Background
After riding a Nomad Carbon with a Push link for about three years, I was craving change. It was my first VPP bike and while I generally liked the suspension manners, there were a number of things I didn't quite get along with, even with the upgraded Push link and RC4 shock out back. The bike's geometry was the main issue - it felt pretty tall, and at 6'1 with a preference for 50mm stems, the reach on the large was quite short. To get the suspension to feel nice on the downs, I had to compromise the acceleration of the bike, which made it less than awesome to ride in tight terrain where you really had to snap at the pedals. I refurbished a Chromag Samurai in the Fall of last year and it had become my bike of choice purely because of the comfortable geometry and fun, more responsive handling.
I was looking for something a bit more playful with a longer reach and lower BB that could really be smashed around on local trails, but still retained a degree of responsiveness. The Evil Uprising, Commencal Meta AM 650b, Kona Process 153, and Banshee Spitfire had all made my short list. The Banshee ended up making the most financial sense, AND IT CAME IN SIXHUNDREDFIFTY BEEEZ! I was initially resistant to the larger wheelsize, but after building and riding my dad's Paradox, I was confident that Banshee understood how to retain snappy handling qualities in a larger wheel format. With only 140mm of travel, I figured the Spitfire could benefit from the bit of added wheel diameter without feeling too boat-like. So I bit the bullet and went for it.
The Build
Frame: '14 Spitfire v2, revised 142x12mm 650b dropouts, size L, raw
Shock: Cane Creek DB Air CS
Fork: XFusion Sweep 160mm, 15mm axle
Headset: Cane Creek 110 zero stack
Wheels: Purple Hope Pro 2 (new 36pt ratchet), WTB Frequency i23 rim, Wheelsmith double butted spokes, brass nips
Tires: Conti Trail King 2.4 Protection front, Maxxis High Roller II TR rear
Brakes: Shimano SLX, 203mm front and 185mm rear rotors
Crank:e13 TRS+ 175mm, direct mount M-type 34t ring
Guide: e13 XCX
Stem: Easton Haven 55mm
Bars: RaceFace SixC 785mm uncut
Der: Shimano XT Shadow+
Cassette: Shimano XT 11-36 with 42t Wolf Tooth Giant Cog
Shifter: Shimano SLX
Post: Rockshox Reverb Stealth 125mm
Pedals: e13 LG1+
Saddle: Chromag Trailmaster LTD, red leather
The build on this thing was a cinch. Banshee's finish work on the frame was very good, and the hand-buffed aesthetic on the raw frame is awesome. Though the cable routing isn't the cleanest, I was grateful that the only internal routing was the stealth seatpost - definitely makes seasonal housing swaps and initial setup much, much easier.
The wheel build was fairly easy, though I must say that the weld quality on the WTB rims is a bit sloppy. the proprietary nipple drilling had me a bit confused at first, but after one failed lacing attempt I got it down and it actually makes a lot of structural sense.
Having set up e13 cranks before, I was curious to see how this new bearing preload system worked. In a word, brilliantly - it's super easy to set up and after torquing the huge bolt to spec, the cranks haven't loosened up a bit.
Ride Impressions
The first day was spent dialing in the shock, and I really didn't stray too far from Banshee's recommended base tune. Right from the get go I noticed that the climb switch on the shock makes a huge difference when grinding uphill, especially with the highly active KS Link. The bike is snappy at the pedals without any notable lag due to the bigger wheels, but it doesn't take too kindly to standing efforts (with the climb switch on, its much better). Climbing traction is pretty remarkable, and unlike the VPP, it doesn't feel like there's quite as much pedal feedback or leverage curve weirdness going on out back. My tire choice at the moment does not help the rolling speed in the least, but in the summer I'll be swapping to a less aggressive setup that should have this thing cruising up hills and on flats at a much better clip.
A good part of the reason I bought this bike was because everything about it seemed to scream that it wants to go downhill fast. Turns out that fast is an understatement. After messing with high speed compression a bit and getting the sag right (I started a bit low), the bike was a goddamn rocket ship. Cornering and high speed blasting is a revelation compared to my Nomad - the wheelbase is longer, the headtube is slacker, the bottom bracket is lower, and the feel is just generally more confident. The big wheels paired with the excellent suspension quality give the bike a "hold on and give 'er" feel, but the very stiff frame and supportive midstroke in both the fork and shock make for surgically precise handling in burly terrain. The result? A bike that loves going airborne and being thrown hard into corners, but can outrun a lot of bigger bikes when things get hairy.
The bike did remind me of its limitations once or twice, but only when pushed FAR beyond its intended riding genre with big drops or sphincter-puckering speed in ultra rough terrain. The aluminum frame doesn't mute some of the vibrations as well as my Nomad's carbon frame did, but the suspension performance of the Banshee is in another league. I need to look into some custom tuning for the fork as I am looking to get a little more high speed compression support out of it, but there are a couple of tricks that I've been told should address my complaints.
Conclusions
One of the biggest question marks was the oh-so-trendy 650b wheel size. Would it really perform up to the hype? It is a game changer? After my first few outings on the bike, I can answer both questions with a definitive "Nope". The slightly larger wheel performs exactly how a slightly larger wheel would be expected to perform. Maintains speed marginally better than a 26, changes direction marginally slower than a 26, offers marginally more traction than a 26, has to be worked through corners marginally more than a 26. Everything is a marginal difference that a lot of people wouldn't notice, and I can't conclusively say that I really would ever notice if I wasn't trying so hard to see the basis of all of the hype.
This bike out pedals my Nomad as I hoped it would, but where it really surprised me is with its downhill abilities. There is no question that it is a faster bike on the downhills, and only comes short of the Nomad when it comes to keeping full composure on huge hits. It's just more fun all over the mountain.
