Anyone have the scoop on Airborne?

[res09c5t]

Hi,
Apparently Airborne Direct is no longer with us, at least in its previous
form. It appears to be ongoing in Europe but in the US, Echelon Sports (US
presence behind Airborne) is now re-branded as "Flyte". Some posts to their
discussion boards alluded to some problem with licensing the Airborne name
from Huffy but I didn't get any sense of what was behind this problem.

Anyone know what happened? I've got a Zepp and have been very happy- I'd
hate to see them fade from existence.
Thanks!
Lyle

 

[Tom P]

"res09c5t" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:8UiSe.535$Sx4.102@trnddc06...
> Hi,
> Apparently Airborne Direct is no longer with us, at least in its previous
> form. It appears to be ongoing in Europe but in the US, Echelon Sports
(US
> presence behind Airborne) is now re-branded as "Flyte". Some posts to
their
> discussion boards alluded to some problem with licensing the Airborne name
> from Huffy but I didn't get any sense of what was behind this problem.
>
> Anyone know what happened? I've got a Zepp and have been very happy- I'd
> hate to see them fade from existence.
> Thanks!
> Lyle


Huffy bought Airborne from the original owners. The original owners then
bought Airborne back from Huffy, but Huffy retained the rights to the
Airborne name. So Airborne had since been paying a licensing fee to Huffy to
use the name. I think this move was to free themselves from having to pay
the licensing fee.

 

[Rich Clark]

"res09c5t" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:8UiSe.535$Sx4.102@trnddc06...
> Hi,
> Apparently Airborne Direct is no longer with us, at least in its previous
> form. It appears to be ongoing in Europe but in the US, Echelon Sports
> (US presence behind Airborne) is now re-branded as "Flyte". Some posts to
> their discussion boards alluded to some problem with licensing the
> Airborne name from Huffy but I didn't get any sense of what was behind
> this problem.
>
> Anyone know what happened? I've got a Zepp and have been very happy- I'd
> hate to see them fade from existence.

If you (like me) bought your Airborne prior to August 2002, while Airborne
was still owned by Huffy, you are SOL if you need support for your
"lifetime" warranted frame. The new company will support (by selling you a
half-price replacement frame) frames made between then (when they bought
their company back from Airborne) and now. But as of now there is no more
Airborne USA. The company that bought the rights to market Airborne products
in Europe is apparently continuing.

While I have no reason to mistrust my Carpe Diem frame, which is my everyday
ride for commuting and almost everything else, it's a little unsettling to
know that if it fails, it's trash.

RichC

 

[Rich Clark]

"Rich Clark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> If you (like me) bought your Airborne prior to August 2002, while Airborne
> was still owned by Huffy, you are SOL if you need support for your
> "lifetime" warranted frame. The new company will support (by selling you a
> half-price replacement frame) frames made between then (when they bought
> their company back from Airborne) and now. But as of now there is no more
> Airborne USA. The company that bought the rights to market Airborne
> products in Europe is apparently continuing.

I completely misread the statement. Post 9/02 owners are covered as if the
frame was sold by the new company. Pre 9/02 owners are offered a new frame
for half price. That's considerably better than nothing.
>
> While I have no reason to mistrust my Carpe Diem frame, which is my
> everyday ride for commuting and almost everything else, it's a little
> unsettling to know that if it fails, it's trash.

It's worth half the price of a new one, which is much better.

Sorry for posting incorrect information. I should have just posted the link:
http://www.airborne.net/eready/janette/warranty.asp

RichC

RichC

 

[Llatikcuf]

Ti can be repaired, might be more than a 1/2 cost frame though.

http://www.ticycles.com/store/repair.html#frame

-n