We just received this great email from a Customer who has a Zinn Titanium Road bike and a Zinn Titanium Fat BIke.
January 4, 2015
Happy New Year Lennard,
Back in 2011 I decided to invest in what I hoped would be a road bike that properly fit me and solved all my riding problems. I was 48 years old, 6’ 7” tall, and weighed 240 pounds back in 2011 and I was frustrated with my bikes. Prior to working with you on my Zinn Travel titanium road bike I had gone through three off-the-shelf road bikes and two steel customs. Riding was a painful experience where I could not handle more than 25 miles. Around mile eight I would start to get left ulnar nerve issues and my left arm would go numb. This was solved by having to constantly shake my arms to get back feeling, if not I would loose grip on the bars. Furthermore, I was always dealing with saddle sores that would not go away and back discomfort. I have spent hundreds of dollars trying to find the right saddle and stem combination without any real success. My last custom steel bike did help, but I still could not go beyond 25 miles. I ride to keep in shape, as I cannot run due to knees that are suffering from years of playing ice hockey. During a visit with my doctor, who happens to be a past alpine skiing Olympian and avid cyclist, he told me to check out your site and invest in a bike that will be designed by someone that understands the needs of tall riders. I knew of you due to owning your bike repair books, but I had no idea you designed custom bikes.
During my initial review of the Zinn website I first looked at mountain bikes as I was working halftime in France and thought this would be the ideal set up. I found it less painful to ride mountain bikes and had some success with off-the-shelf MB’s. I will admit the prices for a Zinn custom bike scared me as it was a big investment and my small history with custom bikes was not good. My first experience with your company was with Nick. He was great in talking to me about all the options, components, how the customization process works, what to expect, etc. He definitely gave me confidence in moving forward with Zinn. I did up my measurements as outlined on your website, made my down payment, and within a couple of weeks I received a CAD drawing of the proposed MB. I then got the chance to talk with you about the bike, all my past riding issues, and get your insight on what would work best for me. It was through that conversation that made me decide to change to a travel road bike. I appreciate you having no issues with me changing bikes and it turned out to be a very good decision.
When I received the CAD drawing of the bike I just could not believe it would fit in a suitcase, I was skeptical that it would solve my riding issues, and I doubted myself for making such a large investment in something discussed over the phone. It was very helpful talking with Nick about components and I went with his recommendations. Being a scientist I found the whole concept of longer cranks intriguing (215mm), it made sense, and was looking forward to riding them. What most excited me about the travel concept was being able to easily take my bike over to France and ride while I did my 2-3 week rotations. After what seemed a year (actually about 9 weeks) the bike showed up in a suitcase and I was stunned that my ride was in that gray box. My first recommendation to any travel bike owner: take photos or a cell phone video as you unpack the bike! In my excitement to assemble the bike I just pulled out everything without even thinking that someday I would want to put it back in the suitcase. I am too embarrassed to tell you how long it took to figure out the “puzzle”, but I now have it well documented and within 45 minutes I can take the bike apart and put it in the suitcase.
After a couple of hours, taking my time to study all the details of the bike, I had it assembled and ready to hit the road. It is easy to remember…
