The 2013 Felt lineup for mountain bikes sees a completely revamped Nine hardtail 29er family, the introduction of big wheels into the full-suspension Edict family with the Edict Nine 3 shown here and the revival of their long-travel 26er, the Compulsion.
Felt Edict Nine Series
After showing their mountain bikes at Sea Otter this year, Felt is clearly jumping into the super fast world of full-suspension 29ers. The Felt Edict models will consist of five options to choose from. They will vary from their high end Edict Nine LTD that is constructed of Felt’s UHC Ultimate Plus Nano carbon fiber, the lowest end model the aluminum Edict Nine 60 which retails for $2070.
The direction of Felt with the Edict Nine models was to create mountain bikes that blend climbing qualities that are efficient with a dose of confidence on the downhills.
The Edict Nine Series utilizes Felt’s minimalistic FAST suspension design to keep the weight low while maintaining pedaling efficiency. Felt nailed it right on when they chose the specifications for the cockpit; wide is the way!
The Felt Edict FAST rear suspension. The definition of this is Felt Active Stay Technology, which utilizes the natural flexible properties of carbon that has been engineered into the carbon fiber swingarm to not have to use dropout pivots. This is less complex and saves weight at the same time. This technology relies heavily on the exactness of its carbon layup to give it a big enough range of movement but still retain the torsional rigidity that aggressive mountain bike riders need when riding technical trails. So the FAST suspension is only available on the carbon fiber models.
The Edict Nine 3 is priced at a reasonable, $3629 USD – almost one-third the cost of the Edict Nine LTD, and is hard to believe just by looking at it. This frame is similar to the LTD, but it has been molded from the Felt UHC carbon. The Edict LTD as complete bike is a stretch at$9299. The frame is constructed with Felt’s most expensive Ultimate Nano layup. The Nine threes’ two x ten drivetrain is SRAM X.9-X.7 and suspension is handled with the RockShox Recon Gold Solo Air front fork paired with a RockShox Monarch R rear shock. Weight is around 28 pounds.
