My Bike Pages

A.Webster July 2008

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Airnimal

The successor to my trusty Brompton is an Airnimal Chameleon. Unfortunately Airnimal don't make the bike I want to buy - relatively cheap, drop bars, wide gear range and some luggage capacity, but NOT bar end or STI levers which I am not keen on, San Marco Rolls saddle, of course and comfy Dia Compe brake levers.

The nearest is the "Adventure", which just needed the flat bars replacing with drops, changing the brake and gear levers. Longer outers were needed for the brakes, but the gear levers just needed cutting down.

I used two "yokes" from sets of old-style band on levers, one used to mount some rather nice Suntour levers, the other to mount cable stops (some Campag ones).

The ride is fantasic - not just for a folder, but for any bike. The narrow tyres give it a sporty feel. The gear range is massive. I've not managed to use the small ring for anything, I haven't calculated it, but it's much lower than anything on my mountain bike while at the top of the range I can pedal up to 30mph (which is more than enough for the day tours and commutity that I do).

The bottle mounts behind the seats are excellently placed for an Altura Klik-Fix seat mounting bag. A klik-fix handlebar mount can then be used for a water bottle.

Does it fit neatly into the turtle case I used for my Brompton. Well, it fits. I have only managed this by removing pedals, derailleur and forks in addition to undoing all the QR stuff, and it is still a squeeze - allow at least half an hour to disassemble and pack it!