I was so wrong.....

It takes a real man to admit when he’s wrong. And I was, very wrong. I was
wrong at just about every one of my preconceived ideas on what this bike
would ride like. Wagon wheelers are by nature either super long trail
boats,  stable, slow cornering, slobbering beast’s that can plow over most
obstacles in their 700c path. Or they are twitchy, slightly uncontrollable,
neurotic messes. That was how it was. 29ers sucked, they would (A) never be
as much fun as a 26² bike. (B) have a sharp learning curve to work out all
the bikes quirks. And (C) never be as much fun as a 26² bike. Once I
threw my leg over the Goblin I knew all of that was completely un-true.
The first thing I noticed was the feeling on the bike. I am sure you have
been told ³some² 29ers will give you a “certain” feeling. Some will give you
the feeling of riding a horse sitting way too tall off the trail,
compensating for complicated linkage and all the bells and whistles.

The Goblin gives you the ³IN² the bike feeling  sitting in between the wheels
rather than 10ft above them. Initially when I got on the bike I felt
awkward. I am a die hard gravity rider. I have said it before and, well you
know how the rest goes. I like to climb and put in long days in the saddle.
But I live for the downs. The ³gnarsty² descents. So this high saddle, stiff
hardtail, big wheeler took me a few minutes to figure out. The first thing I
noticed pedaling out of the parking lot and getting onto the trail was the
feeling of acceleration. That was something I was not expecting. I guess a
stiff aluminum frame and no rear squish helps in that department. Easily
explained. Other than my parking lot observations above, I have had no prior
29er experience. Time to really shake this thing down. Lets see how the
goblin holds up to the east coast babyheads and roots!

Needless to say I came off the trail 2 hours later with a huge grin on my
face. I have been lied to all my life! Where was the slobbering Ox I thought
I was going to be piloting? Where was the twitchy nervous wreck? Yeah that¹s
right I was wrong. Completely wrong, and I was happy to admit it. The Goblin
was everything I wanted it to be and more. I am not going to bore you by the
science behind why I think it steered well, or what specific trait of the
geo gave the bike the snappy steering I was so surprised to find. I just
want you to know that it worked! I opted to give the bike an all out sampler
of trails. I planned out 12-15 miles of singletrack with a mixture of tight
tech, flowy goodness, lung busting climbs and some downright gnarly
descents. The bike came out about the same as it went in. I did put the
classic Dangerous Dan stamp on the bike, in the form of a few scratches in
the downtube from a tree that got a little too close to me in a flat corner.
Other than my classic frame testing the bike rode excellent. I was
pleasantly surprised in every area. The Goblin accelerates well and once you
are up and running the wagon wheels keep on rolling. I was a little nervous
about the cornering ability until I started throwing it into the turns.
While I like the SB8¹s this particular day was a little wet and the tires
just would not hold like I wanted them to. That is an easy change, but for
now the SB8¹s will work just fine as long as you have a small shoulder to
bite, and the confidence to put weight on the outside the bike holds like a
champ. The Tight twisty stuff is where I was the most surprised. I was able
to maneuver the bike much easier than I would have believed. The large
wheels were a bit tricky to master but once I had a few tech turns under the
rubber I got the hang of it.

I have made one change to my bike that I think made the transition from my
usual gravity/AM bike to the XC machine a little easier for me. Swapping the
stem to a 50mm gave me a slightly more playful feel. This is by no means a
suggestion. I rode the bike with the stock stem and found that the size 18²
bike I received was just a touch to long with the stock stem. It also had me
way to far over the bike for my taste. I find that a shorter stem lends
itself to my body position on the bike and my riding style. Other than that
my only plan is to set it up tubeless and start slaying single track.
Now who should buy this bike? Well ask yourself these questions and it may
help you decide.
1. Do you love to carve out large chunks of singletrack?

2. Do you like to clean technical climbs and roll over rocks and roots?

3. Do you enjoy finishing your ride with a wide smile on your face?

If you answered yes to all or any of the questions above then I can highly
recommend this 29er. This bike will work for beginners, or experienced
riders. XC, FR, DH riders, give it a shot, you will be surprised how much
fun it is to roll through the woods and climb on this machine. Check out
more info on Airborne Bikes website. www.airbornebicycles.com
<http://www.airbornebicycles.com>
On Facebook at www.facebook.com/#!/Airborne.bikes
<http://www.facebook.com/#!/Airborne.bikes>
And you can follow me in my random Bike wanderings on
Twitter @ #Ridedierepeat
Instagram @DannyStanny
And of course Facebook!
Comments? Please feel free to leave a note!