Airborne Skyhawk to Goblin

Having got back into mountain biking earlier this year I stumbled across Airborne Bicycles and have hearing good reviews decided started out with a Skyhawk.  Its an entry level bike but the plan was to use it as a dip my toe back into the sport type trial.  I was again completely bitten by the bug and quickly upgraded the parts to give me a solid trail machine.

Airborne Skyhawk

Some of the upgrades include:

Suntour Raidon 
Race Face Evolve - bar & stem
Superstar lock on grips
Shimano M520 Pedals
Maxxis Crossmark tires - F & R
Shimano Deore front derailleur

Charge spoon saddle
Race face ride 2x crankset with bash
9 speed SRAM cassette
SRAM X7 9 speed shifter

I entered my first race a few weeks ago on the Skyhawk and managed to make the podium for my age category in the beginner’s race.  It was clear I’d need to up my game to keep up with the pack and head towards my goal of stepping up to the sport category.  I’m quite a tall guy 6’2” in reasonable shape and weighing in around 215lbs.  With this in mind 29er bikes had been catching my eye, the 19.5” frame of the Skyhawk although agile and quick sometimes felt a little cramped.

The Goblin

Being a fan of Airborne bikes after a positive experience with the Skyhawk, I checked out their Guardian, Seeker and Goblin, all of which are specced extremely well for their price point.  I set about trying to convince the wife that the stretch to the Goblin would be the best use of my funds.  She provisionally agreed but that left some saving to do.  In the meantime I visited Pinkbike.com, searched Airborne and this beauty came up, a steal at $600 a quick email exchange and the bike was shipped to me for the grand total of $650.  Excited was not the word, from Skyhawk to Goblin (albeit the 2011 model) in a few hundred bucks.

Airborne (Green) Goblin 

I fully expect to tinker, upgrade and work to dial in the fit of the goblin over the coming months but in the meantime I’m looking forward to learning to ride on the bigger wheels and most importantly having lots of fun.

Airborne's official Skyhawk vid:

Airborne's official Goblin vid: