Airnimal Chameleon Bike Issues

[crazydrummer]

Hi - Just signed up here to see if anybody out there has an Airnimal Folding bike. Mine is a CHAMELEON PERFORMANCE SPORT.
Had it since OCT 2005. Bought it for commuting purposes and have used it pretty regularly - for general commuting and short to med length rides no more than 30 miles. All good, lovely bike etc... I have not used it much this year as I have been using my RACER - (steel framed bike I had custom built and this bike I have had for much longer.) Anyway I have had a recurring problem with The Airnimal - twice it had happened. The seat post base where it clamps to the main frame via a locking bolt has cracked and firstly I had the whole folding section replaced which is just the seat post section. No problem. That was a few years back. Recently the same thing has happened - took the bike back to where I bought it - they spoke to AIRNIMAL who claim on the basis of a phone call that I should replace the WHOLE FRAME. I am not so sure. it is a well built machine, hasn't been flogged to death,
and I look after my bikes. i think an independant frame check is the answer here. Anybody got any similar issues? Love to hear from you.

cheers

m

 

[gwhite]

This is a long-standing problem with this frame and is well-known. As I remember Si suffered the same fault with his bike. The fault was identified with the frame maker in Tawain as I recall and many free replacements were made by Airnimal. I'd like to think that mine, being a later model has avoided this. I can't remember the length of warranty given but , given that the fault has been identified as a production one, it might be worth a try to ask for a new frame.