Yep strange one this BitLord83
I think the reason for the crank on the CZ's was to increase the travel on the sring as with a straight bar they will bottom out on the top of bar before the springs contact the bottom of the bar
I can see 2 results from putting a straight bar on
1-- it will make the very bottom of the travel less of a bump as the bar will bottom on the footplate then the spring will bend more and then hit the bar
This in my humble opinion will put the spring under more stress while it makes bottoming softer for the user (I can see a few broken springs from this )
But I may be completely wrong
2-- it will alter the spring angle slightly (I had a set of my first Skip/Exo hybrids that you could change this on)
This results in making the spring seem softer and so easier to bend one way and if you move it the other way it makes the spring seem harder and faster to respond
As both of these results can be obtained by changing your springs to a lighter or heavier weight I can't see the point
I would have to see and try a set before I made a judgement one way or the other but I would say that it is very simple why the factory would change the bar to a straight one
By not having to put the bend into it it would be cheaper to produce and so save a few pennies per unit
The other reason I could see would be that PoweriZer have asked for the factory to make the bar straight so that they can use it as a Marketing advantage (eg they can say theirs are better because of it)
A bit like when PoweriSer put ballrace bearings on the Mk2's, and that went well didn't it
It may be that they have made a giant leap forward in the mechanics of stilts
but I am not yet convinced
But only time will tell
Jason