I found this Haral on Craigslist in Santa Cruz. Had never heard of the brand before, so looked it up and didn't find much. I did find that it was a French custom bike maker located in the French mountainous area of the Haute Savoie. The red cross insignia on the frame, similar to a Swiss cross, is the symbol of this area of France. It is a 59cm Haral "Chambery" and was made of unique tubing by Gautier-Trousell of Longueville near Paris which was used in the Excell Mexico II series of frames. It has a curved top tube and seat tube which allows for shorter rear chain stays. The strong yet lightweight tubing design made the bike frame stiffer and increased pedal efficiency, and I understand that these frames were popular time trial or Triathalon bikes They usually were built out with a top rated component set. This one has Shimano Dura Ace derailleurs, and a 500 brake set circa late 1980s. Not many of these bikes made it across the Atlantic. I was told that this bike originally belonged to a tall beautiful female professional rider from Wisconsin.
