Anyone else got an opinion to offer on long term Chameleon use / back issues ??????????
Jenn Hopkins won quite a few ladies SS 24 hour events on hers IIRC. I guess that suggests it's merely an individual thing. Really, don't worry about it too much, you can always fit a susp post and the newer ones really are more forgiving. I've got a funny back anyway. Trust us, it's a bike made to have fun on.
Last suggestion? Check out Mattmagic's blog. Yes he's insane but he rode a chameleon most of the way through 2008 if I remember rightly.
Here's the appropriate excerpt….
Hurtin' in 2008
* Offroad Riding – 10602.84 miles [300]
* Turbo Trainer – 130.20 miles [8]
* Running – 114.56 miles [24]
* Aborted Riding – 37.20 miles [2]
* (TOC) 10640.04 miles
* (TR) 114.56 miles
* (TA) 10884.8 miles
Matt never had back problems. if someone can notch up over 10,000 offroad miles on one in a year, I think you can accept they're not too bad at all.