Andy's Edit MX

Andy's the Workshop Manager here at Airdrop Bikes and is probably our most capable mechanic. He's also a part-time DH racer and full-time pinner on his trail bike, so we wanted to share how he's got it built.

Working at Airdrop has certain advantages. Obviously it means we have access to pretty much whatever parts we want, and some of the time we get to see new things (or at least be aware of them) before they're released. We've all been designing, developing and testing the Edit MX for a good while now. By the time we get to building up a production frame, we've had plenty of opportunity to dial in how we want our 'finished' bike to be. But like the rest of us here, Andy funded this bike himself, so all the parts take a lot of serious consideration. Yes we want to have a nice bike. But it's got to stand up to the battering it's going to get week-in, week-out, and it has to last a long time. So it's always interesting to see what choices people make when they've got all the options.

This is Andy's Edit MX. It's an interesting mix of cutting edge tech with tried-and-tested parts.

Name: Andy Donnachie
Age: 32
Height: 180cm
Job: Airdrop Workshop Manager
Home Town: Sheffield
Bikes: Edit MX, Slacker
Instagram: @andy_donnachie

Riding Background:
Grew up riding dirt jumps until the end of 2003 when I first saw Earthed. After that my dirt jump bike became a DH bike until I saved up enough money to buy a DH bike.

Riding Style:
I do enjoy a corner. Also finding little gaps on the trail keeps things interesting.

Frame

I’ve always enjoyed riding a slightly smaller frame than I should really be riding, so for this Edit MX build I’ve gone for an S2 frame. For me, bike riding is about the feedback I’m getting from my bike while I’m riding down a trail, so the more moving around and wrestling the bike in to shapes to get it to go where I want it to go, the more fun I’m having. The S2 just allows for more of this, if I want to put my bike in a certain place on the trail, or enter a corner a little too inside, I can use my body movement to get the bike to do what I want it to do.

Wheelset

Reserve 30HD rims on Hope Pro 5 hubs. This is a pretty special build, so had to give the carbon Reserve rims a go. I’m a fan of the stiffness they offer, paired up with the smaller, more playful frame, this bike goes exactly where you want it to go. Hope Pro 5 hubs: what more can you say about them, super reliable, solid hub, now with less drag and better engagement over the Pro 4’s.

Tyre Choice & Pressures

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Continental tyres recently, so thought it was about time to give them a go for myself. As I built this bike in the middle of winter, I went for the slightly knobbier Argotal up front, just to give the front end a bit more grip in the thick slop of Wharncliffe. I’ve run a DH tyre on the rear of my Edit for a while now, for that extra sidewall support, and extra puncture protection from the sharp Wharncliffe rock. This time round I thought I’d risk running the enduro casing Kryptotal Rear that Continental offer, and so far, so good! It’s got a decent side knob on it for when you lean it over and a good enough centre knob to slow me down. Pressure wise I’ve settled on around 24/25psi front and 31/32psi rear just for a wee bit extra rim and puncture protection in Wharncliffe. If I was riding somewhere with less rock, I’d drop that to around 27/28psi.

Fork

Rockshox Lyrik Ultimate at 160mm. Solid, super reliable, set it and forget it kinda fork. I find for the riding I do 95% of the time the Lyrik is plenty fork for me. Maybe you have to be a little more precise with your line choice, but I’ve never felt underforked while riding the Lyrik. I did ride the Zeb for a while on a previous Edit and found you can just plough into stuff and the Zeb will just take it. I think I just prefer the more precise, compliant feel of the Lyrik for the type of riding I do.

Suspension Setup

In the Lyrik I’ve gone for 85psi with 1 token, 4 clicks out from closed on HSC and 6 clicks on LSC. Rebound wise I’m around 12 out from closed.

Having never ridden an EXT shock on my own bike before I didn’t really know what to expect from it. As it was the middle of winter I started out running a 400lb spring to allow for a bit of a softer setup and allow the bike to stick to the ground a bit more. Once things eventually dried out I settled for a 425lb spring with minimal preload, this gives me around 28% sag. Once I got spring weight and sag sorted I could dial in the damper settings. The base tune straight from Mojo is pretty spot on, I only added a click of HSC and a couple of clicks of LSC. So I’m 8 clicks out from closed on the HSC and 10 clicks from closed on the LSC. The amount of damping control the EXT offers is like something I’ve never ridden before, the bike stays so composed, it’s hard to get it out of shape. I would find myself hitting things harder and harder and trying to get the bike out of shape, but the Storia would just deal with whatever you threw at it.

