2011 Airborne Wingman Bike

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The wingman is stiff, light and maneuverable. Nothing feels like the bike is $660. Until you have logged some actual time on the bike. After riding far more expensive dirt jumpers, i can fairly say that this is able to keep up in basic dirt jump arenas but for advanced riders looking to start pulling bigger tricks it is a close call. Everything on the bike promotes control and high flying. Berms are swallowed up and pumptracks are absolutely demolished. Use it for freestyle, Dual slolam, its even light enough for 4X. Stock the bike doesnt quite cut it though. There are three main problems- headset, fork, and crank. After having problems with it three different bike shops said the stock crank isnt compatible with the frame and can only work partially with careful adjustment. Also the headset comes loose a ton. Is it because the stock headset is crap? nope. an upgrade to a cane creek 40 didnt solve the problem. And I was even more appaled to run into two wingman owners having THE SAME EXACT PROBLEMS. That being said the bike will for sure make for a good beginner DJ bike and will take you to new heights (literally and figuratively) With a few upgrades and adjustments the bike will fit like a glove and preform like it costs more towards three grand rather than 600.
So how do the individual components preform? ---

• Wheels- The Alex Fr30 wheels are decent freeride rims. They are dual walled so they are durable and will not bent easily. They are exceptionally light. The hubs and spokes however are pretty heavy and are a bit of a disappointment when paired with such great rims
  
  
• Fork- The Marzocchi DJ 3 fork gives me mixed feelings. It is somewhat plush and responsive. It is however a bit on the heavy side and adjustment is near impossible. The other downside to the suspension is that since Marzocchi might go under there may no longer be a suspension warranty. It runs 9mm bmx bolts rather than a thru axle which makes removal easy but isnt quite as stiff.
  
  
• Crank- pretty heavy and likes to come loose. Keep an eye on it. Some shops have even told me its not compatible with the frame
  
  
• Frame- Light, stiff and looks trick. the geometry gives control that i have felt on no other bike in this price range
  
  
• Cockpit- (bars stem grips)- There just kind of there. the cockpit is all preference so the chance its perfect is slim. i like short stems, wide bars and not much rise. I have switched out the bars, stem and grips. That's nothing big though, to adjust to new bars and stem.
  
  
• Brakes- Tektro is notorious for being difficult to dial in. That aside, I was pleasantly surprised with their performance. Once dialed, they are consistent and strong. A little on the heavy side, but good. I might replace them at some point but there staying for now
  
  
• Headset- Crap. tough to dial in, and can come loose. being an integrated system shops can be confused by it during service. The compression ring is rubber so upgrading that to a metal one is cheap and worth while. Upgrades are a pain because the integrated system is not commonly found on big bike brands like trek. If I upgrade mine I will upgrade it bit by bit. It will work though, but for high performance a new compression ring is a good idea.
  
  
• Tires- They are beefy which gives a bit of cushion during tough landings. They have beefy but fast knobs so they are great for riding dirt jumps and slopestyle. They aren't perfect for street parks but they are pretty good still.
• Ride- Extremely maneuverable. The bike has wheel/pedal clearance for bar spins and it is able to pull massive whips like it is second nature. My friend has even pulled tailwhips on it. The bike can bust some tricks to say the least.
  
  

Overall -- For the price it rocks. Over all it will get work done and carry you to new heights. There are better components so upgrading is not out of the question. stock it will get the job done and airborne should be proud of the machine they have made. Would recommend it for a budgeted rider who only rides once or twice a week. for people who ride more and are more advanced pass on it.