Dig’n and Ride’n

We had a good time the other day in Aptos, fixing up and riding a couple spots and eating some banger sandwiches.  Justin Brantley was there and put this edit together, check it out!

-Fogel

Steve's Spitfire

this lovely black Mythic Spitfire is brand new today - its 'birthday'

it belongs to a regular Freeborn customer - Steve G, who has been blasting around the muddy hills in South-East England on a Mythic Scirocco for several years

thanks to a generous allowance on his employers "Cycle 2 work" scheme, Steve now has a fully-suspended trail bike to take him to work, and back, over those muddy hills

his Spitfire is anodised black with Fox RP23 BV shock, 2011 Fox 32 Float RLC 150mm QR15 forks, Thomson and Sunline finishing kit, Sram X-9 9 speed shifting, Avid Elixir R disc brakes, Shimano SLX cranks and of course the sublime "Hope Hoops" wheels (Stans ZTR Flow rims on Hope Pro II hubs with Sapim D/B spokes) and a tubeless Stan's setup with Specialized Control tires

wicked build, have fun Steve!

Rob's new Rampant

huge thanks to Keith and Jay at Banshee Bikes for hooking me up with a killer deal on a shiny new RAW Rampant frame

my red/white Rampant was 2 years+ old and the paint was a little beat-up

I was going to 'raw' my old frame but Keith suggested checking out the latest 'raw' rampant so I did a rider in Germany a great deal on my old frame and promptly got the Freeborn guys to add another short raw frame to the 2010 fall order

I've added an E13 LG1 chain device to replace my mangled E13 SRS, and have a clear black Fit pivotal saddle coming next week as the red saddle looks a little out of sorts on this raw / black setup

will get a better quality picture next week(the light was horrible today here in the UK), with the new saddle

happy trails!

Rob C
Mythic Bikes, England

Jayme White on her Banshee Rune

Hey Keith,

The pics I sent have two set ups for the bike. The recent DJ pics are with a DH set up, but the BIKE pics have an all-mountain set up. That's one of the things I love most about the Rune -- you can descend AND pedal, no problem. And the lighter weight on the DH set up is nice for me because it makes the bike more maneuverable. I can ride XC, dirt jump, and downhill all on this bike.


Getting my Rune reminded me of the first time I ever tried downhill or rode a full-suspension bike. You can never go back. After that experience, you'll never have that kind of fun doing anything else or on any other bike.


I needed a pink bike, so our friend Art Boy (Crazy Concepts) painted it with pearlized pink flake -- giving it an iridescent finish that makes the Rune logo look navy blue. So I'm spoiled on Banshees (I also have a black ano Pyre), and everyone here in the Re:cycles crew has at least one. Y'all definitely have an unofficial bike team in North Carolina.


By far my favorite thing to do is to take my Rune downhilling at Snowshoe in West Virginia, which I've done with this bike for about three seasons now.I also like to take it on shuttle trips with my friends up in the North Carolina mountains, Wilson's Creek area. It's hard to see the pink most of the time for all the mud, but I guess you have to make sacrifices.


DH: Hope brakes, goodridge lines, I-9 wheels with pink hubs and two pinks spokes around the valve, race face atlas cranks, Marzocchi 888 air fork, XT shifter and derailleur
All-mtn: Everything's the same except I had Hayes brakes, a Marzocchi all-mountain fork, and my lucky pedals

Let me know if you need any more info or missives. It's so cool my ride is getting posted!!

I'll never ride any other bikes, that's for sure.

Thanks,

Jayme


I'm pretty sure the guy in some of the photos with Jayme is her husband Merritt (correct me if I'm wrong), and action photos compliments of Robert Seth with Kinetic Images.

Spitfire review in NSMB.com

Check out the full review of how the spitfire got on riding the shore here...

North Shore......lets support!

Hey there,

North Shore Mountain Bike Association (NSMBA) is applying for Aviva's Community Fund ($100,000) and they really need your help. This grant would do some great things for the trails that we all ride and are the hallowed ground for riders around the world , as the birthplace of real mountain biking . If you would like to see huge improvements to our trail network, please follow the instruction below. It's simple and only takes few minutes of your time. Vote now and tell everyone you know to do the same! Lets get the word out and get those votes in!

The voting period is from October 25 to November 5.