Drivetrain

Sram launched the T-Type Transmission last year and putting this bike together gave me the perfect excuse to give it a go. I’ve gone for an XX1 rear mech paired up with a 10-52t X01 Cassette and a 32t chainring. I find that’s more than enough range for the short, steep climbs around here, with the 52t being a good bail out gear for when my legs disagree with my heads ambition. For cranks I’ve gone for X01 T-type in a 165mm length just to give me a little extra ground clearance for those techy, rocky climbs.

So far, the T-type AXS has been faultless, at first, I was a bit unsure of having £700 worth of plastic and carbon hanging from the rear of my bike, but a few months later, a few bangs and scuffs later it’s still going strong. Setup with the T-type is a little different to how you would set up a traditional drivetrain, you have no limit screws, no b-tension screw, just bolt the mech to the frame, stick your chain in, pull the mech back to tension the chain and away you go pretty much. Shifting is smooth and consistent, and it just goes about its business silently, which is important if you like a quiet bike.

Chain Device - Yay or Nay?

Yay for sure, especially ones that are easy to setup and work as well as the MRP 1x, with no rubbing and no noise, you barely notice it’s there, so why would you not run one!?

Brakes

Hayes Dominions, again. I’ve run these on all my bikes now for the past 5 years. Once the hoses are cut, fully bled and setup, they very rarely need to be touched. I only really give them a quick lever bleed when I change the pads just because.

The Hayes have such a unique, light lever feel, with plenty of power and a solid bite point, which stays consistent no matter how long or much you’re on the brakes. I’m running organic pads in the front for more brake feel and sintered pads out back for the extra pad life. I found running sintered pads up front were far too grabby, they’re either on or off, it’s too hard to find that in-between. The organic pads offer a much more controlled feel and don’t want to just lock the wheel up constantly. If you can get over the clunky lever aesthetics I would definitely recommend!

Flats or Clips?

Being honest, I used to be a clips guy, I didn’t mind riding flats but would always feel more comfortable riding in clips. Nowadays I have a bias towards the freedom of flat pedals. Flats just give you way more freedom to move around on the bike, you can hit turns with more confidence and just get a little bit looser without the fear of being attached to the bike. I do switch back to clips for the odd race every now and again, but it’s always a joy coming back to flats.

I’m running the Burgtec Penthouse mk5 pedals, they’re a good size with a nice concave shape to them which provides plenty of grip. They’re also solid, they’ve taken a beating off countless rocks and still looking pretty fresh.

Dropper & Saddle

I’ve gone for a 210mm Oneup dropper, longest post I’ve ever had. Thanks to the Edits uninterrupted seat tube I can get a nice long dropper in there, slammed almost all the way down for maximum freedom and movement while descending, with plenty of room for pedalling at full extension.

I had a Specialized power saddle on a previous bike and it was such a comfy place to be, so I thought I would try and get one for this build, but I just couldn’t seem to find one at the time I was looking, so I’ve gone for a Nukeproof Enduro saddle, which is a similar shape and size and it’s an equally comfy place to be, so does the job for those longer days in the saddle.

Anything You Would Change?

I would love to ditch the dropper cable and go for an AXS dropper to go along with the wireless drivetrain, however with the 170mm max that the AXS Reverb is offered in I would have to run way too much post out the frame and defeat the purpose of having the shorter seat tube on the Edit, so fingers crossed for a longer drop AXS Reverb one day!

Any Secrets or Setup Tips?

Nah, not really, what works for one person, may not work for another, everyone is unique and has slight differences in set up that works for them. Just don’t overthink what you’re doing and enjoy riding!

I do like to have a quiet bike, luckily the Edit is a fairly quiet bike as is, the new chain stay protector combined with the T-Type drivetrain does the job at keeping the noise down.

How Does It Compare To Previous Bikes?

The biggest change over my V4 is obviously the bigger front wheel. This did take a little getting used to and a slight change in body positioning. At first the front wheel was getting away from me in turns and I just felt like the front end was very slow to react to my input. Once I got my weight over the front a bit more and started being more aggressive with where I was putting the front wheel, I started to really get on with it. It just took that slight change in body position for me to click with the MX bike. Having fully gotten used to it now, for the type of riding I do, I don’t see myself going back. The bigger front wheel just allows for a bit more rollover and flow through flatter, rockier stuff and the shorter back end still allows you to swing off the back and steer with your feet when you need to.

Full Bike Spec