The reason I got mine was because after test riding a few others, it was by far the most fun. 😀

Buy one.

Loving mine (the one in the bucket above), hammered it at FoD and Bpw last weekend. Loved every minute on it.

May have a cracked frame, but it hasn’t put me off the Spitfire. Cannot wait to get back out when frame is sorted. A fantastic all-rounder of a bike, that is way more capable than I’ll ever be.

Thank you for your feedback. This morning I spent a little time on a large Bronson and it felt too small… probably I’ll give a look to the Transition Scout too (with a 150mm fork?).

Top of Great Hill a couple of weeks ago. No trouble pedalling up, loads of fun smashing my way down! 😀

Hi guys,

I’m considering getting myself a spitfire, I’ve been offered a pretty good deal on a virtually new 2015 model in Large – unfortunately there are no dealers anywhere near me so a demo is pretty much impossible. My question is at 6’2″, is a Large going to be big enough? Looking at the numbers the reach seems fine and is pretty much in line with other bikes I’ve ridden but the seat tube seems pretty short.

Any opinions etc would be very welcome – I’m in devon so if anyone is around here and has a large I could throw a leg over that would also be cool

Seat tube length shouldn’t be a problem unless you have incredibly long legs or already own a dropper post which isn’t very long. If you stick a 400mm dropper up to full post extension on a large Spitfire that gives you 770mm from saddle rails to BB centre. See how your current bike compares!

Im 6ft 2 and a half and I ride an XL spitty with a 50mm stem. Its a 2013 model – is it only 2016 that has the different dimensions?

its absolutely perfect sizing for me. I have v long arms (plus size on the ape index) for my height.

I test rode an ‘old’ large Rune (2012 ed) which has a .2 inch shorter top tube than the large spitty and the Rune was noticeably too short for me so decided to go XL (but note the TT was very slightly shorter)

at 6ft 2 it could be spot on for you but that’s my experience.

I’m 6ft1 and found a large spitfire ever so slightly small with a 50mm stem/780 bars,still rideable but I always wanted a little more reach. It’s worth noting on the V2 banshees the reach stated is for the high position and it drops by 6mm per position, so it’s actually 12mm shorter than stated in slack

It’s worth noting on the V2 banshees the reach stated is for the high position and it drops by 6mm per position, so it’s actually 12mm shorter than stated in slack

I’m pretty certain that the reach and stack numbers are for the neutral flipchip setting and it does get longer or shorter by 5mm when you go steeper or slacker.

On the new one has anyone set the chain line over wrong on purpose for 1x drivetrain. I did on my heckler and it was better, spitfire BB without the splined ISCG seems to be 68 so more spacers to play with.

For info, I had to use a slim BB spacer in addition to the 2.5 normal one to take up the slack due to not using the ISCG.

Just put mine up for sale in the classifieds if anyone is interested in a nice example? http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/2014-banshee-spitfire-sixc-xtr-hope-e4s-reverb-pikes

new one-

@Chipbutty Any update on your warranty frame? What colour did you go for? 🙂

Hi Volatilemike,

Still waiting. The bike shop was hoping to have received it last week! Fingers crossed this week. Ive asked for the Gun Metal or Black.

Hope you get it sorted soon mate.

What fork are you guys running? Thinking about changing from my 2013 slant as the damper has blown twice now.

Anybody using a mattoc pro?

Just back from a road trip with a dozen of us riding some fun stuff in Wales – BPW, Antur and then actually having to pedal uphill at Llandegla. The Spitfire was totally brilliant and the limiting factor was definitely my forearms after two days of uplift… Great to revisit Llandegla for the first time in 4 years and be able to hit all the drops smoothly and backside quite a lot of the jumps – progress! I think Antur was my favourite – love those wide rocky sections where you have to spot your line and link a series of moves through them, a real mental and technical challenge.

Considering the battering our bikes got (a mix of modern 6″ bikes, the oldest being a couple of SB66s and Coverts), I was shocked that our sum total of mechanicals was a main pivot finally going sloppy, a new 1×11 drivetrain being a bit finicky, one puncture and one broken spoke (and the only 2x bike dropping its chain far too often!) Not bad for over 200,000′ of descending between us!

