Other Wildcard colors

We still need to get a pic of the mango.

Banshee's Halloween Public Service Announcement

Happy Halloween!!

Pyre mrkII Changes

As a result of your feedback I have made a couple of changes to the pyre mrkII, the main one being increasing stand over! The geometry is all remaining the same, as I got nothing but good feedback regarding this, so other than a change in cab;e routing, and a couple of tiny tweaks, the only thing that has changes is the top tube slope and the addition of a brace for larger sizes, this increases stand over and improves the aesthetics, whilst only adding very minimal weight to the larger sizes.

I hope that these changes will be very beneficial to a lot of our riders.

Thanks again for your feedback, I really do listen to it and make changes!

Italian Banshee Logo

Nick from our Italian distributor sent me an email with the banshee logo for Italy.
I think it looks totally dope, and thought I'd share.

Update:
Nick wanted me to add this link http://www.free-bike.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=164#p164 so that you could see some of the other countries he's created.

Ellsworth and the California Fires

We may play from different sides of the field but we are all riding brothers and I'm sure I can speak for all the Banshee riders that our thoughts go out to the Ellsworth employees and their families. We pray that they are all safe and that they haven't lost too much. For more on the fires http://www.latimes.com/

News from the EW site:

Wednesday 10/24 UPDATE: 2

The good news: All Ellsworth inventory is intact and our Manufacturing is intact and continuing to fill orders we took at InterBike, as well as standing orders. We PLAN on being able to communicate via email. We're working to restore some stop gap phone contact, but ask that you watch this website for information before making a phone call.

The Bad news: The Organic Avacado grove that houses the Sustainable Ellsworth Administrative, Design, and wharehouse has burned, and Highland Valley Road is a war zone and all electric and telephone poles, and infrastructure was destroyed.

Choose your language links

Ok... lets face it, I suck at websites and html, php, css or whatever you call the lines of code that run in the background of websites - I only have a limited knowledge of it.
I have found in Firefox if you translate a page a large white window pops up in the top left corner. If after it pops up, you hit the "remove frame" link at the top right in Firefox it will disappear.
I'll get a pro to look at the code soon but in the meantime I'm sure its frustrating some of you.

Here are a couple of words on progression.

from Chris Soininen (who has been riding one of the wildcard prototypes for the last 6 months or so)...

"Deep down in all of us, what pushes us to the next level is the satisfaction of progression. There is nothing like riding out of a big road gap or learning a new trick, knowing that any little slip up could lead to a very painful afternoon and a dent in the confidence. After riding for many years and enjoying many accomplishments on the bike you begin to hit a new level of riding. It is the borderline obsession where crashing doesn’t slow you down. It hurts but makes you want it even more. It makes you practise harder and riding on this fine line can be pretty scary.

I don’t really want to know how many times I have crashed doing back flips and tail whips. Crashing doesn’t mean you’re a bad rider, it means you are pushing your own limits and that’s what progression is all about.You may not land it first time but being persistant pays off. I am not saying go out there and ride till you crash because that is just stupid but you know when you hit that fine line of pulling something off and that is the sweetest victory of all.

Don’t be harsh critics as these are some photos that a young mate of mine took while I was practising a few new tricks. We will get them out to you when I have them dialled.

Thanks for reading,
Chris"

There you have it! Straight from inside the head of a crazy rider!

Product availability

Got a few questions on availability.... so here goes.
Most dealers have already placed orders for product so they should have some stuff within about a month. All my distributors have product on the way so it should be just a few more weeks for the 08 stuff to arrive.
The Amp prototype will be done in a few weeks and will go out for testing. It won't be available until after SeaOtter [May]. Yeah its just a DJ but we still want to do our due diligence and work all the bugs out so you won't have any problems when you get it.

The Legend will be available in very limited numbers after SeaOtter. Only 50 units worldwide. If you're a racer and are interested in getting one next year we are starting a list. About half are already spoken for but the remaining ones are up for riders that race DH and don't mind being contacted by me and Keith - you will be contacted!. We want to know where every last one of those bikes goes and have a constant dialogue with the riders that get them. We will be offering all sorts of tech support, free spare parts if needed, and anything else the rider is in need of.
The bike has been in development for 3 years has gone through numerous iterations and adjustments and we're still tweeking little things. We can confirm it will be a virtual pivot design and that its weight will be under 10lbs with shock but thats all i really want to say right now about it. The Geo has been published ... search under the label Legend.

