Also keen for some thoughts if possible, I’m considering one as a do-it-all bike from big mile rides and enduro races.
Cheers.

That 2.4 rear looks a little tight, how’s the clearance.

Also keen for some thoughts if possible, I’m considering one as a do-it-all bike from big mile rides and enduro races.

The Prime might be a better bet but I don’t think there will be that much in it. I’ve got a 2016 Prime and it’s most definitely a do-it-all bike.

This is pretty much my do it all bike at the moment and it does a good job! I will say this though, it’s not a light bike despite what the rear travel suggests.

I’ve had a good few rides on it now to comment further. It feels fast, nimble and can still take a decent sized hit on a descent. I ride fast, rocky stuff quite often around Rivington and the Lakes and it doesn’t feel under-biked yet.

On a climb, it feels tight and responsive. You can either sit and spin, or get out of the saddle and honk up stuff, it’s happy doing both.

I do feel it more at the end of a ride, but not during. I do keep forgetting that I’ve not got 150mm of travel, sometimes I’m reminded if I do something silly, but it still carries me through 🙂

Tyre clearance – Yeah, it does look tight, but I’ve had no issues in some horrendous slop. I wouldn’t want to fit anything more than a 2.4 though. I think there’s more room than I had in my Hightower with the same wheels.

I’m considering putting a 140mm Yari up front (with a new damper) as I find the Fox 34 a bit noodley for me, if you’re lighter than 16 stone, you might be fine with a lighter fork.

Also thinking of a coil shock. It made a massive improvement on my Intense Spider and actually improved pedalling over rough terrain.

And… it looks lovely 🙂

I love how the V3 platform pedals and also deals with a lot of hits.

So after destroying the ratchet tool trying to change the bearings on my back wheel (also think I damaged the axle when the tool shattered), I tried a mullet set up today.

Robbed the wheel from my wife’s old bike as that’s all I had spare. It’s a 40mm id rim with a 2.6 tyre on it… not ideal, but it worked ok to be honest.

Initial thoughts are that it feels fast to accelerate and cornering felt a little weird at first, that will take some getting used to. I felt like I had to tip the bike more when entering the corner if that makes sense?

Climbing felt a little harder, but I think I’m putting more effort in to get to the same pace as a 29er wheel.

Overall it felt good, different but good. Plan is now to buy a 27.5 wheel and maybe re-hub my Santa Cruz wheels to Hope.

Bit of an update on this bike. I wasn’t really gelling with it to be honest and nearly had the frame up for sale. This has changed completely now though since I’ve got my custom fork sorted!

I took the old 160mm Yari from my previous bike and dismantled it. Sent the lowers to @bigyim for a lick of paint (incredible paint finish!), fitted a 130mm air spring, Charger 2.1 RC2 damper and fresh Racing Bros wiper seals.

It’s completely transformed the bike from the FOX 34 Performance! I initially put he fork back on with the old Moco damper and it was really bad, which is strange because it was actually decent as 160mm travel!

Changed the grips to some Ergon GE1 Evo and the pedals to Nukeproof composites too to match the fork. I also fitted a Reverb AXS (one less cable to rattle!).

I may still go coil on the rear yet, but I’ve not decided. Here is how it looks now…

Different shock and maybe GX AXS will be the next upgrades 🙂

Oooh..  loving the old school Judy SL paintjob.!!

Thanks 🙂

It was just an idea I had while trying to decide on what colour to go for. I was originally just going to buy a new fork, but this route worked out a lot cheaper (and it’s a bit unique).

I like those forks too.

Dare you to do yellow rear end – a la Marin Mount Vision.

Jesus, don’t tempt me. You don’t know how suggestable I am haha.

Just seen an XL up for sale but not sure on sizing.
Banshee say 6’3″ and up for XL?
See there is a variation of people riding large and XL around this height.
I am 6’2″ with 34 inch inside leg and see large is the recommended size?
Hope you can help?
Max.

Sorry @Turnerfan1 I’ve only just seen this.

I would 100% recommend XL for you. Not sure what’s going on with their size chart, but my frame is actually for sale.

I’m 6’2″ with a 33 inseam and XL was perfect (I had a 150mm dropper without slamming all the way).

You could easily get away with a 170mm post in this I reckon.

Thanks John for the reply!
I kinda figured the XL would be ok looking at the dimensions.
What’s the reason for sale?
I have some 35mm SIDs on my hardtail so planning on a downcountry style build!
What sort of price are you looking for the frameset if you don’t mind me asking?
Thanks again,
Max.

I just wanted to go up in travel a bit for the sort of riding I enjoy.

The frame is up (on here) for £1250 at the moment, but it’s been for sale for that long I’ve considered building it back up and trying it again.

I swapped the frame for a Bird Aether 9 and it’s very good, but it’s annoyed me that the shock bushes have lasted barely 10 rides.

Ideally you’d want the fork travel to be between 130-140mm, but I think someone else built one up with a 120mm fork for similar purposes.