:)… I’d definitely have got the pedalling out of the way on day 1….

Sounds great Chief. @Volatilemike, I’m running Pikes at 150mm. Had them 18 months and also been on a SC Solo with the 140 air spring. Great fork, no issues yet.

:)… I’d definitely have got the pedalling out of the way on day 1….

We definitely felt like that when we did Swinley on the way back from two days in Wales a couple of years ago – lots of pedalling but no descents! Very confusing… Some of the group rode Cwmcarn on the Friday too – and were definitely feeling it come Monday!

Llandegla just felt so easy after the speed of the blues at BPW and the tech of the reds and blacks at BPW and Antur – it was just a fun flowy cruise rather than pinning it everywhere. And my legs rather enjoyed getting to turn the pedals, I’m quite good at that for short bursts. Finished off with a good few laps of the pumptrack, which was the only time I missed my hardtail!

The Spitfire just had its biannual clean – I barely recognise it without its usual brown camouflage… 😉

Awesome Antur!

So this happened yesterday on a step down, thankfully my spitty was ok. The wheel er, is not.

I have taken wheels in that condition and beat them against a tree until they were sufficiently straight to ride on. And then had them straightened up afterwards and continued to use them

I have taken wheels in that condition and beat them against a tree

Sometimes they do need to be shown who’s boss, I agree

iv not read all the posts, but has anyone ridden the spitfire & rune?

Iv an xl rune, and would like to know if there is much difference in pedaling? the rune is ok on the climbs but would the spitfire be much easier pedalled?

I know a guy who has ridden (and I think owned) both. He has opted for the Rune, simply as he has a DH background and wants to still race it occasionally. He still does some pretty big XC style rides on it as well. Personally I never tried the Rune as I just didn’t need that much travel which was just going to cause more weight!

yes, iv done a few 30/40 mile rides on the rune, bit of an overkill on most but i like it for the bigger hits and uplifts days.

would love a ride on a spitfire to see the difference, dont know anyone with one local (especially an XL)

I am no expert in these things, but with the same shock, I’d expected they’d use their travel in the same way, so should pedal similarly – the real world difference might just be the weight.

I don’t think there is that much difference in weight (going by posts on MBR). The Spitty is pretty well built.

I think I should have bought a Spitfire. I love my Rune but it is overkill for most of my riding so is going (I think).

The Spitfire has a bit more anti-squat and less travel in which to bob, so it’ll be a more efficient pedaller – whether it’s a big enough difference to be worth having one as well as a Rune is hard to say. I haven’t ridden a Rune but I don’t find the Spitfire climbs or pedals any slower than my hardtail. The weight difference vs the Rune is definitely insignificant.

I have both and I prefer my Rune. There’s not much difference in (noticeable) weight,although I do have slightly better kit on the Rune,( I don’t think there’s a large weight difference in the actual builds). The Spitfire climbs a bit better- With the Spitfire you don’t feel any pedal bob although you can see the suspension moving- with the Rune you notice the suspension moving more but it doesn’t feel ‘bobish if you know what I mean if you’ve ridden a KS Link .( I think KS Link is a smashing suspension set up- as good as any I’ve tried.) But the difference is minimal and I only notice it as a comparison as I ride both.

The traction is superb on both. (NB I’m a plodder on the ups anyway) . The Rune is way better on the downs though- it just feels right, but the spitfire is still a hoot and a holler too.

So I guess my point is whatever you’ve got, enjoy them and don’t regret that you might have bought the wrong one.

My warranty replacement frame has arrived at shop :-). Will post up pics once I’ve rebuilt it.

Here she is in Black

Lush

I’m now in the market for a Spitfire frame, don’t suppose anyone is thinking of selling a large V2?!

Does anyone know if a 420mm Reverb fits all the way down in a large frame?

I have a 420 mm reverb stealth in my medium, if that is any help. Guess a couple of inches below the reverb collar are sticking out above the seat post clamp (which is where I need it). I could go into the garage and measure if you needed.

No that’s all I need to know, thanks for your help.

Wilko, yes fits easily
.