First I talked to some old friends who recently bought some new mountain bikes, old riding buddies. They were raving about the new 29ers and how it would have been nice having one back when we rode so much during the summers.
I did a little research on what the difference is between a typical mountain bike and a 29er. At this point I always rode a rigid frame, and even having a front suspension fork will be a big change for me(always used the elbow suspension God gave me). I knew I wanted a hard tail. So I did some looking.....
A good blog that gave me a start
Another article
Great Forum for lots of Mountain Biking talk
Basically its simple physics...
Larger tires = more power to start but easier to keep rolling
More air in the tires = smoother ride
Greater circumference = rolls over rocks, stumps and bumps easier
Bigger wheels = more weight
Bigger bike = less nimble
I am a big guy, it was fun to throw around my old 26 regular hard tail mountain bike but I wont have any trouble getting a 29er rolling or moving around. I have always been able to build enough torque through the cranks and having a bigger wheel just seems like fun.
So I went to my local bike shops(LBS) and tried out a few bikes.
Tried the Trek Gary Fisher Collection Marlin for $650. Not bad, I do like trek, as my old bike was a good ole trek that weathered a ton of riding.
The second bike was a 2011 Giant Talon 2 for $600. The bike pictured is the 2012. This was decent and after riding these I was glad I was looking at 29ers. They felt different but good.
The last bike I tried was the Fuji Tahoe 4.0.
After seeing these bikes and then going back and actually comparing what they offered I saw the Airborne Goblin being referenced and looked at Airborne bikes. I was also considering a Motobecane because of the components for the price.
What sold me on the Airborne Guardian was that in comparison to the bikes I tried the Guardian was just a step higher in value. Yes I dont have it yet but at this point that is the only downside to my purchase. So my real decision was based on the value I feel I am getting for my money.
After making that decision I started to figure out what is Airborne Bicycles? How are they getting these bikes to customers? And is this a good decision or they are just providing a cheap product that will break down?
Refer to my first post on my view of the company.
As to was this a good decision? Well I will keep this blog going as to my setup, and continued riding. So stay tuned....
