Customer Reviews

Zipfy Freestyle Mini Luge Snow Sled

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I bought 2 Zipy's for each of my boys (11 and 13). Brought them out to the local sledding hill to try them out. I couldn't resist, I had to try them for myself. They were alot of fun. Just about as fast or faster than anything on the hill, and was a huge hit, everyone wanted to try them, and were runnning home to tell dad they wanted one. Still, I felt the need for more. I want to go down those ski slopes like they show in the videos at zipfy.com, because the fun is in the handling with more speed. I'll be calling the local ski mountains here in Western Massachusetts to see if anyone allows any sledding. If anyone knows of any, let me know. Happy sledding!!

I bought one to replace yet another blown snowtube. It is a blast! I agree with other reviewers that it would be easier with a tow rope and a grippier seat (I was in deeper snow) but I screamed with laughter all the way down the hill. I blew away my Godson on his sled. I'm 46 but yesterday I was 10 years old again. For the price it is lightening fast light weight and super-fun.

My wife saw this and ordered it for my son, a six year old. It's odd shape makes you keep turning it backwards, until you get used to it's strange look. As for performance, on a steep hill, as shown in those STEEP SKI SLOPE videos, I'm sure it would do well... BUT, on average at-home country sledding slopes (we have a decent one) it under-performs when compared to our normal sleds.

We have a fresh, day old, 6" granular (slightly heavier than powder) snow cover. When my son got on it the thing just sat there. We had to make a few slick sled tracks with our other sled FIRST before this thing would even move at all. And even then, because of its very short length and only two "tracks" on its belly side, the thing would not hold true to the tracks we made. It kept going left or right. It does not track straight.

My son easily mastered the body-tilt steering needed to control the thing, but again, because of its short length, over-steering is a problem.

The worst thing about it... even after developing a slick run which our other sled performed fast slides with, this thing would just sit there with my son's 55 pounds on it. I had to push to get him started on EVERY run. Ridiculous. Oh... and because you have to keep both hands on that "joystick" to keep yourself on the darned thing (the "seat" is sloped down at the back and slick when wet!) it's impossible to use your hands for a starting push. Oh yea... and my son found it very hard to carry... especially by the joystick (easier for my bigger hands).

Now... as for as my bigger butt--I'm a short, overweight man... pretty average for the U.S., I suppose. When I tried it I kept sliding off the back before I could get started--pulling back on the joystick just to keep from sliding off! I had to use my heels to pull me forward to get going. Very awkward. A sort of dorky rocking motion. Again, on a very steep slope, and with a dry butt (I had been already sledding with the other sled), maybe an adult could stay on it because the seat's angle would be forced downward to almost flat and level. The designers didn't shape this for a human butt.

We'll save this thing for when we go on an outing to a very steep hill in a park nearby, maybe then it might slide by itself with a steeper downhill angle.

I really think this is a good idea gone bad. They need a redesign with a longer bed (twice the length) and more tracking ridges on its belly (for straighter tracking). The redesign should include a longer seat with a flared up tail (a rear spoiler shape comes to mind) to help keep your butt on the darned thing. A long enough nose to tuck your heels onto wouldn't be bad either.

Back to the drawing board... or take it with you to the ski slopes (and watch it stall on the kiddie slopes).

Good luck finding a sled that's a better value than this one! I took this sled out three times on entirely different hills before writing a review, just to make sure I had a good enough idea of how it works. The first hill was a crowded, small, crooked slope. The sled went about as well as most sleds out there, and I mastered the art of jumping straight up onto the ground mid-run to avoid mowing over some other sledders (handy skill and fun enough!) The next hill was of moderate length, and a bit steep. It was a hill I'd been on a million times with dozens of different sleds, but going down it with the Zipfy was an entirely new experience! Rather than trying to steer tight turns, I could point the sled in any direction and go down that route, all different diagonal directions. I tried it on a regular sled and it would only go straight down; no fun, long, diagonal runs. I threw the spare sleds aside and spent the whole day on the Zipfy! The next sledding trip was to a pair of hills in the cleft of a mountain (I live in Colorado.) Going down on this sled was the wildest, most intense sledding run I've ever had! I was usually going so fast I was focused on holding on rather than pulling fancy turns or anything like that. I actually launched so fast through drifts of powder while screaming that when I finally stopped, I had a mouthful of snow! It was the adrenaline rush of my life! The other sleds we brought were no comparison to this one! I didn't mind carrying it the mile or so up from the parking lot, nor did I mind carrying it up the hills a hundred or so times! No, it may not turn as well as the promo videos with people on the ski slopes, (at least I'm not there yet myself) but it's still one of the best sleds I've ever owned!
Added bonus: Made in the USA!

