years model. Nice bike and good price. If you put pegs on it you should have no problem. Since you are used to a 26" you may be able to pick up grinds and such easier on a cruzer than a 20". Do it dam it!!!

 

[BMXman]

I liked mine quite a bit...the only drawback was the rear brake didn't work to well with the cheap-o u-brake and anodized rims but other than that it was fine....I ran pegs on mine and grinding was fine...you just have to find taller things to grind on....D

 

[horton]

I went to the shop, gave them the money and ordered it.

I want decent front brakes on it, so I need to wait for a week for an adapter.
So I couldnt leave the shop with the bike which was a shame.
Also got a couple of pairs of pegs.

The guy in the shop really tried to persuade me into buying either a 20inch or a full MTB but although Im sure 20inch is more fun, Im too old, fat and unfit to ride one. And the sort of MTB I would get for the money would be complete ****.

I might be nearly 30 and old enough to know better but right now Im excited like a little kid just before christmas, I cant wait to get my hands on my new toy and get riding.

 

[edo-chan]

Pegs are good, just get ready for shoulder injuries!

 

[horton]

Just picked up my bike but havnt been able to ride it yet.
I would go out on it now but there are a couple of Football (soccer games on) and I live for my football at the moment.

So its looks like a 3am ride for me.

At first glance the bike looks fu.cking lovely. damn nice looking frame - raw metal with burnt on solders. I think it might have been sitting in the shop for a while cos there are scratches all over it, but I dont really care as Im sure I will beat it up in the next few months.

The rear brake looks slightly crap but I had a decent brake put on the front so it should be OK.

I keep on leaving the room to admire it in the kitchen, I guess you could say Im pleased.

 

[horton]

it is really really heavy though.
well its heavy compared to my aluminium MTB that I had.

I dont know how easily I will be able to jump it but I guess the weight means it will take a good beating before I break it.
its heavy but it looks so damn strong.

 

[Roasted]

Originally posted by horton
it is really really heavy though.
well its heavy compared to my aluminium MTB that I had.

I dont know how easily I will be able to jump it but I guess the weight means it will take a good beating before I break it.
its heavy but it looks so damn strong.

BMX's are nasty for weight. It is so much more impressive after trying to ride bmx and then seeing the kids in the park whipping the bikes around.

Just wait, after 6 months of throwing that bike around you should find mtbing much easier with those lightweight bikes. I only plaed on a 20" for a week and it improved my bunnyhop on my mtb.

 

[Ir Dan]

That bike is a tank, I loved it when I was DirtJumping on it but I could barely get the thing up a curb. They bike dirt jumps like the best of them, it accelerates a lot once you get it moving. If brakes are an issue for you I would either look into differnt rims or a way to get the black paint of them

 

[horton]

I bought that bike mainly as an alternative to a urban style MTB, transport but also very strong.

I think if I get into BMXs alot then I shall also buy a 20inch.

One thing I love about BMXs is the price. the MTB I wanted to buy cost about 6 times as much as the Haro.

BMX are total bargains.

 

[animal 52]

That bike is a beast, I have one. It's lots of fun and isn't quite as twitchy as a 20''. The weight won't be a problem for bunnyhops, it's all technique. I have the same problem with the brakes though, they suck worse than anything I've ever ridden. Does anyone know of a good way to get more grab out of them? The bike has a nicest sweet spot. If it only had brakes, the manuals could go on and on. I've tried everything I know to do with the brakes, so let me know if you've done something that actually works.

 

[pnj]

ok, your brakes will never work as well as your hydro disks.

but you can get them to be pretty rockin. there is a reason that center pulls and gyro's have been used for so long in the bmx world. they are simple and work well when set up properly.

the downside to brakes that work as well as v-brakes or disks is that you don't need to really work on them and they still work well.

center pulls with a gyro are not the same. there is alot of slop/friction you need to get rid of first.

the following are my suggestion. I've had a gyro on my bike since they came onto the market so I have some experience with them. (bonus points for you if you can tell me what year that was)

1. take your cables off the bike and lube the hell out of them. I like tri-flow but any good cable lube will work. work the cable in and out to make sure the lube gets through the whole cable. don't forget the center cable splitter thing.

2. take your center pulls off the frame but PAY ATTENTION TO HOW THE SPRINGS GO IN. you want to be able to put the springs back in correctly. this is easy to do but not if you don't know how they were before they came out.

