"Because ideas have to be original only with regard to their adaptation to the problem at hand, I am always extremely interested in how others have used them...." ~Thomas Edison (American Inventor) 1847 - 1931

In today's mountain biking world, terms like “Freeride” “All-Mountain” and “Slope-style” are thought up, thrown on a product and marketed to the masses. These terms become the new hot key phrase for the year and everyone rushes out to buy an “All-Mountain” bike like the Santa Cruz Nomad, or a “Slope-style” bike like the Transition Bottle Rocket. In reality, 90% of the time, these terms are given to products, which have undergone some very minor tweaks to geometry, and either have reduced or extended travel to suit a particular application.  It is however a very good way for bike manufacturers to get you to buy more than one bike and this day in age it is not uncommon for people to have 2 or 3 bikes in their stable. Whether it’s a combination of a downhill, all-mountain and cross-country bikes or as simple as a full suspension and a hardtail, most serious riders own more than one bike.  The latest term I have encountered is “Backcountry” bikes used by Bionicon, but after a day of playing with their lightweight trail bike, the Edison LTD, there is more to the term “Back Country” than just another marketing gimmick.

History:

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Bionicon Bikes, they are a small company based in Germany who looks to push the perceived boundaries of what a mountain bike is capable of.  

The 2007 Bionicon Edison LTD, Bionicon's heavy duty XC, light duty AM, do it all bike. The 2007 Bionicon Edison LTD, Bionicon's heavy duty XC, light duty AM, do it all bike.

The basic principle, as Mic from Bionicon explained, was taken from watching mountain goats easily navigate extremely rocky conditions by straightening their front legs while bending their rear legs in order to descend, and the opposite to ascend.  The Bionicon System works in much of the same way.  By pushing the bar mounted button and leaning forward over the handlebars, the fork compresses and pushes the air into the rear shock causing it to expand and changing the entire geometry of the bike to one that is optimal for climbing.  Once you reach the top and are ready to head down, by doing the opposite and pressing the button while leaning back, it moves the air out of the rear shock and into the fork causing the front to rise up and the rear end to squat down setting the bike into an optimal geometry for steep descents.

The travel adjust button works with both the fork and shock in tandem. The travel adjust button works with both the fork and shock in tandem.

The Edison is both its relaxed and aggressive modes. The Edison is both its relaxed and aggressive modes.

The shock eye2eye actually increases, raising the bottom bracket. The shock eye2eye actually increases, raising the bottom bracket.

Build Spec: 

When I got the Edison home, I went tooling around on the street a little getting used to how the Bionicon System worked.  I was actually pretty surprised as just how natural feeling the system is, after 5 minutes or so it does become somewhat second nature to adjust the bike on the fly and is not awkward to do so at all. 

The Edison's Double Agent fork. The Edison's Double Agent fork.

X-fusion rear shock.X-fusion rear shock.

Formula Oro K18 Brakes Formula Oro K18 Brakes

The drive train is handled with SRAM components all around, a big plus in my book. X-7 trigger shifters control the X-7 rear derailleur and X-7 front derailleur, while a 44/32/22 Truvativ Fire X crank set rounds out the drive system.  The braking responsibilities are taken care of with Formula Oro K18's with 180mm rotors mated to a wheel set constructed from DT Swiss Cerit hubs laced to Alexrims DP 20 rims running Schwalbe Fat Albert tires.  Interestingly enough, all the other components on the bike carry the Bionicon brand name including the “Double Agent” fork, rear shock handlebars and seat post.  Overall build quality of the frame seems very good and one interesting point I was informed of is that all the bikes and components are hand assembled at the companies California facility including the hand lacing of all the wheel sets used.

