Sunday, April 12, 2015

HARO ZIPPO - conFUSION and Disinformation


I've read a lot of things about Haro Zippos...from people, from bike spec sites and from Haro themselves. Turns out a lot of it isn't true. Some facts that might make you dig your Zippo a little more.
Spec sites claim Zippos are Chromoly main triangle with hi-ten rear stays. Impossible. The twin top tube design turns into the seat stay...making it 4130 chromo...just like the sticker on the seat tube says. I really don't believe the Zippo frame has a piece of hi-ten on it. If someone can prove they tried to save money by using hi-ten chainstays, I'm all ears. It just seems ridiculous that they would cut corners for two pieces of steel. When you think about it, it almost seems like more of a production hassle.


My '99 Zippo has fork stickers that state, "hi-ten straight shooter fork"..but when I disassembled my bike earlier this morning, I came across "98 04" and "cr-mo"..Haro possibly ran out of hi-ten forks and started using straight shooters from another model..but the forks are chromoly. Either way, I switched to a Haro fork with 990 mounts...but if your considering switching to a chromoly fork, check your forks first. Pics to boot.

The fork is isn't too heavy for a mid-school, beefy ass fork. 2 LBS 11.4 OZ. ...Light forks being advertised these days range from 32 OZ. (2 LB) to 34 OZ. For as big as this fork is with it's mega-dropouts, it still only has 6-8 more meat on it than "light" forks. If you watch your other parts, it isn't an issue at all. If someone has another hi-ten Straight shooter fork and has a digital scale, it would be cool if you could weigh it to compare a fork not stamped cr-mo with an actual hi-ten fork.
left
April 1998 - 4130 Chromoly
Lots of bike spec sites claim the Zippo came with Araya HP-7X or Araya 707x wheels. I have yet to see one. Only the 97 models came with Araya wheels. The 98/ 99 Zippo came with Haro RC3 48 hole wheels with either standard hubs or Haro Fat / Mega hubs. It's possible that Araya wheels were the intended wheels when the spec sheets were made and this changed during actual production. It's also possible that this information was inaccurately typed into a database and then circulated from there. Either way, Haro RC3 wheels were the 48 spoke wheels that came on both the 1999 Zippo and 98/99 Revo twin top tube bikes.
Wrong.


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Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Haro - Midschool Zippo and Revo Differences



Last October, I picked up a '99 Haro Zippo and a '98 Revo...both from Cleveland. Before I sold the Revo, I went through both bikes and noted every difference possible for academic and educational purposes.

HARO ZIPPO / REVO / ULTRA SERIAL NUMBERS AND DIFFERENCES

ZIPPO – ZI-L9D2676 (blue) 1999
REVO - KH8B1281 (red) 1998

Both have Haro logo cut out (the one between top tubes)
Revo has brake guide under top tube.
Zippo has 990 mounts and cable guides on downtube.
Zippo is 4130 Chromoly
Revo is HiTen
Zippo Has sharp angles on twin top tube.
Zippo rear dropouts are different than Revo.  Zippo has rounded / teardrop bottom that follows a peg.
Revo dropouts are less obvious and more conservative. Sharp angles below chain stays.
Emblem behind bottom bracket is welded on top of the chainstays on the Revo and in the middle of the chainstays on the Zippo.
Revo has two moisture holes on the twin top tubes directly behind the head tube.

1999 ZIPPO

4130 Chromoly.
Haro logo is cut out between top tubes.
Has 990 mounts on chainstays.
Brake cable guides on downtube.
Haro emblem between chainstays sits in the middle of chain stay tubes rather than welded on top.
Twin top tube bends are sharper than Revo.
Rear dropouts have rounded teardrop on bottom end.

1998 REVO

1024 Steel
Brake cable guide on top tube
No 990 mounts.
Haro logo is cut out between top tubes.
top tube bends are smoother on Revo. Zippo bends are sharper.