The Amp.

The Amp is a long awaited dirt jump specific bike from Banshee. Previous models such as the Morphine and the Scirocco have been great bikes, but have not been specific to jumping, rather they have been one bike to cover a number of riding disciplines.

The Amp is a pure dirt jump / street bike with no compromises in geometry or weight. At an approximate frame weight of only 4.6lbs, combined with 400mm chain stays and low BB and stand over creates a very tight and nimble bike that will be easy to rotate and throw around, whilst also being strong and stiff enough to take the every day beatings that dirt jump bikes expect.

The adjustable horizontal dropouts are perfect for those who want to ride single speed, and fine tune their wheelbase. The frame will also come with a hanger that allows you to adjust the wheelbase whilst running a rear derailleur.

The Amp prototypes will be using integrated headsets to reduce build weight, and lower the front end to make for a very aggressive riding position. The Amp has an ISCG 05 chain guide mount, and uses the same custom hydroformed top and down tubes as the rampant 4x frame.

Chat

Just added a little chat window in the bottom left corner of the sidebar.
If you see my online feel free to give me a shout if you have any questions, comments, or just want to talk bikes or riding.

Blog still under some changes

I wanted to make some changes but it'll take me a bit longer so please be patient.
mutha f'r this is a pain... for some reason theres this freakin white window that shows up when you hit one of the flags to translate the blog... anyone know whats happening?

Camp of Champions

Banshee has been confirmed as sponsors of the 2008 Camp of Champions at Whistler Mountain.
Camp guest will get to access to Wildcards, Rampants, and Scythes. We've gotten together with TSG to offer an all custom finish just for the camp so the bikes will look totally sick.

Also what's really cool is Alan Hepburn will be coming over from Australia to coach, unconfirmed still is Chris Sonienen whose not sure if he'll arrive in Vancouver in time for the camps. Long time team rider Brent Floyd is the camps head coach and arguably the best riding coach going. He's worked for both the Schley and Shandro camps and he's very experienced, helpful, and knowledgable.

Ken Achenbach has put together possibly the best camp in the world. It offers tons for the guests to do on and off the mountain and with Brent managing and coaching you're guaranteed the best results in improving your riding.

I'm still in discussions with them regarding a camp seminar on how to setup your suspension and other mysterious in your bike. So not only do you improve as a rider you also get to dial in your ride to acheive its top performance when you get home.

One other treat [that we'll try to include] is time for the guest to take out a Legend Mk1. These will be very rare as we plan to do only 50 units for 2008, and then only 100 for 2009.

Anyway we're totally stoked. Check out the camps website if you're interested.

carlson wedding

this past saturday i was lucky enought to see my close friends marry eachother. linden and danyelle are now husband and wife. it was a great time and very memoriable time!
-d


Congrats Linden and Danyelle.
For those of you that haven't seen previous entries Linden is currently our rep in Colorado and will be the team manager for the Banshee Mountain States Cup team. We'll have 3-4 DH and 4X racers and are still looking for that rider whose got the lungs and legs to represent us as our XC guy... but I digress... this is about the Carlsons and I hope both of your dreams come true. Cheers guys! wish I coulda been there - but you didn't invite me - probably cause you knew I'd drink all your booze hahaha

Karls 69r

I've been bantering back and forth with Karl on his Viento 69r and thought it would be cool to share his thoughts on the bike, and his setup.
Living at the base of the North Shore Mountain I don't get an opportunity to different setups like this because its go up... and then go down... theres not much roll in our part of the world. I really want to try one of these out next time I go to Bootleg and I'm going to make sure Linden [our Colorado rep] has a 69r in his aresenal of demo bikes.
Basically a 69r, for those of you who don't know, is a bike with a 26" wheel in the back and a 29" up front.

Anyway heres what Karl had to say

Jay,

I think this is the best pic from last week, it definitely emphasizes the larger front wheel. As for a bit of history...

Until 2007 I raced Xterra Triathlons, with my best finish being 6th amateur over-all at the 2006 World Championship in Hawaii. I also was racing singlespeed cross country and endurance events. I always have had amazing support from my wife and kids, however, this year there are too many other activities and responsibilities, so racing has taken a back seat.

