Demo review of Banshee Spitfire and Transition Scout (other bikes suggestions?)

My spitfire with Xo1, 26″ Magic Mary up front and Hans Dampf at the rear and a CCDB Inline is 29.9 LBS. Medium frame.

Plus its stealth black so climbs that wee bitty better and descents faster. FACT 🙂

I’d be going from TRc, with the same kit barring wheels, so probably a three poundish jump I guess. Not that I’m about to do it but you never know!

Ive just gone from a large Banshee Rune to large Transition Scout.

I rode the Rune for about a year – agree with what everyone has said, the KS link design is great for pedaling and it will get you up the hills (takes a little more effort in the slackest geo setting!).

My main issue was the BB height when the frame was running 650b wheels. If i had the frame in the neutral setting it felt a nervous in corners at speed. I changed to the slacker setting to lower the BB, however the bike then lost what playfullness it had due to the slack head angle – it just felt a little dead & cumbersome on anything that wasn’t pointing straight down!

The Scout is a lot more nimble – OK ive lost 35mm of travel on the rear end and 20mm on the front, but i feel ive got that playfullness back. The ETT is very slightly longer, but the reach has increased by 15mm giving me a little more cockpit room. Combine this with much shorter chainstays and low bottom bracket and you have a winner! The 67 degree head angle is great for climbing and TBH hasn’t really affected the DH prowess due to the longer TT, reach and low BB. Also the bike manuals for ever – it just sits on the back wheel!

The Monarch Debonair is easy to set up and feels great – i spent a lot of time messing with the CCDB air on the Rune – you can spend ages agonising over rebound/compression settings, even after you’ve set it to the recommended base tune. I always had a niggle that the shock wasn’t performing as well as it could do!

I thought long and hard about whether i really needed more than 130mm of travel on the rear end – i very rarely ride DH these days and i think Alps trips are off the cards for a couple of summers (i’d buy a DH bike anyway!)The Scout will still cope on the DH tracks that are local to me – just have to be a bit more picky with line choices etc!

Overall i think the Scout is a great little trail machine – remember less is more!

I rode the Rune for about a year – agree with what everyone has said, the KS link design is great for pedaling and it will get you up the hills (takes a little more effort in the slackest geo setting!).

My main issue was the BB height when the frame was running 650b wheels. If i had the frame in the neutral setting it felt a nervous in corners at speed. I changed to the slacker setting to lower the BB, however the bike then lost what playfullness it had due to the slack head angle – it just felt a little dead & cumbersome on anything that wasn’t pointing straight down!

Yes, the Rune’s BB height is 10mm higher than the Spitfire’s and it’s 1 degree slacker of head angle (so 64.7 deg with a 160mm 27.5 Pike in the slack setting).

No carbon Spitfire I presume…that might save the extra pound or so…

No. No carbon. But I don’t trust myself with carbon anyway. I’m looking for an Alu frame.

Cheers Doug, Ahsat and Beer247 (you’re kinda saying what i’m wanting to hear Beer).

still sounds to me like the Scout might have suited you better with a firmer shock pressure/setting Ahsat.
I’d heard the debonaire had a similar (or close anyway) spring curve to a coil shock. how true would you say this claim is Beer?

So purely out of curiosity, does anyone know the spitfire frame weight?

I haven’t weighed mine but Keith said 3.5kg (7.7lbs) with the CCDBair, so 3.3kg (7.3lbs) with a CCDBinline.

I found that adjusting the geometry changes the feel quite a lot – I haven’t tried the higher/steeper position but slacker/lower feels ridiculously stable when hitting faster & rougher trails whilst neutral is easier to chuck around and lets you get pedal strokes in sooner on corner exits.

I’ve been enjoying my hardtail a lot recently on our jumpy/twisty local trails and that’s much taller and steeper (26″ Soul with 140s) so I’ll be trying the high/steep position when the Spitfire comes back out.

