Well Sea Otter has come and gone, but my passion for riding has only gotten stronger because of the experience. I went to Sea Otter knowing I was going to come home with either a cross country (xc) or all mountain (am) rig. But I could never have guessed what was going to happen.

It was my last day at Sea Otter when I finally took the Taka, Airborne Bicycles downhill/freeride offering, out for a spin. Having only taken my xc bike out on a downhill (dh) course once before, I didn't considered myself much of a dh or freerider, but I do ride my xc bikes pretty aggressively.

The Taka (Japanese 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 by the Marzocchi shock and fork setup.

The ride was, dare I say, plush (this is coming from a xc rider who knows about plush). I didn't know exactly how a downhill bike should feel, but if I had to guess, this would be it. But for some reason, I expected a bike like this to be somewhat harsh, but that's just not the case.

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 RScycle.com it's an absolute steal. I can't wait to get it to my local downhill course.