I’m currently riding a 26″ Ragley Blue pig around local ish trial centres, Sherwood, Dalby, Hamsterley in the main and seems to get me around ok however I’ve got new bike itch.

A Banshee Spitfire in 650b flavour has caught my eye with the thinking it might be a bit comfier on the journey around. I keep hearing the phase, “too much bike” but is this going to be the case with my type of riding on a Spitfire?. I’m too old for huge drops off’s and big air so it won’t be used for that more of just smoothing out the bumps a bit more than my legs are currently doing.

So, thoughts?

Nope – its perfect at 140mm. In fact, I think its high time we kill off this stupid “overbiked” thing we hear on here. You just go faster – and that’s a good thing. Why mince slowly when you can blat it at speed? Much better.

I ran a spitfire for 18 months and it was as close to perfect as a bike could be for the UK riding (IMO).
Climbs exceptionally well, and descents even better. As andy says at 140mm its spot on for the UK.

Just go for it and enjoy.

It’s going to depend on you, your trail centres, how you ride ’em, it’s a personal taste thing as much as anything else. (not everyone thinks going fast purely because your big bike makes it easier is worthwhile, frinstance, a big part of me thinks it just means it’s over faster. It’s not better or worse, it’s just what you like.)

not everyone thinks going fast purely because your big bike makes it easier is worthwhile

Indeed. The arms race for bigger, bouncier bikes, has (IMHO) taken a lot of the skill out of riding, with people just blatting through stuff rather than picking lines.

It’s all still fun. Not more, not less, just different. (FWIW, these days I ride off road on either a 6″ gnarpoon or a fully rigid gnarmac bike on 32mm slicks, so what do I know?)

It’s the downhillers trail bike. 😀

27 litres too much IMHO.

Fantastic bike for trail riding. I just so happen to have a 2016 Black frame in large with Cane creek inline for sale 😉
It was a replacement warranty frame. PM if interested. Will be putting it in the classifieds in the new year.

@maktheknife

Notice your selling a medium Banshee frame, what height are you if you don’t mind me asking? I’m 5′ 8″ and thinking the medium is the right size

I’m 5’9″ and picked large. Don’t regret it.

I use mine in 26″ flavour, but with 650b dropouts, slack setting on the flipchips and 150mm Pikes – Hamsterley and Chopwell are the main rides, and occasionally further afield. Awesome bike.

Hey Cynergy, i am 5 foot 8 and found it pretty spot on. I ran a 50mm stem and 750 mm bars which seemed the sweet spot for me.

Fantastic bike, just brilliant. Mine’s a medium and I’m 5’10.5 – if I see a secondhand XL in the future I’m tempted to do a Geometron style experiment with a slackset and a cut down seat tube but in the world of normal geometry I can’t really fault it. Definitely not too much bike for trail centres, assuming you’re not just planning on pootling…

Best bike i ever owned! So much so I think I am going to buy another one in the new year! Should never have sold mine.

Like Northwind says above, it all depends on you, how you ride and what makes you happy. Faster isn’t better, funner is better.

The trails are inundated with overweight guys rumbling around very slowly having ‘fun’. They used to ride Whyte 46s and push them up climbs, now they ride Bronsons and Spitfires and push them up climbs before lurching downhill in their body armour with their arms locked rigid secure in the knowledge that all that travel means they can ride over anything and anyone in their path.

Can’t ride a simple drop-off? Buy more travel. Buy a Spitfire. Rave about it on here. Ridicule the idea of being overbiked, because more is better, faster is better.

Ooops, got carried away there. Seriously though, if it’s just ‘more comfort’ you’re after, it might be as simple as sticking bigger tyres on and running them tubeless with lower pressure. If you want a new bike, what the heck, just buy one. There’s no such thing as being overbiked after all.

I’m worried that I’m Over Carred now. I never do more than 80 and I can’t imagine ever carrying more than 3 passengers and the car has 7 seats.
Have I right royally **** up?
Edit, not knocking OP , knocking people who critique other people’s bike choices.
Then there’s a whole inverted bike snobbery. Years back on The Exmoor Challenge I met 2 guys who built the absolute worst bikes possible just so they could show people up on more expensive bikes.
If you like a bike,can afford a bike and actually ride it how can that ever be frowned upon?

Can I be the first to say “try it and see if you like it”?

Seriously OP, scratch that new bike itch but make sure you demo it first. Loads of us on here go on and on about demoing bikes. Great reviews, the right spec and lots of virtual nods of approval from STWers mean nothing when you get that bike on the dirt and think it’s crap (and then spend the next umpteen rides convincing yourself it’s brill).