I’d heard the debonaire had a similar (or close anyway) spring curve to a coil shock. how true would you say this claim is Beer?

All i can say is the shock feels as good (if not better) than the CCDB air on the Rune.

Ive got it set up with 35% sag (when sitting). Seems to absorb most stuff without wallowing in its travel. Good support in the mid stroke which enables you to pop off/over things.

Its easy to forget that you only have 125mm of travel sometimes

Tracer 275? The vpp means its pretty firm and efficient feeling when climbing. I have the old 26tracer and I’m deeply tempted by the new one plus it looks amazing 🙂

Oooohh…. Thanks Beer. sounds very promising indeed.

I too have always liked to run 30-40% sag on every FS I’ve ever ridden no matter how short travel and like a set-up with good pop. for this reason, I’d always avoided air shocks completely and generally had all my coil shocks tuned to have a firmer midstroke. sounds like this could get pricy.. 🙂
I’m almost ready to overlook my huge dislike of the slightly bigger wheels here.

hold on.. You’re not some sort of ultra advanced phishing bot out to scam me are you?

Here’s my two pence worth after demoing the scout yesterday.

To replace my 26″ bandit I was looking at process 134, solo, killi flyer but with the scout being my favoured option due to it’s long, low and slack geometry which the others don’t fully match.

I’ve liked the idea of the spitfire for a long time but I’m not wanting that much travel although im still intrigued given the awesome reviews of it’s climbing and descending capability.

Anyways regarding the demo scout. It was 2×10, fox 32, 785 bars, 45mm stem, hr2 and ardent, arches. I tested it on xc and dh runs.

It felt stable on the ups and downs and particularly in switchbacks and berms. I noticed that I didn’t really have to shift my weight on the ups and there was also good traction. Overall, it would easily replace my bandit and probably my mega in a lot of situations. I didn’t feel that it was steep and nervous as said by the OP, quite the opposite in fact I would easily take this bike abroad even despite the shorter travel. The hr2 certainly gave confidence on the more slippy dh sections.

The only real negative was the amount of pedal strikes which I think can be combatted by swapping the cranks to 170mm rather than 175mm which was on the demo. This was unnerving at first and I ended up putting more air in the shock to compensate. But I’m fairly sure a shorter crank will sort this out.

sounds a lot like my experiences nsbikescore, can’t wait for mine to arrive in about 4 weeks time!

Why the big wait?

I wanted a large limeade frame and the guys @ pedals only had a large in black coming in, so the next shipment is due about then. I liked the black and its much nicer in the flesh, but i was sold on the limeade first time i saw it 🙂

Mtbel, I have never been moar convinced of your love for teh endurooooozz!

The only real negative was the amount of pedal strikes which I think can be combatted by swapping the cranks to 170mm rather than 175mm which was on the demo. This was unnerving at first and I ended up putting more air in the shock to compensate. But I’m fairly sure a shorter crank will sort this out.

Yep, running mine with 170mm cranks – you still have to be carefull though!

I do still have reservations about the low bottom bracket beer247 particularly as my riding includes rocky climbs in the Peak District. I guess the trade off is better cornering… But there aren’t any corners in the Peak District, Lolz!!

might even get round to fixing teh Enduroooo sled I already own.
not like I haven’t had the bearing kit sat here ready to fit for almost a year. 😉

I know the Scout Geometry chart states a 330mm BB height. I’m already used to lower than that. is it actually lower than stated?

I know the Scout Geometry chart states a 330mm BB height. I’m already used to lower than that. is it actually lower than stated?

Not sure Mtbel, would have to get my tape measure out! I think ive seen it mentioned that its better to look at BB drop anyway as things like tyre size can affect the BB height?

Heres a pic of mine anyway!

