MATTER: Felt’s Edict 3 - Future Proof?

Large (19.5”), Measured head-tube tube angle: 69.5, seat-tube 69 / 73.3 effective. MSRP: $4,899.00 CAN

For me, a proper mtb is one that is pleasant enough to ride over to the most fun trails I can realistically get to on a semi-regular basis: those at the bottom of Gatineau Park. What sort of environment are we talking about? Well, sort of old school: medium tight, lots of undulation at a tighter magnitude than the wide open trails (no long climbs or descents), not much hard braking, lots of opportunity to be creative with tire management and line choice. It’s fairly precise riding versus juggernaut-style romping, which, coincidentally, has long been the specialty of 29ers. That was why I grew to no longer want to ride my, or any other 29er.

The Edict converted me, because it’s a 29er that rides like the 26” bikes I fell in love with mountain biking on. From the start, I was in it for the fun, the flow, the playful nature of the experience. Ride bikes, have fun. I went astray when I adapted my Niner MCR for XC racing, and thus a total dud for playful riding.

I won’t belabor the suspension details here, because I cover that well in the review I wrote for Pedal Magazine. In a nutshell, the Edict’s suspension falls squarely into XC range, but it feels bottomless when set up well. And it’s easy to set up well, assuming one has an idea how to do that in general, a friend who does, or is willing to watch some of Fox’s Dialed videos to learn about how suspension set up should be done. The  bike doesn’t squat while climbing, doesn’t demonstrate any unruly behavior under braking, and is generally ‘invisible’ under the rider; this is what we want in suspension.

Componentry on the bike is chosen to constrain the bike’s retail price to $5k, on par with what was once an XC race dreambike. The SRAM Eagle NX drivetrain performs well, and Felt’s choice of Shimano brakes is a smart one, given their reliability-to-performance-to-price ratio. Finishing kit is all solid-performing stuff, with not a poor spec to be found. The only real weakness on the bike, from a racing or high performance perspective, is the wheels. While they performed reliably for me, they are the one glaring place one might wish to invest to liven up the bike’s ride, and narrow the gap to more race-specific builds. There is no question Felt strategically shaved significant dollars off the retail price of the bike with these wheels, which it totally reasonable and intelligent. Most if not all riders will benefit from having two sets of wheels for a bike they ride often, and an upgrade to something like Woven’s carbon hoops would drop considerable weight at a reasonable cost. Either way, tubeless would also drop a little weight while adding another extra liveliness.

I consider the Edict’s suspension design relatively ‘simple’ and thus, durable. The carbon construction feels like it leans toward durability more than ultimate light-weight, and its finish is very well done. Thus, the Edict a frame ought to endure years of hard riding. The more pressing question, strange as this may sound, is whether its geometry will stand the test of time? Spoiler: yes!

The Edict struck me, strikes me, as phenomenal because it does both speed and fun well. I’m not coming at this from a ‘fast is fun’ angle. That’s often true, but not always. The bike’s mid-long and slack geometry strikes the perfect balance of ride characteristics I value for the trails we have that are actually ‘mountain bikey’, versus ‘gravel-y’.

I am stressing this for two reasons: 1) to confirm that yes, the Edict geo is great, and 2) to assure the reader that it is indeed possible to invest in a mountain bike today that will stand the test of time. This is vital, I believe, because I think many of us have become wary of investing in bikes that will feel out of date and useless within a couple years. I believe the Edict is future-proof for riders interested in spending time on trails where ‘full-modern’ geo bikes are simply too long and slack to turn. That stuff will continue to exist in all sorts of regions, but around here, we’ve got lots of tighter stuff to work with that puts us somewhere between Beast from the East and X-Caliber geo (this reference is for the OGs); always has.

So that’s the point here. $5k (or less, if you snag demo), gets you a future proof bike that’s legitimately fun, and only takes a wheel upgrade to become sikk.

No stress.

Ride.

Have fun.

Rinse.

Repeat.