bargainguy

Familiar with Softride bikes? They used a carbon fiber beam that was attached to the downtube near the head tube, and terminated the other end with a saddle clamp. The Softride bikes were a little too bouncy in my opinion, having ridden several back when they were popular. You really had to smooth out your pedal stroke, otherwise you went bobbin' along. That effect was very similar to early dual suspension MTB designs where the pogo effect was quite pronounced, and robbed the rider of valuable energy that could have gone into forward effort.

The titanium beam Air bikes from Green Gear are like Softride lite. The effect is not as pronounced, but you still have to smooth out your pedal stroke to avoid the pogo effect, though nearly not as much effort is needed to counteract the suspension effect of the beam as with the Softride.

It's difficult to describe the sensation of the Air bikes without trying one. It feels like I'm riding on a subchassis - the lower end of the bike minus the beam - that is suspended through the saddle. I remember when I got my first one, an Air Friday. I kept bracing myself for impacts on the road like I did with all my rigid bikes, only to discover I really didn't need to all that much.

I traded my Air Friday in on the Air Glide when one became available at Green Gear used. It was not cheap: $3300 was the sticker for the used Air Glide, minus the trade which was valued around $1500, meaning I had to come up with $1800 out of pocket. Never regretted it.

It's my understanding that titanium was the only metal Green Gear considered for the beam. The beam has an interesting ovalized shape; it is not round tube like the rest of the frame. Dismantling the bike for travel means I have to remove the beam from the frame. I also remember that at some point, Green Gear issued a recall on the beam, which consisted of a retrofit bolster that was placed inside the beam, as a few failures of the beam without were reported. To anyone buying a used Air bike from any source other than Green Gear, it's highly recommended to ask the owner if the recall was performed, just like anyone buying a used Tikit should ask if the stem recall was performed. As to why the frame doesn't break, it's well secured; more likely that the beam would break first.

If you've ever ridden a Moulton Spaceframe, it's kind of like that, only the Air bikes typically don't have front suspension with the exception of the Air Llama.