New build – Mythic / Banshee Spitfire

Here you go:

Please feel free to criticise house and "garden." (as if anyone needed telling).

Yes, I know about the cockpit – it's a work in progress so has a lot of adjustment built in whilst I decide just how low to go…

do u get a nose bleed sat up there on that long seat post?

can't really see the bike though to comment, any side on better pics?

It's a low frame, the seat tube is under 17" so the post looks longer than is really. Meant to get some better pics, but they were all done in a hurry, and they all came out a bit pants. How about this one:

Very nice,,, now get out there and ride it 😀

Been out – a nice little five hour blast on dry trails yesterday afternoon. It was great. "New Bike Day" is always such a good day…

Bet that's good on steep techy stuff.

**** Well Lush……

where did you get the seatpost?

I like it. It's suprising that Banshee/Mythics aren't more popular, the Rune looks like a nice frame too.
I like the long/low slung geometry too. So many bikes these days have long ST's and short TT's.

Oooh I've been looking at getting one of those.

– How long are your forks?
– What headset are you using?
– Is there clearance between fork crown / downtube for them to turn 90deg (e.g. crash / lying bike in back of car etc)?

Ta

is that an expensive imitation of an Iron Horse Bootleg? 🙂 —>

I have a Banshee Rune and yes, I can confirm that it is a nice frame

Nice Spitfire 8)

@tang: The seatpost is a Thomson 410mm laback – got a good deal on wiggle, about £50.

@mr_mills: The forks are 140mm travel, 520mm atc. The headset is a Hope, zero stack upper cup with a 1.5" to 1.8" reducer lower cup. I'm running the external variant of the reducer cup to add 10mm to the stack height, preserving the geometry. The bike is set-up to crash! Those bars can spin 180 without anything hitting or tearing loose. I don't crash that often anymore, but when I do it's spectacular.

Not tried it on steep & techy yet, but on fast, twisty and jumpy it's a blast.

It couldn't really be much more different to a Bootleg if it tried…

Hmmm so if you had zero stack height on the bottom cup would there not be enough clearance? I think the Freeborn site says 160mm forks need zero stack height. I was thinking if I got one I'd put Talas 36s on, but not if I can't crash!

It wouldn't worry me to build it with 160 forks and a zs lower cup. I'm sure there are some people on the Banshee Forum on MTBR have done that:

http://forums.mtbr.com/forumdisplay.php?f=155

I'm pretty sure the designer (Keith Scott) wouldn't have dropped a clanger like that. I can measure my clearances for you, if you like? If you're really concerned, Hope do various thicknesses of crown race to get around this potential problem.

I've been lusting after one of these since I first saw them. Nice.
They look great, suspension system seems sorted, and they're a great price too.
Did you get it through freeborn?

Yep, purchased through Freeborn. Frame is beautifully built, value wise it stacks up against the competition very well.

mttm – did you get a Hope headset with a zero stack 1 1/8th top cup and 1.5" lower cup? I know about the reducer headsets as I've already got one – where did you get this from?

Hope will sell you a "Combi" headset, allowing you to specify any top and bottom cup configuration you desire. This isn't terribly clear from their website, but a quick phonecall to Hope clarified it. I ordered mine through my LBS.

Ordered mine 🙂

Hey, nice one! Have you gone for the Fox 36 in the front? I nearly went this way myself, but decided to try my Thor in there first to see how it performed.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I am.

I met the guys from Banshee in taiwan recently – they're really into what they do, a great 'small brand' with the right approach. a good buy i think.. looks very nice.

I've just ordered the frame along with a Mythic Munro headset and am borrowing the Vanilla 32s off my hardtail for now. Will change to Floats or maybe Talas 36s when I can afford to. Until then my lovely but forkless, wheelless, everythingless MmmBop frame will get a bit of a rest (sorry Brant).

Behold!

That looks really fantastic. How are the forks working out? I'm aiming to get one of these soon but i'm cant decide how burly I need to go on the build.