My kids told both me and Santa this year, that all they wanted for Christmas were sleds. My 5 year old son, just learning to read and write, wrote his very first sentence just before Christmas - "I want a sled.". Santa brought the kids each one of these in both blue & pink. Thanks to Amazon offering 2 day delivery, they arrived within 2 days, despite snow storms everywhere in the area - Wyoming where we always spend Christmas. We had a blast on these things! My son is 48 lbs, daughter 39 lbs and I'm 175 lbs, and we all rode the Zipfys with no problem. However, if there is deep powder like we had - 12 fresh inches on top of a base of about 30", then it helps if a heavier adult runs the Zipfy down first, to cut out a run, as well as a run one down about 5 feet away to create a staircase to climb back up the hill. My kids didn't weigh enough to cut the runs. Within minutes, I had created 3 runs for the kids in the powder near our house in Wyoming. They were surprised that the "grownups" could use them as well as they could, well actually better. In an area where everyone has a number of snow transportation vehicles - snow mobiles, sleds, skis, snow boards, snow shoes, and even horse drawn sleighs, everyone we showed these sleds to were impressed by their small lightweight, compact design and speedy performance.

What we loved most about these sleds is that they are so lightweight - only 3 lbs compared to the near 20 lbs of traditional flyer sleds - ones with hardwood/metal runners, and will take blows on rocks hidden under the snow with it's hollow core design. If we had used one of those inflatable sleds, we would have blown one out in minutes. We were riding these from deep powder right down and and out onto an unused but rocky and icy driveway below, with no blows to our bottoms. My 5 year old son had no trouble steering it after explaining it was in leaning your body weight holding the handle, and not in the handle itself. Even when he did totally wipe out when over leaning, he laughed and had a blast. He had the ability to easily carry the sled back up the hill because it was so lightweight. Since we had 3 adults helping our kids, we soon developed a system of just tossing these sleds back up the hill to another person to speed up the process. I had no trouble throwing this thing 12 feet in the air and 30 feet away. Because it is so lightweight and designed with no sharp edges, it seems very safe, even to throw back and forth as we did.

But for us 'adults' riding the Zipfy all over age 40 - and weighing in at 175, 200 & 225lbs, we would like to see another size up with a larger seat - add 3 inches width and depth for us for more comfort. Also would like some kind of loop to carry this thing back home as the handle kept tending to slip out of my snow gloves for the two blocks we had to get back home. If carried with bare hands, may have better grip but it was -14C outside with -24C windchill, and I was not willing to try that. My husband used bare hands to carry the Zipfy- native Wyomingite, and carried sled with no trouble - said he doesn't even own a pair of gloves. Comparing the Zipfy to the original miniBob from decades ago, I'm guessing there may have been issues with broken fingers and hands when there was a loop or hole included so guess that is why not included this time around. Fyi, our thin plastic flexible flyers we had used last winter didn't last but 2 days this last snow season- they cracked in the extreme cold weather when using so we were glad to have gotten these Zipfy minibobs from Amazon. We do recommend getting snow sport helmets, as the Zipfy does encourage everyone to get pretty adventurous pretty fast going downhill and not wanting to wait turns, especially if sledding around trees. I've skied most of the major ski resorts in North America, and most accidents I've witnessed have been people running into trees. Try to find open areas without trees if possible if want to do steep runs at fast speeds, as this Zipfy is capable of and try to enforce rules of allowing enough space between sledders. These were the big hit item for our Christmas 2009 and we look forward to many seasons ahead using them each winter!

