Scythe Reviews after a 6 week beating

Words and pics from Dave Hetherington (AUS):

After 6 weeks of riding and racing, the Scythe has taken a brutal beating. I have done it all: freeride, gaps, drops, dirt jumps and lots of downhill runs to put the bike to the ultimate test. As the Scythe is vastly different to my old downhill bike (Scythe 4.5kg lighter, completely different spec etc.), it has taken a little longer to really fine tune and feel comfortable on the bike. However, my initial thoughts on the Scythe have not changed.

What has been reinforced when riding the bike is its versatility. Whether it is dirt jumps, drops, gaps or any line where the wheels leave the ground, the bike does so with ease and stability. My confidence with this type of riding has increased significantly to the point where I will hit lines that I wouldn’t usually do everyday without a second thought.

Another major positive of the Scythe is its ability to gain speed quickly on the ground during a downhill run. A combination of the stiff, lightweight frame and power going straight to the back wheel make this possible. So getting the power down out of a turn, pumping through the turns and just pumping in general is a breeze.

I am particularly fussy when it comes to turning. If you don’t feel comfortable in the turns then you wont produce fast times. This is not the case with the Scythe, it turns sharply and precisely in any sort of corner. The biggest stand out point with the Scythes turning ability is how comfortably it power slides when the speed is high, without feeling the need to unclip your foot. This is a major benefit for any downhill racer.

So far the bike has needed no maintenance what so ever and is holding up strong. So far so good.'

Update: Some history on Dave.... He was on the Australia National Team last year and placed 10th in Ft. William at the worlds. The dude is fast and knows his stuff... and I hate to say it being a Canadian but those Aussie are fast, and generally a dude who just can't make the national team on team Oz can still blow the fastest Canuck away.
Can't wait to see what he thinks of racing a Legend.


Words pics and video from Matej Charvat (CZ) who after seeing Daves review decided to send in one of his own:
Banshee Scythe
I’ve got a bit different Scythe built up than Dave. My one is more Freeride – more versatile. You can see parts which I use on the picture. Rock Shox Totem(180mm) and so on..

I’m riding Scythe also about 6 weeks. Just training..no races(it’s out of season right now in here), but I have been riding it a lot and a lot of hardcore. Begining with small DH tracks nearby to really hardcore DH tracks in France – like San Remo, Sospel, Peille and that stuff where all the top worldcup riders training thru winter.
One of the things which I took note of is that the Scythe had another geometry than my old DH bike(Kona Stab Supreme). It set my possition more forward – over the bars. With this feature the bike is more moveable, more agressive in corners, better controllable in drifts and also in the air. Next thing which I love on Scythe is that’s ability to accelerate. Thanks to the single pivot suspension the chainstay is really stiff. You feel all the energy changing straight to the speed up.

When I was beginning with Scythe – I had harder suspension and FR geometry setup. Great for Jumping and more flat courses with sharp turns. Than when I put the softer spring and also changed to DH geometry – It was great feeling how the bike changed – really easy change(just change the hole where the shock is mounted) and you feel like you‘re on another bike. The DH geometry is really cool. It suits me more than the freeride one, because I’m DH rider. I like to have the BB lower and use all the bike’s travel. With this setup I tested the bike on French courses as mentioned above. All the courses‘ surface is loose rock and rocks. Hardcore cross-check for all bikes. I was coming there with freeride bike in my mind, but I was really surprised how the Scythe was absorbing all that mess like DH bike. I was just a bit limited by the fork, because I had so soft spring in it – but nothing what bothered me, I just fell it a few times in some R’n’R sections. Next thing which is noteworthy is turning. When you’re turning, it’s so exciting feeling..but it‘ so simple with Scythe – really controllable, but playful and aggressive enough.
The bike is still in the top condition after all that hardcore using. I didn’t have to make any maintenance. Top bike for people expecting real versatility.'

