Banshee Rune – Thoughts?

Hi,

Currently have a Spec Enduro 26″ wheel version that I built up from frame. Fancy a change but cant afford to go the whole hog and spend major dough on a 650b frame, wheels and forks.

Seen this frame which has interchangeable dropouts and reading the reviews seems a pretty good bike. Idea being to swap all parts across and run as a 26″ until such point as it isn’t economical anymore and then move to 650b

Anyone got a Rune and what are their thoughts?

Cheers
kwack

Good bikes, but a whole lot of bike and not the lightest. Unless you are hucking massive things or racing at the very sharp end of the EWS then you may find the Rune’s smaller hooligan brother the Spitfire more fun and less effort to pedal about the place. Both take either wheel size with a change of dropout and are designed around 160mm forks.

Lots of Spitfire owners knocking around on here, quite a few of whom I think had runes before….

Shackleton is right

im a spitty owner but now I’ve got a hardtail as a second bike im tempted to get a Rune to replace my departed dh bike

anyway, it depends what year I spose as the 2016 iteration, although its still V2, has been tweaked a bitand is generally optimised for 650b now.

anything V2 and pre-2016 has geometry compromised between the 2 wheel sizes somewhat but in real world terms you probably won’t notice. Its less noticeable on the spitfire as it has a low BB to start with whereas the Rune, if you run it with 650b and in its steep setting (66ha) then its BB is well over 14 inches and also has relatively long chain stay.

having said that, the KS linkage is a revelation and the best I’ve ever tried with little sag and pedal bob so for a 160 endur-0 weapon it pedals extremely well.

it is relatively heavy and the frame is about a LB heavier than the spitfire but I don’t think it matters too much.

I’ve seen a Rune XL on pinkbike for about a grand with CCDB air.

Thanks for the comments – I was looking at purchasing 2nd hand and probably a medium size as I am 5’10”.

Might pop down to one of the shops and take a look to see what they are like

Spitfire is probably more my type of riding TBH. But depends on what comes up 2nd hand

Cheers

Step son bought a used one in excellent nick and absolutely loves it.
Other than that I can’t be much more help.

2015 canfield balance is similar & can also accept both size wheels if you want an alternative.

Cheers Oldtalent will take a look at these as well

Yep it is mine 🙂

My mate has the 1st generation Rune I think. Its a big heavy burly bike but good on the downs. I think they size up small though. His is a large and feels too small for me. I am 6’1″ though.

Mactheknife

Saw this on Ebay earlier – how did you find riding it and size wise what are they like?

Have you got anymore pics so I can have a closer look?

Cheers
Kwack

Hi kwack

I thought I would chip in and spread some spitfire love around too. I’ve had mine for around a year now and I ride local trails, 30mile lakes and scots epics on it, trail centres and race enduro on it as well. It pedals very well and changes direction brilliantly. In short it lives up to its name perfectly. As mentioned before the ks suspension takes out a lot of Bob and gives a bottomless lprogressive suspension feel. It does have on,y one downside though and that’s its weight. It’s strong, bloody strong but it has a lot of alloy holding it together. My 1x 11 xt/xtr, likes, crossmaxes comes in at around 31lb and you can’t feasibly get it much lower without going carbon wheel, bar, mag pedals etc.

I’m 5ft 8″ and the medium fits perfectly. They do size up small though I was going to get a small until I sat on a medium.

I’m in leeds if you want a play on one.

kwack, i bought a Turner RFX to replace it recently and in all honesty there is not a big difference in how they handle. So kinda wishing i hadn;t bothered 🙂

Its a cracking wee bike, very playful in 26″ guise. Climbs very very well but it comes alive when you point it downhill.

I am 5 foot 8 and fits me perfectly. I don’t think they size up small as mentioned earlier.

Like i said with a bit of hindsight i would not have changed bikes but you live and learn.

As to the weight i think i had it built up at 30lbs. That was with Flow Ex wheels and 1 x 11 drivetrain. Zee brakes and carbon bar so not too heavy for a burly build.

I can take more pictures for you tomorrow if you want. Just general close up pics ??

I am 5.10 so wondering whether a large woudl be a better fit. Will go and sit on one in locallish shop at stanstead abbots to see what sizing is like.

Mac – some general close up pics would be great

I would be trf across all my current stuff on my Enduro. so 26″ dropouts woudl be best

I went from a spitfire to a rune and I much prefer the rune. Tbh there’s not much noticeable difference between the two in terms of ‘on board’ weight. I think mine comes in at a shade under 30 ibs and the only carbon on it is the handlebars.

I really like the KS link suspension set up.

Mac, I was the chap asking you questions on eBay! If you are interested in selling the frame outside of eBay drop me an email.

Russ

I’ve got a 2015 rune with a pike and CCDB air cs, in large I’m 5.10. I’ve had stump jumper/enduro and a zesty and a spicy, the rune is heavier but the dw Suspention is fantastic, I genuinely really like it. I shouldn’t like it as much as I do, as I’ve had pikes/50 mm stem 800mm bars on previous bikes and the 65 degree head angle but I’m faster on the rune and it feels amazing so it’s ether the dw link or the CCDB???

I’m faster on the rune and it feels amazing so it’s ether the dw link or the CCDB???

Maybe its the KS Link? 8)

Took my Spitfire to FOD and Afan this weekend. I was slightly concerned that it was going to feel a bit short, since I’ve been riding my very long Zero AM (~460mm reach sagged) for the past 6 weeks. I’d also been thinking it would be a good idea to stick a Works headset in it to make it even slacker (and maybe drop the fork to 150mm to make it lower). I was wrong on all counts – it felt fantastic!

In terms of sizing I’d say the Spitfire’s are pretty middling nowadays but they used to be on the longer side (everything else has got longer). The Rune is a little bit shorter. I’m 5’10.5″ with a 6’2″ arm span on a medium. I used to ride it more in the neutral and high settings but I’ve had it in the low/slack setting for ages now. The 2016 Spitfire is a bit lower, so neutral is as low as the current low setting and it’s 5mm longer too with a slightly steeper seat angle. On Friday I swapped from the 27.5 to 26″ dropouts (been on the longer ones until now) and I think that helped me steer it better from the hips – and there’s still good mud clearance. 2016 version has slightly shorter chainstays anyway so I doubt it’ll fit the 26 dropouts with 27.5 tyres.

It’s just a really great and very versatile bike – in magazine speak it seems to achieve the best bits of both a trail bike and an enduro bike. I’m not the fittest or best rider but over the weekend I covered 42 miles and 6000′ of climbing, riding the FOD blue, red and DH tracks and then Blade at Afan – and on my second attempt at the rocky droppy final descent (without my usually quicker mates holding me up 😉 ) I was just outside the top 100 out of 4000 Stravaists. Geometry is bang on and I’d attest that the KS-link is one of the best suspension platforms on the market. DBair and Pike work great together too.

I have a large (I’m 5’11) 2013 Rune with Pikes and CCDB Air.Like others have said it’s quite a substantial bike, mine weighs about 31-32 lbs. Depsite the weight though it climbs remarkably well but I’m guessing if you’re buying a bike like this your main focus is on the descents! It’s extremely confidence inspiring and very durable – I’ve done one full bearing change in 2 and a half years of heavy use. Would highly recommend it.