I bought this for my little brother (15) for Christmas and he loved it. It looks small when you take it out of the box, but any adult can use it with no problem. We all gave it a try, it is really different than sledding and actually a bit harder, but that makes it more fun. It is also really light and easy to carry back up the hill.

My kids love ZIPFY, and even I can ride on it and I weigh 255 pounds....

Bought this before the big DC dump of nearly 2 feet of snow, and we loved it ... once we figured out what we could and could not use it for. In short - not for deep powder, but the best sled going for fast, packed conditions. Clearly this means it is not the most versatile toy out there, and the speed you can achieve can make it more hazardous than some, but given those caveats we're very glad to have made the purchase and can't wait for the next storm.

I just took my daughter sledding with our new Zipfys. We had so much fun! They fly down the hill and are easy to steer once you go down the hill a couple of times and get the hang of it. The only thing I would change is that the seat would be a little more "grippy". It seemed like my rear end slid around a lot but that might have been from the deep snow I was plowing through. I would highly recommend a Zipfy!

We finally had the time and conditions to get the 60" snowblower down our hill and make our 200 yard long snow tube "Run of Death" for the 2011 season. A 20" deep snow pack beckoned.

For years now, we have used the 39" snow tubes with great success. They are, however, extremely perishable, and for that reason, very expensive. We can easily burn through four tubes in a single afternoon session. I suppose it is not surprising when speeds approach 30 mph on the lengthy descents and involve the catching of much air. Small layers of ice in the snow become knife-like, a threat to the devices and the riders' wrists.

I always have my eyes open for the next better sledding device. The Zipfy is easily recognized as indestructable, a characteristic that warms my heart. Even at $40, it could conceivably pay for itself in a single afternoon with $$ to spare. I decided to bite.

I was eager to try the Zipfy out as soon as I got home yesterday afternoon. I had purchased one Zipfy and four new snow tubes. I didn't waste any time getting on my snow suit and goggles, gaiters and heavy duty hiking boots, gauntletted gloves and stocking hat. I sat down on the precipice of one of the fastest tube runs known to man and........nothing.

I butt scooted a little. The Zipfy began to creep. I tried to emulate the prone position shown in the promotional media, feet extended, leaning back for what I expected would be sort of a sit-up all the way down the hill. It is similar to the position we use on our snow tubes, feet pointed, arms trailing, touching lightly to maintain directional control, except now, I had no use of my hands as I had to hold on to that handle to stay on. The Zipfy sank into the snow pack of three inches and stopped. I went to a steeper section of the run to try again. It picked up a little speed, dug in, veered to one side and gently crashed me into the 20" high side wall of the run. There was no hope of getting this thing down the hill in a straight line or with any speed at all. All it was doing was tearing up the groomed bottom of my tube run.

In retrospect, perhaps 195 pounds is too much weight for too little surface area. Perhaps the Zipfy would work better on a hard packed, thin layer of snow and ice with a lot of room to veer all over the place (out of control). It could not function in the 60" wide tube run on three inches of loosely packed bottom snow.

As a vindication that the run was in good order and not the problem, I inflated a couple of the virgin snow tubes in the shop and returned to the top of the run. I sat gently on the first tube, lifted and extended my feet and immediately launched on the "Ride of Death". The ice crust in the run wall tore the side of the tube half way down down the hill while I was doing perhaps 20 mph. Air departing noisily from the tube, I still made it right to the end, though slowing down a bit, butt dragging in the donut hole.

I climbed back up the hill on the separate walk-up trail (foot prints in the tube run slow tubes down) and pulled the next tube up to the lauch area. I sat down gently, lifted and extended my feet and was treated to a ride that almost broke my right wrist, almost wrenched my feet off and almost hyperextended a knee. The last fifty yards were spent in a tight, high speed spin that was impossible to stop. I crashed into the stop barrier at the end, was ejected, flying off into the deep snow for a soft, powdery landing. Perfect!

We'll keep the Zipfy handy for kids that are prone to hurting themselves and also continue to try it out in different conditions, where it might perform better. My mind is still open, but I'll have to give it one star so far.

;0) r