Airborne is a brand that has been through a lot in the past number of years. From consumer direct titanium frames, to consumer direct affordable mountain bikes sold under the Huffy umbrella, Airborne is now back under private ownership as of January, 1 2017.
It’s not just any ownership either – the son of DK’s original founder, Bill Danishek recently bought the DK brand back from Huffy and ended up acquiring Airborne as well. Now with both brands under private ownership, their design team is free to move forward with improved bikes, and new categories as well…
Just about everything shown at Sea Otter is still very much a prototype, but it hints towards the future of the brand. Moving forward, bikes will be named after birds or planes which is fitting of the name Airborne. They will also feature all new color palettes, likely with subdued graphics and matching decals on parts like shocks and forks.
Airborne’s Brand Manager Michael Gamstetter says they are still finalizing the bike range, but it will likely include 130mm and 150mm travel 27.5″ full suspension bikes, as well as a 120mm travel full suspension 29er – for sure in aluminum, and possibly in carbon fiber as the bike above.
The 27.5″ 150mm travel aluminum Thrush is likely to see production and brings an all new suspension platform to the brand. Spec and colors may change, but this ‘Forestry Service’ green with brown accents was looking great in person.
Airborne is also likely to get back into the road market, though the Harrier will likely be carbon fiber rather than the brand’s original titanium.
The aluminum Skyhawk dirt jumper prototype had a great Sea Otter debut after Barry Nobles loaned the one and only Skyhawk to DK racer Collin Hudson. Collin would go on to win the Pump Track Invitational at Sea Otter – it’s hard to have a better debut than that. Gamstetter says that the frame will see a few tweaks for production, but it should be an exciting bike for Airborne.
Airborne is also making changes to the Pathogen DH bike which have been well received by team members. That includes more tire clearance, a lower BB, 12 x 157mm rear spacing, and almost a pound taken out of the frame.
