Airframe Ultra Customization Guide: Racers, Airframes, and Mods

How do I customize my character and Airframe in Airframe Ultra?

You customize through the game's EDIT RIDER menu, where you build a racer and pick the Airframe they ride, then chase new helmets, clothes and parts by racing. The official Steam description sums up the loop: "make your racer," and later "New helmets, new clothes. Make yourself a statement-- a uniform. Win enough parts and you can make a new 'frame."

How do I create my racer?

Open the EDIT RIDER menu to build a custom Rider. According to the community's Rider page on the Airframe Ultra Wiki, custom riders can be edited and saved as new ones by changing their name, with options covering body type, skin color, hair, clothing, Airframe and barks.

Reported customization options include:

• Body type – Standard, Light, Heavy and Tall builds, each with different strengths and weaknesses.
• Hair – style, a base color and a dye color.
• Clothing – all optional and cosmetic, including helmets.
• Barks – short in-game messages, up to eight per custom Rider.

The same community page notes that clothing is purely cosmetic except the "Rider Suit," which it says reduces damage taken by 15%. That figure is community documentation, not something the store page states.

Videocult showed off the creator in an official character creator trailer, and a PC Gamer preview describes the project as a "loud and dumb and fast" cyberpunk racer — a very different tone from the studio's earlier Rain World, per PC Gamer.

What can I customize on my Airframe?

Your Airframe (the game's hover bike) gets a model, colours, a pattern and stickers. According to the community wiki, the chosen Airframe covers "model, three color palettes (a base color and detail color), pattern (if 'Sport' is selected, you can specify a number), and toggle stickers." It also lists Bluntnose, Vector, Cruiser and Hopper among the Airframes. The store page confirms building and customizing a 'frame is part of progression but does not detail every option.

How do I unlock new parts and outfits?

You earn them by racing and finishing well. The store description says you'll "rack up kills and cross finish lines" to get new helmets and clothes, and that winning "enough parts" lets you "make a new 'frame." A September 2026 beta announcement says that test build added a progression system, shops and bike building. The exact unlock costs and the full list of parts are not documented on the official store page.

What are mods and how do they work?

The store page mentions "a few custom mods" as part of your racer's loadout, and lists "Custom Volume Controls" among Steam features, but it does not spell out a mod system for bikes or gameplay. Whether "mods" means performance parts, cosmetics or both is not officially detailed, so treat specific mod effects as unconfirmed until official posts describe them.

How do I stand out in Megacity West?

Be original. The store copy closes on that note: "In a city where everything is a copy, you've got to become an original." Between body type, outfit, Airframe colours and stickers, and your barks, you have plenty of cosmetic levers. Builds also matter: per the community wiki, Light riders are quicker with more stamina and smaller hurtboxes, while Heavy riders hit harder and take less damage. Whatever you pick, you can share your look with friends — the community page reports custom riders save as .txt files in your AppData folder, so they can be passed around. That file detail is community-documented, not an official feature list.

For the full feature rundown and system requirements, see the Airframe Ultra store page.

Related guides

• Airframe Ultra Art Style and Setting: Megacity West Explained
• Airframe Ultra Beta: A History of Playtests and What's Next
• How to Report Bugs in Airframe Ultra
• Airframe Ultra Controller Support: Gamepad vs Keyboard