How to Help!


Register on the Aviva Registration Page so you can vote.
Go the NSMBA's Idea page, click on "Vote Now", and follow any steps required to login.
Set a reminder for the next ten days and vote every day (this is perfectly legitimate - you have total of 10 votes, one vote per day).
Forward this email to everyone you know and encourage them to vote. You can make this happen!


Links:
Register Here then go here to vote for NSMBA! SIMPLE!

Road Trippin with Mike Montgomery

Road Trippin with Mike Montgomery from Alpinestars USA on Vimeo.

Mike's Rampage Legend:

Medium Black Anodized Banshee Legend, Manitou Dorado with Custom Green decals, Cane Creek XXc II headset, Straitline Stem, ODI Handle Bars and Grips, Formula Brakes, XO Rear Shifter, Manitou Rear Shock, Race Face Atlas FR Cranks, Straitline Silent Guide ,Straitline Pedals, XO Rear Derailleur, Atom Lab rims on Industry Nine spokes and hubs with Geax Neuron Tires.

Banshee Spitfire with Jeremy Lemay

Jeremy from North Shore Bike Shop takes his Spitfire for a rip on the shore.

Banshee Spitfire with Jeremy Lemay from Spoked Media on Vimeo.

Dreamland vs. Gillard

Big thanks to Nic Genovese for filming and editing the Season Ending Jam we had a Dreamland this past weekend.

Dreamland Season Ender from Nic Genovese on Vimeo.

And thanks to Sam Dobrin ...

Fogelsode S2 #3: Zip Lines and Dry Trails

I got the chance to go on a local zip line track through the redwoods a few weeks ago, and it ended up being crazy!  It was a really neat experience traveling through the forest with an entirely different aspect.  Iggy, Clay, Bryce, and I rode the local trails quite a bit that week, enjoying the dry conditions.  It’s been dry for so long that there’s a nice thin layer of silt over the hard-pack so you can get nasty with the drifts.  It can definitely get squirrely though, as we all had our close-calls.  We got to bust out the hardtails later for a fun little evening sesh at Mike’s house, which was a good time mixing it up.  Overall it was just another good week riding bikes with the crew!

Enjoy!

 

-Fogel

Asia Pacific DH Challenge 2010

Fakawi Banshee in Indonesia from MDH on Vimeo.

Fakawi Banshee Team rider Adam's practice run on his Legend MK2 at the Specialized Asia Pacific DH Challenge, 2010 in Malang, Indonesia.



Popo, Indonesia's No1 rider, secured the win ahead of current World DH Champion, Sam Hill. Anyway you cut it, its a great achievement for Popo and Indonesia! Sip!

New Website and Vid!

My buddies and I have been toying with the idea of making a website for a while now, and finally made it happen.  It’s pretty simple, just a blog where our crew can post the latest happenings, pictures, and videos to get anyone who’s interested stoked.  The plan is to make a series of web videos to go with the site, of which we finished the first last week.  I’m really stoked how it turned out, especially the downhill shots as we got to capture the first rain of the season!

 

www.the-locs.com

 

Fogel

Lesser Spotted Russian Snow Ninja

Mike sent me this link of last autums riding in Russia to remind you guys, that although the weather is getting cold (unless your a southern hemesphere reader, lucky buggers!) it doesn't have to stop you getting out and riding.



Good skills guys, skinnies covered in snow is hard going!!

Nic Genovese - Greenall Edit is VOD

Big thanks to Nic Genovese for another killer edit of another Banshee Team Rider.



Keep Riding.

Rob Dunnet

Monster Energy Slopestyle 2010 Redux

Watch for Banshee Superhero Mike Montgomery in the Monster Energy Sloplestyle video.

Monster Energy Slopestyle 2010 Redux from Crankworx on Vimeo.

2nd Place on a Banshee Amp hard tail, does not get much more hard core than that right there.

Keep Riding.

Rob Dunnet

spitfire quote of the year

Much love to the Banshee Pride. I can no longer say that I have the lone Banshee in Crested Butte Colorado. There is a reason we love them so....

Via a new Banshee owner quote from owner's girlfriend....

"You should probably change your relationship status from Ciera Glenn to Miss Spitfire, considering you left me for 8 days to go have fun with her.
Have fun riding her babe!"

