WE DIG
WE DON’T
ABOUT THE ZINK BIKES VACAY
The Zink Bikes Vacay is a 150mm-travel aluminum bike, which they designed for dirt and air. Many of the numbers are quite typical of a bike in the enduro space, aside from the extremely short rear end. So, although this is a bike with a clear design purpose – to serve freeride legend Cam Zink in his typical freeride mountain bike pursuits – it is more versatile than you might expect.
FRAME AND FEATURES | The Zink Vacay frame has a large geometry adjustment flip chip, which offers a high and low geometry position. A middle geometry position can also be achieved with a replacement insert for this flip chip. With the ZS44/56 headset standard, an external angle-adjust headset can be used to make further tweaks. Riders have the option to run a 150 to 170mm fork, with either a mixed wheel or dual-27.5” wheel setup.
Zink also offers the option to reduce the rear travel of the Vacay to 140mm with a shorter shock stroke. This customization potential lets riders tailor the handling of the Vacay to suit their preferences, going from a short-travel slalom bike to a bike park and freeride crusher.
There’s the option to run cables internally or externally, with bolt-on ports at the side of the head tube. Zink gave the Vacay sufficient insertion depth to slam a 200mm dropper on the size “Regular” tested. The typical standards are used, with a boost 148mm rear axle, SRAM UDH dropout, and threaded bottom bracket.
Perhaps the coolest detail of all, Cam Zink personally signs all of the frames to give them that special touch, following his personal QC.
The Zink Vacay frame weight is claimed at 7.8 lbs / 3.5 kg without a shock. It’s said to be designed for Trail / Enduro / Freeride / Slopestyle, so you can send it with the peace of mind that it’s up to the task. It’s backed with a lifetime warranty, with Zink promising to keep you riding for life.
SUSPENSION | The Zink Bikes Vacay frame uses a Horst Link suspension design, featuring what they call Lift Technology. The Vacay’s design aims to make it very easy to lift the front wheel off the ground, with a large balance point. For less experienced riders, this can make moves like lifting the front end over a log easier, and it helps you to manual. And if you’re Cam Zink or a wannabe, it makes flat drop backflips easier. Sadly, I can’t personally vouch for this, but the theory checks out.
“The basic idea behind Lift is placing the main pivot is close to the bottom bracket as possible; as low as possible and slightly behind, keeping chain-stay length growth to a minimum. With the bike refraining from growing in wheelbase through the travel, it creates the largest balancing point for manuals, which is also the greatest lift point for bunnyhops, popping off jumps and step-downs. Instead of creating a new link linkage design for the sake of being different, I really wanted to utilize FSR, which has the greatest freedom in designing desired kinematics and characteristics, and promote how the bike actually feels and rides. The bike will lift your confidence from simply lifting your front wheel over a log, manualing through rollers, snapping corners, or flat drop flipping.” – Cam Zink
GEOMETRY | The geometry sheet on the Zink Bikes Vacay has a couple of notable figures, but is otherwise fairly typical of a modern trail to enduro mountain bike. There are three sizes on offer – Small, Regular (tested) and Large – covering a recommended rider height range of 5’ (152cm) to over 6’.
The biggest standout figure is undoubtedly the chainstay length, which measures 420mm for Small and Regular, and increases to 426mm on size Large. These are some of the shortest on a full suspension mountain bike that we’ve seen.
The effective seat tube angle is fairly steep at 78.4° on paper, though the slack actual seat tube angle will produce a more rearward seating position at taller saddle heights.
Lastly, the bottom bracket sits deep – especially in the low flip chip position – giving excellent rider integration at the expense of pedal clearance.
BUILD SPECS | The Zink Vacay frame is offered in a choice of four colors as standard for $1690 / £1288 without a shock. The Troy Lee Designs special edition paint job tested adds $200 to this price tag. Zink offers standard component kits beginning at around $4,000 for the complete bike, or his “dream build” spec from around $6,700.
I went for a custom build of my own, heavy on SRAM with their Eagle 90 drivetrain, Motive Ultimate brakes, and the RockShox Reverb AXS 250 dropper post. An SR Suntour TriAir and Durolux 38 Evo combo handled suspension duties. Hunt Enduro Wide V3 wheels were wrapped in a mismatched Continental Kryptotal Enduro Super Soft front and Schwalbe Tacky Chain Super Trail rear tire combination.
The total build weight for the Zink Bikes Vacay came in at 16.2kg. / 35.7lbs, as tested.
THE DIRT
I rotated the Zink Bikes Vacay within my fleet of bikes for the second half of last year and into 2026. I was never expecting this polarizing bike to be my go-to, and its initial freeride-optimized setup made sure of this. However, midway through testing, I played with the setup to bring a well-rounded character, and its versatility shocked me.
SETUP | I ordered the Zink Vacay in a size Regular. At 6’2”, even the Zink crew was surprised and somewhat hesitant, but I pushed for this to really lean in to the character of this bike. I was very pleased by the resulting feel, and though I could have improved stability with the larger size, I ended up really enjoying the Regular Vacay’s character, even in the bike park.
The RockShox Reverb AXS in whopping 250mm drop squeezed into the Vacay frame at the height I required for comfortable pedaling, much to my relief. The frame’s seatpost insertion depth is solid, if not incredible, but I was able to enjoy the correct saddle height for pedaling combined with stellar clearance for the descents.
The SR Suntour suspension impressed, though I admittedly leant in to a more freeride-inspired stiff and slow setup for the majority of testing. When it came time to assess the full-on enduro capabilities of the bike, I modified the setup, seeking more comfort and traction. The SR Suntour units proved to deliver a comfortable and capable handling package in combination with the Zink Vacay’s frame kinematics. The result was surprisingly well-rounded, impressing with the Vacay’s versatility.
