Calling on all UZZI owners, past and present - I need your feedback!

Hi all,

It's been a long time since I've posted on the board, but I need some testimonies before I decide whether to buy this bike or not! I have the opportunity to take a '10 Uzzi VP with: totem coil, DHX 4.0, elixir 9 carbon, holzfeller OCT cranks (no CG), XO rear d, x9 shifters, 521 rims w/ 12mm formula, boo bar. I've looked at it in person, and it has literally been used less than 10 times. everything is mint. $2500 is the lowest he will go; he already has a non-local offer for that.

I love the design, the suspension feels great, and it's the exact type of bike I'm looking for. I have serious concerns about the issues with rear triangle flex, pivot wear, and loosening pivot bolts. When I grabbed the wheel and jerked it laterally, the whole triangle moved with relative ease and I could see the flexure at the upper pivots. My current bike has a rock solid rear end, so I haven't ever ridden a bike with lateral flex in the rear, I don't know what to expect!

I understand that the bike's behaviour while riding shouldn't be judged by what happens when you yank at it with your hands, but I can't help but wonder if this frame is tough enough to endure years of North Shore and Whistler punishment without spending hundreds on linkage repairs or having sketchy rides due to flex. Hence why I'm asking you local Uzzi owners if it is indeed a bomber do-everything bike that can handle our unforgiving trails, or more suited to the gentle landscape of California?

Here is some info about myself…

Weight: 143 lbs naked

Experience: Most of my life (I'm 20)

Riding style: Aggressive. Fromme, Seymour, Whistler park and valley trails. Black/double black. I push my limits with speed/corners. Usually pretty smooth. I am often passing guys on big DH bikes in the park. I still like to ride tech XC trails to get to the DH/FR trails though, and want only one bike. I want to continue riding techier stuff. Jumping only in the park, not my top priority but still love it.

My current bike: 05 Coiler Deelux - 66 VF, D729's w/ Hadleys (12mm Ti axle in rear), holzfeller cranks w/ big ugly e-thirteen, short stem w/ 30" Atlas low rise bars. Basically I just disregarded the fact it's an AM bike and ride it everywhere. It's held up to my abuse since 06 with the exception of trashed AM wheels and dereilleurs.

I would most likely swap wheels with my current bike, so not concerned about the value of the wheels on the Uzzi. The only other bike I would seriously consider at this point is the Delirium, but I haven't seen any deals close to this, considering how little it's been ridden.

Ladies and gents, I would truly appreciate your 2 cents on this pending decision! Please share any good/bad experiences with this bike. Thanks in advance!

As a rider of a socom (similar pivots) I can say if you
-clean out the pivots well
-lube em up
-locktite the threads
You should be good to go thrash about. Sometimes the lower pivots come loose on me but the fix is an alen key away and I don't always follow my own advice.

I do however find the bearings to not be super long lasting, once every season or two a few may need to be swapped.

If you really like the Delirium, and you're big enough for an XL, there is one on the board for a steal of a deal right now.

I've also got a Socom (and I'm a fatass, ~220 lbs geared up), and have never had issues with the pivots or anything. I don't notice the rear flex at all when I'm riding it, even though you can pretty easily deflect the wheel when it's stationary by yanking it side to side.

Where Kevin_m31 says you need to maintain bearings regularly, I'm still on the original set ( it's a 2008 ) and they are running smooth and free. I also ride mostly in the interior of BC and Alberta, so much drier conditions than at the coast. I do try to make it out to Whistler [HTML_REMOVED] the Shore a couple times a season though. I don't know if my pivot bolts have been loc-tited from the factory or not, but they have never loosened either. I'm also pretty meticulous with my maintenance, so if there were any issues with bearings/pivots I would have them sorted out right away.

It's also a great jumper… once you get used to the way the VPP suspension seems to push you through things instead of getting hung up on square bumps etc you can really use it to your advantage to get a lot of pop of lips and stuff.

I would say that someone of your size would have no issues at all with the bike. I'm big and I ride hard and fast and it's been great all around for me.

I have an 09 Uzzi, it's been very good to me. I weigh about 215 and while I can notice the flex when I grab the rear wheel I can't say that I notice anything when I'm riding. That being said I from your description of riding style, you ride a lot harder than I do. I like that it can be built light and the geometry can adjust to pretty much whatever you want. My present build has a Dorado on it, still in the 34lb range. Plan on changing the lower pivot bearings once a year. My pivot bolts have never come loose.

But my gut feeling is I'd be tempted to push you towards something a bit burlier.

