Since production of the Mobs at the S&M factory ceased, Black Market Bikes has not been able to find an alternate American frame manufacturer until recently. After a long quest, Carter Holland, owner of Black Market Bikes has finally found a US frame builder who can consistently build quality frames at a reasonable cost. While bikes overseas can be be built in days and done correctly the first time, Carter complained that American sourced builders wanted $400+ to weld a frame, and often produced bikes which where misaligned.
After all these trials and tribulations Carter is proud of his newest American made creation – The Edit 1. At 4.9lbs/ 2.2kgs. it’s the lightest BlkMrkt to date…
We caught up with Carter a few weeks back at the Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival and had the opportunity to ride his personal pre-production build.
Carter runs a pretty high rise bar with a single Shimano Saint Brake. The brake was extremely touchy. It’s hard to manual when the slightest modulation of the break sets your front wheel headed earthward.
The frame is built around a similar geometry to the O.G. Mob, but has even shorter chainstays and a lower BB. This bike rails. This frame is constructed with Black Market Basic H/T Chromoly tubeset and features a CNC’d integrated headtube and BB.
Carter is a strong advocate of American made components. He runs profile hubs and cranks on his personal whip and the parts are also available on all his high end completes.
X-Fusion supplies the squish. You’ll find X-fusion forks and shocks standard on the majority of Black Market completes.
Rounding out the build was a Black Market Patriot saddle.
The Edit 1 uses their Taper Lock Drop Out System to eliminate the need for a tensioner. The system works because the dropouts and washers are both tapered. The dropouts have a tapered channel for the axle that is 4.25mm towards the front and narrows to 2.5mm in the rear. The tapered washer sits in the channel and locks the axle in place.
When slammed, the Edit 1 has 15″ chainstays, that’s .625″ shorter than the Mob! It makes a big difference.
Carters pre-production frame has a rust patina paintjob that gave the build a mean rat rod style look.
The finalized frames will be available in Raw, Flat Black, and Ferrari Yellow ( Adam Hauck’s Signature Color ). For an additional $100 Black Market offers custom paint options.
The production Edit 1 frames will have these trick braces. Unlike the Mob, this chainstay brace won’t double as a bottle opener.
Black Market Edit1 Specs and Geometry
HA: 69*
SA: 71*
BB: 12.5″/ 317MM
CS: 15″/ 381MM
Weight: 4.9lbs. / 2.2kg
Max. Tire Clearance: 2.1″
Seat Post: 27.2mm
Sizes: 21.5″, 22″, 22.5″, 23″
Frame MSRP: $450.00 USD
Options:
Euro or Mid BB
