24 Speed Titanium Mountain Bike $399 Shipping Inc.

[walrus]

This is a Hot Deal. Airborn makes and sells excelent bikes at great prices.





Our sister company Royce Union purchased a sizable quantity of complete titanium mountain bikes and we are now liquidating their remaining inventory at an unbelievable price. This complete bicycle originally retailed for over $1100.00. We are now selling the remaining stock BELOW COST.

Each Royce Union mountain bike will come fully backed by Airborne?s Lifetime Frame Warranty. The only size available is 18". Each bicycle will come 95% assembled in a standard bicycle carton. Minimum assembly is required. All sales are final. Airborne fit guarantee and return policies do not apply.

Check them out here!

 

[bsprawka]

I owned a Royce Union once. It was a POS. Although, this one has much nicer components. This bike it still not a good deal. You can get a bike with similar or better components from a more reputable company for the same cost.

 

[dlaw]

I have a Royce Union too....a something like "signature" model.....listed $400 in Sears when I bought it, and I got it for $250....it was excellent!!! But I know their cheap models are as bad as the other bikes you can get from Wal-Mart.

Don't know if this one is good though. But doesn't seem bad.

 

[foggy]

Well, the only thing you're probably paying for is the frame here I think. The rest of the components are *very* low grade. I've seen much better, even for that price IMHO.

 

[worms]

nm

 

[toant103]

<----- looking for XT and XTR components

 

[cholula0]

For the expert above

The Frames:

Material: Certified Aerospace Grade 3AL/2.5V Titanium Alloy (3% Aluminum, 2.5% Vanadium, 94.5% Titanium)

Material Source: We manufacture our frames in a proprietary factory that is a commercial division of China's aerospace group. The same manufacturing company that produces rockets that launch satellites for Motorola, GTE and other global communication companies. Our factory has been making titanium frames and components for the past seven years and uses highly skilled, well paid workers, in addition to using the latest manufacturing technologies.

Material Process: Custom drawn, seamless, 100% cold worked tubing.
Ti 3-2.5 comes in two strength conditions, Cold Worked and Stress Relieved (CWSR) or full annealed. The CWSR tubing (as used by Airborne) is the preferred condition for the structural members of the frame due to its higher strength. Although some inexpensive titanium frames are made from annealed tubing, it is not commonly used in high quality frames.

Advantages:
» Airborne titanium frames have a strength-to-weight ratio that is on average 75% greater than most aluminum and steel materials used in cycling
» Airborne titanium frames have a fatigue life that is five times greater than that of steel or aluminum. This means that your frame will have a significantly longer life span than other bicycles.
» Every frame we make is custom drawn, each tube set is designed to maximize strength and performance by using differing thickness of tubing in addition to utilizing ovalization, and biaxial ovalized tubing.
» Titanium is highly resistant to corrosion.

 

[worms]

Yes cholula0 I was unaware. I'm quite surprised to learn that titanium mountain bikes exist at all - it's such an expensive material to manufacture and offers little advantage in a bicycle. There's still no such thing as a titanium drill bit though.

 

[NotAClue]

2001 Gary Fisher Tassajara
while you are there check out their other bikes. In late 1999, I picked up a K2/Proflex Beast from them for $499(~$1500 bike). Man what a killer deal... I should have bought 2. Their shipping was ~$25. At that time I dealt w/ Phil(donno if he's still there). If you call ask specifically if they have anything on special that is not advertised on their site.

Or go here to SuperGO especially this bike

Or PricePoint here

So now you think you know which bike you want... go here to check out reviews

 

[GTJacket]

<< Yes cholula0 I was unaware. I'm quite surprised to learn that titanium mountain bikes exist at all - it's such an expensive material to manufacture and offers little advantage in a bicycle. There's still no such thing as a titanium drill bit though. >>



Actually, titanium has HUGE advantages in cycling. First, it has a great strength/weight ratio. Its vibration absorbing qualities produce a ride MUCH smoother than a similarly designed aluminum frame while it is much lighter than a steel frame. Additionally, it is flexible yet strong enough to make lightweight pivot-less full suspension systems as seen on models made by MOOTS and Lightspeed (two actually reputable brands that use titanium).

As for me, I ride a custom built Easton Aluminum tube GT XCR i-Drive. The titanium has its advantages, but for my riding you just cannot beat 5"/4.6" F/R travel in a full-suspension bike that doesn't bio-pace!


