Review: Airborne HobGoblin 29er
Airborne HobGoblin 29er – Full Suspension 29er Provides a Solid Ride at a Solid Price
Airborne Bicycles is not a brand that you will see in your local bike shop. They sell consumer direct via their website which allows them to offer more affordable bikes that are a solid value. The name Airborne may be familiar to you if you have been mountain biking for a while. The old company also sold consumer direct, but they specialized in mostly titanium mountain (and road) bicycles. The Airborne of today is under completely different ownership and production, but still offers a good value.
When buying consumer direct, you have to know how to size up the right bike for you and how to assemble the bike once it’s received (or take it to a local bike shop for assembly). Fortunately, the folks at Airborne will work with you (via phone or email) to help figure out what size you need. The bike comes about 90% assembled, so putting it together is not that hard for any half decent home mechanic.
The HobGoblin 29er has 100mm of travel front and rear and is targeted at the XC/Trail rider. It comes in two models as a complete bike and it is also available as a frame only, if you want to build your own from the ground up. The top of the line HobGoblin X0 features a SRAM X0 drivetrain and upgraded fork and wheels with an MSRP of $2999.95. Since value is such a key point with Airborne Bicycles, we felt it best to test the standard HobGoblin with X7 level parts, which sells for $1749.95. The frame only option will run you $879.95.
The Frame
All of Airborne’s bikes are aluminum and of the six models of mountain bikes that they sell, four are 6061 hydroformed aluminum and the two full suspension models (the Hobgoblin and the DH/FR oriented Pathogen) are made from 7000 series hydroformed and double-butted aluminum. The HobGoblin frame also features a tapered head tube, press fit bottom bracket and direct mount front derailleur. The tapered head tube is a good length and isn’t too tall, which is especially important on the small frame (15.5″) that we rode. The standard HobGoblin comes with a nice finish called Metallic Normandy Blue with sparkly metal flake. The clear coat is durable and gives the bike a nice sheen. The X0 version comes in Matte Midnight Black and the frame only option comes in Metallic Tracer Orange.
The frame features slick internal routing for the shifter cables, which is a nice touch for this price point. It has one set of water bottle cage mounts on the down tube and it also has plenty of tire and front derailleur clearance. The HobGoblin is available in 4 sizes: 15.5″, 17″, 19″ and 21″.
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