I have an Airborne Black Widow (titanium) and was looking at a Van Nicholas (who have take over Airborne) touring frame.

A few weeks ago however I changed my mind when the Airborne Frame failed,

see pictures:

Broken Frame

The bike was ridden moslty on road for around 3500km and I weigh 70kg (about 11 stone).

One of the main reasons I got the frame was the lifetime warranty. Van Nicholas however will not honour this warranty as they claim the company to be different although it is based in the same building and the same member of staff who sold me the bike refused to replace it under warranty.

I’d just advise to be wary when buying a Van Nicholas in case the change name again and if the same factory is used the bikes may have some defect with the titanium, this break isnt even at the weld.

Anyone else have any similar problems / advice?

and wondering if the frame is repairable at all or of any value in any way?

Oh dear, Van Nicholas was on my shortlist for a new frame.
I’d even emailed them to ask if they planned on doing a 29er belt drive Rohloff Zion soon.
My shortlist just got a bit shorter.

It’s a completely different company and you are in exactly the same situation as anyone else who buys goods. Your recourse is with the retailer and if they no longer exist, you’re basically screwed.

FWIW, the frames are built in China and VN are also supplying On One. I’ve seen more Linskey failures than VN/Chinese.

Get some proper advice – if Van Nicholas took over Airborne then they most probably took on all of the former company’s liabilities which would include warranties.

It would be worth giving Enigma a call, they have a good reputation. It should be possible to replace the dropout.
Enigma Link

No more risk than any other company. As druidh says have a word with the retailer, but you’re probably screwed. Are Van Nics not even negotiating for the sake of goodwill?

Your recourse is with the retailer

Don’t know about jerseybean’s purchase, but Van Nicholas are selling bikes directly off their web site, so they are both manufacturer and retailer.
Whatever the Netherlandish law is on phoenix companies, it’s put me off spending £1000+ on one of their frames.

MTG – your loss.

Why so ?
Van Nicholas was one of the few names that came up when I was looking for belt drive Rohloff frames, I don’t know much else about them apart from that.
At least Lynskey replaced my titanium Ridgeline when it cracked at about 2000km, even if took 6 weeks to get it back.
Having a warranty claim refused by the same guy, in the same building, who sold the frame, because the company has now got a different name, doesn’t inspire confidence in the brand.

druidh – you like to be contrary don’t you. 🙂

Personally I think that’s a very poor show indeed.

What size brakes were you using? just curious I have the same frame

I had a Van Nic frame go on me this year (second time)and they swapped it (again) without a question.
I had to send it back to there adress in holland and within days they had contacted me to ask what i wanted to relace it with.
There Customer service was good but dont think I will by another Ti frame.
Have a Alu Giant now which is cheaper, lighter and bought from a local shop so i dont have to post it back to holland when it breaks

grum – I just see it as my duty to educate and cut through some if the crap 😉
IIRC, Airborne was an American company and VN were the European distributors, so it’s not one of these company renaming things.

To the OP – how old us the frame? It’s some time since Airborne were selling bikes.

I think Druidh has it right. I think it all involved the ownership of the Airborne name. The company who owned it wouldnt licence the name to anyone else so Van Nicholas got the frames made in the same factory and branded them as their own. Thats what I have read in the past.
The company is Huffy Corp and a quick google seems to say that they were honouring the waranties so maybe worth contacting them. Or you could try Flyte who is the other company involved.

Airborne was an American company and VN were the European distributors

Hmmm, that puts a slightly different slant on it then. Perhaps I was a bit hasty in dismissing them.

However, reading;
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/cracked-airborne-lancaster-frame-am-i-the-first
http://www.cyclechat.net/topic/67272-new-bike-cracked-frame/
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/bikes-frames-forks/airborne-van-nicholas-warranty-replacement-108021.html
It sounds like it’s not uncommon for Van Nicholas frames to crack, sometimes several times with one owner.
Combined with them wanting an extra £500 on top of the list price for a belt drive Rohloff Zion 29er frame with a Lefty head tube, as it would count as a custom build, I’m still a bit wary of buying one.

Here are may experiences with Airborne/Van Nicholas. The saga is for a road frame admittedly but does give some insight into their warranty policy and customer backup.

I purchased a 62cm Airborne Zeppelin in July 2002 and right away knew I’d made the right choice as this was the most comfortable and best handling bike I’d ever owned. I put a lot of miles into this bike as I loved it so much. By early 2007 I noticed a creaking noise coming from the bike and after much investigation found that the source was a crack in the seat tube starting from the bottom bracket weld area. I was understandably upset especially now as Airborne had ceased to exist, the business now being taken over by Van Nicholas in the Netherlands, who were previously the distributor for Airborne in Europe.

On going onto their website I noticed that they had stated that they were honouring Airborne warranties up to five years and so I contacted them immediately as my bike was just coming up to that mark. To their credit they replaced my Zeppelin with an almost identical one that they had now renamed the Zephyr.

Less than a year later the new Zephyr had succumbed to the same fate and contacting Van Nicholas once more they agreed to replace the frame under warranty but suggested that I would maybe benefit from changing to using the Chinook frame which to all intents and purposes was a stiffer frame which should withstand the stresses better. I agreed but by March 2011 discovered that the Chinook has now gone the same way as the previous two frames. Contacting Van Nicholas again they agreed to honour the lifetime guarantee for the original owner and duly shipped a new Chinook frame in April this year.

In one way I am disappointed in what is on the face of it a well constructed and finished frame, should fail on such a regular basis. In talking to the guys at VN, they assure me that although my failure is the same every time, they have a very low failure rate with their frames. On the other hand I can only praise them for their customer support and look forward to getting a new frame every few years or so!

At the end of the day they do offer a lifetime warranty and in my experience at least, do honour it without quibble. How many companies could you say that about?

here you go guys: http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FROOCAR456ND/on-one-carbon-456-un-decaled-frame

😉