[jackalope]

2010 Banshee Spitty:

* medium ano-gray frame
* Fox 36 Van
* Fox RP23 medium can shock
* DT Swiss 5.10 rims (440 rear with 32 tooth ratchets, Hadley front)
* Maxxis ST DHF 2.35 & Maxxis Crossmark 2.25
* Sunline stem (70 mm)
* Sunline bars (745 mm?)
* Shimano Hone cranks (170 mm) & XT BB
* Crank Bros Acid pedals
* WTB Rocket saddle
* Banshee seat post & collar
* Sram X9 rear derailleur/shifter
* Shimano XT brakes (last gen), 180mm front & 160mm back
* Peaty grips
* Shimano XT cassette
* Bastardized zero stack Cane Creek head set

I'm guessing it weighs around 31-32 lbs

Only one ride on it so far, but it seems like a superb trail bike and I instantly felt confident on it. Easier to jump than my Mongoose Khyber, feels a little lower with a 13.5" BB (improving "railability"), pedals as well as can be expected, nice head angle "feel" - but I'm not sure its actually 67* (may be a touch steeper IMO), and rear suspension does a solid job of taking hits and smoothing out chunder - but feels kinda damped compared to a Blur 4X lets say.

I will hopefully get some more ride time on it ASAP, but its a dream come true so far. Thanks to Andy Devault, the guys at Recycle in Greensboro, and Dogboy for helping make it happen.


(and yes, I plan on cutting down the steerer)

 

[frorider]

cool.

i'm gonna insert the phrase 'banshee spitfire preliminary review' so this thread will actually come up in search engines a month from now. odds are low people will search for 'spitty'.

 

[Pip3r]

Looking good. Now if only mine would show up... eagerly awaiting.

 

[dump]

Looks like a bundle of fun.

 

[-BB-]

Waiting to see how the 1st ride goes... want a FULL report!

 

[matsO]

Great bike, I love mine!

I have ridden it for 3 hour tech XC rides and next weekend changed tires to dual ply minions and gone downhilling on it.

A Fox 36 will be perfect, I have a 150 mm Revelation team and occasionally hit my pedals.

780 bars on a trail bike, hmm do you have wide trails where you ride?

 

[Pip3r]

A Fox 36 will be perfect, I have a 150 mm Revelation team and occasionally hit my pedals.

Do you hit even in the 'tall' geometry position? What length cranks and type of pedals are you running? Just asking as I picked up a 150 Revelation for mine as well.

 

[jackalope]

780 bars on a trail bike, hmm do you have wide trails where you ride?

To be perfectly honest, they are less than ideal in some places I ride. In most cases, its not an issue, but I rode a trail last week (on my old bike with the same bar) that had me grinding to a crawl before trying to "split the uprights". In general, I prefer wider bars (as it makes switching to a DH bike a little more natural), but I will probably end up knocking off a bit to make them a little more XC-trail friendly.

 

[JustMtnB44]

Looks good. I just got my Spitty last week too, but haven't had a chance to do a real ride yet. Will post a picture later.

 

[matsO]

Do you hit even in the 'tall' geometry position? What length cranks and type of pedals are you running? Just asking as I picked up a 150 Revelation for mine as well.

I do not use the "tall" geo position as I don´t need to. Hitting pedals is not a big issue in the low/slack setting. At first I had a Marzocchi AM1 in the front which had a AC-measure of 558 mm!

The team has a AC of 528 mm, a 30 mm drop in the front. My cranks are 175 XT and DX pedals.

730 bars

 

[monkeyfcuker]

Loving these things, they look sweet.

Top one looks well slack to me. Is that a 13.5 inch BB as pictured?

 

[motomike]

To be perfectly honest, they are less than ideal in some places I ride. In most cases, its not an issue, but I rode a trail last week (on my old bike with the same bar) that had me grinding to a crawl before trying to "split the uprights". In general, I prefer wider bars (as it makes switching to a DH bike a little more natural), but I will probably end up knocking off a bit to make them a little more XC-trail friendly.

Aren't sunline bars 745mm though? unless you have bar extensions...

The bike looks DOPE Ed, good job with it!

 

[jackalope]

Moto, you may be right, as Andy gave them to me - but they seem as wide as Kirstie Alley. I will confirm later. EDIT - yep, Moto is right. 745mm bars

Btw, sorry it rained on ya in Whis, but I trust you will be making a return visit post haste. Bert sends his best from gahye paris...



As for the BB height, it did measure out to 13.5", and my internal HA estimator may off as my previous bike was probably slacker than it should've been due to a dying Marz ROCO air shock and subsequent V-10'esque sag.

 

[cableguy]

Been riding it since February. Got it down to ~29 lb.

 

[Mulestar]

Lookin fly...I think you're missing the bottle of Kentucky Supreme on your crankarm though...

 

[Dogboy]

Lookin fly...I think you're missing the bottle of Kentucky Supreme on your crankarm though...

Good catch.

 

[jackalope]

^^

Sadly, the K-Supreme didn't make it back from the Dirty Bird...Speaking of which, I'm quite confident I would've bested Dan's stellar time if I was riding the Spit

 

[supercow]

Mine

 

[chillindrdude]

here's mine...

i'm running a 700mm Atlas AM. Feels pretty good, doesn't feel that much different than my DH bars and doesn't clip stuff on singletrack.

 

[SuboptimusPrime]

Looks fantastic there Buchan. I'll pick you up another handle of Kentucky's finest ASAP. Wouldn't want you to go thirsty. When do I get my test ride?

 

[jackalope]

K. Supreme = test ride

 

[JustMtnB44]

Here is my Spitfire.