CLIMBING | Though it’s never going to win awards for its ability to go uphill, the Zink Bikes Vacay climbed simple uphills without much complaint. It’s not super light by any means, and you’ll want to use the climb switch on the rear shock if you value pedaling efficiency, but the climbing geometry puts you in a solid spot to winch away up a fireroad or mellow singletrack climb.
Once the terrain pitches up, the short rear end can make the front end unsurprisingly light. This was not helped by the high-rise bars or my exceptionally tall saddle height. If you’re looking for a competent technical singletrack climber, you’re probably not looking at the Zink Vacay, anyway. If you do take on some tech uphills, you should expect to spend notable energy managing the front end. Aside from that, there’s nothing to say that you couldn’t make use of the Zink Vacay as a climbable freeride bike. I certainly did.
DESCENDING | Unsurprisingly, the Zink Bikes Vacay is a very rearward-biased bike. The short rear end and Lift platform combine to make lifting the front end extremely easy, as advertised. It was very close in front-end “weight” to my beloved 22” BMX, making for little jibs, popping manuals, and wheelies extremely fun. The Vacay was the first full suspension mountain bike I could spin on comfortably in a bunny hop, and though I never took my riding to the proper freeride space, I could envision it being an incredible tool for the spinning and flipping mountain bikers out there.
I had a trip to Caersws Bike Park on the Zink Vacay, and in the lead-up, I was a little nervous. I wasn’t familiar with the Caersws trails, but I knew there were plentiful technical sections, and recent rain ensured there was going to be considerable mud and slickness. It proved to be a true test of the capabilities of the Vacay, with aggressive riding in less-than-favorable conditions.
I came out the other side smiling and surprised by the comfort the Zink managed to deliver when pushed towards its limits. That’s not to say the Zink Bikes machine would be my choice for pure technical bikepark trail hammering, as its suspension platform leans towards support over bump-eating and the geometry leans towards the agile side. Nevertheless, it still held its own, thanks to the low BB giving solid rider integration. As such, it’ll keep riders happy when mixing it up from the usual flow.
If flow trails and big hits are your thing, it’s unlikely you will ever get bored by the handling of the Zink Bikes Vacay. Between its suspension pop, the ease of pulling into a manual, and the snappy direction changes, the Zink Vacay is a certified riot on groomed trails. The frame felt stiff and stout enough to leave me confident it would stand the test of time for riders getting crazier than I, but that’s not to say it was abusive. It is just suitably built to send it.
Cornering was a mixed bag. On tight successive turns, the Vacay darted side-to-side with ease, and made for a fun time coming out of turns on the back wheel. In fact, I found it very difficult not to be pushed into a manual after hitting a supportive turn, which was fun if a little unnerving at times. It was flatter turns or the fastest bike park turns that would unsettle it, with it feeling easy to lose the weight on the front end, and traction and confidence suffering occasionally as a result. Even so, it was manageable once I learned the balance of the bike, and I felt reasonably comfortable getting the Vacay up to speed.
FINISH AND VALUE | The Zink Bikes Vacay is more utilitarian than sleek and premium feeling. This makes perfect sense to me, given the kind of rider who is likely to find pleasure in its handling characteristics. The option to run internal or external cables is likely to appeal to that subset of rider. It looks a little outdated, but that likely won’t matter for those who subscribe to the performance characteristics that it offers. The Vacay really is the perfect tool to send it and progress aerial maneuvers. The pricing is in line with what you’d expect, too, avoiding a huge premium just because it’s different.
Some minor details on the Zink Vacay are lacking when compared to more established brands. The frame protection is non-existent, so you’ll likely want to fit a chainstay and downtube protector yourself. Some of the hardware is a little cheap feeling, but it held up okay. Lastly, the premium Troy Lee Designs paintwork looked great, but didn’t stand up particularly well to the abuse – I’d recommend adding paint protection to your frame to avoid premature wear.
Minor details aside, the Zink Vacay was put together suitably well and stayed tight and creak-free throughout the test. Taking the shock out, the rear end cycled smoothly, and the pivots proved to be well aligned. I have no concerns for the durability of this frame, and in case you were to suffer an issue, the lifetime warranty will help to give peace of mind.
COMPONENT REPORT
SRAM Motive Ultimate Brakes | The Motive Ultimate brakes suited this bike well. As a machine that wasn’t typically being ridden on the steepest trails at the highest speeds, the feel of the Motive brakes offered plentiful control, and they stayed consistent throughout the test.
SRAM Eagle 90 Drivetrain | Simply excellent. Ran quietly, shifted consistently, and required zero adjustment throughout testing.
Hunt Endurowide V3 Wheelset | The latest Hunt wheels endured all of the abuse I threw at them without the need for attention with a spoke key.
The Wolf’s Last Word
The Zink Bikes Vacay offers something unique and very enjoyable with the right mindset. Delivering on high levels of fun factor to turn any trail into a playground, yet managing to retain enough capability to get riders through more technical terrain, Cam Zink’s idea of the ultimate mountain bike is a certified riot. 
Price: $1,690 Frame Only ($1,890 Troy Lee Special Edition, tested)
Website: zink.bike
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ABOUT THE WOLF
Robert’s habitat is the Tweed Valley, Scotland, which is renowned for its root-littered enduro mountain bike trails. Robert has been developing his bike handling skills for the last 16 years. Since he was a pup, he’s been riding everything from BMX through to enduro and downhill bikes. Combining a playful style with occasional speed-focused aggression, he favors supportive bikes, and does his best to push them hard.
Rank: European Tech Editor
Size: 6’2” / 189cm | 220lbs / 100kg
Social: @robert_johnston
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