2001 Ti Airborne Corsair - Infant Joy / Eternal Conflict / Tinkerer Test Bed 🍷🤪

Woz

Woz

Old School Grand Master
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The authorities say a build thread is needed to enter the +98 BotM. Hence this.

This build thread will be more about history, wrenching, deviations, ranting, idle thoughts, and general fiddling trying to get shit together for something up to task and enter the +98 BotM competition. I'm re-starting a journey with a frame and some parts I know well and very fond of.
 
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A bit about Airborne. Pretty sure they were the first with a website and have a business model for direct customer purchases on-line around 1999. The USA already had several high end titanium frame manufactures, but what Airborne did was to enter the market and offer something more budget and economical with manufacture in China. No doubt it all coincided with the internet gaining popularity and USA - China trading relations improving. I'm not sure if they ever offered international sales - but either way some made their way to Europe.

From what I could gather, by 2006 Airborne was no more. Some say they collapsed by offering lifetime warranty and too many frames cracking. Their product range seemed to evolve rather quick too with several MTBs, Road and BMX bikes. By 2007 the Airborne designs were now in the hands of Van Nicholas.

Here's an old video of the manufacturing plant.


The company today seems to have grown being an OEM supplying to several brands as well as their own brand for domestic China.
https://www.tibicycle.com/company.html
 
Got to admit to being a bit of an Airborne fanboy. Currently own three and always looking out for one of their road bikes and a touring bike.

The geometry tends to suit me - typically a short seat-tube and a long top-tube. Nice touches like welded bottle cage bosses (no cheap AL rivnut), chain pip, under top-tube cabling and often with rear rack mounts. Most brands tended to pitch titanium at the very high end race grade spectrum, but Airborne did have a slightly different approach making something a bit more accessible and a bit more utilitarian if necessary.

Original brochure card.

rsDSC00899.JPG

The details - well actually there are a few errors. There is no mono-stay and the 18" head-tube and seat-tube are shorter. It does appear by 2001 there was a sales channel to Europe through a Dutch phone number and dealerships were also established.

rsDSC00900.JPG
 
In 2011 my Parkpre Ti Pro Elite had just cracked - so the "one out - one in" rule had to apply immediatley of course :p

I kind of went very far to collect it - combined the journey with a holiday, avoided paying customs duties etc. and I believe I may
have got drunk on much cheaper and better Eastern Europe booze. My buddy did most of the hire car driving too.

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/furthest-distance-you-would-travel.421037/post-3086803
 
My records show it got built up with a fairly high spec. and was just a little over 10 kg. My records also show I exploded the budget and got carried away 🤦‍♂️.

I do remember cleaning off dried latex sealant using latex paint remover, having a pair of Crossmax SL crack on me, and then posting the bike to the UK around 2013 to have something to ride when visiting. I then posted it back to myself in France a bit prior to Brexit and stuffed it up the attic.

Probably about two years ago I rebuilt it with XT M739 8 speed, then pulled it to pieces, then back in the attic to focus on other builds.
 

This is taking much longer than I thought. In part:

y) Trying to be clever.
z) Being stupid.

The target in face of this remains unchanged.

a) get my act together and build a nice looking functioning flat bar.
b) get my act together and build a nice looking functioning drop-bar.

c) swap between the above with minimum fuss.

I'm struggling with (c). (a) is straightforward-ish now, and (b) isn't going to be as pretty as wanted for the moment.

To many conflicts for my liking, but edging there. Key word today from the asylum is "Synergy".
 
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