FWIW I have a de riguer 140mm trail bike and I love it since it is an ideal compromise for the riding I do. It’s not too sluggish and heavy for those boring bits of connecting trail but it lets me play on the DH stuff from time to time. That said, if all I rode was billiard smooth manicured blue runs and easy XC stuff I’d be crying out for something that has a bit more oomph when putting the gas down. There’s nothing more frustrating than spinning out on smooth, flat terrain cos your zeitgeist 1x drivetrain hasn’t got a big enough gear.

If you are a more “wheels on the ground” rider (ie. Not doing stuff that “requires” lots of travel) but want an aggressive ride like a spitfire what about one of the new breed 29ers (banshee phantom, transition thingumy, whyte t129, etc). Proper hardcore trail bikes and I found them to be much more fun to ride that a spitfire or similar bikes.

I’m over bikes & I don’t own a bike with suspension.
140mm isn’t much though, I’d say go for it

Remove “too much for” & replace with “will it make me smile on” & that is your answer…& F3ck all the sandal wearing, lentil eating, beardy, bejayzus freaks who spout otherwise …. 8)

“will it make me smile on”

. Completely agree…

…hence the advice to get a demo ride.

To repeat an anecdote I’ve put on here (probably more than once) before, I had my eye on a Yeti ASR5. On paper it was perfect for me and “made me smile” thinking about riding it. When I eventually swung a leg over it, it wasn’t right for me at all. I can completely understand why it would appeal to some, but it didn’t give me that warm fuzzy feeling.

I used to be a non-believer in demo rides, assuming all modern bikes are good bikes, but bikes have personalities that may not suit you. If you splash £3k + on a bike make sure you choose it for the right reasons.

Where does this idea come from that more travel is always faster/more fun?

Come on gents, you’d rather buy the bike you irrationally want rather than the best tool for the job and kid yourself that you haven’t bought the wrong thing. It’s fine to buy what you irrationally want, just silly to justify it with BS reasons.

Depends on the riders skill/fitness/style as well as the terrain.

OP, my suggestion to you would be something like a spec camber or banshee phantom, a 29er with a lot of efficiency and capability, will be more comfortable and efficient enough to help on the climbs, saving strength/energy for the down, also efficient enough to make flatter stuff fun.

In a trail centre setting, i have far more fun and am far faster on my spec camber 29er than when i had a yeti sb66 and my kona process 153 now. Climbs get done quicker and easier, so i have more in the tank for the descent, gets up and maintains speed really well so i can have fun on flat stuff, plus the efficiency means i get more done quicker and easier and end up getting more riding done.

“overbiked” is a strange concept.
At most trail centres, you are either going up or down. A 140mm bike can suck at climbing as much as some 160mm bikes so just try a few and buy one which doesn’t suck at climbing. Suspension set up and geometry is going to have a bigger effect on climbing than +/- 20 millimeters of travel.

Regarding efficiency, the Spitfire is only 140mm travel, it isn’t a 150-160mm bike like most it’s compared to, and it’s a particularly good pedaller for a 140mm bike – it’s no slower uphill or on the flat than my hardtail. Most pedal bob actually comes from the fork, as its 150 or 160mm up front.

Its adjustable geometry makes it more versatile in the riding styles it suits – in the high setting it’s noticeably nippier and better suited to flatter and more pedally riding and doesn’t demand such an active riding style, whilst in the low setting you have to muscle it around more – but that extra stability pays off on the fast or steep trails.

The updated longer & slacker v2 Bronson is very similar in geometry and pedalling efficiency, though it doesn’t have the linear progressive leverage curve which gives the Spitfire so much grip, support when pumping and ability to handle bigger hits without bottoming out. It’s miles removed from something like a Process 153 in terms of efficiency, with practically opposite suspension designs (the Process frames have zero anti-squat and rely entirely on the shock to damp pedal bob).

However, if you’re not so into riding steeper stuff or going on uplift days I’d definitely try out one of the newer 29ers – now their geometry and tyre choices have caught up they’re looking a great option.

In a nutshell….I agree with Shackleton. I love my Spitfire but will say to really enjoy it, build it as light as possible. Mine is bang on 29lbs. I’ve probably owned most top brand bikes and this is up there with all the top brands. What I will say in all honesty is that I was a 29er hater. A couple of XC buds got them early on and they rode horrible but I am a changed man since I rode a short travel, more aggressive one and WOW..! Totally blown away..So I got an Orange Segment and it’s so much fun…if you ride trail, with small jumps seriously have a look at one..if you ride trail with big hucks, uplifts etc..Spitfire..!