What shocks are people running, and how have you found any upgrades?

DBair-CS here. Can’t fault it – spring curve with XV can suits the Spitfire really well, damping is excellent, been very reliable, serviced twice over a few years and few thousand miles.

Also, I like how at the end of every run on a wet uplift day the brake calipers and shock piggyback are bone dry from the heat they’re handling. 😉

Anyone running an angle adjust headset? I’m thinking of it as I like the handling of the slacker chips apart from the slacker seat tube for climbing.

Yes, I have a Works -2 deg in mine. I also have a Cane Creek Angleset (0/-.5/-1/-1.5 with swappable cups) spare that I took out of my hardtail.

Love to have a spitfire , if only I could find a frame in my budget .

What’s your budget? A mate just bought a small 2016 for £600 second hand… Hell of a saving!

chiefgrooveguru does the -2 drop the BB much?

I hate uploading photos!

Have had the IL upgrade on my spitty – will try it tomorrow on Dartmoor to see if i can tell any difference!

I have a -2 slackset in my prime. Not really any difference in BB height from a riding perspective.

I put a 1.5deg in and it definitely lowered the BB. currently running the chips in steep mode and it seems to balance it out. Stupid idea but seems to be ok, longer wheelbase, slacker HA, seated climbing fine, BB drop ok.

I noticed the BB feeling that bit lower with the -2 deg headset. Partly the fork being raked out lowers the whole bike around the front end, but also being able to run the fork with more sag without the head angle steepening more than I’d like. Between the two I think it’s made the neutral setting as low as the slack setting, so I tend to ride it in neutral except for uplift days or steep greasy hell.

Dartmoor is horrible.

Yeah, looks shit. All those hills and rocks and peacefulness.

Out of curiosity, what 26+ tyres has anyone fitted in their spitty?
Have got an old set of 26 wheels which *should* fit in though im on 27.5 dropouts.
#edit just seen on the Banshee site it’ll take a 2.6 rear, im assuming on a 27.5. Hmm tempted to try it, or with the slop am i better waiting for summer to go plus? choices choices

I really shouldn’t have opened this thread. Mine is just collecting a thick layer of house dust…

I’ve just been running Hans Damf 26″ on the rear of mine and it doesn’t hold me back. I’d wait for the slop to go before you change to properly appreciate any gain.

with the slop am i better waiting for summer to go plus?

Judging by the 27+ riders I know switching to their 29 tyres now the mud has arrived, I’d say wait until the spring. I’m sure you can fit a 27.5×2.6 in there or a 26×2.8.

27.5×2.6 fits nicely and I like the ride on spesh purgatory tyres. 2.8 presumably would fit but would not fit a normal 27.5 fork, also bear in mind the 2.8s are thin light tyres mine are 1kg each so much beafier to suit the bike.

Please can anyone running a 2017 size medium frame please tell me if a 420mm reverb can be fully inserted into the frame?

Thanks!

I have a 480mm Reverb on a 2014 medium, which has a 430mm seat tube. It’s about 40mm out and I think it could go about 10mm lower – the limitation is the stealth port location (connectamajig already removed).

Thanks chief. I’ve actually messaged you about something else too.

Oh yes! I’d ask for pics of the shock stanchion. I don’t think it’s a common problem but it shows up in shock wear.

Good times!

chiefgrooveguru I had the same problem with stanchions scoring and loosing air after around 6 months.

Mine was a warranty job, one of the forward shock mounts was misalgined. New frame a couple of weeks after.

chiefgrooveguru I had the same problem with stanchions scoring and loosing air after around 6 months.

I haven’t had that problem but I’ve heard of it a few times and when my DBair was recently serviced TFTuned commented that that part needed replacing, not due to misalignment but just the sheer amount of use it’s had (the wear was even all around the stanchion). And said they sometimes see them with uneven premature wear because of how the stiff back end will side load a shock if the frame is misaligned.

The InLine on my original 2015 Spitfire wore significantly on one side of the stanchioon, and also affected the innards. TFT sorted the shock under warranty and Ison replaced the frame under warranty. No issues so far on the 2016 frame and CCDB AirCS I now have.

Just in case anyone wants one of these, I’m selling my 2015 large frame – here

Just thinking ahead, when do Banshee bring out their 2018 frames? Had a look at the importer website and some the linked dealer websites don’t have much info at all on the bikes – is this because the supplying dealer network is out of date, or they are just out of frames till next year?

Just thinking ahead, when do Banshee bring out their 2018 frames?

I know they’ve stopped doing annual updates, choosing only to update/replace models when there’s a reason to. I don’t know if that means they’ve stopped changing the colours each model year, or if model years is gone for good.

I spent a fair amount of time looking into Banshee as my research on the ’17 prime that I’ve since bought.

It seems that they basically serve Canada and North America and if we’re lucky we get the overspill. Therefore a minority brand in the UK market.

2017 was a pretty substantial year of revisions, so it might be that there’s little difference in the 2018 models.

I’ve just put my XL 2016 Spitfire up for sale if anyone is looking – https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/banshee-spitfire-xl-2/

Well looked after Large frame for sale here:  https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/2332248/

I just swapped my Monarch for a CC coil. Not sure if I had the right tune Monarch, it was off a Bronson. Rides a lot better so far.

Looks mint with a coil.

Thread has gone very quiet!  I haven’t been on much and haven’t done much MTB recently.  Still would be tempted to replace my frame with one in that colour ^^^

They haven’t really delivered the changes that would suit me personally though -a bottle cage mount on the XL, No ISCG mount, DBIL shock.

It is quiet.  This might liven it up 🙁

Offt

Ooh F.

Fortunately, I didn’t die.

Well that looks more than a bit irritating! Do you have a good tale of an epic case, huck or crash, or was it just a disappointing collapse?

Mine is still going strong, liking it more than ever. Don’t die, trusty Spitfire!

Wow 😱

Tuesday night, Hamsterley.  Section 13 – first of the two bomb-hole-type-things near the end.  I think the weld at the brace (a well known weak point from what I’ve see on here and MTBR threads) failed on compression at the bottom, then the rest of the down tube sheared off after compression getting over the top.  I suspected something happened as there was quite a loud ‘crack’.

Obviously, the down tube sheared, the top tube folded, the head-angle went to a Geometron-shaming 45 degrees, and the chain ring dug into the ground stopping the bike immediately.  I carried on over the bars and went OTB to the right, landing on my hip (slight bruising) and my elbow (Race Face D30 pads are quite useful).

I then had a 2 mile push back to the cheeky layby where I parked (not to dodge the parking fees, though.  I have a volunteer pass) with the pedals clashing off what seemed like every small rock.

Thing is, I wasn’t really going that fast or ‘sending it’ over all the jumps and drops.  I was actually feeling a bit ‘Meh’ at the time.  Thinking about where it happened, I guess I’m quite lucky it was where it was.  Higher up the trail or somewhere like Pike’s Teeth and it could have been a ride to hospital.

Might not be too clear from the photo, but the sheared edges have two different surfaces.  The top at the edge of the brace weld is relatively smooth, and the rest of the circumference looks as though the tube has been pulled apart.

Replacement will be the issue – although this frame is <2 years old, it was a warranty replacement for the original frame in 2015.  Hopefully Ison will be able to help out.

TL;DR I was just riding along, really.