This is why I was looking for an 'all-mountain' bike in the spring and decided upon the Banshee Viento. After riding it with various amounts of travel on the front end I finally settled on 115mm as the best feel and performance for my style of riding. As for my style, I like to take smaller (up to 3 or 4 foot) drops and climb and descend as fast as my conditioning and skills allow. That is where the 29er front wheel comes in. While on a ride with Terry Pitman, the owner of the Bike Shop in Henderson, Nevada, Terry recommended the larger wheel size because of the terrain that I typically ride and the way I ride. We talked about all of the benefits including the larger footprint, the beneficial angle of attack that is created by the larger wheel when rolling over obstacles on both the climb and the descent, the faster rolling tire at speeds and the greater control that the larger wheel provides.

That is when we put the 29er wheel on with the Reba 29er fork with 85mm (or maybe 80mm) of travel. Because of the larger diameter wheel paired with less travel of the fork the overall head tube angle barely changed and did not cause any adverse handling affects for 'cross county' riding. Plus I still have the quickness and acceleration of the 26 inch rear wheel. I have definitely noticed the advantages of the larger front wheel, especially on steep rocky descents where the 26 inch front wheel gets 'knocked around' by the larger rocks, the 29er wheel rolls right over. One more benefit that resulted form the larger front wheel is a higher bottom bracket (it is now 12.5 versus 12 inches with my previous setup), however, my center of gravity in relation to the entire frame is lower. It is similar to the models of the compressed suspension and how the frame sinks between the wheels. If you look at the added height of the front hub in relation to the height of the bottom bracket you see that the frame is 'sitting' within' the wheels.

Of course, this whole experiment would not have worked without the right frame. Because of the the geometry of the Viento, primarily the standover height and headtube designed to accommodate forks from 3-6 inches it worked.

I know I said racing has taken a back seat, but this coming weekend, Oct. 20th, I am going to test the setup at the 12 Hours of Bootleg hosted by All Mountain Cyclery. I am going to race the solo category which will give me plenty of miles on the 69er, many more at one time than I have had a chance to do so far.

Anyway, when I am ready to invest in a full-suspension frame I want to do the 69er setup on a Banshee Pyre. After looking at the geometry of the Pyre I think it would work and result in the same benefits and provide the perfect all mountain bike for both trail riding and racing.

Thanks,

Karl

Bushings are they all the same?

So I was in visiting On Top Bike shop and the wrenches up there were having a look at the Legend. I informed them that the Legend was pegged to have all bushings rather then bearings at every pivot.
Now these guys have seen just about everything, and so their opinions really count because its knowledge from experience. They had some reservations considering they felt bushings wearout faster then bearings.
I have also spoken to a few other engineers and we do agree it is possible with a poorly designed system. It is however just as likely that a poorly designed pivot, using bearings, will also have a very short lifespan... I know of a few but won't mention any names.
I also know of a few poorly designed bushing systems and again will keep my mouth shut.
You'd be surprised to find out how many company's out there are making bikes and don't have a single engineer on staff... and again I won't mention any names.
So it basically boils down to the designer and if he has a clue what he's doing. Luckily our Masters of Mech. Keith knows a thing or two about engineering and something called tolerances.

Basically the bushing should not be able to be tightened beyond a certain point or else they will drag on the shoulder and prematurely wear. When a bushing prematurely wears, play develops and the rider tries to tighten the pivot further which only causes more wear. The way our axles were designed they will tighten to a certain point maintaining the correct tolerance for the bushing and you won't be able to overtighten them.
We've honestly been riding the same set of bushings on the Rampant, and Runes that we've had since early last spring, they've not been greased and have seen almost daily runs at whistler all summer, been to all our demo days, and have booked what must be thousands of miles by different riders. The pivots are as tight today as they were when we first got the bikes... I'll keep you updated on the exact date I notice play in any of them and how long it will be until we have to swap them for a new set.
So basically not all systems are created equally. I know its hard for the rider to wade through the BS, but I'm happy to report riders are so much more informed then they used to be and it will serve them well in their choice for their next ride.
Of course we welcome comments and the chance to discuss the principles of what makes a decent design.

