Sea Otter 2010 - Banshee Spitfire On Video

+ 5

nato (Apr 15, 2010 at 18:30)

I am going into my 3rd season on my Wildcard with no issues with the bushings. Still works as good as day one. Most versatile bike i have ever ridden.

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+ 1

jclnv (Apr 15, 2010 at 23:48)

Non-tapered 1.5" steerer forks will disappear from the market in months. They did the right thing specifying a tapered headtube.

The Spitfire looks like a great little bike and Keith seems to have his engineering/design priorities right so good luck to them

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+ 1

Lordofdogtown (Apr 16, 2010 at 11:15)

All those bike looks very nice but there is something I hate about the Rampant and the Spitfie: The Rearshock should be designed that the shock is mounted in the same direction to the upper tube or "parallel" to the seattube into the ankle of bottombraket. Like it is now, there is an aditional factor of stress for the tube - like benting. I'm also an Engineer and that's not the way how we construct. Of course it will hopefully never break but if you can minimize something, so we do. I thing they did is only for some desing aspects to look unique form all the others, I think.

+ 1

builttoride (Apr 16, 2010 at 18:38)

That is why the downtube is ovalised to be strong in this direction... no problems with breaking them, and makes it easy to adjust the shock on the fly.

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+ 1

hampsteadbandit (Apr 17, 2010 at 14:10)

I am going into my 3rd season on my Wildcard with no issues with the bushings. Still works as good as day one.
Most versatile bike i have ever ridden.

Wildcard does not have bushings - it runs on sealed ball bearings....

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+ 1

hampsteadbandit (Apr 17, 2010 at 14:12)

If you want less travel why not go with the wildcard and k9 cups? the ss geo should be gone thanks to them Wink Or rampart? This is a trailbike so not really a typical uk ripper like some smaller oranges or other 4x fullys

Rampant is NOT a trailbike - the Banshee / Mythic trailbike is the new Spitfire, their old trail bike was the Pyre

the Rampant is Banshee / Mythic's 4X race / short travel freeride frame (dirt jump, pump track, bike park, slopestyle) - Rampant is the prime choice for Banshee's North American / Canadian and Australian DJ / Slopestyle rippers, and European / North American 4x racers

I have been riding the Rampant for 2 years now, and can report its a completely sick bike, check my photo albums to see the horrendous abuse I've given my Rampant on dirt jumps, Winterberg Bike Park in Germany and our new pump track at Esher Shore bike park in England (see next month's MBUK magazine for more info..)

cheers!

Rob C

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+ 5

chris-underhill (Apr 15, 2010 at 18:30)

i dig the rampant and amp the others r good 2 tho

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+ 2

PAfreerider310 (Apr 15, 2010 at 17:56)

sweet that rampant looks sick and its nice to see they got some red guides on the legend MKII show bikes, the green ones looked out of place

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+ 1

atala (Apr 15, 2010 at 22:29)

AlpineSlayer If you go to sea otter to try to test one, look for Keith the Banshee Designer and just shacke his hand for me, Alex Banshee France Thanks guy

+ 1

AlpineSlayer (Apr 16, 2010 at 6:36)

Wish I could. Just need to gather some money, so maybe next year. I've been wanting to give a Banshee bike a try, either the new Spitfire or the Scythe.

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+ 3

sloperider (Apr 16, 2010 at 0:25)

banshee kicks ass

+ 1

crash21 (Apr 16, 2010 at 1:02)

fuck yes they do.

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+ 1

metalmike (Apr 15, 2010 at 18:06)

Why no RUNE? I wanted to see my bike but without all the wear and tear that mine has.

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+ 3

kmart14 (Apr 15, 2010 at 17:52)

the bikes look nice!

+ 11

rubbermeetsmud (Apr 15, 2010 at 17:59)

nice? they look amazing!! hahaha

+ 4

Colin994 (Apr 15, 2010 at 18:35)

amazing? they look marvelous!

+ 14

luckxc (Apr 15, 2010 at 18:54)

marvelous?.. naw, I wont.

+ 2

Colin994 (Apr 15, 2010 at 19:38)

haha you have to admit its tempting... might I suggest unbelievable?

+ 2

norcofreerider8 (Apr 15, 2010 at 19:39)

Even better in person, saw all of these today.

+ 4

snickkers Plus (Apr 15, 2010 at 22:58)

Its a rampart with cross country components basically

+ 3

norcofreerider8 (Apr 15, 2010 at 22:59)

Basically not.

+ 4

dhdemonine40 (Apr 16, 2010 at 0:39)

they look so fucking similar

+ 1

spaced (Apr 16, 2010 at 3:44)

Yeah different geo, weight and susp really mean nothing. They look similar so they are!

+ 1

banshee-ripper (Apr 16, 2010 at 7:26)

you guys are funny, but I must say them bikes could only be descibed as looking like one thing... A Banshee! lol

+ 1

climbingbubba (Apr 16, 2010 at 8:46)

The spitfire is sooo sick!!! i have been on one for a month now and love it.

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+ 1

2big4u (Apr 15, 2010 at 18:45)

Rampant is an AMAZING bike! I ride one myself! Corners, drops, spins, Jumps and rides like no other bike I have ever rdden!