Matej has also made some videos of him riding the Scythe ranging from DH to freeride style riding:
http://www.pinkbike.com/video/11292/

It was a beauty weekend

So Lance [Canfield], Steve [Niner] and I were jonesing to find a decent place to ride while we were over here in Taiwan and after a lot of hard searching we finally found a killer trail that was pretty buff with good flow and lots of airs. Its called the speedtrap and is in the mountains of Beitou.

It was a beautiful day and lots of locals were out taking pics of the cherry blossoms on our shuttle route so sometimes it was a slow go. It also took us about 4 hours of driving and lots of walking random trails and looking for signs of mountain bike tracks to figure out if we were even in the right area. We knew however that all the work we put in now would pay off later when we had the urge to rip again.

I brought along my trusty Scirocco with the Nixon up front and figured the trail wasn't treacherous enough that I needed anything bigger. Without suspension your legs get a better workout on those bumpy sections and a mild trail can become a little more difficult which makes it a lot more fun.
Lance has his Formula which he likes to run over here and it did look like a fun bike; Steve took the Scream because we had planned on shuttling and it would have been definitely a plusher ride then his XC rig he has here.

You can see its pretty lush in the trees and it was both similar and different to the riding I do back home. The trees had a nice canopy but definitely look different then the cedars and pines of the North Shore that I am accustomed to. The trail had some sweet flow to it and even though the red dirt was fun to ride on, I did have to let some air out of the tires because the side lugs wouldn't hook up for any kind of railing; which I learned lying on my side after the front washed out.

We started riding at about 3pm and managed to get in 6 shuttles before it got too dark at 5:30pm.

All in all it was an awesome day, with some good riding in a place I've never ridden before and even though the trail was not near as knarly as some of the stuff back home it was a ton of fun and with good company -Lance and Steve - who are both good and fast, it was that much more enjoyable.

We'll probably see if we can get permission to go up there and repair/clean a few sections that need it. I however don't want to do that unless the local builders give us the green light. It could use some TLC however and we don't mind chipping in while we're here.

In the 2 pics of Lance in the orange shirt can you guess what is strange about him in the picture?

Dirt Cartel Interview

Vince at DirtCartel gave me the opportunity to do a little interview and being the kind of guy that loves to get a chance to connect with the riders out there, how could I pass.
Check out the site, its got a cool little spin and if you figure you got something important to say then even you could contribute.
http://www.dirtcartel.com/

Customer Video (Dean in the Woodlot)

Here is a video sent in by Dean, a customer from BC, Canada, who is a trailbuilder at the woodlot!

Here is is riding his new Rune down one of his creations 'snakes and ladders'.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7933441014538164658

Amazing trail building and great riding Dean!

Back to the factory... Legends ready soon

I'm off to the factory in a few days and in a week or so after I arrive I'll have the first bits to show you of the Legend Mk1. We'll be showing it at the industry bike show in Taipei for the first time and I'm just scrambling right now to find parts to build it up.

Here are some pics I took of my trip up the 101 which is the tallest building in the world althought the UAM's Burg Dubai will end up eclipsing this tower soon.

The yellow globe thing is the counterweight that keeps the building stable so you don't get motion sickness and its suspended by cables and underneath are dampers so it doesn't swing erratically.

It was cool to see what looking out a window that highup actually looks like. Basically the pics I took were all in the clouds so nothing came out very clear. It was funny to hear that they built the building but didn't consider the flight paths of the airplanes so once it started to go up they realized that now they'd have to change how the planes landed. You can also go upstairs outside but its super windy up there and 2 guards are posted as they don't want another repeat of spiderman scaling the building again.

At the base of the Taipei 101 building is a cool little piece from Canada. Its a marble sculpture with a ball that rotates in the water and it was neat to see that even so far from home there was something that came from home.

Traffic definitely takes some understanding of the driving culture. Basically anything goes but don't speed or drink and drive because that is totally serious. However sitting in the passenger seat driving into oncoming traffic with Steve from Niner at the helm I had raced against him at the performance go karts so I figured if we got in trouble he'd get us out quick.... he's pretty fast and I was only a 10th of a second behind but this trip I'm gonna get the better of him.