All I have to say is, #1 Keith, thank you so kindly for creating the love of mine AND others. And #2 Banshee Bikes really are as cool as you hear they are. Go ride one, but I warn you, you will fall deeply in LOVE!

Time to Ride

If videos of Strahan do not want to make you ride there is something wrong with you.



I think they make these videos just to make the rest of us jealous. For Scott's Pinkbike.com post click here ....

For more Strahan click here ...

Keep Riding,

Rob Dunnet

IB porfolio

I wanted to pass along a little link for my Interbike portfolio. This is what I had to show for my work this past year. All this images were captured this past year. I hope you enjoy what you see!

You Like This!

You Like This is a web film currently being produced by Art Barn Film in Squamish B.C. Expect to see a selection of B.C. based shredders you may have heard of including Paul Stevens, Jeremey Norris, Ewan Farfard, Dan Skogland, Mirandia Miller, Andrew Teit, and myself. Art Barn Film has teamed up with Reel Water productions for this season and Reel Water productions will be filming a "behind the scenes" of the production of 'You Like This' for their web project 'The season 2'. To check out the first "Season" click HERE.

We have building cool lines and rad trail from Pemberton to Mission and filming when the weather is right. I am so stoked on the lines the Legend lets me shred, combining downhilling with free riding, allowing me to develop my own big mountain riding style.

Check out this shot from yesterday, photo by taylor loughran

BOS Legend

We are all about hooking industry friends up with our products. It is great to have feedback from other industry people and insight into how their products work on our frames. So if you are wondering how BOS products work on the Legend and how to custom tune them to the Legend. We will soon have a really good idea ...

Hi Guys,

So now the bike is ready to ride, and it looks amazing! Here are the specs (sorry for the bad picture, it’s from my mobile…):
- Frame Team Red Size M
- Reverse Head-set
- BOS Idylle Rare Fork
- Burgtec direct Mount stem
- Funn Fat boy 750 bar
- Odi short neck lock-on grips
- Shimano Saint shifter
- Shimano XT rear mech (old one, as I’ve just destroyed my shadow on a rock…)
- Shimano XT brakes
- BOS Stoy damper, with 300 spring (steel at the moment, Ti soon…)
- Syncros seat post (old but so lite and strong…)
- Reverse Fort Will Ti saddle
- Mavic “old” 521 rims, 36T
- DT super comp with aluminum nipples
- Rear Hub Hope pro2, with 11/25 dura ace cassette
- Front Hub: hand made (Reverse 180g red soon…)
- Chain guide: E13
- Crank : Shimano Saint 165mm, with 36T E13 chain rig
- Pedals: Welgo Mg1 with long pin.
- Tires: Maxxis Minion DHF 42a 26x2.5 Front, High Roller 60a 26x2.5 Rear
- Tubes : Michelin DH (heavy, but no puncture since several years…)
- Weight : 17.8kg (will probably reach 17.5 with Ti-spring and a new front well)

I’ll give you any feed back as soon as I will ride it on DH track!

Thanks a lot for your help

Best regards

Arnaud JACOB
Bos Engineering

Fall Scythe riding!

Hey guys, I've been doing an awful lot of downhilling lately, and I got to say I definitely miss it! Rob's Scythe has amazing components on it which add to the awesomeness( not to mention how plush the scythe is). I do think the bars could use a little length seeing as how Rob is bigger than me, and the bike has 27' handle bars ha ha.
My brother Nic came along and took a couple shots, and I think there pretty rad.

Enjoy!

Paul Genovese

Rob here: for specs on my Scythe go here ... and scroll to the bottom

Wideopen articles about Brayton and Deacon

If you head over to http://wideopenmag.co.uk/ you'll find some good banshee / Mythic media.

In this free web magazine which is full of great content you'll find an article on p44 about a weekend with Adam Brayton:



Also check Page 21 for Aaron Newmann ripping it up on his MkI test bike.

Here are some great photos and a Q&A sesh with Tom Deacon:

http://wideopenmag.co.uk/news/7394/random-question-generator-tom-deacon

Aaron and Strahan

Aaron LaRocque (Larock for you pinkbike 13 year olds) rides a Banshee Rune so basically that means everyone should ride a Banshee Rune. For Rune information see your local dealer or call Aaron direct (250-881-1542) he will be happy to answer your Rune related questions and talk about the perfect lighting.