I have an 2011 Uzzi built up on the burlier side… Marz 888, CC DB Air, slack 64 degree HA… weighs in the 35 pound range still… I am 220ish all geared up. I have been running it in the bike park and local DH trails in the Kootenays with no issues. And my buddies ride full on DH bikes and I have no problems keeping up.

As for wheel flex I would recommend converting to the 142mm G3 dropouts to stiffen things up, or 150mm is an option as well. My bearings are still smooth after a year and never had an issue with a bolt loosening.

I had a 2010 Uzzi (Large). I ended up making the switch to a couple of Knollys.

I had the Uzzi built up quite heavy, had a totem, hammershcmidt, DH wheels..etc. It was not the easiest thing in the world to pedal. The Knolly Chilcotin pedals way better, but it's not really a fair comparison as the bikes are in 2 different classes.

When the Uzzi was mechanically sound I enjoyed it, it will definitely take anything you can throw at it, from fast tech sections, to jumps and drops. But the big reason I switched is because I was forever tightening pivot and shoulder bolts. I couldn't get them to stay tight, even with loctite. With the rear of the Uzzi being super flexy, when the bolts start to come loose it feels like your rear end is sliding around all over the place. I believe they actually upgraded the rear triangle on the 2011 version because the 2010 was so flexy.

The Knollys I own are both way stiffer, and up to now the frames don't require much maintenance at all.

If you have any more specific questions about my experience, fire away.

I've had my 2010 Uzzi for a couple of years. Originally built it up light (36 Van, Vivid Air, reverb, single 32 tooth ring) and it came in around 31lb's. I used it as my one and only bike around Squamish, it climbed everything my legs could handle (loads of grip) and bombed the downs.

A little too much bike for Squamish really so I picked up a lighter bike for day to day stuff, and now have the Uzzi with 888's for Whistler, the Shore and shuttling.

Love the bike in both incarnations, low BB, great stand over and just really really fun. I'm around 185 ready to ride and never noticed the flex when riding. Loctited the pivot bolts and checked them once in a while but never had major issues. Bearings lasted about a year which seems to be standard for most of my bikes. If your worried about the flex maybe stick a 12mm axle on the back.

For a pedalable, lightish but still fairly burly one bike quiver I'd highly recommend it. Haven't tried a Delirium, but the Uzzi is definitely way more DH orientated than the Nomads a lot of my buddies ride around here.

I have a 2010 with lots of heavy bits on it. I put a 12mm axle on the back and have not noticed any flex while riding. I've had one shoulder bolt come loose, but it's been fine since. No bearing issues, but I grease them regularly.
It goes everywhere and climbs like a cat too, which is a bit of a revelation to me as I had a single pivot bike before. piles of fun. Done two years on it so far and have not had the itch to replace it, so that's saying something!

One sticking point is there are not many chainguides that will work well with the frame, due to the lower linkage. I have dual chainrings and gave up on trying to find one that didn't require modification.

wow, wasn't expecting such fast responses! thanks to all for your input. I don't mind changing bearings once in a while or tightening pivots and seems the general consensus is the flex doesn't affect riding at least for a light guy like me, which is what I was hoping. how much does a set of bearings cost?

wow, wasn't expecting such fast responses! thanks to all for your input. I don't mind changing bearings once in a while or tightening pivots and seems the general consensus is the flex doesn't affect riding at least for a light guy like me, which is what I was hoping. how much does a set of bearings cost?

You can get a bearing kit from a few sources like Fanatik online or SST cycles on Ebay for about $30 or so.. LBS will probably be a bit more.

Make sure you check the rear end for cracks, where it connects to the lower link. A friend of mine had his rear end almost rip completely off at Sun Peaks a couple weeks ago, second rear end he went through. He was an intense fan boy until now, and he will never buy one again.

One sticking point is there are not many chainguides that will work well with the frame, due to the lower linkage. I have dual chainrings and gave up on trying to find one that didn't require modification.

Haven't run a dual front setup for a while so had forgotten the fun with that. If you use a stinger and replace the pulley wheel bolt with a countersunk one then it fits (just) up beside the lower link. For single ring I've been using a MRP.

Make sure you check the rear end for cracks, where it connects to the lower link. A friend of mine had his rear end almost rip completely off at Sun Peaks a couple weeks ago, second rear end he went through. He was an intense fan boy until now, and he will never buy one again.

I know this was a huge problem with the first-issued 2010 frames, back in late 09/early '10. Intense made a design revision by thickening that part where the chainstay meets the lower link, and I haven't heard of any more cracking issues since the new triangle was released. I asked this guy and he confirmed it has the new triangle. Do you happen to know if your friend's bike had the revised triangle, or when it was bought?