Bike Check: Dan's Edit v2 Pro

Dan's custom built Edit v2 puts a subtle but distinctive twist on the standard Edit Pro bike. It's stealthy and well thought-out. Good work Dan.

We very often get asked to produce a 'stealth' bike and it makes a lot of sense: some people just don't want their bike to grab that much attention and it's an easy way to make all the various colour decisions that arise when you go down the custom build route. But if you're not careful, you can be a bit too understated and that's why we really like Dan's bike. He took the Edit v2 Pro stock build and added a couple of really nice twists to the spec and the result is a really nice bike.

The Frame

Dan got the last Medium/Black Edit v2 frame from this batch (we still have Medium/Raw at time of writing) and he made the most of it with his subtle choices on colours. He wanted to be able to see the decals but to have something understated so we recommended Anthracite metallic. 

Suspension

It's a tried and tested combination: The Rockshox Pike RC up front and Monarch Plus RC3 out back (you can buy the frame, fork and shock bundle here). On the Edit that gives 160mm front travel and 150mm rear. And although the actual damper remains the same, the new 2019 B4 Monarch Plus has massively improved stealthy decals which match up nicely with the black decals we spec on the forks. 

Brakes

Ordinarily we'd fit the SRAM Guide R 4-pot hydraulic brake on the Edit v2 Pro, and it's a great brake. But it's not the same as a Hope brake and this was something Dan was clear on: he wanted to upgrade the brakes. The Hope Tech 3 E4 is probably not more powerful than the Guide but the lever feel and adjustability is on another level. Plus you get that unmistakable Hope CNCed 'look' and the usual choice of 6 colours. Dan went for Orange on the brakes to use them as a highlight. But he kept the floating rotors black so as to avoid going over-the-top.

Finishing Kit

The Edit v2 Pro comes with a Burgtec Mk2 Enduro stem and Ridewide bars as standard, which is just about as good a cockpit setup as you can get. On any bike, never mind one that retails for less than £3000. We did discuss going with a Hope stem but Dan wanted to keep it low key and black, so there was no reason to go with the more heavily graphic'ed Hope version which is also more expensive. Plus Hope don't make an alloy bar to match, so in this case the right call was to stick with Burgtec.

They're not visible in this shot but we also spec Burgtec Bartender grips and the excellent Cloud saddle on the Edit v2 Pro.

Drivetrain

We've said it before but the SRAM GX Eagle groupset is kind of a no-brainer when it comes to performance and price. You get the massive 10-50t cassette, super precise and consistent shifting and it's even easy to set up. So we went with GX Eagle but Dan wanted to change up the cranks to something a bit slicker so we went with the Hope crank, Spiderless retainer ring and the Stainless 30mm bottom bracket. All in black to stick with the low-key theme but you can still tell: this is a quality setup.

Apart from everything else, the Hope crank is so well thought-out it has a silver anodised area where your heel will rub. Every other crank on the market looks sweet out of the box, then ends up with this silver area after a few rides. So Hope built that in from the start: their cranks just keep on looking this good.

Wheels

We give customers the choice of the Hope Pro 4 Enduro wheel or 35W wheel; they're the same price but have different strengths and weaknesses and they both run on the superb Pro 4 hub. Dan wanted to pick up the orange highlight colour from the brakes so he went for orange hubs (black rotors break things up a bit) and the Enduro rim. It's not a super wide rim but it's a lot lighter than the 35w, and its a good complement for the Pikes and Monarch Dan chose for what is essentially a trail-oriented build.

Dan's Bike Spec

We used our standard Airdrop Edit v2 Pro Bike as a starting point, but made some changes to the drivetrain and brakes as agreed with Dan.

Custom Builds

Drooling over your keyboard? Probably best if you drop us a line then. We can do you a custom bike just like this, or totally different. Every one is unique and built to order in our workshop. If you're after a jumpy bike you can build one around a Fade, if you're a hardcore hardtail type then look at the Bitmap or if you want something bouncy, it's the Edit. And remember - you don't have to have a full bike. We can sell you as much or as little as you need, so if you've got some nice bits on your current bike, no problem.