Banshee Scythe spotted at the top of Triple Crown trail browsing on power bar crumbs. I approached quietly from downwind so as not to startle the beast, grabbed the bars and threw a leg over before she bolted.
Well, the afternoon began pedaling the Scythe to the top to check out my new dual ring setup. A single ring 1:1 gear ratio on this rig was OK climbing Fromme but had me doing the hike-a-bike ascent half the way on Burke. I already knew from ascending on a single DH ring she was a good climber even with the big fork, so I reduced the shock SPV pressure to 80 PSI and headed up on a 22/32 175mm crank set. All is good and the dual setup paid off despite the extra weight with insignificant energy wasted. Increasing the SPV to 100 PSI should tweak it in to take care of a minor bounce going over the larger rocks. I’m now a firm believer in the fine job the Banshee crew did perfecting the geometry on this simple suspension design for “Shore” freeride trails. At the top I let the Scythe rest while I put on my pads, but when ready to go there was a noticeable transformation in the Scythe’s personality from a stable pack horse to something between a mountain lion and a deer.
It didn’t take long on the decent to appreciate the trail taming powers of this beast. The stiff single pivot chain stay connection from the main frame to the rear axle had it leaping off any lip like a deer. I read reviews about the tendency to accelerate out of a turn and experienced this when I had to adjust my old ride position a bit forward when the Scythe almost left me behind after getting back too far on one turn. Kind of the same feeling you get cranking turns riding a high performance giant slalom ski. Stay centered and you’ll love it, but slight weighting on the rear and it’ll leave you behind. On a couple of familiar hucks to flat I was expecting the usual impacts but they never came and it touched down like a big cat the balance was so good. 
I’m stoked, because this ride just upped my ability and I feel I can satisfy the need to feed my soul with adrenalin and keep my surgeon happy I’m riding safely at the same time.
