I can't provide any comparisons with other bikes I'm afraid as it's the only full suspension bike I've had. Still loving it so far. I did 8 hours on mine on Saturday.

Here's a gratuitous pic…

Nice new forks – Revelation 150's?

Indeed they are 8)

What bashring is that you're running on the XT's??

What bashring is that you're running on the XT's??

It's one of these…

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=40422

EDIT

OOps, try again

Shame it looks like a gate in XL

My eyesights not that great – got a larger pic? Try linking to the image instead of the thumbnail?

I take it this means you took the plunge? If so, enjoy it, they're great bikes.

This any better?

Linky

Dexter, is that an XL?

Apparently so, looks a bit gate like, even though its 'only' a 20 inch. Have just emailed Freeborn to see if they have any built up to test for fit.

Here's another pic of an XL from MTBR

Looks surprising good for an XL. The XL Stumpjumper, or anything largish from Giant, now they are gates.

Last time I spoke with Freeborne (about 6 weeks ago) they had one XL in stock from their first shipment. Apparently there was another batch on their way but they didn't have a delivery date.

i'm loving mine. i do find the front a bit hard to pull slow speed manuals but once the speed is up that's when the fun begins.
160mm forks make perfect sense as i find myself hitting trails much faster than you would think on a 5" bike and the rear stays active under breaking.
one thing from a few other owners, this frame doesn't get on with short cage mechs and a 11-34t cassette due to the amount of chain growth.
i had a heckler for 3 years before this, the spitfire is a world apart.

I'm running an 11-34 cassette on mine with a Saint rear mech (with a 22/36 up front), and I haven't noticed any issues with this combination. I'm not running the chain particularly slack, either.

I'm running an 11-34 cassette on mine with a Saint rear mech (with a 22/36 up front), and I haven't noticed any issues with this combination. I'm not running the chain particularly slack, either.

Same here – seems fine.

Me likey

there you go steve, first ride today

Is that Llandegla, by any chance? If so, that means there’s now two Spitfires in that neck of the woods…

A black Spitfire in the dark…

A really poor photo shot last night after I finished building – no illumination other than the flash. I’ll try and get something a little better this weekend!

What happened to your polished / blue one??!!

By the way Llandegla is pretty local to me so there could be 3 😀

My – lovely – polished / blue one wasn’t very well, and it was terminal 😥

This is the replacement and is looking good, if very different! First ride coming up this Friday.

Mttm what happened to it then..?!

Is that Llandegla, by any chance? If so, that means there’s now two Spitfires in that neck of the woods…

yep!

Come on – details of what happened to the blue one!!

Yep, want to know what happened, fancy a raw one…

Hmmm, okay then – but please don’t make more out of this than there is.

I was just unfortunate. It appears that the pivot axles were overtightened during original assembly at the factory which resulted in wear to the axles, the links and – to a much lesser extent – the frame. Freeborn were excellent in helping me sort these issues out, and this ultimately included replacing the whole frame under warranty. You really can’t say fairer than that.

I truly believe that this was a one off, which was properly and professionally dealt with by Freeborn. I wouldn’t let it put anyone off ownership of one of these bikes. Any production run by any manufacturer can have an occasional rogue frame that makes it through their QC systems – it’s just the nature of manufacturing. I’m completely confident that the new frame is perfect and I can honestly say the experience hasn’t dented my enthusiasm for the bike or the brand at all.

PROLINE85 – as I said, don’t let this put you off, you’ll be amazed how good these frames are! There’s simply nothing comparable out there.

Hmmmmmmmm

I’m just about to replace my pivots and bushes due to wear. There is play in the pivot above the bottom bracket and the pivot is worn right down. I’ve bodged it by wrapping some PTFE tape round the pivot for now to compensate for it being too thin for the bushes.

I showed a pic of my worn pivot to Keith from Banshee and he just said it’s normal wear and that’s why Freeborn sell pivot & bush kits. I’ve been riding it A LOT for the last 6 months though.

Shortly after I got mine I noticed some play in the pivots and it turned out (after hassling Keith about it – he must love me!) that they were actually not tight enough and tightening them up (and using threadlock) sorted it.

I also managed to completely snap the pivot behind the BB recently but that was just hamfistedness when tightening it I think. Freeborn sent me one for nothing.

I really like the look of these, but have read conflicting reports over how easy it is to get the front end up. Easy lofting = fun bike in my book.

Sorry to hear that mr_mills. The sort of wear I was getting wasn’t what you’d expect from normal wear and tear, and certainly wouldn’t have been fixed by just a bushing and pivot kit. Given that Banshee have been using this suspension design on other bikes (Pyre, Rune and Rampant) for some time and that the internet isn’t awash with stories of problems, I’ve chosen to give them the benefit of the doubt.

You snapped the pivot. Hell’s bells, that must have taken some doing.

So it wasn’t just a case of the pivots wearing thin where they rub on the bushes? That’s ok then 🙂

Not sure what happened with the pivot – it’s not like you have to do them up really tight or anything. The bolt in the end was only part way in and just stopped in the thread and… “crack!”

Rickos – they do need a little more oomph to lift the front than some machines. You compensate for it pretty quickly though, and then it ceases to be an issue. Mines built very low at the front (zero rise stem, no spacers and low rise bars), which obviously exaggerates this tendency, and I don’t find it to be a problem.

Vey nice bikes folks, anybody got any ideas of what weight they are coming in at?

Mine weighs about 29lb I think. That includes a Joplin seatpost but it’s pimped up quite a bit:-

Thats lighter than i thought! What is ur spec?

You can probably make most of it out from the pic but the main bits are:-

RS Rev Team dual air fork
Mavic Crossmax SX wheels
Hope M4 brakes
XT cranks with Middleburn / Race Face rings and bashguard
also now has a blackspire stinger chains tensioner not in pic
XT cassette
Saint / SLX mechs
SLX shifters
XTR spds
Thomson 70mm stem
Syncros carbon bars 710mm
etc

Nice build! Id be looking to fit talas 36’s, looking at geometry for m 5ft 5/6 height, the medium looks the best fit and closest to my Orange 5 pro in 16″.

Now! Raw or white?

White is best. Everyone knows that.

Yeah, does look ace in that colour. Ill away and email freeflo bikes.

You might have more luck with Freeborn!

Thats what i meant mate, stupid phone!

Emailed then and awaiting reply.