Submitted by
QWILDER
a Weekend Warrior
from NEW YORK
Date Reviewed: August 4, 2010
Strengths: Light,
Weaknesses: Plastic parts
Bottom Line:
I cannot find parts for this fork.. I bought it used and only one side is working. No websight for it. no parts to buy and make repairs. The whole fork os Jerry rigged and not sure of its life. I am a urban assalt rider and don't do off road till now.
Wish I held back and bought a new up to date fork.
Submitted by
steve
a Weekend Warrior
from santa monica
Date Reviewed: June 29, 2005
Strengths: Maintainance free. Before I got the shock boots, I had to rebuild the shock after every single ride. Once I put the shock boots on and rebuilt it, the shock hasn't given me 1 problem. I've been riding on it every weekend for 3+ years and it's the only thing on the bike that I haven't had to touch. It still slides as smoothly as butter.
Heavy duty. I know I'm not doing the type of riding that it was designed for, but I still take 4 foot drops regularly. I'm 6'2" @ 170lbs and I don't think I've ever felt it bottom out.
Weaknesses: Adjustablity. As far as I can remember, there's not much you can do to adjust this shock. You can put a heavier spring in it if you weigh a lot. Besides that, you can limit the travel to 4" but I can't imagine why you'd want to do that. When this fork came out, it was state of the art; Nowadays, there's better things out there but they cost more. Anyway, it can't be too bad if there's people still making parts for it. Can you think of another fork designed in the 90's that people still make parts for?
Bottom Line:
People can't help but notice this fork. It's huge. Don't pay a lot for one, but if you want to mess around with a fork with 6" of travel that won't give you problems, you can still find them floating around for killer prices.
I'm giving it 5 chilis for value because I can't think of a better way to spend 50-100 on a shock.
Weaknesses: damper belongs on the back door of a hatchback
Bottom Line:
I break stuff, but not this fork, the damper finally died on me and I'm going to a zoki Z1 but this fork took everything i threw at it like a champ, for the price i dont think there is anything that comes close, you can get replacement parts and upgrades from some machine shop that bought the rights to it and i did, I got the disc brake mount that mine didnt come with quickly and it fit well. Not as plush as a zokes or psylo but has very good big hit capability, It's fairly lite for what it is, its cheap and it is virtually indestructable, if you get the new damper for it I think that would eliminate the only weaknes and even up the plushness some.
Submitted by
jose
a Weekend Warrior
from colorado springs, Co, USA
Date Reviewed: November 11, 2003
Strengths: Smooth, light for its size, good travel, beefy lookin, strong, I could go on
Weaknesses: I had a little trouble putting it on my bike. wierd spelling of name
Bottom Line:
I have no complaints. I have read through all the other reviews and am just glad I got a nice friend I just gave him a 20 and my old fork and he even did all the work! For the price I paid I could give anything a good review. very smooth but I don't like any triple crowned foprk because just harder to put on but its ok. If you want to get it get a cool buddy he has given out a 2001 stumpjumper fsr xc pro for $50, bar's, seats' and other stuff for free. And he might hool it up with some hydraulic (not disc) brakes for $5. and no I am not missing zeros
Similar Products Used: OWNED:rockshox judy xc, manitou x vert t, some sr suntour crap. TESTED (on jumps, drops, xc and other stuff): manitou six elite, psylo race and sl, judy tt, marzcocchi bomber.
Bike Setup: Diamond back DBR with all LX and XT components
Submitted by
Mike
a Weekend Warrior
from New Zealand - UK
Date Reviewed: April 22, 2002
Strengths: No hassle fit and ride and forget design. Cheap.
Bottom Line:
I bought these when they first came out - swapped them for a crap Italian road bike that cost me NZ$1200 a year or so earlier. They are the original steel spring 6" version.
I drilled a small hole in the bottom of each axle mount which lets all the water and air out and stops them hydraulicing on big hits - and makes a cool swishing sound. I have replaced the seals and bearings once.
Never have a problem with bottoming and I weigh 100kg. Never get more than about 5 1/2 inches out of them tho.
Did well in a couple of club downhill races but generally just bomb about alot - jumps berms rocks etc.
You probably can buy better but unless you are racing why bother? Compared to other forks you can get at the price (RST etc) there is absolutely no competition.
Strengths: BEEF Lightish for such a big fork strong NO the CROWNS arnt plastic - DUH! easy to service
Weaknesses: Requires constant attention to keep working nice compresion cartridges are crappy Flex
Bottom Line:
SO they arnt a monster frigin T. Big deal. These forks go up and down, cost stuff all these days and are easy as to work on. They are a fork you dont have to worry about, just wack em on and go flog the heck outa them, they can take it. Just dont land sideways as they like to flex a little. When I got mine they had no bushings in one side so I made a set outa juice bottle lids. Sounds dodge, but hey it works and for the money these forks cost I dont give a stuff! Like what else could you get for this kinda money? Some dudies? Stuff off. Find some for cheap, put em on ya hartail and go off I reckon.
