alright fellow nerds, my AIRBORNE TAKA has arrived and is pieced together. i love it. to say the least. the very least. already took it to our pack of jumps and hit the 9 footer with it. hit some small chutes and burms we have there too, AWESOME. it handles like a dream. of course there will be more fine tuning in the next weeks but it is an awesome bike.

couple of items that were so so: pretty big dinger taken out of the left side of the fork ( happened during shipping )
and there is some small little dingers on the frame. also during shipping. but.... i can loook past the small paint chips.... it is a downhill bike afterall. Also, i have a very small amount of play in the top bolt on the swing arm, in a couple of other reviews i have read, other riders have also expierenced this. i will contact airborne bikes in the morning, i think i just need a little bigger bolt for the swingarm. ill get it handled.

but, other than that everything is awesome.

im getting new grips, and pedals in the next couple days.

and posibly new bars.

My final thought for this review is that I think the AIRBORNE TAKA is an awesome, less expensive way to be able to explore riding downhill bikes without having to drop thousands of dollars elsewhere with any other downhill bike company. airborne did a good job, and i plan to start racing immidiatly.

thank you for checking out my review on the airborne taka.
-christopher daigle

(by the way- i am not associated with airborne bikes in any way what so ever. ) at least not yet.... hopefully ;).

a tout le monde everyone.

hello nerds, i just checked in on my shipping...... and its enroute. im stoked, beyond stoked. going to get a fulll review as sooon as i get it.... so stay tuned. go ahead and ask me any questions if you have any. thanks nerds. -chris.

I caught myself 40 miles away from where my XC bike hangs and the night ride started in less than 2 hours. I made a phone call to Airborne Flight Crew rider, Tony Caruso, to see if his bike, an Airborne Taka, was still up for grabs. I reluctantly clipped in to this 40+ pound pig but was honestly surprised at how much fun this bike is to ride. I had so much fun sprinting around the tight singletrack, and was really amazed at the rear suspension. It never bottomed out even though I weigh 20 lbs more than Tony. I had a little trouble getting the bike in the air over the tabletops, but that may have been my error. Speaking of my errors, a couple times I used way too much front brake and made the super tight turns a tad wobbly. A couple of times I felt the back tire slide out to the right but the tires gripped nicely and easily corrected in sandy, dry, frozen conditions. This bike handled the uphills pretty well. I had no problem standing and sprinting on this bike. The brakes and drivetrain were dialed in very nicely and still "stock". I really like this bike and I am 6 foot 3 inches riding a 19 in frame. Somehow it worked out.

First the good. This bike is probably the plushest feeling downhill bike I have ever ridden. Thats coming from riding two different Yeti downhill bikes, an ironhorse sunday, and an astrix havoc. Anyone who has doubts about the marzocchi fork just because it only has rebound - forget about them. Most downhillers only really need rebound anyway..they just convince them selves they need compression settings so they can talk thei wives into letting them buy the more bling fork. The fork is smoother than both my boxxer team and fox 40. This bike feels great in the air. It has a great balance, and absorbs 8-12 foot drop offs like they are nothing. ..corning capability isn't great, but not too bad either. Now the bad...this bike is HEAVY. Maybe my scale is off but when i weighed it on my scale it came in at a solid 47lbs. This isn't a problem when you are hucking of small cliff lines a-la-red bull rampage style, but is a problem when racing. You need every ounce of strength you have to keep that bike on the trail, and to pedal pedal pedal! This brings in the 2nd downside of the bike (and this is only is a downside for racing) the single pivot suspension design absolutely SUCKS to pedal on. On my iron horse sunday, i can stand up, sit down, damn near due a handstand in the air on my bike and it will pedal like its a hardtail. You punch the pedal it leaps forward..not so with the Taka. If you have to stand up to pedal this bike (like sometimes you are doing when trying to pedal while bouncing over crap on a downhill course)you will get some of the worst feedback and pedal jolts I have ever felt. Even sitting down and pedaling, there is considerable feedback when you are trying to pedal really fast and hard. So while the single pivot makes for the plushest ride I've felt on any bike, don't plan on being able to sprint across the finish line with this bike. That said, if you aren't serious into actual racing, I don't think there is a downhill or freeride bike out there that can beat this thing on ride quality or value.

