zinn...............talk to me, history etc

[longun]

uk zinn please. i remeber them well as cool bike bitd but never really learned their history etc so................................

spill the beans please

all i know is sally rode for them and mbuk, isla rowntrees bikes were ionitially zinn.....dunno, really need educating

ta

 

[Gerard]

"Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance".....something we all need ;-)
Sorry Chris, I know nothing other than they do have a following...nice looking frames the ones I have seen.

 

[danson67]

Brain dump :shock: :

• -Built by Andy Thompson (formerly of Thompson Bicycles of Huddersfield and Orbit) for Whiteburner Products (who were a bike parts distribution company IIRC).
  -Very late 80s until around '94 (?)
  -Confusingly, nothing to do with US framebuilder and cycling author Lennard Zinn.
  -Married to national pursuit champ Maggie Thompson in the 80s, then later partner of Isla Rowntree (cyclo-cross champ, Halfords and Islabikes) until 1997.
  -Reynolds tubing, often 753, built lugless with smooth, but un-filed small fillets.
  -Often feature the Sturmey-Archer cable roller at the seat cluster to a top pull front mech
  -Saw my first one in a little bike shop in Keighthly back in around '91 while I was buying some Pace RC35s.
  -He's not built frames in a couple of decades, but is still a member on here and a few other cycling fora: Featch.
  -Featured in Mint Sauce strips....
  -Now makes some extremely chunky steel furniture with his son in Cradeley Heath.

All the best,

 

[longun]

Re:

Cheers dan, are they relatively small numbered builds then, bespoke or similar to Dave Yates diablo?

Ta

 

[danson67]

I think they were off the shelf-ish...S/M/L sizes and colour choice, perhaps, rather than full bespoke.
That way they could be sold through high end bike shops with a small demo stock, but no need for direct fitting expertise.

They fell into the sort of area that Overbury's left behind when he (Andy Powell) couldn't keep up with demand on his own and started to lag behind the market.

All the best,

 

[longun]

Re:

Cool.....glad I can add one back to the retrobike collection but it won't be fully period.....ish....kinsa haha

 

[Kell]

Love that furniture

 

[danson67]

Yup, proper Birmingham heritage there...with real forged bar and plate joined with hot metal rivets.
Might need to check the floor loading though:


Kind of Zinn colour scheme too.

All the best,

 

[Kell]

Especially as the dining room table can hold 16 tonnes.

 

[xerxes]

Re:

Especially as the dining room table can hold 16 tonnes.

Roughly how many servings of chicken jalfrezi is that?