157 – Test Ride

Who knew aluminum and rubber could be so sexy?

I had the opportunity to test ride what will probably be my next mountain bike yesterday. Airborne Bicycles showed up to MoMBA with their demo fleet of Goblins and Hobgoblins for a “Try Mountain Biking” event, part of this year’s Adventure Series sponsored by Subaru and Five Rivers Metroparks.

I’ve been eyeing Airborne’s Hobgoblin since its debut, as I think that it represents the best value in the 29er market, just reading off the spec sheet. It boasts a full SRAM X7 drivetrain, Rockshox suspension and Elixir 3 brakes, all mounted to a thoughtfully designed, well-developed, hydroformed aluminum frame. Originally conceived as an entry level cross-country racer, various magazines and review websites have tweaked the Hobgoblin to fulfill all-mountain and even light downhill duty, by fitting longer travel suspension and shorter stems to hold wider bars.

My own test ride was somewhat less thorough than I would have liked, owing to a tight time table and the fact that I’d already run and lifted that day, so my legs weren’t quite fresh. I had the Airborne guys mount my pedals and adjust the seat, and then I rushed off to hit as much trail as I could in a half hour. I rode Twisted, Mr. ZigZag, Voodoo, and Lower/Upper Stealth in my allotted time, which gave me a fairly well rounded sampling of the bike’s abilities, although I would have liked to have time to try it out in the rock gardens of Hawk’s Lair.

A rack full of fun.

The first thing I noticed was the cockpit. It was just the right amount of aggressive, but also comfortable and well oriented. Everything felt like it was where it should be, and while I’d probably go with a thicker grip to accommodate my larger hands, I didn’t find any aspect of the layout distracting. The second thing I noticed, as I swooped and pumped through the opening sections of Twisted, was how quickly it turned. The head angle is precisely correct, rendering steering that is quick and responsive without being nervous or twitchy. That’s a delicate balance to strike, and it’s one that Airborne got right.

Mid corner, the bike seems to squat and dig, inspiring confidence, and aided by reliable traction from tires that were exactly suited to yesterday’s dry and tacky trail conditions. The tires themselves made a little more noise when cornering than I expected, but I quickly found out that on this bike, noise does not equal a slide, and I never found myself losing traction, even when trail braking into a corner. The cornering limit of this bike will have to be found another day, but within a couple miles I was already carving with nearly as much aggression as I do on my seasoned and familiar Trek Fuel EX.

The big difference I thought I would experience revealed itself in an unexpected way. The major advantage of 29 inch hoops over 26, it is said, is bump absorption. The larger diameter wheels are more able to roll over obstacles, making the ride “easier.” Or so goes the theory. But I found that in most instances, bump absorption was relatively similar to my 26 inch Fuel, with the possible exception of tightly grouped roots, which the Hobgoblin seemed to turn into one obstacle, rather than a small series.

The reason for this is easily explained. The Fuel, with its smaller wheels, also has longer suspension travel, boasting 130mm (5.1 in) to the Hobgoblin’s 100mm (3.9 in). The result is that, for your average bump, the feeling of hitting and clearing it is about the same, but there is a key difference. The Fuel absorbs the bump through suspension travel, which means it is dissipating energy through the stroke of the fork and shock, while the Hobgoblin simply rolls over it, conserving more forward momentum. So while the feeling of the bump is similar, you’ll be going faster after it on the 29er.

I was particularly keen on my ride to find some of the drawbacks that used to plague the 29 inch bikes. When they first hit the market a decade ago, they were notorious for being sluggish, heavy, poor climbers and slow turners. I can say that I found none of these traits present in the Hobgoblin, with only a slight reluctance to “pop” off the top of a jump, a discrepancy that may have had as much to do with my conservative riding or the generic, demo suspension setup as anything the bike itself was doing.

It turned quickly; it handled with little effort. And thanks to a well-selected drivetrain, it climbed particularly well, with no noticeable bobbing in the rear suspension, even when standing and stomping on the pedals. While my Fuel tends to launch out of corners a touch harder for the first couple pedal strokes, the Airborne covers this small advantage by maintaining its momentum better, leaving the rider more relaxed and in a faster gear.

Finally, I looked hard for a weak point on the bike, something that would justify or explain the $400-1500 premium that the likes of Trek, Cannondale, Giant and Specialized are charging for their class equivalents. But, at least in my short ride, I just didn’t find any. The bike looks good at a distance and in detail, with a hard clearcoat, metallic flake paint and internal cable routing. It seems to be well assembled, and everything feels tight and true. There were none of the sloppy tolerances or ugly welds you’d expect out of a bargain bike, it wasn’t overly heavy (right about 30 lbs) or garishly over-stickered.

The guys over at VitalMTB managed to get the rear pivot to loosen up by beating the living daylights out of it on some jumps and drops, but I don’t think that’s what this bike was really designed to do. Having chatted with the guy who designed it and ridden on some of the very trails it was tested on, it’s really an entry level XC racer, with some all-mountain leanings. If you’re looking to go downhilling, jumping or similar, you’ll want something more ruggedly built. But then, you wouldn’t drive a roofing nail with a sledgehammer either, would you?

I left the ride grinning and impressed, fairly well convinced that when I’m finally ready to say goodbye to my faithful Fuel, the Hobgoblin will fill its venerable shoes easily. Airborne has managed to put together a very capable bike that delivers on fun, doesn’t compromise on quality, and does it all at a price that has to leave the accountants at the Big 4 scratching their heads.