as i said in the title, no word is sufficient to sum up this bike but epic. probably the best downhill bike you can buy on GiantNerd for the money. My friend owns this and let me take it out for a spin the other day and let me tell you, the marzochhi forks rival the fox DH race float rear and boxxer world cups on my trek session 8!

Editorial by RL Policar: “One of the best things about MtnBikeRiders.com is the ability to test all sorts of great products. But with the influx of product reviews our staff are working on, we requested the help of Team Rider, Art Aguilar to test out the new Airborne Taka DH Bike. Read his review below.”
This is my first test for Mtnbikeriders.com ,and when RL asked me to do this test I was like ”wow cool” , and as one of their newest team riders I wasn’t just racing for them, but asked to evaluate a new product for the masses, now where do I start, pick the bike apart, play with the suspension, or just ride it.

Yeah JUST RIDE IT!
Well the call came in, RL posted it on the site and I laid my eyes on it for the first time and thought “Wow it looks cool for a single pivot bike” , now I’ve had my experience with single pivot bike in the past as a matter of fact my first dh bike was single pivot and let me tell you I didn’t ride that bike it rode me and in rough stuff I had to hold on for dear life, so was this what I was to expect, now on to the test and see what it has to offer.

We met up at the secret testing grounds on a beautiful so-cal day and when I saw the bike for the first time it looked better in real life, the Airborne Taka had no flashy look to it like most DH bikes out there, and as a matter of fact it was very low key. A desert tan with subdued graphics, I liked it, hell give me this thing let me dawn my desert bdu’s put my M-4 on my back and go do some DH in Afghanistan.

OK before the first ride down I didn’t expect much, I set up the cockpit for me, and the suspension. I know it would have to be dialed in and it did, but that first ride I hit a few jumps and aside from the fork topping out it flew in the air well, I stopped played with the rebound on the front and rear, played with the preload and was off. A few more runs and I felt right at home jumping the Taka.

Well it was a short day and I was impressed with this short ride on it, but what will happen when I really push it at race speed and on rough rock sections, or big chopped out brake bumps, will see?
WHAT’S IN A NAME
Taka what does it mean? To me it sounds Japanese, so I looked it up and found that Taka means falcon, no wonder it has such great balance in the air. Ha, ha, I always love what a marketing department could come up with and as they say it’s all in the name.


ONE HECK OF A SPEC’ED OUT BIKE
The first thing I noticed was what this bike came with, again “WOW”, Marzocchi 888 RV fork , Marzocchi ROCO R coil over rear shock, SRAM drivetrain , FSA Moto x cranks, E-13 LG-1 guide, Avid juicy three brakes with 8” rotors, WTB Laserdisc DH wheel set, Kore Torsion bars and Kore B18 stem, WTB saddle, and rounding it up with some great grippers Maxxis Minion dh tires. Wow that’s a lot of good stuff I tell you.


MORE RIDING, HITTING THE ROUGH STUFF
My next test rides were at two well known famous trail in socal, one known as T*****x and the once well known downhill capital of the world Big Bear CA. T*****x is a great dh trail for testing suspension and handling, it has a mix of fast straight a ways, rock drops, and fast berm turns.

The Taka handled all mix of terrain quite well; the Maxxis Minion 2.5 dh tires never let you down and hook up on just about any terrain. Hitting the high speed rough straights the suspension worked great keeping you on track, but once I hit the super rough rocky areas and choppy braking bumps I did experience the rear end become less active under braking, but not like anything I was use to on the older single pivot bikes I owned in the past, it was still active a little and kept me in line to concentrate on the trail ahead. “WOW” new shock technology really works. Cornering on the Taka was effortless I felt super comfortable on it at speed through the turns, point and go, even jumping was great on this bike, it felt light in the air and very controllable.

