Haro Shift Plus I/O 9 Review | 2021 eMTB Shootout

Описание: When our test crew looks back on the 2021 eMTB Shootout it is hard to not think about the Haro Shift Plus i/O 9. This 160mm travel, mullet-equipped eBike is insanely fun, super capable and surprised the hell out of us. Of course, we are all familiar with Haro as a brand, but we are probably not the only ones that think of them as a BMX brand, not a mountain bike brand, and certainly not an eMTB brand. After about 20 minutes on the trail, we realized that we were about to have our biases get checked, hard! We love when that happens. Available in three models, Haro offers the Shift Plus i/O 5, i/O 7 and i/O 9 in prices from $4,599 to $6,199.* A recent price increase across the industry took this bike up from $5,999. While we already had a couple critiques about the perceived value of this bike based on spec alone, the increase is a little bit tough. Although it is an industry wide increase, and we are happy to see Haro’s increase of $200 is less than some others. Regardless of price and value, the performance of this bike stands up with bikes that cost twice as much, and we will get into that soon.

As we mentioned above, this bike has been in our possession quite a while and our Bend, OR testers were lucky enough to arrive in Utah with some solid beta on how this eMTB would perform. When we suggested other riders from SoCal take it out first, there was some suspicion and hesitation at first. Like we were setting them up. It was that much more awesome to see them complete their first lap with huge grins and disbelief at how well it did everything. Simply put, the Haro Shift i/O quickly became one of the bikes that was constantly getting taken out for more rides.

On the climbs we found the Haro Shift to be more than capable and although it was the only bike with the Shimano STEPS E8000, it had no problem keeping up. Yes, we would love if it had an EP8, but quite frankly, we would rather have this bike with E8000 than poorer-performing bikes with EP8. Similarly, the 11-speed drivetrain wasn’t much of an issue for us, but we would have much rather seen a mechanical derailleur instead of the Di2 and save a few bucks off the price tag.

What we really liked about the Haro Shift i/O is that it wasn’t a one-trick pony. While many enduro eMTBs can get you up just fine but live for the downhills, the Shift i/O does not need World Cup downhill tracks to come alive. We’re sure part of that is the suspension tune but think that the 65-degree head tube angle helps keep the bike snappy and fun too. On flatter transfer trails, or mellow bits of trail, we simply Boosted up to 20mph and had a blast popping, gapping and slashing this thing all around the trail.

When it came time to hit the gnarly stuff, ride mini-Rampage lines, charge DH trails and generally attack the Utah rocks as hard and fast as we could, the Haro Shift i/O was equally capable. What is awesome is that even with a mid-tier suspension package, this bike was near the front of the pack and charging hard. Halfway through the week we put a Fox Factory 38 up front, and yes, it rode even better, but the Rhythm 36 did plenty fine and will get you down the trail without a hiccup. You just may need to add a few extra volume reducers.

Check out the full review here:
https://theloamwolf.com/2021/03/19/20...

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