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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4 comments:

  1. Loving my zippo even more now! Ty

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  2. My 97 Zippo has a slot cut in the fork steerer tube like the keyway slot on 1" threaded forks. Also the factory Fusion stem won't fit over standard 1 1/8" forks. Yet the Oryg cable stop that sits under the top bearing cup has 1 1/8 printed on it? Were the early Zippos a 1" threadless fork or am I just going mad. PS. this is the model with the side clamping stem and the Araya/Mega hub wheels...

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  3. Need some help finding some parts to match the frame I have. My brother had given me his bike that he bought at his first job so so long ago. I'm currently in need of a newer seat the same style, chain, front n back wheels n pegs. Anyone have any suggestions?

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