[sircrashalot]

Anyone have any experience, opinions, recommendations on the Airborne Paka-Wallup?

I am looking for a light XC race frame, this thing weighs 3.5 lbs with a Manitou QRL. It is a Ti soft tail. I don't know if it has enough suspension for New England riding or not. Not looking do do anything but XC racing with it. No big drops etc...

Thanks

 

[FreeRangeChicken]

Anyone have any experience, opinions, recommendations on the Airborne Paka-Wallup?

I am looking for a light XC race frame, this thing weighs 3.5 lbs with a Manitou QRL. It is a Ti soft tail. I don't know if it has enough suspension for New England riding or not. Not looking do do anything but XC racing with it. No big drops etc...

Thanks

I don't have any experience with that frame, but I didi own a Litespeed Unicoi soft tail for a while. You'll probably get somewhere between 1"-2" of travel out of a soft tail. They do take the edge off the hits and they're really nice on washboard stuff, but in the end the rear triangle was just too flexy for my liking. The bike felt like a noodle to me. The Airborne frame may not be as laterally flexy, but if you think about it the rear triangle of a soft tail is going to be slightly compromised in lateral stiffness since there is only hard attachments at the bottom of the triangle.

Anyway, don't know if that will be a factor for you. I ended up going back to a regular titanium hardtail. Still a pretty plush ride for a hard tail. Take a look at www.excelsports.com . They have a Ti hardtail frame that is built by Litespeed and sold under the name Macalu.... a pretty good value. The Litespeed badged version is about $500 more. I believe the frame sells for around $950 at Excel.

FRC

 

[Guest]

Anyone have any experience, opinions, recommendations on the Airborne Paka-Wallup?

I am looking for a light XC race frame, this thing weighs 3.5 lbs with a Manitou QRL. It is a Ti soft tail. I don't know if it has enough suspension for New England riding or not. Not looking do do anything but XC racing with it. No big drops etc...

Thanks

I've owned several bikes (Trek Y-3, Y-33, an old Scott hardtail, Airborne Lucky Strike, and two Paka Wallups - the first was a short travel prototype). My 2" bike is the best mountain bike I've owned. It is awesome. The reviews on this site are accurate. If you have specific questions, please ask. Also, I don't think the frame is 3.5 lbs. That is a pretty decent weight for a hardtail.