After riding a Nomad Carbon with a Push link for about three years, I was craving change. It was my first VPP bike and while I generally liked the suspension manners, there were a number of things I didn't quite get along with, even with the upgraded Push link and RC4 shock out back. The bike's geometry was the main issue - it felt pretty tall, and at 6'1 with a preference for 50mm stems, the reach on the large was quite short. To get the suspension to feel nice on the downs, I had to compromise the acceleration of the bike, which made it less than awesome to ride in tight terrain where you really had to snap at the pedals. I refurbished a Chromag Samurai in the Fall of last year and it had become my bike of choice purely because of the comfortable geometry and fun, more responsive handling.
I was looking for something a bit more playful with a longer reach and lower BB that could really be smashed around on local trails, but still retained a degree of responsiveness. The Evil Uprising, Commencal Meta AM 650b, Kona Process 153, and Banshee Spitfire had all made my short list. The Banshee ended up making the most financial sense, AND IT CAME IN SIXHUNDREDFIFTY BEEEZ! I was initially resistant to the larger wheelsize, but after building and riding my dad's Paradox, I was confident that Banshee understood how to retain snappy handling qualities in a larger wheel format. With only 140mm of travel, I figured the Spitfire could benefit from the bit of added wheel diameter without feeling too boat-like. So I bit the bullet and went for it.
The Build
Frame: '14 Spitfire v2, revised 142x12mm 650b dropouts, size L, raw
Shock: Cane Creek DB Air CS
Fork: XFusion Sweep 160mm, 15mm axle
Headset: Cane Creek 110 zero stack
Wheels: Purple Hope Pro 2 (new 36pt ratchet), WTB Frequency i23 rim, Wheelsmith double butted spokes, brass nips
Tires: Conti Trail King 2.4 Protection front, Maxxis High Roller II TR rear
Brakes: Shimano SLX, 203mm front and 185mm rear rotors
Crank:e13 TRS+ 175mm, direct mount M-type 34t ring
Guide: e13 XCX
Stem: Easton Haven 55mm
Bars: RaceFace SixC 785mm uncut
Der: Shimano XT Shadow+
Cassette: Shimano XT 11-36 with 42t Wolf Tooth Giant Cog
Shifter: Shimano SLX
Post: Rockshox Reverb Stealth 125mm
Pedals: e13 LG1+
Saddle: Chromag Trailmaster LTD, red leather
The build on this thing was a cinch. Banshee's finish work on the frame was very good, and the hand-buffed aesthetic on the raw frame is awesome. Though the cable routing isn't the cleanest, I was grateful that the only internal routing was the stealth seatpost - definitely makes seasonal housing swaps and initial setup much, much easier.
The wheel build was fairly easy, though I must say that the weld quality on the WTB rims is a bit sloppy. the proprietary nipple drilling had me a bit confused at first, but after one failed lacing attempt I got it down and it actually makes a lot of structural sense.
Having set up e13 cranks before, I was curious to see how this new bearing preload system worked. In a word, brilliantly - it's super easy to set up and after torquing the huge bolt to spec, the cranks haven't loosened up a bit.
Ride Impressions
The first day was spent dialing in the shock, and I really didn't stray too far from Banshee's recommended base tune. Right from the get go I noticed that the climb switch on the shock makes a huge difference when grinding uphill, especially with the highly active KS Link. The bike is snappy at the pedals without any notable lag due to the bigger wheels, but it doesn't take too kindly to standing efforts (with the climb switch on, its much better). Climbing traction is pretty remarkable, and unlike the VPP, it doesn't feel like there's quite as much pedal feedback or leverage curve weirdness going on out back. My tire choice at the moment does not help the rolling speed in the least, but in the summer I'll be swapping to a less aggressive setup that should have this thing cruising up hills and on flats at a much better clip.
A good part of the reason I bought this bike was because everything about it seemed to scream that it wants to go downhill fast. Turns out that fast is an understatement. After messing with high speed compression a bit and getting the sag right (I started a bit low), the bike was a goddamn rocket ship. Cornering and high speed blasting is a revelation compared to my Nomad - the wheelbase is longer, the headtube is slacker, the bottom bracket is lower, and the feel is just generally more confident. The big wheels paired with the excellent suspension quality give the bike a "hold on and give 'er" feel, but the very stiff frame and supportive midstroke in both the fork and shock make for surgically precise handling in burly terrain. The result? A bike that loves going airborne and being thrown hard into corners, but can outrun a lot of bigger bikes when things get hairy.
The bike did remind me of its limitations once or twice, but only when pushed FAR beyond its intended riding genre with big drops or sphincter-puckering speed in ultra rough terrain. The aluminum frame doesn't mute some of the vibrations as well as my Nomad's carbon frame did, but the suspension performance of the Banshee is in another league. I need to look into some custom tuning for the fork as I am looking to get a little more high speed compression support out of it, but there are a couple of tricks that I've been told should address my complaints.
Conclusions
One of the biggest question marks was the oh-so-trendy 650b wheel size. Would it really perform up to the hype? It is a game changer? After my first few outings on the bike, I can answer both questions with a definitive "Nope". The slightly larger wheel performs exactly how a slightly larger wheel would be expected to perform. Maintains speed marginally better than a 26, changes direction marginally slower than a 26, offers marginally more traction than a 26, has to be worked through corners marginally more than a 26. Everything is a marginal difference that a lot of people wouldn't notice, and I can't conclusively say that I really would ever notice if I wasn't trying so hard to see the basis of all of the hype.
This bike out pedals my Nomad as I hoped it would, but where it really surprised me is with its downhill abilities. There is no question that it is a faster bike on the downhills, and only comes short of the Nomad when it comes to keeping full composure on huge hits. It's just more fun all over the mountain.
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