Bird Zero 29 First Look: Another UK Hardtail Makes its Way To Arizona

Bird Zero 29 is an aluminum hardtail crafted in the UK. Today we take a first look at this beauty and talk about what makes it so unique. It's great to see so many amazing hardtails coming out of the UK these days. Which features are your favorite? What would you upgrade? Do bikes in this price range appeal to you? To order one of these in the US, reach out to thebikebondsman.com. Special thanks to him for sending this Bird in for review.
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[@tobymcnicol922]

Come over and enjoy the mud!

[@readie2sr]

Definitely Surrey hills!

[@martinshortt7750]

Definitely.

[@shaneycarter8803]

Hey Steve, really pleased to see you finally have your hands on a Bird. I have had the pleasure of a couple of frames from them. The Forge is their hard-core steel frame using 853 tubes for the front triangle. Awesome 29 bike frame, in Tuscan paint looks amazing. Currently have one of the Aether 9c carbon suspension frames too. They are a great bunch over there and Dan the main man knows his stuff. Can't wait to here and see your findings 😊 All the very best from Auld Blighty 👍

[@Marshal_6]

My mate has one of these. It rips. Hardtail hooning in Northern England. Get yourself up here!

[@rantingwrench]

Heck yeah, you're always welcome here in the UK! Would be awesome to meet up for a ride. I recommend heading into north Wales (Snowdona area particularly) and down to the Shropshire Hills. The Lake District and Scotland are similarly great but I'm less familiar with them personally.

[@martyd7413]

Peebles in Scotland!

[@adamgalbreath8063]

I have two seasons on my Bird Zero 29 and it shreds. The price point for what you get from Bird, in my opinion is a steal, however the cost for shipping and customs to USA when buying direct from Bird was over $700. I still think it was worth it though cause I'm the only one around with a unique bike that has everything I wanted and tears up the trails. Another note when buying from Bird you have all kinds of options to customize and make the bike yours with the components of your preference.

[@abstraddic0442]

Sweet build Steve. Cant wait to see the ride. Great job !!!

[@ohiomoto]

I like the yellow but the flat black looks pretty cool too.

[@William.N]

Glad you were able to get another UK hardtail! Very interested to see how this frame rides!

[@birkorsini9368]

The yokes are the same as what Schwinn was doing in the 90’s making some very compliant aluminum frames, for that time.

[@shaunroach7829]

Great first look!!! Frame detail is unique can’t wait to see what you think on the ride review!!! Always great seeing hardtails from accross the pond on the channel!!!

[@MichaelWareFitnes]

Yes come to the Uk!

[@ClarkFromBird]

Awesome to see you get one of these in the stand - we can't wait to see what you think of it on the trails! its worth checking out our steel version too, its been super popular in America this year !

[@Ry_Rides]

A UK hardtail party would be ace! Wales or Scotland!

[@notniceprawn]

Very similar to mine! Yellow with a splash of purple. Had it since July and it's excellent! A lot more forgiving than I'd expect for aluminium. I'm in Scotland and got the complete bike with Deore and (being brave) the Formula Selva R fork.

[@ifitrollsrideit530]

Yes! Come to the UK Steve. You'd be very welcome.

[@patrickhamer9040]

Come to the U.K and bike park Wales, it has amazing riding plus I'll stand you a pint

[@chunkyantmtb]

Awesome build mate! Come over to the UK! Gladly take you to some awesome places to take the HT! 👍

[@martinshortt7750]

Ditto - I've got some great trails locally. There is so much riding in a relatively small country - plus there are a few good builder over here as well.

[@JohnSmith-pg7eo]

Ah you’ve got my bike! I love it.

[@TomSmith-fn5nr]

Very nice looking frame

[@HindsightFPV]

Sweet bike! Saw one for the first time on a Phoenix trail a month or 2 ago.

[@kevinballard2544]

This is the new version, but I've the older version of this zero 29 and I love it. The twin down tube cable guides are on mine as well, so it's not a mistake but I don't know why they are there. Mine is powder coat baby blue and has no issues with the paint that you have experienced. My bb is slammed, and the bike is planted and well stable, and is also a dam light bike. Come on over to the UK, enjoy the mud, you will have some smooth skin after for sure!!

