This bike gets you into the serious off road game with a quality bike for the lowest price out there. With hydraulic brakes, an air fork, and 2X10 gears you have all the critical components to ride some serious trails and have fun. If laid back fire roads are more your thing, you have probably the finest ride you could ever want.

1. Rigid frame
2. Reasonably light, not even factoring in price
3. Shifts well and will last
4. All components work well together
5. Durability
6. Fast efficient pedaler
7. Fork
8. Fun

The SRAM Avid brakes can have quality issues. SRAM and Airbone have stood by their products and supported any issues with outstanding warranty coverage.

That's about it.

I am an ex dirt bike motocross rider and have owned a road bicycle for many years. Always wanted a mountain bike but didn't want to break the bank price wise. I ride Block Island, RI once a year and my road bike was treacherous on sandy dirt roads. I bought the Seeker and used it for a week long Block Is. trip. I though I had died and gone to heaven. This bike was fast on pavement, fast and stable on dirt roads, and steady in the sand. I loved the 2X10 gears and everything about how the bike performed on the island. Its like having a Mercedes to ride around on. Even the teenagers on the trip were jealous of the 29" wheels as I rolled by them going downhill. For combined riding this bike can't be beat. Its not as fast as a dedicated road bike on the street, but who really cares. It will do short commutes just fine.

So on to the the trail performance. I live across the street from a conservation forest with fire roads and hiking trials that allow mtb's. The hiking trails are very rocky and technical single tracks. In the twisty, steep, rocky stuff, the XC cockpit this bike comes with is not ideal. The tires are also the "small block" style as opposed to knobby style. I changed out the narrow bars and long stem for wide bars (750mm) and short stem (40mm) and voila''''' I had myself a really fun trail bike that handled well. Even the tires turned out to be pretty good on the trail as long as it wasn't real wet. I would describe its handling as very neutral, its not twitchy or overly quick, it goes where pointed. Since its a 29er, its not super playful, but it rolls like a tank over everything in its way. I have the 22" largest frame and I suspect the smaller sizes will feel a little more playful. The air fork is great for the price range and works fine for everything I have thrown at it, and I weigh about 250 lbs, so that's a lot. I did get a brake upgrade under warranty that didn't cost me anything and the upgraded brakes are a huge improvement.

This bike is just the right cut above an entry level $500 bike to make it perform really well and be durable. Other than make it more Trail friendly, I don't see any need for "upgrades" on this bike, it performs outstanding just the way it is. If you are looking at entry level bikes, spend the extra cash for this model, it will blow you away with its quality and performance.

When I bought this bike, Airborne had not introduced their "EVO Trail bike" which has the changes I made to my Seeker, plus even more performance enhancing features. Knowing what I know now, I would have considered the EVO and it would have hit my ideal bike mark a little closer, granted for a jump up in price. If you want to attack the tech trails, look hard at the EVO, otherwise the Seeker is a great performing bike that will last and give miles of enjoyable riding.