Haro's Shift R Bike Lineup - Across the Pond Beaver

Sep 7, 2020
by Dan Roberts  
2020 Haro Shift R9


Shift R Lineup

For 2020 Haro re-designed their Shift R series with the three-genre encompassing lines all taking on the same frame layout, details and suspension design.

The R9 is aimed at enduro riding and uses 27.5" wheels with 160mm rear travel paired with a 170mm fork. The R7 is aimed more at all-mountain riding and uses either 29" or 27.5" wheels with 140mm of rear travel and a 150mm fork. The R5 is aimed at trail riding and also uses either 29" or 27.5" wheels with 120mm rear travel and either a 120mm or 130mm fork for the 29" and 27.5" wheeled bikes respectively.

2020 Haro Shift R9
2020 Haro Shift R9
2020 Haro Shift R9

The frame layout for the Shift R series might be familiar. The Horst pivot rocker design with a vertical shock is a favourite amongst a lot of brands, and with good reason. With some careful design it can easily produce favourable suspension characteristics while wrapping it all up in a frame arrangement with minimal overlap leading to good stiffness and low weight, while still having room for a water bottle inside the front triangle.

The all aluminum frames use boost hub spacing and Trunnion mount shocks connected to the rocker link via bearings.

Cable routing is all internal, with the cables popping out of the main frame, over the main pivot, and re entering the chainstays.

Haro Shift R9 Geometry
Shift R9 Geometry

Geometry is up to date with pretty generous reach measurements and steps between the sizes to offer coverage for a good range of rider sizes. Sizes are consistent too, with the Shift R9, R7 and R5 all sharing the same reach numbers across the sizes. Head angle is slackest for the R9 at 65°, steepening to 66° on the R7 and then to 69° on the R5. The bottom bracket heights are a little on the high side, with a 15mm drop for the R9, and seat angles are also a touch slack. All bikes come specced with 40mm stems and 170mm crank arm lengths.





Shift R9
2020 Haro Shift R9
Shift R9 Details
• Wheel Size: 27.5"
• 160mm rear travel
• 170mm travel fork
• Sizes: S, M, L, XL
• Price: $3,250 USD
• Available: Early September 2020
haromtb.com

The Shift R9 is the longest travel option in the Shift R line up, sporting 160mm rear travel paired with a 170mm fork. It's available as a 27.5" bike and at the time of writing it's on offer for $3,000 USD and is available through the Haro website with options to pick up in selected stores too.





Shift R7
2020 Haro Shift Shift R7
Shift R7 Details
• Wheel Size: 27.5" & 29"
• 140mm rear travel
• 150mm travel fork
• Sizes: S, M, L, XL
• Price: $2,050 USD
• Available: Early September 2020
haromtb.com

The Shift R7 is available as either a full 27.5" version or a full 29" version, with 140mm rear travel and a 150mm travel fork. The geometry does vary slightly between the 27.5" and 29" versions, but things like the head angle and reach remain the same for both versions.





Shift R5
2020 Haro Shift Shift R5
Shift R5 Details
• Wheel Size: 27.5" & 29"
• 120mm rear travel
• 27.5" - 130mm travel fork, 29" 120mm fork
• Sizes: S, M, L, XL
• Price: $1,750 USD
• Available: Early September 2020
haromtb.com

The Shift R5 is the shortest travel option in the Shift R line, with 120mm of rear travel. Available in a 27.5" or 29" version, the smaller wheels come with a 130mm fork and the bigger wheels with a 120mm fork. Sizing follows the rest of the Shift R line, with consistent reach numbers between all the bikes.



Across the Pond Beaver 2020





Author Info:
dan-roberts avatar

Member since Apr 6, 2019
137 articles

62 Comments
  • 21 1
 Solid looking budget bikes. That top linkage looks super familiar I just can't put my finger on what bike it was on.
  • 14 1
 Marin?
  • 10 4
 does it rhyme with Sreck Tession? Or Gott Scambler
  • 21 0
 It looks like the 2018 Transition Giddy Up.
  • 5 0
 Yeah, I think it’s safe to say they bought someone else’s patent from a couple years ago. Smart merchandising for a budget bike!
  • 3 0
 @Jblack89: Harin. Or Maro?
  • 8 0
 Transition sentinel 2017
  • 5 0
 Ellsworth
  • 6 0
 Torker, Bob loves a Torker
  • 1 0
 Transition sentinel!
  • 3 0
 @Steventux: You're showing your age.
  • 1 0
 @Jblack89: Bingo. The paint jobs are also very similar.
  • 1 0
 Frame looks like a Pitch...?

Paint looks like a Marin...
  • 1 0
 Many other catalog frames.
  • 11 0
 Nice to see more budget bikes popping up! The long seat tubes are a little lame, and I assume the 71° ST angle is a typo, but otherwise the build looks good.

