500 Miles on a Chameleon

When I sorted out my current job, it was on the understanding that I'd be able to cycle to a local station, get the train into London and then ride to the shop. Rail service restrictions mean that on weekdays, no full framed bikes are allowed during the times that I'd travel which meant I had to look at folding bikes.

I've always thought that with my size (panda, remember) that I'd end up looking a bit like a circus bear if I rode a Brompton, clever and small folding as they are. Lots of research online led me to find Airnimal Bikes , a small company based near Cambridge in the UK, that take a slightly different approach to the folding bike. For them "Bike" comes first and then "Folding", which means their bikes behave a lot more like a traditional road bike due to their choice of 24 or 20 inch wheel size.

A timely search on ebay turned up an Airnimal Chameleon, which is the "original" Airnimal design. The seller had used it for commuting and the previous owner had toured extensively on this bike, including twice touring round China.

We picked the bike up for around £850 and the seller actually dropped it off with us.

The bike came, as shown here, with mudguards (though the seller had replaced the front guard with a "Crudcatcher".) Shimano Ultegra groupset (but with a Deore XT Rapid Rise long cage rear mech) and Dura Ace bar end shifters that the touring owner preferred for reliability (though the original Ultegra brake lever/Shifters were also included).

My initial impressions were that the reach felt a little short compared to my road bike, but the basic handling was solid and sturdy; the carbon forks responding quite well to road bumps and the huge range of the gearing, with a 30 tooth "granny ring" and 34 tooth max on the rear, would allow it to cope with pretty much any incline up to almost vertical.

Initially, I made the following changes to the bike:

1) Removed the bar end shifters and refitted the Ultegra STi shifters, they are far more familiar to me and clean up the front end a lot. ( I also removed the heavy padding and retaped the bars)

2) Removed the mudguards to aid folding and clean the look of the bike.

3) Removed the bottle cage.

Having the Rapid Rise rear mech (this reverses the spring action from a normal rear mech meaning the spring actual pulls towards the easier gears making shifting "down" to easier gears smoother under load, ideal for laden touring setups) did make for slightly counter intuitive shifting forcing me to have to make a mental switch every time I changed bikes.

This led me to replace the Deore rear mech with an Ultegra 6700 GS (Long Cage) mech which fits better with the rest of the componentry on the bike and means that the gear shifting is now the same way round as on my other bikes.

The only other changes I have made since were to replace the saddle with the Selle Italia Diva Flow and change the tyres. The Diva Flow is a really comfortable saddle which I already favour on my road and cross bikes, and the Schwalbe Durano tyres are a great mix of strength and comfort without compromising ride quality.

Versatility

The Chameleon is an excellent commuting bike. It folds (Described by Airnimal as the "first fold") easily to get on the train. I use a couple of toe straps to hold things together when folded to make carrying on and off the train easier. The fold is done with the removal of the front wheel, splitting the frame in the middle which folds the rear wheel into the forks, and folding the seat tower down onto the frame. The design of the bike means that the drivetrain is not disturbed in any way by the fold. I've got this fold down to around 60 seconds including the toe straps to bind it together.

There is also the "Second Fold" which I've not needed to use, but really takes the airnimal to a different level. Removing both wheels (using a chain holder to keep tension in the drive train), the bars and the seat post allows you to fold the frame down to suitcase size which means that taking this bike on holiday by plane is a genuinely simple prospect.

Handling
The handling in both wet and dry is excellent. The combination of carbon forks and the Schwalbe Duranos with the 24 inch wheel size give a predictable and solid feel when cornering and responds well on rougher road surfaces. Whilst not as relaxed as a full frame road bike it is much steadier than it's smaller wheeled cousins and far less susceptible to the road surface flicking the steering out of your control. The Chameleon is stable at speed and will happily roll along at 20mph plus on the flat without being twitchy or terrifying the rider. I'm not sure I'd say the same on a Brompton, for example.

Componentry
Although the majority of the Ultegra components are from an older version of the range, the quality of the Shimano 2nd tier groupset is clear. With concise shifting and solid braking inspiring confidence and urging you to push on, it is easy to forget you are on a folding bike and mix it with the roadies on the daily commute.

Overall
The Chameleon is a fast, light and responsive bike that just happens to fold small enough to fit in a suitcase. It is distinctive enough to draw glances and comments from other cyclists when stopped at lights. On the odd occasion where the train service has failed me, the Chameleon is just as happy on a longer ride and I could easily see someone touring quite happily with this bike. The team at Airnimal are friendly and quick to respond to any problems or questions (I did have to replace the seat tower on this bike, but with the mileage that it will have previously done, this wasn't wholly unsurprising. The replacement tower was couriered to me the following day). It is genuinely fun to ride and it makes my daily commute both a pleasure and well spent ride time. We've now covered around 500 miles together and I'm looking forward to many, many more.

For more information, the Airnimal website is : Here

UPDATE
After posting this, I was asked by the lovely  @_Pigeons_ ,aka Sarah Connolly, how the bike folds down.
so here is the basic "first fold" that I use on the train. Done in about 60 seconds.

I don't rotate the handlebars as I find the rear wheel slots into the forks and can be held by closing the quick release on the front brake. With a single allen key, I could loosen the stem and rotate the bars, which reduces the folded size even more.


This second pic is a slightly tighter version of the fold, taking the seatpost out rather than just rotating it and folding the seat tower in closer.

Again, this could be reduced more by rotating the bars.

In both versions, strapping the loose front wheel to the head tube as shown also allows the bike to stand unsupported, which is useful.