Pictures are poached from Strahan Loken who also rides a Banshee Rune and a Banshee Legend. He is a Legend in his own right ... I actually think he was knighted last year. His direct line is a little harder to come by ...



This video was made my Scott Secco and I poached it too ... Scott is into cross country running and has the Rune logo tattooed on his right thigh ...

Keep Riding.

Rob Dunnet

Customer Feedback

Every once and a while I get an email that is good enough to share ...

Hey guys,
Just wanting to thank you for the paradox. A friend and I each got one to use this year on the Colorado Trail. I like to think we were the most downhill oriented/out of shape people to attempt the trail and the paradox helped make all 500 miles and 60,000-70,000 feet of climbing happen. Great to have a 29er that could peddle long distances, but still be slack enough to enjoy on the downhills. I was originally going to sell it after the trip, but it was fun enough to convince me to keep it and use it on similar trips in the future. Heres a few pictures of my ghetto rigged and my buddy's pro rigged bikepacking setups (before, during and after). Feel free to use them in anything if you want to promote that sort of use for the bike. Thanks again,
Andy






Keep Riding.

Rob Dunnet

You Like This Cini-flex Day!

This fall I have been very busy shooting and building for Art Barn Film's short film called "You Like This", more on that in a later post though...

One of the highlights of filming so far took place two weeks ago, during one of the last good weather windows of the season. Taylor Loughran is the cinematographer and producer at as well the Cini-flex operator for Mountain Shadow Productions. For all of September he had been working on the logistics of organizing Mountain Shadow’s Cini-flex and Long Ranger set-up, trying to piggy back off a music video shoot on the top of Table Mountain. Finally, near the end of September it all came together. With a three day weather window (to let the trails dry), the music video crew ready to go and the mountain bikers ready. While Taylor slept in and had a chill morning waiting for the machine to pick him up in the afternoon, myself and a crew consisting of Jeremy Norris, Dennis Beare, Andrew Teit, Miranda Miller, fellow Race Face rider Lorraine Blanchard and of course Cheekeye the dog left the coffee shop at 5:30 am and started our journey. After an hour long 4×4 and a 3 hour hike, and most of the afternoon dedicated to trail buffing we started the final hike and waited for the Heli.

At around 4:30 the heli came around the southwest ridge of Atwell with the cini-flex trained on us. We spent the next 45 minutes minutes working our way down the glacial morriane, over a gnarly knife edge, then worked an amazing alpine single track descent. The terrain on the glacial morriane was very loose almost sandy, as it had melted out during they day. After crossing the knife edge ridge, which was the closest i have come to bicycle mountaineering, we had a fast alpine single track waiting for us. I waited for Jeremy to go, preparing to take advantage of the Legend's superb pedaling characteristics and pedal my ass off. I dropped in, pedaling as fast as i could, hearing the whine of the Long Ranger just above me the whole time. All of a sudden the trail was heading back up-hill which was my cue to head to a two jump combo further down the meadow.

It was quite the experience to ride with a heli trained on you – not stressful in the least!

Stay tuned for more on You Like This! but for now check out these photos from our day.








Cini-Flex frame grab wide open on the Legend

24 hours of Paradox

Photos and words supplied by Kurt Morrison:

Here are some images from the 2010 24 Hours of Adrenaline in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. This was my fourth time doing the race, but this time we were a team of 5. In the past it's been 7 or 8 people on the team. There was a big difference this year with less people on a team. You get more laps, and less rest time = more fun!

This event marks the 1 year anniversary of my Paradox's birth. A year ago, the night before the race I built her up. Since then the only changes are: 180 mm cranks, tires and bar/stem. I swapped to the 180 mm to help get more leg extension and power.

A rider with longer legs has less angular rotation at the hips/knee than than an averaged sized rider with the same given crank length. It helps me chase the elite XC racers on some training rides. I do notice that the increased length does lower my pedals a bit in tech sections which is a bit of a drawback. But, with enough premeditation I can still pull off the tech sections on trails around here.
Most of those photos were taken by sportograf, but we purchased them and their usage rights agreement allows them to be posted on blogs, etc, by the purchaser. "0100" and "0102" were by Sean Birch, and he previously gave permission to post his stuff. A link to his flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/people/seanbirch/


I took "3761", proof that Santa rides a litespeed in his off season.

