I've been looking at a few frames from 2012/13/14. Seems like a great doitall HT for the money - am I missing something? Keen to hear if anyone owns/has ridden one!
I had the 26" Zen frame - from 2011 I think.
Really loved it, best HT I'd had up to that point. Light, comfy and a great all-rounder. Also a really high quality 6061 frame.
Geometry was spot-on for me - but only once I'd gone up a size to a large (still loads of standover). Watch for that as geometry probably changes year-to-year.
Anyway, for the prices they fetch secondhand I think they're one of the biggest bargains out there.
I've ridden one but not owned one. It was good fun to ride. Liked it a lot but didn't live with it for any amount of time. For what it's worth I have a saracen Kili X full susser which I love. Such a fun bike to ride.
Some people are still a bit snobbish about the name and can't get past it.
I have a 2012 Zen X which I love, although I've upgraded pretty much everything apart from the frame, bars, stem and mechs. Was a good bike before, great bike now.
My experience with the Zen X was part of the reason I've just built up an Ariel 14x as a full-suss alternative. Still planning on riding the Zen as well though.
Just looking at the 2015 model Zen, very nice. Not sure what that Aion fork is comparable to in RockShox/Fox terms. Looks pretty beefy.
They're great bikes. Our hire manager has built one up for himself and rates it. Previous models were a bit expensive, this year's looks much better value for money.
Wow thnks, seems like a few of you. Seem to remember a review saying it's quite tall and compact, does this affect climbing overly?
They used to be very short. You should look at the geometry and buy off that - rather than small, med, large.
Not tall as I'd understand it, BB was low-ish. Loads of standover.