BTW. I just found another set on ebay- even cheaper. I'm gunna buy em.. heck why not.
you can't tighten crown bolts enough to hold things straight because everything is made out of plastic and it strips with very little torque
bottoms very easy
not adjustable
Bottom Line:
the fork is cheap in price for a reason. i am not lying when i say that i have more confidence on a z1 than i do with that fork (and that is the z1 dropoff, not even the qr 20). the travel is smooth, but bottoms very easily. any fork that comes with crowns mad of plastic can't be a good thing.
listen most buy this fork b/c it is cheap. if you want 100 dollar forks, get out of downhill. do yourself the favor and spend an extra 300 for a descent used fork, and you ultimately will be saving yourself from a trip to the hospital
Similar Products Used: use monster t, mr. t, shiver, bokker, NONE OF THESE PRODUCTS ARE SIMILAR TO THE ZZYZX THAT IS FOR SURE
Bike Setup: santa cruz super 8
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Nico
a Racer
from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Date Reviewed: August 22, 2001
Strengths: Tough, light, stiff, Nice travel, hude crowns, stanctions (35mm), and air hole that blow cold air in your face (like mtb A/C)
Weaknesses: Twists when i crash or land crooked, hard to put front wheel on (w/ 20mm through axle kit), bottoms too easy
Bottom Line:
This fork is da bomb; I paid 200 bones canadian and I am not complaining. This fork is huge and it works all you need is air holes in the top caps and a through axle to make it ultra stellar freeride action. The cold air action is the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life. It is extra loud on my VPS because of the monoCOCK frame but that just gives it some character. Bottom line this fork is fabutastic buy one if you can!
Strengths: Good travel for the money, easy to overhaul, good fork in general
Weaknesses: a bit sticky in the wet( even with fork boots), not progressive enough( bottoms out too easily)
Bottom Line:
For the record, I am a professional mechanic, and I work on forks all the time. The ZZYZX is great for the money, and works very well. For those who don't already know, the forks were designed and manufactured by Bullet USA, and Hanebrink in hopes of making an affordable DH fork. Hanebrink's was $2400 us when it came out!!! That is the reason that you have to send the zzyzx to hanebrink for parts. Look at the Hanebrink forks, they are basically the same design except for a few small changes. Bullet USA only went out of business because they were not selling enough product to get by, like Raceface does( of which specs bikes with full component lines. Please do not put the fork down because Bullet is not here anymore. Hanebrink designed it IN CONJUNCTION with!!. Remember this, so go b*tch to Hanebrink if you have concerns. Anyways, use fork boots, keep it lubed, and have fun. It's a great fork for the money. Just a word of advice, invest for the 20mm through axle kit. I have it, and the difference is huge!!!
Strengths: Very strong, good looks, nice action, simple, easy to maintain, good begginer dh fork
Weaknesses: a bit too simple for some. a bit of leakage on top and bottom caps
Bottom Line:
nice fork for the money, good action for elastomer sprung. good begginner dh fork as low maintenance and good out of the box action makes it easy to use. good, strong fork. well finished.
Similar Products Used: boxxer 2001, dnm ud180, wb ud180, rst sigma and xxl, manitou xvert carbon,
Bike Setup: wheeler five inches front and back
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Juan M
a Downhiller
from San Diego, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: April 25, 2001
Strengths: Looks, easily maintained, can be completely disassebled in like half an hour, simplicity
Weaknesses: kinda flexy, I have the Freeride with Elastomers, picky
Bottom Line:
I paid prctically nothing for these forks so I don't regret getting these one bit! I had to order disk brake mounts for it (go to ATCracing.com, they own the rights to the fork and have all the new upgrades for it!!!!). They have a whole lotta stiction, but I found that properly torqing the brace bolts helps out some, and of course lube. I've been using Tri-Flow but I think I might switch to something thicker. I plan to drill out a small hole in the bottom of the dropouts for vents, but I'm concerned that I'll get water and dirt in the legs. The fork looks good and makes you feel more confident on those big drops. How can I make these 6 inches???? E-mail at: martinjc@spawar.navy.mil Thanks!
Similar Products Used: Manitou X-Vert T (these really suck!)
Bike Setup: A Shwinn 24in cruiser, 26in front tire, Zzyzx Freeride fork, Hayes Disk, Rynolite front and Sun B.F.R back, THE downhill fender
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Pin Head
a Downhiller
from Seattle, WA
Date Reviewed: March 14, 2001
Strengths: Looks nice, nice and loud, flexes a lot
Weaknesses: It has no weaknesses at all if you use it to ride in a flat parking lot, with no rain or snow or mud. Don't go of curb or you may brake it.
Bottom Line:
That's what you get for buying cheap forks. Go by some $1500 forks, they will break too. Go to Big Bear mountian you will fit in just fine. Meet me in the parking lot, I have some crack for you......
Bike Setup: specialized fsr comp converted to a downhill bike with the mountain speed rear link for 6.2 inches travel and every thing else is downhill parts