[@509bunnyhaven]

what a looker!

[@wesleywermuth9545]

Sweet bike!

[@BikeRodeo]

Yessir. My chesters and Atlas have never failed.

[@pipas6217]

4:37 You know what? You're right. You deserve more than that but for now enjoy a coffee from me!

[@thewanderer5269]

I have same frame built with 140mm Marzocchi Z2 and hope hoops. It’s fun to ride on steep terrains around Glasgow, Scotland although it needs to be tested on various terrain soon.

[@user-lr9wy6wb7n]

Seems pretty nice, i wait for your impressions from the first ride. One thing, i would have build different. At first you showed a pink fork....for the frame i would have taken the pink fork. If wild, then really wild😉

[@josephfarrugia2350]

Whoa what a nice frame, & WHOA there are is a strange geometry variation here & there from the geometry quoted on the Bird's website. Bird quotes the chainstay length at 435mm which should be quite shorter than the rear centre since there's a significant BB drop (right-angled triangulation gives a ballpark figure). Most probably, like many manufacturers do, Bird has equated "rear centre" & "chainstay length", when they're not at all the same. Reach is in the ballpark, Stack seems a bit higher than quoted. Super interested to see how this beast rides; congrats on the first look video; in-depth & interesting as always!

[@desertromper]

That’s a pretty rad shirt

[@mrvapor4791]

Thanks

[@AngusMyles]

Scotland has the best biking in the uk but you may find the weather a shock....

[@jg2wheels]

Still love that shirt! Hope you're doing better health wise! 🤙🏻

[@hallstewart]

Late spring early summer or September. Wales boasts a high density of riding of different styles especially well thought out built trails.

[@Dat6097]

Steve we need a Surly on the channel!

[@syms85]

Get the uk hard tail party set up mate. You’d need a few months over here there’s loads

[@ThunderStruckMTB]

I can only guess the double row of cable bosses on the downtube is for a clamp on FD? I agree it's weird though whatever the reason.

[@Fulltilt1973]

Come to the UK, I'll take you around the Surrey hills, and then we can go to Wales.

[@alexford5214]

Just got into the HT scene, with my 23' Ragley Big Wig. Those wheels you're running have me intrigued. Im at 31.5 lbs with Spank 359/350, CB dropper and Fox Factory 34 140mm. Not bad for a 4130 frame. Do you have the weight of the wheels alone? Couldn't find any data on their website.

[@scottohare7863]

Nearly bought one of these recently… But then the Nukeproof Scout frame went on offer for 250! I had one in large last year and loved it but should have sized up. Just got an XL in that awesome Racing Red and currently building it! Maybe next time Bird…

[@edmundcharles1685]

Bro. Where could you even find a Scout frame? I thought they were all bought till December ((

[@tonyparkin3379]

The south downs in Brighton is great for hills and views. Otherwise Wales is MTB heaven

[@cpm5292]

If you think the Zero 29 is good, try the Forge, it is immense!

[@vtaibossigai9817]

Hey Steve! I'm very interested in this frame. Do you think 2.8 tires on 40i rims will fit???

[@safesclart]

Looks a lot like my Chrush frame

[@chuckhunter77]

Yellow Velo Gang🤘

[@BikeRodeo]

I’ve had too many crank brothers pedals fall apart mid ride. Yes, they warranty them. But mid ride pedal failure is impossible. Back to RaceFace for life!

[@hardtailparty]

To clarify, you're talking about flat pedals, not clipless pedals, correct?

[@BikeRodeo]

Does Diety make an oversized platform pedal? I need a large platform for a size 14 shoe.

[@bjornwijnands7420]

Looks very promissing Steve But i think the seattube angle is a downside on the geo side of things. The low bb height was also a negative one for me.. thats why i bought a paradox v3. Cant wait for your ride review ! Keep them coming 💪🏼

[@hardtailparty]

Paradox has a low bb too. I think people forget to take chainstay length into consideration with seat tube angles.