I'm curious why some brands still stick with long seat tubes. GT does the same thing. Are product managers not current on MTB geometry and longer dropper posts? Anything longer than 17" on a large is pretty long these days.
  • 1 0
 Def looks steeper than 71. 71 wohkd be major fail, obviously.
  • 2 0
 71 actual more than likely.
  • 10 0
 No rad edit of Ryan Nyquist shredding one?
  • 7 0
 You don't need to capitalize trunnion, it's not a proper noun nor a trademark or such.
  • 4 0
 Norrrrrrr
  • 7 0
 Looks like a...Marin?
  • 1 0
 literally thought it was!
  • 1 0
 Except it has a more sophisticated suspension design
  • 5 0
 Great to see Haro still kicking around and always good to see more good value out there!
  • 2 0
 Since I originally posted this in a thread that the parent post was downvoted, I’ll include it here: I had the 1990 version of this Haro. I think in many ways it was the heyday of Haro in mountain biking. Tange Prestige steel and cutting edge geometry and bike design for the time. I’m glad to see they are making good looking bikes now for the value market, but they were lust worthy back in the day. They were a little flexy, but in a good way that tracked the trail.
www.vintagesteelrider.com/index.php/2015/05/28/building-my-haro-extreme-1991
  • 2 0
 I don't get the model line up. To get the better suspension, you have to get the most travel. R7 makes the most sense for me but I don't want a recon.
  • 1 0
 Serious question: If they had mounted the shock directly on the down tube and avoided that upward kink in the rocker, wouldnt it be the same suspension kinematic?
  • 5 0
 Probably not. Because the shock's top point is moving forward and downward at the top of its travel, and the rocker point's movement gradually lines up with the shock as the bike goes through its travel, I'd assume that makes it easier to move through the travel up top, and gradually gets firmer as the bike goes deeper into its travel (long way of saying progression). If the rocker wasn't curved in front of the seat tube, and instead followed the angle that's currently behind the seat tube, then the rocker's movement would be more parallel to the shock's movement at the top of the bike's travel, and the sus would probably be less progressive. Without moving the bottom pivot point into the seat tube, and cutting away an area to mount it, you would definitely be changing the kinematics. It's just a question of how much and in what ways. Probably easier for Haro in terms of manufacturing costs and design to create a little bracket for the bottom of the shock and curve the rocker link, than to keep the rocker straight and design a way to mount the shock tucked into the bottom of the seat tube. If they made it the way you're thinking, it would end up looking something like the Element Haste, but that's an extreme example.
  • 3 0
 @PatMAE: Thanks for the explanation. I was just curious because the rocker looks so different than everything else that is currently on the market.
  • 1 0
 a bit too old already ...? R9 has HTa=65* and R5 HTa=69* :O

While new bikes have more like 63.5-64* for bikes like R9, and 65-66* for bikes like R5 ....
  • 2 1
 That rider in the first pic: hie kneecap is sticking out of his kneepads looking like someone wearing a mask with their nose not covered.

pretty useless, right?
  • 1 0
 Yeah my bikes brand isn't as sexy as yours but this extra $2k still in my pocket feels pretty good
  • 1 0
 What kneepads are those? They do look comfy, but the kneecap looks a little exposed.
  • 1 0
 Look like they're knee braces. I had bilateral ACL reconstruction and had to ride with braces like that for a bit.
  • 1 0
 Love the 2000's Haro decals and painting, but now... Ok, times are changing...
I sell my Escape in january, i miss it Frown
  • 3 1
 transition.
  • 3 0
 that's it
  • 1 0
 Looks like a 2018 Strive.
  • 1 0
 I wouldn't necessarily call 3k+ budget.
  • 2 1
 71' seat tube angle should raise some eyebrows.
  • 5 0
 It looks much steeper then 71 degrees
  • 4 0
 Likely 71 degrees actual seat angle. Effective angle will be a bit steeper.
  • 3 0
 Actual STA ≠ Effective STA
  • 1 1
 @Richt2000: according to the graphic, that is the effective angle, actual is not indicated.
  • 2 0
 The r7(edit) frame looks a ton like a gt sensor/force that has had a few aesthetic changes. Idk, I would bet that it's 75-76 degrees.
  • 2 0
 @just6979: Shown in the chart is the actual angle at the top of the S/T (71 deg.). Effective angle is between 76.5 and 76.8 deg., depending on the frame size...
  • 1 0
 @Frisbee123: No. The upper part of angle D in the graphic is a line that goes through the bottom bracket up to the seat clamp, so that's effective seat tube angle. The chart says angle D is 71 degrees. The actual seat tube angle is not described in the graphic. Thus the entire thing says the effective seat tube angle is 71 degrees.
  • 2 0
 @just6979: Yep and that is a mistake between the graphic and the chart. It will be corrected on the 2021 website coming out within 2 weeks. The effective S/T angles will be measured at the horizontal line marking the stack height. Cheers...
  • 1 0
 Wow I’d dig a shift 9. Pretty great spec at that price point.
  • 1 0
 Geometry chart is impossible!
  • 1 0
 Haro is still in business??
I’ll be damned.
  • 1 0
 Dang
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