Edison Evo Finished

sheepsteeth

Although there is nowt wrong with my current edison, i have decided i fancy something new and a bit more modern.

That being said, i cant live without the magic button on a bionicon so the new build is to be another bionicon (my 4th).

The bike will be built around the frameset:



The frameset includes, shock and fork, bars and stem(answer ), acros headset and a bionicon seat collar. i have chosen the upgraded XFusion vector HLR shock and Black stanchions on the Xfusion Metric fork.

Other spec includes:

Reverb Stealth post
Sram GX Mech, cassette and shifter
PGX1 Chain
Superstarcomponents Wheels: Flow ex rims, tesla hubs, sapin spokes. 20mm front 12x143mm rear
Schwalbe Hans Dampf tyres: Trailstar front, Pacestar rear
Either specialized tubes or Stans set up if i can be bothered.
Slix graphics crank protector and wheel graphics

I will use the following from a bike i already have:

Shimano XT brakes
SLX cranks
MG1 Pedals
Sunline grips
Specialized Alias saddle (but i might look for something guccier)

the bike will look like a version of this:



UPDATE:

BIke looks like this:

cubedean

I'm really intrigued by this, I've just read about the bionicon setup and it sounds great. Way out of my budget for a build though. Looking forward to the finished article.

sheepsteeth

Frame finally arrived. Only took 2.5 weeks to be fair so i shouldnt be too miffed.



Frame: Bionicon 180mm travel
Shock:XFusion Vector HLR
Fork: XFusion Metric HLR
Post: Reverb Stealth
Saddle: Specialized Henge
Bar: Answer Pr0 Taper 780mm
Grips: superstar Half Flange
Brakes: XT
SHifter: GX 11sp
Mech: GX 11sp
Cranks: Old SLX
Pedals: MG1
Cassette: GX 11-42
Chain: GX
Wheels: Superstar components Tesla hubs (20mmf and 12mm rear) with Stans Flow rims 650b
Headset: ATAC Block Lock

Ill get some better pictures as the details are very good indeed. The build was easy enough but i have a couple of minor gripes:

The fork requires a 6mm and a 5mm allen key. Not an issue with my multi tool as they are on the same side and next to each other but it would be simple to have made both bolts the same size surely.

The hole in the seat tube isnt big enough to feed the reverb connectamajig through so i had to cut the hose. I need to shorten it anyway so not the biggest problem but it seems like an unnecessary lack of attention to detail.

There is, however, a lot to like about the bike:

Frame is nicely welded and machined where it needs to be.
it looks stunning, by some distance the best looking bionicon so far.
The shock and fork are superbly well put together, the dials and knobs are beautifully machined and make the RS and Fox i have used look budget by comparison.
Im lookin forward to getting all of the settings dialled in.

And of course, the travel and geometry adjust is stellar. 64-69 degress head angle feels pretty severe and the fact that you canchange anywhere in between means it is always set right for climbing or descending.
no one else makes a bike that does it quite like this and i feel like i cant ride a bike without it. the modern susension should prove to be up there with the best too if the rumours are true

Antm81

Great looking bike

Thewaylander

So unsure about these, heard mixed things at all times.. But it looks smart mate! Time to get out get some scratches on her..

cubedean

As I said earlier. I was looking forward to this build. It looks great & I'll be intrigued to find out how you get on with the x fusion forks. Good work

paul.skibum

That frame is definitely the best looking Bionicon I have seen - looks nice. Still don't really see why you need adjustable head angles to ride a bike but its riding a bike so its all good!

sheepsteeth

the adjustable geo is a revelation. i know we can all ride our bikes up hill but it is so much easier with the fork compacted and the angles steepened.

had a short ride out and about today and im very happy. didnt have to do much tweaking although i did find out i needed to tighten up the stem face plate in a rather embaressing upside down handlebar moment.

im interested to see how a couple of the climbs go with this new gearing. im conscious the lowest gear wont be low enough.

what i do like is the fact that i only have one mech to deal with so if the range works out to be good enough i think this will have turned out to be a good move.

ive got some fettling to do with the suspension, there are 2 independantly set +ve (and 2 Negative chambers, one of which is set automatically, the other requires a strange set up) on the air spring which will allow for some real control over the fork but this is the first time ive had this level of control so i need to play with it and see what it all does.

ive had HSC and LSC on both ends before so understand what it all does but i can also adjust the air volume and bottom out on the rear shock. IIRC my old DHX5 had those features too but i never got in to setting that up so again, ive got some figuring out to do.

paul.skibum

I used to have an old ETA bomber on my hardtail - turn the dial and you had 30mm of bounce instead of 100mm - I used it for prolonged climbs and always forgot to turn it off on downs! I am pretty bad at forgetting to flick off compression damping on my rear shock in general so leave it in mid to avoid having to think! Don't tell Angus though or he will tell me I need that stupid electronic shock thing.

sheepsteeth

this is much easier to adjust as you dont need to stop and do anything, you just press a button, shift your weight and the magic happens:
uphill:



Downhill:



and can be adjusted anywhere in between.

poah

how have you got on with wheels?

sheepsteeth

Really good. some recent illness and other issues have meant i havent ridden much recently but i took the bike for a decent hammering at CYB and it handled all 20 stone of me being thumped through it with no problems at all.

sackmann

Wow!

That is definitely one of the nicest EVO builds I have seen so far.

Congrats!
Are you happy with your bike?

cheers
Sacki

sheepsteeth

I love it!!

Having owned 2 golden willows (still have one) and an edison i am a big fan of your bikes.

This is truly next level. it rides supremely well and looks mega. I was concerned that the massive travel would be a bit overkill for the riding i do and to be fair, i could get away with less most of the time but the bike rides so well up and down that i like the option to ride bigger stuff whilst being on a bike that can go for a gentle xc pootle in the woods.

I took it to wales and had the best few days riding ever, tackled stuff i might normally have waivered on and managed to get away with it.

sackmann

That´s great to hear!
Keep enjoying your bike!
By the way: You dont forget to prime your lower negative chamber in the fork once in a while, right? It will keep performance high. This is very important!

cheers Sacki

sheepsteeth

good call, ill make sure i do it before my next ride.

I have had to make one modification to the blue switch to get everything fitted where i want it on the bars:




i dont know if this is just an issue with fitting next to xt brakes but if anyone ever raises a question about it, new bolts and a bunch of washers does the trick nicely!

sackmann

Noice! ;-)