Running the trails in Big Bear are just as fast, but a little longer and the Airborne Taka shined there to. The stiff frame, DH geometry, and the suspension with a great cockpit layout make this bike a blast to ride.

VALUE
Now this is the best part, the “PRICE”!
At Giant Nerd they are selling the Airborne Taka for; now get this, “$1300.00 green back”!!

I have never in my life seen a DH bike spec’d out like this for this price. This make it one of the best buy’s you can ever put your hands on, and it makes downhill affordable for beginners and sport racers as well as the weekend warrior.
OVERALL
I find very little to fault on the Airborne Taka. Its well spec’d out for the price, has excellent handling, and would make the perfect beginner, sport racer weapon for the downhiller on a budget.
The best part about a bike like this with its solid frame is you upgrade to top of the line forks and shock and you would have an even better handling bike to eat up all the bumps.

The Airborne Taka truly is its name sake and its flies high to me with its parts package, handling, cockpit lay out, and the best part. “THE PRICE”!

Highs
Handling
Name brand components
Great Suspension Front & Rear
No expensive upgrading required (though you’ll quickly replace the seat post clamp and grips)

Lows
Seat post clamp
Narrow Bars
Juicy 3’s might be out-gunned by some riders
grips

Frame
Nice color and graphics (my opinion), solidly built with good geometry for Freeride and downhill.

Components
Nothing lacking here for the gravity set. I ripped this baby stock on local free-ride trails, at Snowshoe and 7Springs resorts. Superb Wtb, Marzochi, Maxxis, Kore and SRAM setup. Even has an e13 chain guide! Some might want a wider bar than the stock 29” and a more personalized stem. But you can buy it, add your favorite pedals and go rip!

Performance
The geometry is perfect for it’s application. It jumps well, shreds rocks and drops, and generally puts a simile on my face. The single-pivot suspension works a treat once you’ve dialed it (look for videos on setup from the manufacturers), the Mazxxis Minion tires are DH favs and the frame is plenty stiff. The shifting was good with the X7 and the e13 was barely noticeable.

For your hard earned dollar, Airborne gives you what you deserve – a great bike at an undeniably great price. Checkout the facebook page for videos and discussion. This bike has already won a few races!

FYI: My firm works for Airborne, so I was given the Taka to ride (thank you very much), and I have decided to review it even though I am not obligated to do so.

This bike is one of the sickest bikes of all. I had never heard of this bike untill I got a call from airborne telling me I won a raffle at the Sea Otter Classic. I had an opportunity to choose any airborne bike. I chose this bike though because it was a dh bike which I love to ride and it is a great bike. The bike has great suspension and I can hit anything I want with out having to worry about anything. I can hit 10 foot drops and not feel a thing. If you are looking to buy a dh bike for one of the best prices probably on the market this is the bike for you! I really suggest you get this bike and get a feel for it yourself! Airborne rocks!!

Quick and dirty MTB reviews.
‭Airborne Taka


‭Very stiff frame with good welds and solid components that let the suspension do the work it is supposed to do.‭ ‬Active single pivot rear triangle with excellent tracking.‭ ‬Pedals surprisingly well for‭ ‬8‭” ‬DH bike,‭ ‬even on moderately hilly XC trails.
Lots of frame standover height make this bike a good time when backwoods rock and gnar are the fare of the day.‭ ‬No problems with clipping rocks with the pedals.‭

Nice controls and brake hardware that haven't required any unusual adjustments after a month of riding.

Both front and rear shocks are solid units that respond well to small turns of the rebound valves.‭
The matt finish and graphics look great and even road snobs have to stop and compliment it's styling.‭ ‬Makes rider look cooler than they actually are.

