[TWeerts]

Anyone riding a Banshee Rune? Been riding one for a few seasons? How do the bushings hold up? What are they like?

I would gather that they hold up just fine so long as one stays on top of greasing them/ keeping them tight. If all regular maintenance is kept up, how long do the bushings last? (ie: what is their expected lifetime with proper maintenance?)

Lastly, has the pivot design changed at all since the 2008 inception of the Rune?

 

[I.van]

I've had a Rune for 6 months now. This bike has great geometry for everything.

After about 10 hours on the bike, I got frustrated that the rear suspension hadn't broken in and was still very stictiony, so I pulled out the main pivot bushings and found one was a tighter fight on the axle than the other. So I replaced it with a spare that came with the frame. The new bushing has improved suspension feel and plushness, although I still wouldn't describe the suspension as plush.

The bushings are super easy to service and replace, although you have to remove your cranks to get at the bottom axles, but I'm not sure if they make for a plush setup. My bike is still fairly new, but it is frustrating to have such a long break in period.

Check out the Banshee thread on MTBR. one member has also had troubles with axle wear.

 

[TWeerts]

is it still breaking in at the 6 month mark? how often do you ride?

 

[I.van]

is it still breaking in at the 6 month mark? how often do you ride?

I bought the frame, then my wife had a baby and we moved town, so I haven't done anywhere near as much riding as I would have liked in the last 6 months.

But, I would estimate that I had down at least 10 hours on the frame before I tried changing out the bush.

 

[cableguy]

My Spitfire has the same bushing system, and it lasted about 4-5 months. I greased it regularly too. With bushings, you notice the slop/play all of sudden. I don't ride in wet weather here in SoCal, so it surprised me that bushings wore out so fast. Usually bearings last at least a year or more for me.

Bushings are easier/cheaper to replace than bearings. But with bearings, I can usually open the seals and grease it too (unless totally shot).

 

[fluider]

I've been riding my Rune since May 2010 so for last 9 months and I've had no issues with them yet. They broke in after three(?) 4h rides. Without re-greasing or inspection been riding in mud, rain, and snow and I don't feel any higher stiction, creacking, everything is still tight, anyway I'm curious how they look like. I'm going to regrease them in early days.
But I must say i'm kinda disappointed that you need a proper grease gun to press the new grease into main-pivots axles. No cheap 'home' solutions worked for me.

 

[roel_koel]

don't worry about the grease gun

once it cleaned, put your bike on the work stand

remove the rear wheel and crankset (you cannot get at the lower rocker / bottom bracket pivot without removing the cranks)

do each axle 1 at a time

use allen key on non-driveside, you have a dome headed bolt on non-driveside and the axle itself on driveside

I loosen the dome headed bolt, and then back the dome headed bolt out a couple of turns

I then tap the dome headed bolt with rubber mallet, this drives the axle out of the frame a little

remove the dome headed bolt, and using an allen key and finger pressure, pull the axle free

if its sticky, you might want to use a piece of dowel and hammer to tap the axle free from the other side

once its free, clean and then regrease the axle with something like Finish Line Teflon grease, before reinserting (take care to not get grease in the threaded hole at the end of the axle, as you want to use loctite for the dome headed bolt)

slide the axle back in, you might need to tap it with the mallet to get it to seat down fully (watch out as some of the axles use a steel "key" which needs to be lined up with the slot on the frame component)

once the axle is home, loctite (blue) the thread on the dome headed bolt and use a torque wrench, its 3-4nm which is critical as the system is very sensitive to torque (too much it will feel sticky, too little it will feel sloppy)

the upper rock / seat stay pivots can be done by hand using allen keys and a little grease (they don't have an "axle" like the other pivots)

 

[TWeerts]

Whoa. Thanks! of the few options ive been looking at in the DHer's xc bike/xc'ers dh bike segment; i keep returning to the rune. i dont think ill have any problem keeping up with the bushings

 

[Mishtar]

once the axle is home, loctite (blue) the thread on the dome headed bolt and use a torque wrench, its 3-4nm which is critical as the system is very sensitive to torque (too much it will feel sticky, too little it will feel sloppy)

Just wanted to comment on this part. I actually wrote Banshee this week asking about maintenance tips and the one thing that stood out after having already read what you posted. (which was very informative and thank you!) was this
"Hi Don,


Thanks for the email. I hope you are enjoying your Rune?


Pivots should be greased every 10 hours of riding in bad conditions (wet gritty) and 20 hours in dry conditions. The old grease has to be purged to work effectively, so inject grease into the ports until it comes out around the bushings, then wipe the old stuff off. (to make it easier to purge old grease just loosen the pivots slightly).

Obviously have to make sure everything is clean before injecting grease & please don't use degreasers or pressure washers when cleaning your bike around the pivots.

Pivots should only be tightened to 5Nm... If play develops a lot of people just tighten things down harder... which is worst possible thing. If you detect any play, the axles should be removed, cleaned and checked for wear, and bushings replaced if necessary.
"

Even better here is the PDF he sent me.

 

[Mishtar]

I could not figure out how to upload the PDF it kept failing on me but here is the text from it.


The Rune uses IGUS polymer bushings instead
of bearings in all its pivots as a result of
proven engineering principals. If you wish to
learn more then please refer to…
http://bansheebikes.blogspot.com/search/lab
el/Bushings
To ensure long bushing life and great performance
the pivots MUST BE KEPT CLEAN! This
means free of grit, mud, sand etc. To ensure
that the pivots remain free of debris, it is very
important that you regularly check them for
wear and clean them (we recommend checking
every 10 hours of wet or gritty riding conditions,
or every 20 hours after riding in less
harsh conditions). If there is any grit present,
you should clean the pivot surfaces with
a clean cloth until completely free of
contaminates, and clean zerk and bolt
threads with a toothbrush.
The bushings are self lubricating, and so do
not need greasing, however there is a grease
port at the non drive side end of each axle
(excluding the seat stay pivots) that will
allow you to grease the pivots (use a low
viscosity grease), and in doing so will push
out any grit that you may not have been able
to clean away yourself. The grease should
increase the life of your pivots. Do not force
grease in, it should pump in easily, if there is
pressure then stop.
If when checking any pivot, you see signs of
wear in the bushing, it is important to replace
the worn bushings immediately if there is any
tolerance movement between the axle and
bushing, to ensure the frame carries on
performing well without damage to the frame
components. We recommend replacing all
bushings as soon as any one needs replacing,
as this tends to prevent other bushings
prematurely wearing out.
The bushings are available directly from
www.igus.com and the item numbers are as
follows.
Main Pivot 2x LFM-1517-17
Chainstay Pivot 2x LFM-1214-17
Rocker Pivot 2x LFM-1214-17
Seat Stay Pivot 4x WFM-0810-04
The Rune is designed to work with a large volume air
shock (with external reservoir), and should be aligned
with the reservoir forward and top relative to the main
shock body, as seen below.
Fox Manitou
Rider Weight lb (kg) Spring Rate Rider Weight lb (kg) Spring Rate
<125 (60) 450 <125 (60) 350
125-150 (60-70) 500 125-150 (60-70) 400
150-175 (70-80) 550 150-175 (70-80) 450
175-200 (80-90) 600 175-200 (80-90) 500
200-225+ (90-100) 650 200-225+ (90-100) 550
Main Pivot 6Nm
Chainstay Pivot 5Nm
Seat Stay Pivot 5Nm
Rocker Pivot 5Nm

 

[Mishtar]

Ok finally got it to work. Here is the PDF in jpeg format.