Other colors of the Rune, Rampant and a Mythic rampant

Mythic is our brand in the UK.


rampant comes in two flavors.... team red/white and team black/white


and the rune comes in white, black, gold, and the team polish/black which you've seen

Some other colors for the hardtails

Alan practicing at home

Alan Hepburn just sent me this. Looks like he was really bummed that he didn't qualify for Crankworx this year and has no intention of having that happen next. It'll be cool to see him stomp a flip whip in the comp, but we'll see what they do to the course next year. There were a lot of complaints from the riders about it and hopefully they'll build it more like the Bearclaw invitational.


Alans the second guy in the vid and he still needs a little more practice to get that stuff nailed.

Scott Alleyn let me know that he got 2nd at the Harvest Huckfest. He's on his way up to Nelson with a Wildcard to scope out the new jumps they've built. I can't remember the name of them sorry, maybe someone from Nelson can help me out and put it in the comments section

Mtbr.com virtual tradeshow booth

Got a sweet virtual tradeshow booth at mtbr.com
check it out as there are some very nice pics of the bikes... the lighting at bootleg canyon really sets off the bikes nicely.
Should have some more information going up on the site as well.

http://content.mtbr.com/TRD_14_348crx.aspx

Sicklines at dirt demo

Jason and Justin from Sicklines dropped by to check out the bikes. This is the first time I got to meet him so it was cool to sit down, have a beer, and just talk to someone like myself who loves bikes. We always seem to blab on and on about the industry, different designs, what we thinks cool and what we're not sure about, and spend more time talking trash about Greg from Straitline hahaha... oh and his mom too [all in good fun and he definitely can throw it back at us].
Anyway check out the site there's always good stuff on there.
Direct link to the banshee stuff http://www.sicklines.com/interbike2007/banshee

It's good to be home, but better in BC!

An update from Alan ... (with photos of both Alan and Chris)
'Hey everyone, here's a little write up on what I’ve been up to for the past few months. Back in July I found myself ripping countless runs in the Whistler bike park riding everything I could from Joyride (best trail ever) to the Redbull elevation jumps (best jumps ever) to the foam pit. Then crankworx came around and the crowds got larger and the hype got louder, it’s pretty intense when all your used to, is riding with a group of 3 or 4 other riders back at home and then going to Canada and seeing thousands of riders everywhere. For myself crankworx’s was a mixed bag I wasn’t liking the slopestyle course that much but was happy to just jam some sections that I did like, and doing runs on the mountain. My friend Chris (who also rides for Banshee) rode solid as and made it to the semi finals getting 17th overall so that was cool. Once crankworx was over the village went back to normal and the runs on the mountain got more fun.
The weekend after crankworx Chris and I found ourselves on a ferry heading to the Bearclaw invitational, This whole trip to Mt Washington was so un planned we didn’t even know where or what we were going to do for food, accommodation or even a way back to whistler. The only thing semi organised was how we were getting to the ferry, Thanks Kelly and Sha for the lift. In the end the whole trip turned out perfect, we stayed in the riders lodge for free had these awesome BC burgers for dinner and ended riding the Mountain which was better then we expected. Oh and the slopestyle course was mad fun to ride, we weren’t allowed to compete (because we weren’t on the list) which sucked but Bearclaw was kind enough to let us ride the course in practice, and we became the course guineapigs.
2 weeks later and I was back home in Australia looking at my local jumps that looked mighty small compared to the jumps I had been riding for the previous 8 weeks. So I decided to do a major digging mission moving around 200tonnes all up to make 2 bigger sized jumps, was pretty stoked when they were finished and dialled. So now all I’m doing is riding when I can and learning new things. Had an interesting experience the last couple of days when I took a hard slam and smacked the side of my head on the ground (Full Face helmets are awesome). Anyway I woke up the next morning and the whole room was spinning like crazy, got myself checked out and it seems I bruised my inner ear and had some swelling. Wasn’t that bad but in your ear is where the Cochlea is and that controls your balance and tells your brain which way is up and down, lets just say its like being very drunk when you have swelling in that area. Anyway the dizziness subsided pretty quick and 24hours later and its all good, and I can ride again yay.
Anyway summers rolling in here and there’s lots more riding to be had. Catcha later!'

and now some photos of chris doing crazy stuff to add to alans story and photos...

If you ever get the chance to ride with these guys you will join me by saying that they have great attitudes, and are just down to earth guys who share a passion for riding (oh and they are a bit crazy too!)