Haro Klunkerson: Long-Term Review & Wrap-Up

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?