PumpTrack

I've Spent the last week building and carving in a little pumptrack close to my house. It's running better then i could have hoped with lots of line choices going both ways. Mostly stoked on how fast it can run for how tight some of the rollers are. I suggest to everyone to build a pumptrack if they don't have one, there good fun and can get you somewhat fit. Great for learning bike control and cornering.

Time to make a stand...

I'd like to think that the vast majority of mountain bikers share the love of the great outdoors that I have... so watch this video and spread the word! We can't let this happen on our watch!

Oil in Eden: The Battle to Protect Canada's Pacific Coast from Pacific Wild on Vimeo.

Some more info for those interested... http://pubs.pembina.org/reports/enbridge-mgp-comparison-june29-final.pdf

Matej Charvat world cup 2010 review

Matej Charvat has had a great year onboard his banshee Legend MkII this year... here is a little overview of how his WC season whent down.

World Cup Season 2010 - Overview_en

Next year Matej will be teaming up with Adam Brayton on the 2011 Banshee factory team. I can't wait to see what these 2 talented and driven guys can achieve next year.

Banshee Prime

The Banshee Prime will be a new addition to the Banshee range probably for 2012, although testing will start as soon as we feel ready to run a full batch of 50 frames to be tested. This frame will go through a similar testing and feedback program as the Legend MkI was used for.

If you want to be a tester of this frame, keep an eye on the blog over the next few months. I'm not going to start taking names until we have some prototypes made and tested to make sure we have no major issues. So please don't send me e-mails yet!

There are a number of full suspension frames with this range of travel (130mm) out there, but I feel that most of them are too steep and often flexy to give you real confidence when riding aggressively or on steep technical terrain.

The Prime is a strong, stiff and planted 29er designed to excel in all elements of true all mountain riding. 29ers don't need as much travel as 26ers for coping with square edge hits due to the larger wheels rolling over obstacles easier, so the 130mm travel of the Prime will generally 'feel' like more travel (150-160mm) if you are used to riding 26ers.

Some details on the frame at this stage (subject to change before production as a result of testing and feedback).

Geometry.... the aggressive seat angle and relatively short chain stays make the Prime a bike that is playful, but with optimised weight distribution for control during technical climbs and the slack and low geometry offers stability and control on high speed descents.


The suspension linkage I've used on the Prime (which I may call the KS link...) uses the best elements of the VF4B link, but almost eliminates the rotation at the shock DU bushings for a more supple suspension action, and can be more finely tuned and offers more space for geometry manipulation for less compromise. The pivots will all run on fully sealed INA bearings on grade 5 6Al4V titanium pivot axles and bolts.

The linkage for the Prime has been optimised to work well with smaller chain rings for the 29er user, and the frame structure has been stiffened slightly to ensure that there in minimal frame flex even with bigger wheels.

The Prime geometry can be easily adjusted by a single chain ring style bolt at the dropout (likely to be titanium). Changing from the steep to slack setting drops the BB by 12mm (0.5") and slackens the head angle out by 1 degree without affecting suspension characteristics. We will also offer the frame with 2 dropout types (135x10mm and 150x12mm) to suit all riders needs.

This model is actually using over sized 29x2.5" tires to give you an idea about the all important tire clearance. As you can see there is bucket loads of clearance around the rear tire (compare to that of the same tire in a Reba 29er 140mm fork)

As is standard for Banshee, we will be using 7005 alloy which will be T4 then T6 heat treated for better overall frame strength. The tubes will all be triple butted custom hydroformed for maximum strength to weight ratio. The seat and chain stays are both internally ribbed for extra strength and stiffness for minimal weight increase.

The frame will only be compatible with direct mount front derailleurs (we will do the testing so you don't have to) . ISCG 05 tabs will allow use of chainguides or Hammerschmidt, and there will be cable guides for the latter system. there will also be cable guides for adjustable seatposts.

As always, the proof will be in the pudding, and so this bike will be used, abused and tested globally, then refined and redesigned where necessary before public release, so that we can ensure that the final product is as good as it can possibly be.

Please let me know your initial feedback to both general design and geometry. My ears are aways open, and I'm here to design your next bike, so I need to know what you want!

Thanks,
Keith