Only just spotted your update mr_mills – very nice! I'm running a Joplin 4 in mine too, and they do get a lot of use on this bike. 😉 Since you've now had it two weeks, I assume you've put some good miles under its wheels? Absolutely loving mine, Banshee hit a perfect bulls-eye with this frame.

@bikeytom – go burly on the forks. The frame is very stiff and needs something similar up front to get the best from it. Magura Thor in mine works very well – the only other fork I'd consider if I was buying from scratch would be a Float 36.

Nice Spitfires! How are you guys finding the Joplin 4?

I've got the Spitfires older brother but it's the best bike i've owned.

Joplin 4 is excellent so far, but it's only had about thirty hours use. It was a bit lean on grease from new and benefited from having a quick strip and lube. Virtually no slop, unlike every Joplin 3 I've tried. I'm running mine with a neoprene cover over the slider – just seems like a sensible precaution given these units reputation for reliability.

I always swore I'd never have one of these – they're heavy, expensive and fragile. Now I don't like to ride without one!

That's a very burly Pyre, by the way. I don't think I've seen one built quite that beefy before. Bet it's loads of fun.

Since you've now had it two weeks, I assume you've put some good miles under its wheels?

Yep, it's had a couple of rides in the Peaks, one at Llandegla, one at Coed y Brenin, been up and down Snowdon and I've just returned from a weekend at Afan.

Love it!

Did Keith from Banshee ever sort out that guide to sag settings that was mentioned on MTBR forum? I've set my shock up using guess work so far…

I don't think so… if he has, I haven't seen it. I'm running 135psi which gives me just over 25% static sag (measured as straight percentage of shock travel). This feels pretty damn good, and I'm typically using about 45mm, and very occasionally pushing the o-ring off the end. Given that the bike isn't designed around a specific sag point, I think this is as good a way as any to set it up. I did run it a little softer until the bushes broke in – it was pretty harsh at 25% initially, now its fine.

What do you weigh (if it's not a personal question)?

"an expensive imitation of an Iron Horse Bootleg"
How on earth have you come to that?
Isn't a bootleg a 100mm single pivot steep angled XC (race) bike?
Or are you just going on what it sort of looks like?

Look more closely, it's nothing to do with an Iron Horse. Kieth the designer really knows his stuff. An XC bike with DH angles, isn't that what a lot of people have been waiting for?

Hi mr_mills – about 156 at the moment (in the buff, apologies if that leads to a distressing mental image). Sag was measured in full riding kit.

Any more feedback on the Spitfire?

Can any Spitfire owners comment on how it rides compared to a single pivot (Heckler or Five say)?

I know it's stupid but the back end looks spindly – can anyone comment on stiffness?

Any other comments about ride/reviews gratefully received, ta.

I had an Orange Five prior to the Spitfire – the Spitfire's in a different class in terms of stiffness (in a good way). That rear triangle is double box section (i.e. ribbed, for your pleasure 😯 ), and the linkages are rather substantial and pivoting on greased bushings – it's the stiffest bike I've ever owned by a substantial margin.

Ace – Playing devil's advocate are there any negatives to this over the Five?

Here's a few more Five comparisons:

It's more stable on fast descents than my Five (same tyres / forks etc).
It can corner harder (it can corner harder than anything I've ever tried).
It's not as plush (I like this – it was a purchase criterion).
It takes significantly more effort to pop the front up (low front end)
It's a fantastic climber (that low front end again, plus chainstay length)

If you're looking for plush, comfy very three dimensionally active bike, this may not be for you. If you want a taut, involving singletrack missile – you may have stumbled upon your perfect machine.

*Disclaimer – all comments have been filtered through the "rose tinted spectacles of new bike ownership" 😉

Negatives, hmmm… well, I suppose "not plush" and "harder to pop the front end" could be negatives – or positives, it all depends on your perspective. I'm absolutely knackered now after a typical five to six hour blast – the bike just insists that you cane it down every descent – that could be a negative.

Other than those, I'm struggling.