Any Air Free Open Road Reports Yet?

After the great Air Free debate over the holidays, some (many?) people were going to order a set of
the Open Roads. Did anybody actually get a pair and try them yet?

[q1]> Did anybody actually get a pair and try them yet?[/q1]

Ordered mine yesterday. Didn't think to ask how long before delivery.

Ordered and paid for almost seven weeks ago, still awaiting delivery...

Ordered mine on Dec 3. Haven't received them yet!

Chuck

> Ordered and paid for almost seven weeks ago, still awaiting delivery...

Did he make a charge against a charge-card already? I don't mind waiting (though Hugh maybe should
have told me!) but I don't want to fund their R&D without knowing about it up front.

(Communicate! Communicate!)

gab16@cvip.net (GeoB) wrote in message news:<91e4167c.0301241704.2087652d@posting.google.com>...
> > Ordered and paid for almost seven weeks ago, still awaiting delivery...
>
> Did he make a charge against a charge-card already? I don't mind waiting (though Hugh maybe should
> have told me!) but I don't want to fund their R&D without knowing about it up front.
>
> (Communicate! Communicate!)

Charged on Dec. 6th...

That pretty much settles it for me. I had been mildly interested in a pair of Air Free tires but I
flat refuse to do business with any company that charges your card then does not ship the product.
Considering the big announcement that they were finally ready to ship the new tires (about a year
after promised) then to take orders, charge your customers, then not ship the product is pure BS and
to me shows a complete lack of integrity by Hugh and his company. NO WAY I will ever have a set of
these on my bike now.

> > > Ordered and paid for almost seven weeks ago, still awaiting
delivery...
> >
> > Did he make a charge against a charge-card already? I don't mind waiting (though Hugh maybe
> > should have told me!) but I don't want to fund their R&D without knowing about it up front.
> >
> > (Communicate! Communicate!)
>
> Charged on Dec. 6th...

On the surface there does appear to be something wrong with that picture. Companies who collect
payments and then delay shipping the goods (should) be refunding the Interest your $ would have
earned had it stayed in your bank account...maybe just a few pennies, but when you are talking $32.
X 2 for tires delayed months...then it adds up. If this continues happening, then Air Free should
request only a deposit of a few dollars to secure the order (with full payment) due when goods are
received. To have people pissed off and saying why on a Public Newsgroup cannot be very healthy for
any company. Air Free needs to do some damage control before it gets worse. There may end up being a
slew of happy campers reporting next week or next month their new Air Free tires are great...but it
will not remove the negative comments posted here from the back of your mind when you think about
buying the tires in the future....IMHO
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"jj" <jj.nospamno@home.com> wrote in message news:TFyY9.16605$GX4.747853@news2.east.cox.net...
> That pretty much settles it for me. I had been mildly interested in a pair of Air Free tires but I
> flat refuse to do business with any company that charges your card then does not ship the product.
> Considering the big announcement that they were finally ready to ship the new tires (about a year
> after promised) then to take orders, charge your customers, then not ship the product is pure BS
> and to me shows a complete lack of integrity by Hugh and his company. NO WAY I will ever have a
> set of these on my bike now.
>
>
> > > > Ordered and paid for almost seven weeks ago, still awaiting
> delivery...
> > >
> > > Did he make a charge against a charge-card already? I don't mind waiting (though Hugh maybe
> > > should have told me!) but I don't want to fund their R&D without knowing about it up front.
> > >
> > > (Communicate! Communicate!)
> >
> > Charged on Dec. 6th...

There has to be another side to this story. Hugh has always seemed tobe pretty upfront with all of
us. I'd like to hear his side of the story before we all write him and his company off.

On Sat, 25 Jan 2003 16:10:27 GMT, "jj" <jj.nospamno@home.com> wrote:

>That pretty much settles it for me. I had been mildly interested in a pair of Air Free tires but I
>flat refuse to do business with any company that charges your card then does not ship the product.
>Considering the big announcement that they were finally ready to ship the new tires (about a year
>after promised) then to take orders, charge your customers, then not ship the product is pure BS
>and to me shows a complete lack of integrity by Hugh and his company. NO WAY I will ever have a set
>of these on my bike now.
>
>
>> > > Ordered and paid for almost seven weeks ago, still awaiting
>delivery...
>> >
>> > Did he make a charge against a charge-card already? I don't mind waiting (though Hugh maybe
>> > should have told me!) but I don't want to fund their R&D without knowing about it up front.
>> >
>> > (Communicate! Communicate!)
>>
>> Charged on Dec. 6th...
>

---------------
John Rooker Rochester, NY RANS Stratus
----------------

> Considering the big announcement that they were finally ready to ship the new tires (about a year
> after promised) then to take orders, charge your customers, then not ship the product is pure BS
> and to me shows a complete lack of integrity by Hugh and his company. NO WAY I will ever have a
> set of these on my bike now.

