Lennard Zinn; A big guy who builds big bikes.

At one point in time when I was looking to have a custom frame built, I had narrowed it down to two builders, Serotta & Lennard Zinn. At the time, a lot of my fellow racers were riding Serottas so I had a lot of knowledgable people close by for refrence. Zinn was a consideration for me and I talked with Mr. Zinn a number of times over the phone about size and fit. The only problem was that up until that point I had only seen one Zinn up close, and it was a TT bike built for an average sized rider. This was at the National TT event held in Seattle in 94 or 95. The guy was a competitor so I didn't get to see it for too long. In the end I went with Serotta, and they built a fine machine. But I would still consider letting Mr. Zinn build me one next time I'm ready for a new rig.

William
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Big and Tall Custom Frames
The biggest frame builder in existence builds big frames. Makes big sense! At 6'6" Lennard Zinn knows what it takes. Light, strong, stable and comfortable custom road and mountain bikes for people from 6'3" and up.


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If you are over 6'3", our Big and Tall Custom Bike may be the bicycle you have dreamed of but thought could not be found. You are well aware of the difficulties in finding a bicycle to fit you and perform well. I am 6'6" myself and have been building and designing frames for tall riders for over 22 years. Unlike shorter designers, I am able to ride big bikes and evaluate whether they perform to my standards, and I intimately appreciate the compromises in fit and performance that tall riders are traditionally asked to make.

Custom Zinn road and hardtail mountain frames for tall riders are built out of steel or titanium and are designed specifically to address the fit, rigidity, handling and shimmy problem that normally plague the bikes of tall riders. Our full suspension frames go up to XXL (23") and XXXL (25") with 29" wheels for proper positioning and improved handling for tall people with suspension systems designed specifically for big riders.

I am familiar with the shimmy and shake that many tall bicycles get at high speeds or riding with no hands, and I design my bikes to eliminate it. I know how whippy a tall frame can be standing or sprinting, and my designs address that as well. While being stiff, stable, and shimmy free, these frames are also built with the strongest available double-butted tubing-- True Temper OX Gold or Platinum or with oversized high-strength 3A1/2.5V titanium tubing. You get a long-lasting frame with a weight that belies its stiffness, strength and durability.

Big and Tall Custom Bikes are built with oversized tubing and unique frame geometry. The oversized tubing minimizes weight while maximizing stiffness and increasing the resonant frequency of the frame (thus reducing shimmy). The top tube is long enough for proper upper body extension, and by lowering and sloping the top tube we are able to make the bike stiffer, lighter, better. The bottom bracket is raised to accomodate for the crank length you select. The front end geometry provides great stability and minimizes shock transfer into the frame.

On road frames, the seat tube is shortened, and the top tube is lowered to stiffen the main triangle. The head tube on Big and Tall Custom road frames is reinforced and extends 1-1/2" to 3-1/2" above the top tube, making the effective frame size taller than the seat tube length indicates to maintain sufficient handlebar stem height. This design feature increases the rigidity of these tall frames and eliminate high-speed shimmy problems while still allowing the seat and stem to be set as high as needed. By lowering the top tube, the vertical dimension of the frame's front and rear triangles is smaller, resulting in a stiffer frame that will not twist back and forth as easily. We also suggest sloping the top tube to gain even more of the benefits described above. An oversized seatpost (29.8mm on steel big frames and 28.6mm on titanium ones) delivers abundant rigidity with the shorter seat tube.

True Temper makes custom Alpha Q carbon road forks specifically for our Big and Tall road frames. Unlike most carbon forks, which have a steering tube that is around 300mm long, ours is 450mm long! So we can build a bike for a seven-footer and still end up trimming some length off of the fork steerer. Furthermore, the carbon steerer is over twice as thick as the carbon steerers found on other forks, giving it much greater rigidity (a big issue with such a long steerer and a big rider) and strength.

Our mountain frames have sloped top tubes to allow for better clearance and also accept a 29.8mm or 28.6mm seatpost (depending on whether it is a steel or titanium frame), which is better able to handle the long seatpost extension of a tall rider.The head tube accepts 1-1/8" steering tubes and works with standard-length threadless steering tubes from Rock Shox, Manitou, Marzocchi, Fox, and others. As I mentioned on the Custom Mountain Bike page, the 29" wheel option is a good one for tall riders, especially those over 6'6", since the length of the steering tube on a suspension fork no longer is a limiting factor for the handlebar height on a tall rider's bike. The big wheels also roll over obstacles better, increase the bike's stability, and they are in proportion with the tall frame.

We also recommend that tall riders consider purchasing our custom cranks, since a longer crank provides a great leverage advantage and offsets the weight and wind-resistance advantage that small riders have over us. By specifying the crank length at time of frame order, I can make the bottom bracket height appropriate to that crank, so your pedal clearance will be sufficient. Since the bottom foot ends up at the same height above the ground as with a shorter crank and lower bottom bracket, the rider's center of gravity is also the same height above the ground. The frame can also be a bit stiffer and lighter as well, since the seat tube is correspondingly shortened from the bottom up as well.

Our Big and Tall custom frames are built to the same high quality standards as all Zinns. Steel and titanium frames are TIG-welded, or fillet-brazing is an option with steel frames. Steel frames are custom painted and clear coated to your specifications, while this is an option with titanium ones.

To see a variety of frames built with components, please see our bike gallery. You can also see available colors for Zinn Cycles Custom Frames

We also supply Custom Cranks and Ultra-Long-Steerer Carbon Forks.