Greg at Straitline and I were talking today and I had mentioned that upon leaving, getting my ticket and going through Customs I wandered towards my assigned gate -the Hello Kitty gate. He didn't believe me so I showed him this pic. When I first saw it I walked right past it looking for the "right" gate because it looked like the kids area, to my shock it wasn't the kids area at all. FYI ... Hello Kitty is not cool as an airport gate... but maybe a Banshe pumptrack gate would be something I could be seen in.

Winter on Wildcard

Hi from Czech Republic.

Normally in this mounts(January, February) is in our country freezes and ground is covered by snow or is at least cold, rainy and muddy. Simply fu**ing weather. But this year is different, its quite dry weather and temperatures are relatively high(about 5-15°C). Perfect weather for riding and trail building. So I can Ride my new Wildcard very often and love that bike more and more. Its perfect in all condition and on all kind of trials.

Here are some "winter riding" pictures.


















As a bonus I m posting a video filmed in 2 summer days 2007

Latest news on the Esher Slopestyle Park

TRICK JUMP SESSION IN THE SS PARK
The good thing about having my bike on test with a magazine, is that i've got the perfect excuse to let others "try out" my latest creation...ha ha

Keith Scott (Mythic AMP), Marshall Blundell (Mythic Chaparral) and John Holme (Mythic Wildcard) all got "persuaded" to give the new trick jump a go, well we had to make sure it worked before we went any further....

They all seemed to have a blast riding the jump, and even threw down some shapes...let's say Keith went home a little bruised, good work fella ;)

Now we know that the first jump (expert line) is working, we can move forward with the rest of the SS park...hella lot to do out there...gonna keep us real busy for the next few months

More info found here: http://www.eshershore.com/slope_style.htm

cheers!
Rob C

It turned out pretty damn good...of course the landing is taking some tweaking to get 100% right and it still needs to be a little steeper, but its a great start to the SS park

A fun vid from the boys at Session Brasil

Found this on Youtube and thought I'd throw it up.
I said this year I'd be in brazil but alas it didn't happen... well next year for sure cause it looks like a fun place to ride.
The vids a little old but its still fun to watch and its not been on our blog before so enjoy.

Sydney Pumptrack coming soon

So just got off the phone - actually skype - with Greg at Straitline Components. We were talking about the new pumptrack park they're putting in.
It sounds totally wicked! The plans and the people behind it are pro and they've already got the piping dropped for drainage right into the municipalities sewer system - you know its gonna be killer if they're going to that much trouble
Banshee will be sponsoring the park along with other people from the industry and I can't wait to get out there with some of our local dealers like Lorien from Sooke Cycles for a little ripper session. Greg even said they'll be having comps and best part is they can get a liquor license... hahahaha awesome! a cold brew after some pumptracking... is this what heaven is like??!!!

It'll be a great place to ride our new DJ/pumptrack bike the AMP which is super light weight to pump the jumps and carry the momentum, uber flickable, and because pumptracks are usually buttery smooth you really don't want or need a full suspension bike.

The track is in Sydney on Vancouver Island just north of Victoria and about 10min bike ride from the Ferry. I wish Vancouver city would put in something but alas they suck... skaters get their parks but we still don't have anything and have to go to North Van where they've got a sh*tload of stuff to ride.

Make sure you check out the blog Greg is working on right now http://freeridebc.blogspot.com/ . Ha, he's gonna be so pissed I put up a link already cause it looks like crap - he's just started making it.

Anyway I gotta get back to doing the spec for 2009... yes thats right 2009

Rebel TV

Troy at Rebel TV got me started on their site where you can create a profile much like myspace but its more focused around people who dig their extreme sports. You can post up pics and videos like this one. Its only just started like maybe a week ago but it looks like it could be a cool place...
Chris had to bail out of his flip whip but it looked like the bike at least nailed the trick sans rider tho :(



So give it a whirl if you want to upload vids do it there as it seems to load pretty fast and the quality is better then you-boob