3. what you want to do is remove ALL friction by lubing everything. so put a small dab of grease or lube on the brake post. drop the brake arm back onto the post and see if it pivots ok. if it binds you may have to hit the post with some sandpaper or a fine file. a little dab will do ya.

4. If the brake arms pivot easily, put the springs back on and put the allen bolt thing back in the center. don't worry about tightening them up yet.

5. Next is the brake pads. this is the only place we want friction. between the pads and the rims. we achive that by making them as clean as possible. I would take the pads off and clean them w/ glass cleaner or anything else that removes dirt and oil well. you will do the rim also but I usually save that for last.

6. once the pads are clean put them back on the brake arms and adjust them so they touch the rim squarely. this can be a pain in the ass sometimes so take your time. now you can add tension to the brake arms. you need two tools to do this. one is an open end wrench that you twist to add tension and the other is the allen wrench that tightens the spring down.
add a good amount of tension but don't over do it.

7. once the pads are hitting the rim correctly you will want to put your cables back on the bike. you could have put them one earlier, doesn't matter really. focus on the lower cable first. put the ends that go in the gyro into the gyro. then put the other end into the device that will pull the brake arms. You will need to remove the slack from the cable and this can be a pain too. you may need a friend to squeeze the arms so the pads hit the rims.
I'm not going to go into how to tighten the cable into the clamp. just do the opposite of what you did to remove the cable.

8. now add the top cable. there will probably be a bunch of slack in the cables so use the barrel adjusters to remove it.

9. now you want to adjust your gyro so it doesn't slop around when you turn your bars. this is done using the barrel adjusters on the gyro itself. I stand next to my bike with the front wheel in the air and hold the head tube. this way I can adjust the adjusters and spin the bars to see my changes.
You want to get it so if floats evenly on both sides. it should rest on the bottom of the gyro piece(lower gyro part) when the brakes are not being pulled.

that's about it.
if you have any questions let me know.

 

[Jorvik]

I built a few of these bikes when I was working at a shop the past summer. My overall impression was a stout rig for a pretty nice price. As just about everybody mentioned, the brakes are crap. In adjusting them, the springs inside would break. This happened to 4 of the Haros I built, but none of the kiddie bikes with u brakes had this happen to me. This leads me to believe that the brake company sent Haro a bad batch of springs in their brakes. Once the springs were replaced, however, the brake felt pretty good for a low end brake.

If I was going to get a 24" cruiser, this would be it.

 

[Dog Welder]

If worse comes to worse and you still don't get the stopping power you want try this trick I learned from some trials guys, grind your rims with a vertial motion as you go around the rim. This method will stop you cold but will leave you with little to no modulation. Or if you got one of them power grinders with the wire wheel on the left use that instead for a less drastic grind. Currently my brakes work pretty good but if I don't clean my rim every week or so the braking really goes to $hit.

 

[D_D]

Originally posted by pnj

Good advice, I would add,

If your not going to use the gyro take it off and just use a long run of cable in its place, it will make the breaks work better.

Decent cables can make a difference if super cheap ones where used originally as well.

 

[Jorvik]

Originally posted by D_D


If your not going to use the gyro take it off and just use a long run of cable in its place, it will make the breaks work better.

Decent cables can make a difference if super cheap ones where used originally as well.

Couldn't agree more. I'm not a fan of Gyros. The setup and matenence of the added cables is a pain, and in the end if you arn't going for more than a 360 Barspin, you only need a bit more cable routing.

 

[newbiejumper 23]

oh and is it worth putting pegs on a 24inch bike?
Im used to riding MTBs so will I be able to learn to grind on this bike? or do u need a 20inch bike for grinds?

only get this bike if you are going to ride around cause it is madd easy with the 39t crank. this bike is really heavy so i dont recommend using it to learn trick or jumping you will need to get a 20 inch bike. it not worth putting pegs on unless you want to ride ppl around. i highly recommend NOT to get this bike if you are starting to get into bmx. if you want to start BMXing i recommend getting a gt compe it a good beginner bike it durable and cheap so you didnt waste your moey if you try BMX and you dont like it. i hope you find my info useful =)

 

[boostindoubles]

no offense dude but this thread is over three years old. Maybe it'll help someone today though