Frame: Large, grey ano
Fork: RS Revelation Team DualAir 150mm, Maxle
Headset: FSA Gravity
Stem: Syncros AM V2
Bar: Diety Dirty Thirty, probably will cut it down an inch or so
Cranks: SLX, 1x9 with bash ring and inner plate
Derailleur/Shifter: Sram X.9, mid cage
Cassette: Sram PG-980, 11-34
Brakes: Elixir CR's
Wheels: Easton Havoc

One thing I found out when setting this bike up is that with an 11-34 rear cassette and 1x9 drivetrain, a SRAM short cage rear derailleur simply will not work due the chain growth on this frame. It can't take up the slack between those ranges of sprockets and the suspension movement. I know there is a short cage in the picture, but after one test ride I realized I had to change it (after breaking the derailleur hanger).

\

I went for a trail ride yesterday and so far I am impressed. This bike really rips downhill, and corners awesome. It does well on the climbs too. The suspension is very lively, and soaks up a lot of bumps while feeling firm at the same time (for good pedaling performance). I need to test it in more varied terrain before giving a full review.

 

[alfonz]

here's my rig oldschool but love it. i know it's not a spitfire, but an older pyre frame. i can only imagine how much better the spitfire is, even though i think this bike rippsss!!!

View attachment bike.bmp

 

[time-bomb]

Question for all you Spitfire owners. Surely you considering other bikes before throwing a leg over the Spitfire. Was the Rune one of the contenders? If so, why did you go with the Spitfire over the Rune?

I know there is about a pound difference but the Rune seems maybe a tad more versatile since it could easily pitch-hit as a mini DH bike too. I would guess it would pedal as well (close enough) as the Spitfire and the pound difference can be made up in smart components selection.

Anyway, I am just curious as both of these frames are on my short list for new trail bikes (probably next year however). Since I am looking for a "swiss army knife" of bikes that caters to a DHer at heart, the Rune takes a slight lead over the Spitfire at the moment.

I really wish I could try them back to back but I probably won't have that luxury.

PS - very nice rides posted here, they all look fun and are inspiring

 

[cableguy]

^^ I was looking for more of an XC bike that you can bomb singletracks. If you are looking for more of a bike that can do everything, Rune (or other similar bikes) is a better choice. It is not the frame weight but how you build it that makes the difference. Most Spitfire builds I've seen are around 29lb with 5-6" forks, while Rune builds are ~33lb with 6" forks.

PS Most guys go with Elka (or another coil shock) with Rune. RP23 with Spitfire.

 

[Pip3r]

Here is my Spitfire.

Thanks for posting. Mine should sit very similar to yours. Cant wait for it! Unforuntately Banshee says they are a 'couple' weeks behind on production and we all know what that can mean... I think i'm going to hold out for this though they look so rad.

 

[jackalope]

Good question time-bomb, and I agree with cableguy in that the build can change the overall character of the bike. I will also add that in my case, I was coming off a Mongoose Khyber, which is very similar to a Rune in terms of geo and travel. I guess I wanted to try something a little different, and since I rarely thought the Mongoose was put to good use in places I ride the most, the Spitfire seemed like a great choice (i.e. dialed geo, but a little more pedal friendly). I rode my Mongoose several times in Pisgah (mountains in Western NC), and it totally ripped in those situations. But it sometimes felt too much like a mini-DH bike when I was tooling around on the hilly trails near where I live. So far, there seems to be a pretty big difference in a 6-6.5" travel bike and a 5" travel bike, mostly owing to suspension design characteristics IMO. The Spitty seems poppier and more at home just ripping XC'ish trails, but I suspect it will still be serviceable in the mountains. Besides, I have a DH bike for really fast, rough stuff in the mountains. Lastly, I think the Spitfire is a bit lower than the rune, especially when you run a 150mm (or less) fork on it, which you probably wouldn't do on a Rune. In most cases, I'd trade a lower BB for a little bit of travel.

Btw, nice Mbuzi Supercow...I looked long and hard at that one as well.

And Pip3r, you should wait. It's worth it!

 

[matsO]

Time-bomb: for me it was important to really not have more than 5" of travel. I do a lot of XC where I live, b/c we have no mountains. Therefore the Rune failed due to the 6" travel + a bit heavier. I have my DH-bike for the alps.

Spitfire also have the adjustable GEO-setting that I like.

The Spitfire works well for me in "medium" DH, not only mini-DH I have yet to find the limit for this bike. So far it has been more limiting to find the right setting on my new Revelation fork.

An attempt to asses the DH-limit of the Spitfire: it would work on tracks like the Pleney in Morzine, but not on Lindarets/Avoriaz DH.

 

[JustMtnB44]

Question for all you Spitfire owners. Surely you considering other bikes before throwing a leg over the Spitfire. Was the Rune one of the contenders? If so, why did you go with the Spitfire over the Rune?

I didn't consider the Rune because I was looking for more of a trail bike then mini-DH/light FR bike. The Rune would be too close to my Highline, which I already use on trailrides with freeride stuff mixed in. The Spitfire replaced a Yeti 575. Most trails around here are lots of short ups and down with very little FR elements, so a bike like the Rune would be overkill for that, at least for me.

Thanks for posting. Mine should sit very similar to yours. Cant wait for it! Unforuntately Banshee says they are a 'couple' weeks behind on production and we all know what that can mean... I think i'm going to hold out for this though they look so rad.

Yes I do know what that means...I ordered my frame the first week in April, was initially told to expect it late April/early May, and ended up getting it the second week in June. But I think it's worth the wait as there aren't many other bikes that compare.

 

[Muttely]

There is no bike i want more than a spitfire! they look so bloody fun!