EDIT:
NotAClue, I have to agree about the i-Drives listed at SuperGO. They are great bikes at amazing prices. Even better than the 6.0 for $399 is the iDrive Race for $1499! Now that's a HOT deal I wish was around when I built mine -- GT used to charge that much just for the Race frame!!!

 

[cisco]

Anyone know the total bike weight?
funny how bike companies used to include nice components (XTR , XT) now they cut the cost on the components , acerx is like STX , any reviews on this bike please post a link I'm to busy (cough,cough, lazy) to search for reviews right now, plus I've already got four bikes hanging from the rafters in my garage !!

 

[NotAClue]

If someone figures out which review applies to this bike, please post.

review

review

Recall on Royce Union

Ha Ha Ha, had to toss this in

 

[love4god]

I have been wanting a decent MTB for a while now but just couldn't afford the Full Suspension I wanted.

But these i-Drives look awesome. To be honest I am a novice but the price looks right.

Anyone else have any experience with these or advice? I checked teh reviews on the www.mtbr.com link and they seem pretty positive. Essentially, not the best bike in the world.. a little heavy and cheaper rims and forks... but the best deal out there for entry level.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on getting the 6.0 or springing the extra $80 for the 5.0. What are the differences.

And is large a good enough size for me? I am 6'2" and about 245lbs (hopefully dropping some weight soon).

Thx

 

[GTJacket]

love4god, PM me (I'll try to send you a PM too) and I'll do my best to sell you on the GT i-Drive series. I had one of the 99's when they first came out then got a deal too good to pass up on a top-of-line 2000 model Easton Aluminum tubeset i-Drive frame that I ended up custom building with hand selected components. For the price of the i-Drive 6.0 or 5.0, you could buy it just for the frame and a few other components and build yourself a killer rig as you save money and advance as a rider. All I have to say is BUY AN I-DRIVE!!!

I'm just over 6'2" and I ride a large, so you should be fine. At 245 lbs, you may need to buy a bigger spring or use more air pressure in the rear shock (spring/air depending on which model you buy).

 

[C'DaleRider]

The only problem with Gt's I-Drive it its lack of available replacement drive units. Since GT doesn't exist any longer and their spare parts being almost given away by Pacific Cycles, good luck finding a replacement for yours when it dies. Sad really tho....good company bit the dust.

 

[mechBgon]

I had a lot of respect for the i-Drive design, especially the original '99-'00 mechanism which used standard bearings in retainers for the i-Drive rotary link. They were hand-rebuildable and adjustable, like some kind of very large headset, without relying on expensive bearing cartridges. If the retainers were not available, one could simply loose-pack it with ball bearings. That would still not solve the need for upper-pivot bushings, though. Such a shame that a nice design like that fell victim of a bankruptcy... GT i-Drive owners, enjoy your rides while they may last.

I see the Airborne bicycle is listed as "sold out." If anyone's picked one up, here is a good tip for titanium frames: pick up some Loctite Anti-Sieze compound from your local auto-parts supplier and thoroughly coat the inside of the seat tube with it. This will keep the aluminum seatpost from galling on the titanium frame and siezing up, which ranges from "headache" to "unmitigated disaster." Anyone here ever had to slice a siezed-up seatpost lengthwise with a jab hacksaw...? I have, and trust me, you don't want to.

I also expect the bicycle will come in the same condition that a bicycle arrives at a bicycle shop, meaning it needs tuning to get off to a good start in life (yes, despite being "95% assembled"). Unless you're proficient at bicycle tuning, spending $35 to $45 on a tune-up at a reputable bicycle shop will probably end up being money well-spent. Don't expect the stock parts to hold up to more than one season of aggressive off-roading, since they used some pretty low-end cranks/chainrings, freewheel, hubs, and bottom bracket (aka crank bearing) to bring the price down. They also used an RST fork with no dampers, which is not bad for a year or two of lighter-duty use, but if you get into it, you're going to want something with damping.

 

[GTJacket]

Second that about the loc-tite for the titanium frame. I have heard horror stories about destroying components and frames while trying to loosen them.

As for the i-Drive....I've had my current model for about 2 years now with absolutely no problems and my first ('99) i-Drive was used for about 2 years before I sold it after upgrading. I never had a problem with the first one and still have not had any issues with my current model. I look at it this way...For as little as a i-Drive 6.0 costs compared to my frame, if I have a problem in the near future, I'll just buy the full bike, gut it for frame parts, sell the rest, and enjoy riding knowing that I own the best pivoted full suspension design with ~4-5" of travel EVER!