Haluzak



S

Steve Katona

Guest
I'm reading unsettling things on the net about poor to no warranty service
on Haluzak frames. Also, broken welds and broken seat mounts. "Essentially a
one man shop now." Anything better than hearsay would be appreciated. I
recently ordered a custom bike that is based on a Haluzak frame,
 
Hi Steve.

I have a Haluzak Horizon which I purchaced only after researching as
much as I could about the bike and the company. Yes, it's now
basically a one man show and I had to wait three months b4 my bike was
ready. I was aware that the they were downsizing but was impressed
with their reputation and the one guy I did talk to there (Greg?), left
me w/ the impression that Haluzak will always stand by their product.
The bikes are *very* well made. Broken welds? I suppose it's possible
if you run over th frame w/ a truck. The craftsmanship (IMHO) is
second to none, very robust.
My advice: Rejoice! You've bought one of the best recumbents out
there and you should look forward to many happy miles.

Cheers,
-Leif

Haluzak Horizon
HP Velotechnik Street Machine GT
Lightning Thunderbolt (for sale)
 
Leif wrote:
>
> I think I saw your pics linked to the Haluzak website. Still can't
> believe you carried all that stuff strapped to the back of the seat!


http://www.haluzak.com/gallary/campinghorizon.jpg :)

Notice how I'm carying two weeks worth of clothes, photo equipment,
tools, spare parts, camping gear for two people for two weeks, and on a
dirt trail. And no cracked frame or broken seat mount.

> How was the handling?


No problems. You just have to make sure all the heavy stuff is attached
to the seat, and not leaning any weight on the rack. In my case I would
use a duffle bag (that's the grayish-blue bag on the picture above), and
lots of bunjee cords. Then bunjee the rest of the heavy stuff to the
bag, and attach the lighter ones such as sleeping bags to the rack. I
would hit close to 40mph with the bike loaded up like that with no
problem. Downhill, of course ;)
 
Steve Katona <[email protected]> wrote in
news:BDDA6918.32DF%[email protected]:

> I'm reading unsettling things on the net about poor to no warranty
> service on Haluzak frames. Also, broken welds and broken seat mounts.
> "Essentially a one man shop now." Anything better than hearsay would
> be appreciated. I recently ordered a custom bike that is based on a
> Haluzak frame,
>


I have just under four years and about 7,000 miles on my Haluzak
Hybrid Race. It has been the best built bike I've ever owned.
I commute in Silicon Valley on pot holed city streets and bike
paths and the only problem I've experienced was self-induced.
I had the bike on top of my car and drove into an underground
garage. The bike seat hit the overhead and ripped the bike out
of the roof rack. Broke the Yakima roof rack tray, broke the
Subaru factory roof rack, bent the front fork. Didn't even
crack the seat support welds! It took more than a month to
get a replacement fork, because it had to wait for a batch
of frames to be ready for power coating.

Greg, who runs the place is knowledgable, has great integrity,
and will fix anything that you manage to break. Yes, it might
take a while. Yes, it's a one-man shop, but what difference
does that really make. They aren't particularly net savvy, so
don't expect an answer to an email. If you've got an issue,
call them.

I'd buy another Haluzak tomorrow.

My $0.02 worth.

<Chas>
Haluzak Hybrid Race -- the inline wheelchair
 
Hi there!
I work with Bill, fielding his customer support emails, and felt
compelled to respond to this post. Greg, his trusty jack-of-all-trades,
is now working at a custom hotrod shop in Half Moon Bay so operations
have been scaled back accordingly. Bill's now a one-man operation in
terms of fabricating and design, but he is also honoring all warranty
work and is still fabricating bikes and trikes as the demand dictates.
My husband is in the process of updating Bill's website to reflect the
changes. As far as the quality of Bill's work, you can see the happy
customers who've posted their laudatory comments (thanks, happy
customers!) and can vouch for the unique design and excellent quality
of Bill's product. Hope this helps clear up any questions or concerns.
Thanks for the opportunity to respond!
Paula
 
Steve Katona wrote:
> I'm reading unsettling things on the net about poor to no warranty

service
> on Haluzak frames. Also, broken welds and broken seat mounts.

"Essentially a
> one man shop now." Anything better than hearsay would be appreciated.

I
> recently ordered a custom bike that is based on a Haluzak frame,


I have read a couple of threads posted on www.bikeforums.net under the
recumbent title dated Nov. 16/04, title "Trouble with Haluzak".

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=55693 - I was interested in
purchasing the Haluzak Hybrid and was on my way to Carmel, Indiana, to
check one out but after reading these posts I opted for a HP
Velotechnik Street Machine GT. I don't know if these were the same
posts that you read but it caused me to think. I did not want to spend
$2000 plus for a one-man show if something happened to the bike. The
owner of Valley Bikes in Carmel, Indiana, told me he was warranting out
a broken Haluzak frame for a customer when I spoke with him on
Saturday, Nov. 13. When I read those posts on Monday it really caused
me great concern.
 
Dr. Duk wrote:
> Steve Katona wrote:
>
>>I'm reading unsettling things on the net about poor to no warranty

>
> service
>
>>on Haluzak frames. Also, broken welds and broken seat mounts.

>
> "Essentially a
>
>>one man shop now." Anything better than hearsay would be appreciated.

>
> I
>
>>recently ordered a custom bike that is based on a Haluzak frame,

>
>
> I have read a couple of threads posted on www.bikeforums.net under the
> recumbent title dated Nov. 16/04, title "Trouble with Haluzak".
>
> http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=55693 - I was interested in
> purchasing the Haluzak Hybrid and was on my way to Carmel, Indiana, to
> check one out but after reading these posts I opted for a HP
> Velotechnik Street Machine GT. I don't know if these were the same
> posts that you read but it caused me to think. I did not want to spend
> $2000 plus for a one-man show if something happened to the bike. The
> owner of Valley Bikes in Carmel, Indiana, told me he was warranting out
> a broken Haluzak frame for a customer when I spoke with him on
> Saturday, Nov. 13. When I read those posts on Monday it really caused
> me great concern.
>

Anyone with a broken Haluzak frame didn't breake it riding it. Something
else happened....it was run over by large truck or some other
catastrophy. A few years ago I had an explosive decompression on the
front wheel while speeding down a hill. The bar ends suffered a little
from the sliding on fortunately smooth pavement, even the seat helpped
protect my rear end. The tire was the only thing that suffered. Haluzaks
are well constructed bikes. The components may fail but that isn't
Haluzaks fault. I had an Alan aluminum upright which developed a head
tube fracture. It went back to the factory with two others with
fractures in other locations. Noone has heard anything even after much
pursuing by the reputable l.b.s. This was a couple years prior to my
Haluzak. Point is; Haluzak builds a good bike and stands behind his
product. However I am now riding a dual 700 T-Bone and the Haluzak is on
the TACX trainer.