Even though their product did not work for me, I would never consider Hugh to lack in integrity at
all. He is terribly honest and a very nice man to deal with...even with returns!

As stated by someone else, we need to hear his side before making a judgement.

Derek

Yesterday I sent an email to Hugh asking why he hasn't addressed the concerns of the recumbent
newsgroup and he hasn't replied yet.

On Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:28:11 GMT, Derek Swift <bentcruiser@care2.com> wrote:

>> Considering the big announcement that they were finally ready to ship the new tires (about a year
>> after promised) then to take orders, charge your customers, then not ship the product is pure BS
>> and to me shows a complete lack of integrity by Hugh and his company. NO WAY I will ever have a
>> set of these on my bike now.
>
>Even though their product did not work for me, I would never consider Hugh to lack in integrity at
>all. He is terribly honest and a very nice man to deal with...even with returns!
>
>As stated by someone else, we need to hear his side before making a judgement.
>
>Derek

> As stated by someone else, we need to hear his side before making a judgement.

I have only said he should have told me if he knew he couldn't ship now. I would still have ordered,
but I also could have made plans. Maybe he is just batching orders to get a better per-unit cost
when he has them molded. Unless he does his own molding, I dunno. On a new and unique product I can
accept some of this.. but I want to be told up-front. I am still excited about the possibility of
riding w/o getting flats.

In my systems analyst work and consulting, I have learned "Communicate communicate communicate". It
is in the vacuum that doubts grow.

I asked him to tell me in general terms when we could expect the 26" tires. He didn't give me a firm
date and I didn't expect one. He did confirm it would be sooner than later. I asked "A year? Six
months?" and he gave me an emphatic "Oh, no! Sooner!" But if he can't make it I will be fine with
that, as long as he communicates with us.

He told me some of the time-consuming difficulties in switching his mold production over from the 16
& 20" tires to the larger size. Going from 16" to 20" was lots easier than going from 20" to 26". He
has some parts.. blocks, or something involved in making/using the molds that he has to start over
and build bigger ones for the next series of tires.

New anything takes more time and money than you might expect. There are lots of opportunities for
suppliers or subcontractors to drop the ball, people can get sick, equipment can break, testing may
reveal weaknesses that need re-designed.

He may have been burned out after spending 3 weeks defending his tires on this NG, we all sorta
ganged up and wiped the floor with his tires there for a while. Maybe he figures he needed a rest
before returning for another round of defending his tires, some of us (never me) do get a bit
critical & nasty now and then.
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"Rincon" <equityfi@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:fpta3vk6j1pbc0c0tonascnvulelmi7cpt@4ax.com...
> Yesterday I sent an email to Hugh asking why he hasn't addressed the concerns of the recumbent
> newsgroup and he hasn't replied yet.
>
>
>
> On Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:28:11 GMT, Derek Swift <bentcruiser@care2.com> wrote:
>
> >> Considering the big announcement that they were finally ready to ship the new tires (about a
> >> year after promised) then to take orders, charge your customers, then not ship the product is
> >> pure BS and to me shows a complete lack of integrity by Hugh and his company. NO WAY I will
> >> ever have a set of these on my bike now.
> >
> >Even though their product did not work for me, I would never consider Hugh to lack in integrity
> >at all. He is terribly honest and a very nice man to deal with...even with returns!
> >
> >As stated by someone else, we need to hear his side before making a judgement.
> >
> >Derek

In article <fpta3vk6j1pbc0c0tonascnvulelmi7cpt@4ax.com>, Rincon <equityfi@earthlink.net> wrote:
>Yesterday I sent an email to Hugh asking why he hasn't addressed the concerns of the recumbent
>newsgroup and he hasn't replied yet.

I ordered a tire. After no sign of it much later (shipping should have been 3 days) I sent an
E-mail, got no answer and phoned.

He says that his manufacturer ran out of the ingredients for the new tires, and substituted their
own untested material, so he recalled those tires and stopped shipment. He says cards were not
billed for people who never got the tire shipped, and that he hopes to get them out in 2 weeks. He
claimed to be still working on informing customers.

So not a stellar experience, especially since for me, I missed a ride because I had a flat and
rather than take the rear wheel off twice I was waiting for the tire.

I get the impression AFT is a very small outfit. They have another company manufacture and ship the
tires, they just design and market them it seems. I mean the 800 number is answered by the CEO!
--
Brad Templeton's Photography page http://www.templetons.com/brad/photo

I reiterate: ordered in early December AND charged on Dec. 6th. The e-mail I received from Hugh on
Jan. 12th said he would soon be in contact with me. Perhaps time is measured differently in his
location. Excuse my testiness, but since I ride a trike I am awaiting delivery of 3 tires and a
mounting tool.