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I’m 6ft 2 by the way and riding a large – i think an XL would have had me stretched out too much whilst seated (even with a 35mm stem)

You sound like someone that would benefit from a Evil Following:

Yes, it’s carbon, but the likes of people that’ll be riding it will give it a much harder time than you will – as it’s designed more like a Mini-DH/Enduro bike than an XC lightweight racer.

I’d be snapping one up if I had the spare cash 🙂

Carbon & Evil, what could possibly go wrong…

And let’s hope this ones got some decent rear tyre clearance this time round

Hmmmmmm………

Clearance pictures here, acres of space around the 2.25 ardent on the bike at Core. http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/new-evil-bikes-29er/page/3

Cheers again Beer. looks a lot better in black. Are the stickers removable or are they lacquered over?
From looking at your pic and using the technically accurate method of placing a ruler over the centre of each wheel axle it does look to have about an inch of BB drop as listed. so nce and low but not crazily so compared to what I’m already used to.
I’m 5’11” and like low slack bikes but hate long bikes. I’m thinking even the medium might be slightly on the long side for me. def thinking about heading to Pedals at some point to find out. Still haven’t ridden one single 650b shod bike I’ve liked the feel of yet. :'(

The clearance doesn’t exactly inspire confidence above.

Skinny little tyre on a skinny little rim.

It’s going to be useless by the time you put something decent on it, with a slightly wide rim.

But hey, it’s an Evil, the least of your worries will be tyre clearance with their impressive reliability record 🙂

Are the stickers removable or are they lacquered over?

Graphics are not removable – they feel slighty raised but theres no discernable edge (to pick at..) so to speak.

I’m thinking even the medium might be slightly on the long side for me.

I’d try the medium, maybe start with a 50mm stem and if its too long try a 35/40mm stem.

know what you’re saying but from the stack n reach figures the Med Scout is already an inch longer than my current short travel FS and my DH bike which are both as long as I’d ever want (these run 40mm and 45mm stems respectively) my every day hardtail is yet another inch shorter again (2″ shorter than the scout) again this has a 40mm stem. I’m extremely fussy and know what I like so will know very quickly whether the Medium size suits what I’m after or not.

Pity about the stickers but I think I could live with them.

Those stickers are subltey awesome 🙂

An extra inch on the TT wont take long to get used to at all, either. So win win.

lolz, mtbel isn’t wired to take an extra inch!

Picking up a large Spitfire in Mint on Friday…can’t wait!

Picking up a large Spitfire in Mint on Friday…can’t wait!

Nice. Enjoy!

I’m on the edge of ordering one! Will take a month to get the bits together though and will run it at existing 26″ wheels for now.

In just transferring all my fsr bits over. Getting the 650b drop outs and running 26″ until the wheel and Lyriks die.

Sadly my aged groupset, reverb and forks wont fit! Not my cheapest frame decision!

Why won’t the group set and forks fit? All my 9sp stuff swapped over with just a change of front much.

Forks are straight steerer 140 mm. Know I could get an adapter but might just splash out and do the job properly and ride it with the correct length forks (looking at dual position Pikes). I run 3 x 10 Shimano – will only take 3* SRAM. Going to have to swap to 2 x 10.

I run 3 x 10 Shimano – will only take 3* SRAM. Going to have to swap to 2 x 10

Seriously? I run a 3x 9sp on my phantom and that should be the same……

I also found that dual position pikes didn’t perform as well. Apparently the damping is different. Also the bb is already very low on the spitfire in 26. Would having dual position pikes cause more problems than you think it solves?

Just going through the same process for a similar bike so be watching this thread with interest: thinking Spitfire, Aeris, Trance 27.5…I’m sure any one of the three would make a great bike but weight is important to me so Trance is edging it at 6.2lb for frame & shock. I’ve been quoted 3.1kg/6.8lb without shock for the Aeris and Spitfire is heavier again (Love the mint coloured frame though)

Have the Pike 160 dual pos, just need the frame to go with it!

You could run 3×10 Shimano everything except the front mech – use SRAM for that.