HARO DOUBLE PEAK TRAIL 27.5 - GLOSS RED

Like the Giant Talon, the Haro Double Peak Trail is a high-end recreational mountain bike.

And here are two reasons why it needs to be on your shortlist:

One: It’s amazing value. The lightweight X6 aluminum frame is paired with great quality Shimano parts and hydraulic disc brakes.

Two: It’s super versatile. It can handle both concrete and unsealed surfaces and it’s great for family rides on rail trails, bike paths or for general fitness.

THE FRAME

It’s called X6 and it’s the lightest frame in Haro’s rangel. It’s actually better than most aluminium frames that we’ve seen at this price point.

The Double Peak also features internal cable routing. This means the cables are fed inside the frame and not zip tied to the outside.

It doesn’t do anything mechanically. But it does make the bike look a lot cleaner and tidier.

For growing riders in their pre-teens and teens, the top bar slopes down rapidly creating more clearance between the rider and the frame.

A low frame creates a lower center of gravity; making bike handling easy.

And lastly, Haro has used a fancy tapered head tube that is enlarged through the lower half. This creates much better frame strength and stiffness than a straight head tube.

THE COMPONENTS

The Double Peak Trail is one of those rare bikes that has a complete Shimano drivetrain.

This is good because it delivers smoother shifting and better compatibility with other components - no corners are cut and no cheap stuff is used.

The Double Peak Trail is equipped with 18 gears; 2 on the front and 9 on the back. Generally, the quality of a mountain bike’s gears are determined by the amount of gears it has - the more the better.

A 9 speed mountain bike sits at the mid-upper end of recreation.

Why this is good:

More gears deliver a smoother gear shift. There’s less ‘space’ between each gear and the chain doesn’t have to ‘jump’ as much to change over to the next gear - resulting in a smoother gear change.

It’s also worth noting that Haro has used a double front crank-set (2 gears) instead of the typical 3 gears. This cuts the gears down by a third and significantly improves efficiency - because there are less unusable and duplicate gears.

A Suntour XCT suspension fork is designed for riding bumpy bike paths, rail trails and easy off road trails.

It’s also fitted with a blue lockout lever.

Use this to turn the suspension on when you’re riding off-road (gravel, dirt and rail trails) and turn it off on sealed surfaces.

Turning the suspension off (or locking it out) makes the suspension stiffer, so all the energy you’re putting into the bike is transferred into forward motion.

Kenda tyres are designed for unsealed surfaces and off-road trails. They’ll be fine riding on concrete but won’t be as easy or fast to roll as a smoother tyre.

But if you find you’re spending lots of time on concrete surfaces, you should consider smoother tyres.

Shimano’s MT200 hydraulic disc brakes are really popular. They are perfect for the recreational rider who wants a low maintenance, fuss free hydraulic option.

The benefits?

Firstly, much smoother braking. The lever effort is minimal and doesn’t need a huge amount of effort from your fingers. This makes them ideal for young riders who don’t have quite the hand strength that adults do.

Secondly, they work properly in all weather conditions - wet or dry.

Thirdly, they deliver better controlled power. This means you can slow down (very quickly) without losing control and traction.