I've been riding the Taka under a variety of situations where very few downhill bikes will be found.‭ ‬Urban freeriding,‭ ‬cruising the neighborhood,‭ ‬cross country and backwoods technical riding are all a blast on this bike.‭ ‬Downhill bikes are pretty rare around these parts and everybody that throws a leg over this thing comes back smiling like a kid who just learned to powerslide a Bigwheel.‭

Considering this bike can be had for less than two grand,‭ ‬I cant find a lot to complain about other than‭  ‬some minor,‭ ‬mostly cosmetic issues.‭ ‬The stickers on the fork are thin and are easily marred.‭ ‬At least one of the‭ “‬c‭” ‬clips used for securing the rear derailleur cable will conveniently eject itself from the bike while you ride.‭ ‬The seat collar was an instant hit with the recycling bin.‭ ‬Seriously‭? ‬This thing strips quicker than Paris Hilton at‭ ‬4am.‭ ‬A reliable quick release seat collar should be standard equipment on all mountain bikes.‭ ‬Nuff said.

Despite my few nit-picks,‭ ‬this bike just begs to be ridden frequently and ridden hard.‭ ‬It flys though rock gardens,‭ ‬airs out with ease and sticks the landings with near pro-level confidence.‭

All the other bikes in my shop have been collecting dust since this bike showed up.‭ ‬I don't miss them.
Tony Caruso
Flight Crew

This bike rocks. The frame design is amazing, it goes fast, it jumps high, it's very responsive and it looks cool. At $1599, it's a no-brainer. BUY IT!!

Watch this vid to watch it in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbV6QWbMtEM

Since I can't edit a submitted review, I need to make an addition to the the previous review titled "The Taka was made to fly." I forgot to mention that I am a member of the Airborne Flight Crew. We are a group of unpaid independent contractors that test ride and review bike in the Airborne lineup.

The Taka (****anese for falcon) is an incredibly fun bike to ride. Despite being a 40+ lbs downhill bike, it feels designed to take flight. Once airborne, it is well composed and confidence inspiring because it predictability. And what good is all that if a bike can't handle the landing? No problem for the Taka. Landings are eaten up with ease by the Marzocchi shock and fork combination.

The ride was, dare I say, plush (this is coming from a rider who normally rides aggressive xc and knows about plush). The bike begs to be ridden fast through it's FSA/SRAM drivetrain. No matter how fast you're going, it seems to scream at you "faster!!!!" And I was only so happy to oblige. As speeds increased, so did the smile on my face. Controlling the speed are a set of Avid Juicy 3's which perform the task with no fuss. The Maxis Minion's on the WTB laserdisc wheels are not the stickiest tires in cornering on the type of trail ridden (hard packed sand), but they seem predictable and did not complain under heavy braking. I'll be able to give a more comprehensive comment on the tires as I ride them on differing types of trail.

I arrived at Sea Otter as an aggressive xc rider and left a changed rider, adding downhilling/freeriding to list of things I love about mountain biking. Thank you Reed for encouraging me to take the Taka out for a ride. I would have never guessed how much it would change my life. With the current sale prices at Giantnerd.com it's an absolute steal. I can't wait to get it to my local downhill course.

This bike is a great buy for the money. The suspension is very plush and is a very smooth ride. Between the front suspension and rear suspension this bike will eat up any obsticles you put in front of it. At the price it looks like a entry level downhill, it is a very nice bike with very competitive specs. After riding it I wished I had enough terrain to bring one back home. This is one serious bike at a great price.

I had a chance to play around on this bike at Sea Otter 2010. This is easily one of the best values in downhill bikes right now. It has a great build kit with the Marzocchi 888 up front and a Roco R in the rear. The geometry felt spot on and it comes with a great set of brakes to slow you down.

I haven't had a chance to ride it on anything serious yet. I'll have a chance to ride this all over the west coast starting in a couple weeks. I'll post up more later after I get a chance to take it on some more serious trails.