I met the ZOOZ guys at a motorcycle industry trade show a couple months ago. Turns out these guys are old-school BMX nerds just like me. That might explain why their ZOOZ frame looks like the Torker 24-inch cruiser I raced BITD. Anyway, we bonded instantly on that coincidence alone, and I ordered a ZOOZ 750 sight unseen. When it showed up two weeks later (impressive shipping!), I assembled it and charged up the battery for some fun.
While waiting for the juice to hit four green bars on the super intuitive battery tester, I poked around the specs. I worked for some pretty serious BMX brands over the decades—CW, Torker, GT, and Mongoose, to name a couple—so I know recognize high-quality mass production bicycle production and QC when I see it. The ZOOZ frame and fork are massively impressive. Symmetrical bends on the complex double top tubes; a really nice dropout shape on the frame and forks; super-clean TIG welded tube joints; and fantastic chrome finishing. Hell—even the simple four-bend BMX bars were comfortable right out of the box. No janky bends or weird crossbar positioning; good sweep, perfect rise for my 5’9” frame, and a really comfortable back sweep.
The rest of the spec package was equally impressive. I was especially blown away by the hydro disc brakes. Super powerful, no squeak, big rotors, and (thankfully) open-ended lever perch clamps so you can pull the levers without cutting off the grips. I’m a grease monkey kook, so I had to shorten the hydro lines 4” on both sides to clean up the cockpit, and I re-routed and buttoned down the exposed wiring on the cockpit. That being said, none of my OCD tweaks were needed, I just like to get my hands dirty when I work on something to make it mine.
The ZOOZ 750 is a Stage (Level?) 2 drivetrain, which I believe defines any eBIke with a 20mph max speed, pedal assist, AND an electric throttle (either thumb or twist type). After spinning some wrenches and toggling through the easy-to-operate digital dash, I went on my maiden eBIke voyage. After returning to my driveway to fine-tune lever location and straighten the bars on the steer tube, I realized my little shakedown ride was 7.5 miles! WTF? If I rode 7.5 miles on my city bike on the same loop I’d have been gone for an hour. It’s hilly around here, and I’m an old man. My point is, with the ZOOZ pedal assist set on 3 I scooted around town at 16mph… PLENTY fast enough for curb hoppin’ and bumper dodging in the Walmart parking lot. I can’t wait to take the ZOOZ down to the river bed where the tweakers live near my SoCal home. Lots of great trails in that area, and BMX trail kids have built some tabletops and rollers for tweakers to enjoy on their stolen Magna 10-speeds. I’m pretty sure my ZOOZ will eat them up.
To sum it up, my ZOOZ is the most fun you can have without a cell phone and a tub of Vaseline. I’m sold, and so is my wife and 13-year-old kid. I was gonna drag the old lady to New Zealand by cruise ship this December. Now it looks like I’ll be buying three more ZOOZ BIkes.
Thanks guys!
