55tele

I have a Clydesdale Draft ordered from Lennard Zinn....

I took a day trip to Denver from Chicago to get fitted in October

Expecting delivery mid January...

Anyone care to share their experience with Zinn?

55tele

Anyone?

travbikeman

I don't have experience with this brand of bikes. Actually, your posting is the first I've heard of the brand. So of course I googled it to look it up.

The bike you are getting is really nice! It appears to be a very strongly built bike, especially since they are stating it will handle up to a 450lb person.

Hope you don't mind posting pictures of it once you receive it.

400E

I am going to restart this thread as I am considering a Zinn Clydesdale Draft or Team and would be very interested in anyone's experience with either model.

I currently had a 64 cm Surly Disc Trucker which I like, but feel that I need one size bigger.

55tele

I’m the OP…Had my Clydesdale Team ( I upgraded from the Draft after I put the order in) now since early Feb and started riding early March. Have about 250 miles on mine….It’s a 2XL….I’m 6’6” and 285#…

I picked my bike up in Boulder; drove out from Chicago…. mainly just to have something to do….

The concept of the bike is terrific, the longer crank length and frame geometry work well for tall people. You sit more upright, and for me, it’s more comfortable….I feel the bike really fits…they did a great job of fitting me…the stem to saddle length and saddle to pedal dimensions were almost identical to what my Serotta is setup to…..uncanny….

The modern upgrades, I.e., hydraulic disk brakes and the electronic shifting are awesome. My second wheel set exchanges without any adjustments to shifting or brakes whatsoever…

I bought a second set of wheels and put slick / file tread 35s on….excellent ride and not really much if any downside! Has me thinking of putting 35s on the original set…My original wheels have Velocity Aileron rims, the 2nd set have Dyads…

But I’d subtract from the experience because of assembly execution and parts “confusion”….I’ll elaborate…all fairly minor, but not what I expected for a bike topping $6k…

So here’s my ***** list..

1. Scuffed front derailleur wire….remember mine is electronic shifting…replacing would have entailed removing the crank and bottom bracket to replace the wire. Discovered when I got it home. My LBS unplugged the wire and shrink wrapped it…all good…but lack of attention to detail…and pissed me off….

2. Wrong width saddle supplied….got a 14cm wide at delivery. Too narrow..again discovered after initial rides…called them and their own records indicating I should have received a 15cm…..supply issue?….they happily sent the correct width…..I elected to have it overnighted at my expense…

3. This is picky, but the seat post was scratched….I saw this when I picked it up, and decided to roll with it…

4. Front derailleur was mounted way too high….5mm….brought down to 3mm, (which is Shimano’s upper limit recommendation) this helped, but did not eliminate the need to trim the cage out when in the 34t front ring….had to adjust because when in the #6 cog / 19t in the rear, the cage rubbed…the system auto trims when going to the #7….all probably due to the small 34t front ring…all good after electronically adjusting via the Shimano app.

5. Wheels, more specifically, spokes….they advertise using DT butted competition spokes…mine are not…..I know because my rear wheel needed re tensioning after the first about 150 miles and my LBS looked and saw what he thought were a mixture of straight gauge spokes on the drive side and butted on the non drive side…he didn’t know to what tension he should adjust to…So we called Zinn and initially got a lot of nonsense …first response was we just switched to a different brand (Sapim)….Upon closer examination, we discovered the drive side wheels ARE DT butted, but heavier than the non drive side. Then we discovered the non drive side were Wheelsmith. We think the drive side are DT Alpines or Alpine 3’s which is an E bike spoke….BTW , my second set of wheels made and they were exactly the same , so I conclude they are that way by design……ANYWAY, the wheels are fine, but my gripe is that they are not what they advertised….I understand parts substitution because of the pandemic, but they need to let folks know up front…if supply was the reason….

6. One last gripe is that we took off the non drive side crank arm during the wire scuff issue to see if the LBS’s tool would remove the bottom bracket…we have the correct tool if we ever elect to replace the wire. The arm itself labeled torque to 8-10 Nm. Zinn’s information on his own site, instructed to torque to 14Nm. I called him and he partially corrected….he still has 14Nm on the description of the crank but now the assembly instructions are correct….

Am I being picky?…..absolutely……did Zinn communicate with me and help? Yes……

But the experience was not what I expected t when u lay out this much cash….but I am NOW satisfied….If you have the patience to work with them, it’s a great bike….

One last thing….I HATED their labeling / graphics on the frame…..I removed ALL on my frame and used gray scotchbrite to touch up some of the brushed areas that were less than perfect…

55tele

Here’s my Clydesdale Team from Zinn Cycles Boulder, CO

400E

Thanks! That is incredibly helpful info. I've been debating about Draft vs Team and very tempted to go with the Team so it's helpful to hear you like electronic shifting. Happy to hear that frame geometry and crank length are working out well. I an 6'8", 220 lb so probably looking at 3XL. I am looking forward to a more upright riding position as I am putting too much weight on my hands right now.

