First Look: Banshee's 2016 Lineup

Banshee have been producing tough aluminum mountain bikes for nearly 15 years, and by the looks of their 2016 lineup they're not slowing down anytime soon. There aren't any brand new models for next season, but geometry changes have been implemented on nearly every bike, changes that in most cases make them slacker and longer to better suit the needs of hard charging riders.

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Q & A With Keith Scott, Banshee's Frame Designer / Engineer

We're starting to see more companies go consumer direct, but Banshee has gone a slightly different route by going dealer direct. Can you explain the reasoning behind this?

We feel that dealers play a crucial role in the customer experience of buying and owning a bike. Not only do they have great knowledge about frames and components that they can share with customers, but they also often know their customers personally, and so can recommend the best options out there to suit their personal riding style and requirements. Good dealers will also follow up a sale with service and support to their customer. If we were to only offer customer direct sales, sure we could make a bit more profit by cutting out all the middle men…but at what cost? I don’t feel it would improve our customers experience, and I see a far greater chance of the customer buying the wrong size frame, having difficulty building it up or servicing it, and it would certainly lack that personal touch, which, as a very small boutique bike company, we know is important to us, and to our customers.



What was the thought process behind the Legend geometry changes - was it simply to better accommodate 27.5" wheels, or was there more to it than that?

To modify a frame design for a wheel size consists of a lot more than just increasing tire clearance. For the Legend 650 I have redesigned and manipulated every part of the rear linkage to optimise performance around 650b wheels to meet the demands of world cup level racers. The forged one piece links are shorter and stiffer. The 10 other 3D forged frame sections have all been refined to increase strength while reducing weight by use of FEA. The suspension kinematics have been adjusted to reduce antisquat to match chainring size requirements, and work better with lower frequency input of larger diameter wheels. The rear triangle is lighter with improved tire clearance. The standover has been lowered along with the centre of gravity to have the lowest centre of gravity of any DH frame I am aware of. Combine this with the lower and longer geometry that racers are requesting, and a new optimised stiffness profile, results in a totally new beast. From the offset the Legend has been designed to be the fastest DH race bike on the market, and the new design reinforces this ideal.


Adjustable geometry is a feature on many of the models in Banshee's line - do you feel the extra effort and parts involved to have this as an option is worth it?

Without a doubt it is worth it, and our modular dropouts don’t just offer multiple geometry options, they also help future proof riders against new ‘standards’ of wheel size, and axle dimensions. Every rider s an individual and has personal preferences. If they choose to ride our frames, they can benefit from being able to choose what wheel setup they like running most, and the geometry that works well for their riding style and trail conditions. It is their choice if they following what the marketing teams of big brands tell them is best or not. Our frame designs are so versatile that they are even plus size compatible without us specifically designing them to be. Some of our customers are happily running 27+ and 29+ on their Banshee’s, and can adjust geometry to suit their needs. We simply like to give our customers the choice set up the bike the way they want to.



As more and more companies enter the world of carbon fiber, are there any plans for a carbon Banshee in the future?

Currently we don’t feel that we can offer value for money to our customers by going carbon, and we don’t see overall performance benefits that come anywhere close to justifying the price yet. Tooling costs for carbon molds are a significant factor for us because Banshee is a very small company, much smaller than most people seem to think. We really are a boutique brand made up of just 3 riders and manufacture less than 2000 frames a year in small batches. We could probably just about compete on price with the bigger brands out there who make much better margins, but we know our alloy bikes will compete with them on performance already at a fraction of the price to consumers so don’t feel it is justified.

The other issue big with carbon is that the materials used do not yet satisfy our safety demands. We know that Banshee riders are hard riders, certainly aiming to progress more than your average mountain biker. They love to push their limits, and as a result they will at some point crash. Crashing inevitable for any real rider who wants to progress. Carbon is not a good material for coping with direct rock impacts (like seen when crashing in a rock garden) followed by frame loading, and will often not clearly show damage until structural failure.

There is an analogy that I use: Road bikes are comparable to formula one race cars. Aerodynamics are a top priority, and input loads are very predictable due to the nature of the relatively smooth racetracks. Carbon is used because it can be shaped for aerodynamics and reinforced to cope with the predicted loads. They are not designed to cope with large unexpected impacts or off axis loading. If crashed the carbon parts will be damaged. It may be invisible delamination which can lead catastrophic failure, or it may just shatter as is often seen in F1 cars.

Mountain bikes are like rally cars. The loads are unpredictable (think of all the loads that happen as you charge through a rock garden), and rock impacts and crashes are pretty common, with the expectation from the rider that after a crash that the framework will still be able to ride/drive away in most cases. Alloy is better at coping with unpredictable loads due to its isotropic nature (equal strength in all directions) and generally copes better with direct impacts due to greater material flexibility, and ability to dissipate very large impacts by means of plastic deformation (dent). So ask yourself this… The car industry spends many millions more on R&D than the bike industry does, so why do rally cars still use aluminium chassis? Maybe something to consider before your next frame purchase.

That said, IF new carbon composites and manufacturing techniques become available that dissipate impact load better from rock strikes and crash damage, show when structural damage has occurred more clearly, AND the performance gains justify the cost to our customers then we will probably start making carbon frames.

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Visit the high-res gallery for more images from Banshee's 2016 line.

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www.bansheebikes.com

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