I’ve written a bunch about my Klunkerson—from the initial review, to the aesthetic mods, to the performance upgrades and more. So, after 18 months of ownership—where does it all leave me?
The Haro Klunkerson is the bike that birthed this blog. I bought one on a whim, but I was equally fascinated by the bike as I was by the total lack of any media coverage or marketing efforts by Haro.
It was like they dropped the bike, shot a quick YouTube video then forgot it even existed.
Which is a shame, because it’s a kickass bike that deserves a place alongside the SBC Klunker as the most popular factory ‘Klunks’ out there. But Haro seems to want to bury it for some reason.
Spec-for-spec, it beats the State Bicycle Co. Klunker in every regard. I detail this in my initial review. However, it should, as it’s about 35% more expensive than the State. So it’s really up to you where you want to put your money. The State may leave some more cash for upgrades, but you’ll likely never install disc brakes, nor will you have a true Chro-Mo frame.
But this isn’t a comparison. This is a wrap-up—what do I think of the Haro Klunkerson, 18 months in?
Well, let’s take a look at where I started:
Above, you’ll see the bone-stock Klunkerson, in April of 2024.
This is my little baddie now. Let’s talk about why I did what I did.
LOOKS
Looks were always a strong point of the Klunkerson. And, of course, subjective. But I wanted to replicate the style of an ’80s BMX. So adding stuff like a pad-set, blue grips with donuts, blue sticky fingers, blue pedals, blue valve caps, blue seat-post clamp, blue chain-tensioners and even a blue lock created that kinda “matchy-matchy” ’80s vibe I was looking for.
PERFORMANCE
One of my initial complaints around the Klunkerson was the tall gear ratio. I had long planned on dropping in a smaller-toothed front sprocket to get closer to a 2:1 ratio. I’m glad I didn’t—and I’ll explain why in a minute.
My second qualm was fit. I’m relatively tall, at 6’2″, and the Klunkerson just barely fit me. The 4.5″ rise on the bars had me hunched and didn’t allow for as much as an extension of the seat-post as I’d have liked.
So the Salt Pro bars with a 9″ rise solved that. I even pushed them a touch forward for that BMX look and the bike fits better than ever. But the real upgrade came from the tires. I had underestimated this.
The stock Kendas are good if you wanna ride dirt, but I never really did. So I switched to an urban assault tire—the classic Maxis Hookworm—and the bike came alive on the blacktop. Wow.
Between the better fit and the smooth roll, this bike is a joy to ride. Truly, I was out for about 12 kilometres on Sunday and I could have doubled it easily. It rolls so well downhill and even climbs OK for a steel single-speed (just enough to get my Garmin active minutes in). I took it down some stairs; did an endo; even popped a wheelie.
It’s finally everything I wanted in a Klunker. It’s a bike that puts a smile on my face every time I look at it; and an ear-to-ear grin when I ride it.
It took a few upgrades—I actually think the stock bars are a miss on Haro’s part, both aesthetically and performance-wise, though if I was 5’7″ I might think differently.
And the gearing is just fine. I just needed to get stronger, and have the right tires for my intended usage. So they got that right after all.
Overall, I give this bike about an 8/10 stock but I made it a 10/10. It’s just a shame Haro doesn’t seem to agree… based on the little effort they seem to put into promoting it.
What do you think? Is this the best Klunker on store shelves?
Or is someone else doing it better?
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Put the 19 rear sprocket on… trust me 😉
For doing wheelies or just hill climbing? Do you find it a little “spinny” when you’re cruising the flats?
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This is to Klunker D. Are you still spinning your head around gearing? The next few rides pay attention to your environment. Try to do your rides when the weather is mostly the average for your area , the wind and the air temp not to mention air pressure. “ why!” Because these little details can affect your ride big time. It looks to me like the area you live gets windy living near the water. Are you always pushing into a head wind the first half of your ride going or returning how strong is it on the average? Is your weather mostly cold then if so you are pushing dense air almost like riding into a head wind when there is no wind at all or like riding up hill when you are just riding the flats. Pay attention to your ears a simple check if there is no wind but the air flowing over your ears sounds like your you’re going 100 mph then you are pushing thick air. Do you have to struggle to keep a simple cruise pace on the flats most of the riding time then hands down go to the lower gearing. Yeh it’s fun to fly and go fast but if you feel like the whole ride is some kind of a climb 🧗♂️ when it’s not that’s not fun. The reason I mentioned that is because not only hills effect your outing but all the above mentioned as well. Most of us do not consider these conditions when it comes to gearing especially pushing thick air. I did not until I started flying helicopters how much these factors effect the energy and fuel mileage. If you don’t consider some of these factors you may run out of fuel sooner than you thought. Are you running out of fuel/ energy on your average rides? Then you probably would be much happier with the lower gearing. If so rather than changing the rear cog this maybe the perfect time to execute a new chain ring more like a beefy lookin silver and black finish as this would tie in the same look or kind of match up with the front and rear disc area’s as they sit on the same plain. That would give this one the finishing touch. No longer made but check out the image of the Odyssey battle gear. Something like that would give your ride that brawler look. A tough look any thing blue down below would give a pimped look however those blue rotor bolts and chain adjusters look tasteful but that’s just my opinion. Christmas is almost here do you think Santa Clause is gonna drop that much needed chainring down the chimney if so please show it off. Happy holidays. Heck it’s more affordable to get the chain ring than than putting mag wheels and wide tires on the mini van. That’s my argument if you have answer to it or the Red Rider BB gun that may shoot your eye out right? Hah,Hah.🤠
One last thing on the Klunkerson vs the SBC as to why it isn’t as popular as the SBC is that the one size fits all is where the SBC has it has it beat and the fork wheel drop out looks a bit more anchored. Then the price it has the Haro beat and now the holidays the SBC is selling for about 378$ for 2025 but let’s hold on a second is the SBC really cheaper? Yes it is if you have tunnel vision. But if you don’t have tunnel vision the Klunkerson pound for pound is a truck load cheaper. The SBC is furnished with a horrible crank where the arms will come loose in one case one crank arm fell off on one my outings. So if you replace the crank with a decent one between the purchase of the bike and the new crank you have spent the same or more on the SBC than the Klunkerson. For me I was just getting started with the SBC to bring things up to speed oh and buy the way the crank on the CAT NIP bike feature on this web site was 540$. Get the big picture now? So Klunker D. You are absolutely right in the Klunkerson is far cheaper than the SBC in the long run. The Klunkerson has a decent crank along with many parts as furnished out the gate where the SBC falls miles behind. A pay now or pay later situation. I priced out the purchase price of the CAT NIP bike and parts and parked it’s sitting at 1,500.$ to get it to be a rival to the Klunkerson. So if you are looking to buy a Klunker bike and are just under 6’ or shorter to anyone it’s much more affordable to get the Haro in the long run. On my four State Klunker bike builds the one I left as a single speed is hovering at a 1,000$ and other two speeds and one three are all running 1,500$. In the end the only reason the Klunkerson is not noticed like the SBC is because the frame is not a 18”. If the the Klunkerson was built on a 18” frame it would have put the SBC in the rear view mirror soon as it was available l’m sure even at the original 700$ something price tag. Hypothetically I’d be honest if the Klunkerson was built on a 18” frame I would probably only change the pedals probably the seat tires when worn probably. Maybe the bars though those bars I like but because of my height that might be the only reason to change them. It’s to bad there is not more of a demand for the Klunker type bikes Haro just might have built this model in the medium size as it sits and a XL like a something 18.5 frame. What do you think?