Sorry to hear about the multiple issues. I too am "picky" and would find these annoying on a $6k bike. But good to hear that Zinn has come through for you, with a lot of patience and persistence on your part!

I also am not enamored with the Clydesdale labeling from what I've seen in the pics on the Zinn website. Good to know it's not too hard to make those go away.

55tele

Yes, the graphics are just vinyl…I will say they were applied well and pretty durable, but curled at edges..I found Goo Gone helped remove….

I had an entire second set sent to me but decided to just go with the bare look…..

Kobe 

That bike's a beast. Sorry to hear about the set up problems but at least you got them worked out and know it's correct now.

55tele

A couple of details / features remembered but forgot to include on this bike….

1. The Clydesdale branded hubs on these wheels are super heavy duty…I looked up a manufacturer in Taiwan called Bitex who I think are the suppliers for these and one of their models B207 (which is a perfect match), shows 4 cartridge bearings in the front hub and SIX in the rear, along with a dual 3 pawl array (6 pawls) in the freehub, which is steel…very strong….probably reason for the 450 # rating…

2. Zinn uses a proprietary aluminum insert in the carbon fork tube. It is epoxy glued into the tube, replacing an expansion plug….I think it is also longer than a conventional expansion plug. Keep in mind how long the steerer tube is on these bikes…..almost as long as the fork blades on the bigger sizes, so this is a great feature to have extra structural confidence in the steerer..…I was warned NOT TO EXCEED 1-2 Nm when adjusting the headset, (also in the instructions) so as to not pull the insert out….I’ve carefully adjusted the headset once so far with no issue….I just barely increased until the play was gone then clamped the stem…

400E

Just checking in to see how you are liking the bike this summer? I am still thinking about ordering a Team. My main hesitation is not being sure how much more comfortable it will be compared to my Surly. I already have knee problems and am a little concerned that the longer cranks may make my knee pain worse, but on the other hand, the greater leverage the longer cranks offer may make things better.

My other concern is uncertainty whether the new bike will help reduce hand discomfort I currently have. I have my handlebars up as high as I can but I'm still leaning over too much for my taste. Zinn's website refers to the Clydesdales having higher steering tubes (as I recall) so easier to get handlebar height right, so probably will be better than what i have now, but sure wish i could test it out before buying what to me is a pretty expensive bike (and one that probably would be hard to sell if it doesn't work out).

Anyway, are you loving yours this hot Midwestern summer?

55tele

Still loving the bike….the electronic shifting is awesome…with the terrain I ride, not much use for the small ring up front though…

I don’t think the longer crank length will be an issue because the saddle to pedal axle distance would be the same…..the bottom bracket height is higher on this frame…I don’t feel any difficulty compared to my Serotta with 175mm cranks. As for your hand discomfort, can’t predict on that, but the position does feel more upright to me and my bars have a pretty shallow drop. I find myself enjoying being in the drops more than the Serotta

So far so good at about 750 miles on it….I have had both sets of wheels re tensioned, just because of my 285# and I’m anal about spokes….

One thing to constantly check is the headset……I had to snug mine up after initial rides and u have to be careful to use the least possible torque to snug up before clamping the stem….the carbon fork has a glued in aluminum insert to support the clamp and the long steerer, but Zinn warned me just snug enough to take the play out….like 1-2 Nm only…can’t do with a torque wrench….overdoing it will pull the insert loose and you’ll be sending the fork back to Zinn….after the adjustment, it has held fine….

400E

Great update and feedback about the geometry of the frame, more upright position, and the caution about the headset.

mstateglfr 

Bike weight isnt everything, but Im curious to hear what this weighs fully built.
Also, what are the top tube holes for?

GhostRider62

I have a custom Zinn made from magnesium. It floats over rough pavement. I originally had 200mm Lightning carbon cranks on it but went back to 177.5 cranks. It is a great bike. He followed up several times post sale to see how I like it. I have nothing really negative and pretty much all positive on the bike.

55tele

Bike weighs 25 pounds in 2XL, which is a 64cm frame....

Holes in the top tube are for brake cable / hydraulic line routing.....not used in this build....rear hydraulic line are routed externally on the down tube for ease of bleeding when necessary...

himespau 

Nice bike.

mstateglfr 

Yeah, the holes looked like they are for internal brake cable routing, but that would be on a rim brake bike and yours is disc. Seems odd to have the ports for a braking style that isnt applicable.

Ive read a lot about Zinn's views on carbon fork steerers- he definitely doesnt leave anything to chance in his design for safety. Really thorough.

55tele

You gotta remember this bike is not totally custom. Zinn brought out these in stock frame sizes for big / tall guys with his geometry, with the long cranks and the heavy duty hubs. From looking at his website, the original "version" of these had mechanical, cable disc brakes and I think the cable was routed internally.....

Anyway...it is what it is....

I like it....