+ 4

AlpineSlayer (Apr 15, 2010 at 20:13)

Wow! The Spitfire looks awesome and the that linkage is so fluid. It seems like Banshee has really stepped up their offerings over the past few years and these new bikes look like a joy to ride. Props to Banshee for putting tons of effort into what looks like some great bikes. Wish I was out at Sea Otter to give these a try.

+ 2

WAKIdesigns (Apr 15, 2010 at 23:32)

yea it's pretty impressive how much they pushed themselves forward. From oldschool Freeride straight to such good and fresh designs. Spitfire looks great and that would be my first pick from their line. It is just a pity that they did not make it with 1,5" head tube all the way up to the bottom, so thanks to k9 industries headset you could have increased control on how you want the bike to ride. Spitfire looks live absolutely great with that metallic colour scheme, but when I saw the white one I was a bit disappointed. White is definitely not the colour for that frame as it looks kind'a cheap with it.

+ 1

spaced (Apr 16, 2010 at 3:47)

Waki - for that you have the rune. Spitfire is a lighter duty bike

+ 1

WAKIdesigns (Apr 16, 2010 at 4:01)

Yes I know. But still there are some people out there who can ride fast on a light duty bike without destroying it, and that like slacker or steeper head angles... 1,5 steerer gives you a choice, that's all. And Rune is a regular AM frame. I personaly would like to have a fast short travel frame which doesn't have Slope Style geometry, and to which I can put a 160 fork. When I finf out that the angle is too steep or to slack I can just change it.

+ 1

spaced (Apr 16, 2010 at 4:58)

If you want less travel why not go with the wildcard and k9 cups? the ss geo should be gone thanks to them Wink

Or rampart? This is a trailbike so not really a typical uk ripper like some smaller oranges or other 4x fullys

+ 2

WAKIdesigns (Apr 16, 2010 at 6:05)

maah, making 1.5 all the way is just giving a choice with a minimal weight gain and with lower production cost. (I ain't no specialist but it seems easier to do a straight tube rather than tapered one - at the same time I believe tapered steerer is a great thing but let's leave it to forks only, leave the frame alone)

tiny loss but more flexibility

+ 1

AlpineSlayer (Apr 16, 2010 at 6:32)

I agree about the 1.5 head tube. I have never used a bike with a tampered head tube, but the weight saved just doesn't seem enough to justify the added cost.

+ 1

WAKIdesigns (Apr 16, 2010 at 6:39)

exactly, but I guess its mostly a matter of esthetics. 1.5 HT is just bloody huge and looks strange under 5" travel bikes. But at the same time it is just better.

+ 1

spaced (Apr 16, 2010 at 7:40)

I also prefer 1.5'' ha but from what I rember Keith Scott said about the spitfire on the banshee forum on mtbr is that they didn't go with full on 1.5'' not only for aestetics but not to give the people the wrong idea about the bikes purpose (and looking at the comments - rightly so).

+ 1

WAKIdesigns (Apr 16, 2010 at 7:55)

Ok I forgot I am talking to the DH-Zone chatter so I must care for every single word I am writing to avoid getting b*ched. Hereby I apologize: along with aesthetics I meant also the impression of bike's purpose which is given by the shape/form/presence of elements such as headtube, chain guide mounts, shock type etc... If someone has no idea what kind of bike Spitfire is then he/she should go to LSB and buy a more regular bike from some big company making more normal stuff (trek, giant) instead of browsing web for pretty much specialised custom bikes.

+ 1

spaced (Apr 16, 2010 at 9:03)

Chill out - I'm not bitching or have any hard feelings. Were did I offend you? I simply try to have a polite discussion.

As for going to LBS - they have banshees in some shops and that were not my words Wink

Don't be so hostile. I was only stating that a 1.5headtube won't change it into something closer to a 4x fully.

+ 1

spaced (Apr 16, 2010 at 9:06)

Also - being on dhz doesn't automaticaly make you stupid. You know some ppl have similar stereotypes on pinkbike so it's a kinda double edged sword those stereotypes Wink

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+ 0

GabrielDugas (Apr 15, 2010 at 21:31)

the legend is probably the frame i want most as a dh rig...i would actually sleep with one.

+ 1

spaced (Apr 16, 2010 at 7:55)

You'd better order it much before as they are probably shipped using sea turtles. The first batch of them still didn't arrive to the uk :/ It really gets me mad.

+ 2

builttoride (Apr 16, 2010 at 18:36)

Double check that, I'm pretty sure they arrived the other week.

+ 1

spaced (Apr 17, 2010 at 2:15)

Oh in that case I shouldn't bother mailing you. That is great news. Las time I checked was past Thursday and the response was that they will have them this week. Thanks for the up.

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+ 1

DHDean (Apr 15, 2010 at 18:03)

loving the dh bike

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+ 0

surlyrider (Apr 15, 2010 at 18:21)

The Legend looks so amazing.

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- 1

samnation (Apr 15, 2010 at 18:18)

I love these bikes but the bushing deal I do not. I love my amp!

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Sea Otter 2010 - Banshee Spitfire On Video

45 Comments