Ride Impressions: 

Once we had gone over everything and snapped a few pictures we decided it was time to head to the trail and give the Edison a thorough testing on some of the trails we regularly ride our 40+ lb downhill bikes on. We started the ride with a nice series of ups and downs through the Beverly Canyon on South Mountain where it was immediately apparent how well this bike climbed.  Right off the trailhead I pressed the orange button, leaned forward, shifted the geometry and never looked back, this bike truly does go up the rocky inclines like a mountain goat.  I was impressed with how easy it seemed compared to the other bikes I have ridden up the same inclines countless times including on my hard tail. The Edison earned a big plus in the climbing category but it was yet to be seen if it could handle the nasty rocky downhill’s which are scattered all over the mountain.

After making it through Beverly Canyon in what seemed like record time, I stopped and waited for my riding buddy to catch up at the fire road where we proceeded to head up and over one of the unmarked trails that drops down to Desert Classic.  

The Edison uses proprietary suspension components from X-Fusion. The Edison uses proprietary suspension components from X-Fusion.

The fork and shock are linked together via air lines.The fork and shock are linked together via air lines.

It turned out to be the rear end flexing laterally from my weight as I was carving around the rocks.  Being a 250lb clydesdale, I understand that I am outside the “norm” in which bike manufacturers build for, and am used to compensating for these types of things by buying heavy-duty gear.  With that in mind, I would say the Edison is not a bike for the clydesdale's out there who like to beat on their bikes, but should be fine for anyone up to 220lbs or so looking to ride just about any terrain. The fork felt solid with little flex and the suspension felt great, not quite ultra Marzocchi plush but it is definitely better than any Manitou shock I have ridden and on par with the Rock Shox and Fox I have used.  The bike also handles very nimbly through the rough stuff in part thanks to the offset crowns on the fork which push the fork 1.5” forward from the head tube providing 180 degrees of turning radius even with the dual crown fork.

At the bottom it was time to head out on Desert Classic and see how the bike handled what it was really built for, trail riding.  As we go started I kept thinking to myself that the Edison felt somewhat like a big toy, it was nimble, didn't seem to get in the way of my riding style and was somewhat “invisible” which is what I like in a bike.  Onward throughout DC, the small gradual inclines that are always there seemed to disappear with how easy this bike pedals and the fast flowing declines were still able to be ripped down.  The washes and sandpits were easy to navigate in and out of and the Edison seemed to somewhat level the ground out a bit, all with the push of what my buddy and I were now referring too as “The magic button”.

When we finished a short out and back on Desert Classic we returned to the Pima Canyon parking lot where we took a few minutes to hydrate and catch our legs.  In the few moments we were there the Edison caught the eye of several other riders out there who were curious as to (A)”What’s a Bi-on-i-con” and (B) “Why does it have a dual crown fork”.  After some explaining and showing off the Bionicon System to them it seemed as though they didn't quite get it, which is a common occurrence the first time people see it from what I can tell.  Leaving the confused we decided to head up “The Daily Grind” aka the Pima Canyon fire road and head up to Javelina for a downhill with a bit more flow and less rocks.  Again, the Edison did not disappoint in the climbing department, putting me at the end of the road a good 10 minutes ahead of my buddy pedaling my hard tail.

After the short climb to the top of Javelina we started our descent back towards the 44^th ST. parking lot.  This is where the downhill characteristics of the Edison really began to shine.  Fast, flowing single track with the occasional rock obstacles and a good amount of exposure, the Edison made it feel as though I was glued to the trail.  As I approached the few quick dives through the tight wash outs I left the bike in the downhill geometry but as I came through the bottom of the wash itself I was able to shift the geometry and climb effortlessly back out with just my momentum, something I have never been able to do on any other bike.   Using the Bionicon System you can carry you speed better through these tight terrain changes without feeling that the geometry of the bike is ever wrong for the situation at hand.

Conclusion: 

The 2007 Bionicon Edison LTD is a solid AM performer.The 2007 Bionicon Edison LTD is a solid AM performer.

Thanks to Fish at Cactus Bike and Mic at Bionicon for making this review possible.

For more information check out Bionicon Bikes website at www.bionicon.com