Building off of their successes with 29ers and quality bicycles, Airborne out of Dayton has unveiled their newest model, the Goblin Evolution. From just reading the name, you might start to think that this bike is just the “new” version of their wildly popular Goblin. You could not be more wrong.
Jumping in with both feet into the hardtail trail category, it seems that Airborne has hit this one completely out of the park. Let’s take a look at the specs, straight from the horse’s mouth:
-Frame optimized for 120mm travel fork
-Larger diameter top-tube, downtube, chainstays, and seatstays
-Contoured “Round-to-Square” seat-tube with direct FD mount
-Pressfit GXP BB shell
-Clearance for 2.5inch tires
-142x12mm rear Maxle
-69 degree HT with 435mm chainstays and 12.5inch BB height
-120mm RockShox Revelation fork with 15mm Maxle and lock-out
-Hayes Prime Comp hydraulic disc brakes
-SRAM X7 2×10 drive train with an X9 Type 2 rear derailleur
-Sun-Ringle Charger Comp tubeless-ready wheelset with custom matching decals
-Maxxis Ardent 2.4 folding bead tires
-Truvativ Stylo T-30 cockpit.
-18″ frame weighs in at 27.4lbs
All of those goodies for the low price of $1599! This is what blows me away about this company. This bike is in the same realm as the Trek Stache, Diamondback Mason, or even the Kona Taro/Honzo, for a price way below what bikes in this category usually go for.
This is a great looking bike, which Ariborne is saying will hit the states in February 2014. I will admit, when I first saw the HobGoblin I thought that would be my next bike. Scratch that, the Evolution is it. And they had to make it blue to boot, which means it will fit right in with the other bikes in my stable.
Well done once again Airborne!
Get Outside Cincinnati!
