The Fade Is Back

The original idea behind the Fade was for it to be a proper dirt jump bike. A bike that inspires you to push harder at the pump track, begs you to throw shapes at the skatepark and loves getting sideways at the trails. It's agile and easy to get on the back wheel without being twitchy. Geometry is tight & snappy but still long enough that you're comfortable coming off your 'big bike'.

One size, one colour, one brake, one gear. They say less is more, and a bike like this is best in its purest form. There are no removable dropouts and no option to run gears. No ISCG tabs, no weird BB standard. Just clean lines and a heap of fun. What the Fade does have is super-clean horizontal dropouts, a threaded BB and cable routing for a rear brake only. How it should be.

A reach of 430mm and a 25mm BB drop make for a stable ride paired with super-short 385mm stays and a 69 degree head-angle to keep things tight and agile. The Fade is ready to party at a moment's notice.

Every Fade frame comes supplied with an Airdrop CNC seat clamp.

We say that the Fade is a dirt jump frame in it's rawest, purest form. It's not an extra-small version of something else. It's not a bike that's designed to be versatile. It's a legitimate dirt jump & pump track platform, pure and simple. The Fade Works bike builds on that ethos with a spec-list worthy of any top-end DJ bike (and better than most).

Up front you have the Manitou Circus Expert DJ - an industry-leading dirt and slope fork. The wheel set is the Halo Chaos DJ 26" rim on black DJ hubs, single speed rear with 11-tooth mini thread-on cog. That's matched up to a pair of Halo H-Block tanwalls which are fast rolling in the centre with a bit more tread on the sides for when you get it leaned over. You get a 28-11 gear ratio with a 28 tooth direct-mount chainring on super strong Descendant cranks.

Finishing kit includes a Gusset S2 DJ pivotal saddle and seatpost, Burgtec Mk2 Enduro stem, Josh Bryceland "RideHigh" 38mm bars and ODI longneck mushroom-ribbed grips.

Launching the Fade was a risk. It made no sense. We did it because we wanted to, and it definitely wasn't a commercial exercise. We thought we might sell a few, and at least we'd have a sick DJ bike for ourselves. What we didn't realise was that people were waiting for a legitimate alloy dirt-jump bike to come out and the Fade hit the nail right on the head.

With the second batch we decided to do something special, something unique, and what came out of that process was the Fade To Black. The new matte powder-coat finish we developed for the Edit v3 is so good, we just had to try it on the Fade. So we went matte black, ordered ten frames and that set the scene for a fully blacked-out bike.

The matte black frame has gloss black decals. Up front we spec the Rockshox Pike DJ in diffusion black with stealth black decals. There's a black Burgtec stem and Josh Bryceland "RideHigh" bar, a black-on-black pivotal saddle and Halo Chaos DJ supadrive wheels with black hubs. We even spec a black Gusset Slinky half-link chain. But the best bit might just be the tyres and grips: Vans x Cult co-lab waffle pattern tyres and grips. In black.

The result speaks for itself. It was a lot of work and we probably put way too much effort into it just for ten bikes this year. But they're probably the best ten dirt-jump bikes we've ever seen.