[@bjornwijnands7420]

@@hardtailparty True but i have very long legs and really need that 175 mil crank for the sustained climbs in belgium and germany.hence bb height is a thing for me

[@1esk192]

I have the Zero AM with 160mm and was able to also try out a Stanton Switchback (steel frame) and I found it stiffer than the Zero. It rides incredible and is super versatile. On shorter trails (anything shorter than 2km) it's so much fun, even/especially on big chunky stuff. Anything longer I'd rather take my Fully.

[@mladenkaranovic3469]

You should get Liteville H3 Germany best brend !!!

[@hardtailparty]

I'm super curious to try their fs bikes.

[@mladenkaranovic3469]

I do own/ride model 301 mk12 full sus and hardtail model H3 MK2...best of both worlds !!!@@hardtailparty

[@spills_n_thrills]

Shropshire is a great county for MTB, and it borders North Wales 👌

[@7hhuman995]

Any way to get a uk frame shipped over here for less than $260? Those chain reaction deals look great until they add the shipping cost.

[@hardtailparty]

Yes, see the video and reach out to the bike bondsman

[@jacobchastain194]

Gotten a chance to ride the transam?

[@hardtailparty]

Yes

[@TomSmith-fn5nr]

​@@hardtailparty👀👀

[@jacobchastain194]

I’m ready to order that thing as soon as I see your review!! Thanks again man

[@jacobchastain194]

@@hardtailparty can’t wait man looking forward to ordering one after I get your blessing haha

[@yohannpitrey4598]

What is it about British hardtails with the slack seat tube angles? Stanton, Cotic, Ragley, Nukeproof and now Bird. All have seat angles in the area of 74 degrees. Are there no steep climbs in the UK? As far as I know there are! And it makes it more difficult to size up. There must be something I'm missing 🤔

[@benediktmerl4510]

I know, right? The slack seat angle was one of my main points of concern about buying a Cotic so far. For an aggressive hardtail (and this Bird is definitely one), the focus should be on steep terrain in my opinion. I think a 76-77 seat angle gives a very balanced and efficient climbing position, and I wouldn't want to go lower than that

[@hardtailparty]

Great question. I wonder if the terrain is so slippery that a steep seat angle would make the rear tire slip more on climbs? Or maybe all the climbs are fire roads and non-technical?

[@benediktmerl4510]

I don't know @@hardtailparty , even on boring fireroad climbs I much prefer a steeper seat tube angle to give me a better position over the bottom bracket

[@VelkePivo]

Doesn’t the angle steepen when the fork sags and the bike pivots on the rear hub?

[@jmmk7609]

Steep seat angles seem to work best on full sus. They have there place on HT that do alot of climbing then descend. But a 76-77 degree STA feels uncomfortable on flat to rolling terrain I have found on some HT bikes.

[@TikeMyson69]

Beautiful welds?

[@hardtailparty]

For aluminum i thought they looked great.

[@TikeMyson69]

@@hardtailparty the BB area looks messy, head tube area looks nice.

[@Strash44]

Where is the Trans Am Review????

[@hardtailparty]

Im glad you're excited for it.

[@dadlife8289]

Not made in the UK

[@ttattx]

1:11 "super intriguing" yoke - that will fill with dirt and and force an extra 20 minutes cleaning. looks cool yes, but dang what a mess

[@hardtailparty]

That shouldn't take more than 5 seconds to clean.

[@ttattx]

well, you've never seen me clean... think Monica - Friends@@hardtailparty

[@thewanderer5269]

Nope mate, I live in Scotland and have same frame, it rarely catches mud but if it does the paint does slips most mud quickly although a one dash of pressure wash is enough to clean bike post ride 😊

[@ClarkFromBird]

We design this forged part for function, it allows us to make this bike pretty rowdy over what we could do with a regular folded tubing part, having done 3 years of 24 hour races on our Z29 in Scottish winters - I can confirm, it really doesn't take much to clean it :-)