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... for Reeksy1?
He's ready for a larger bike and the local importer is a riding mate and is offering his demo model built up nicely.
Travel is about right for our riding, plus the write ups say they manage more than the 135mm would suggest.
I'll get a full warranty.
But are they all that? I'm sure there's some owners on here.
I've had one for about a year. I've done uplifts on it but generally ride woodland tight singletrack and I would say its my favourite bike I've ever had, climbs well, decends well, turns well, good robust all rounder, also my first 29er which I held off from, I have 160mm Lyriks & stock Fox Float X on it. Geo isnt mad progressive, quite sensible but modern really. Not had any issues with it what so ever, its very well finished and nothing has come loose and is fine in the mud. Cables need foam to stop the rattle, some stone / abuse chips to the clear lacquer and I'd like to try a different shock just to see, had a CCDB IL Coil and IL air on the spitfires which I liked.
I've had 1x 26 Spitfire, 1x 27.5 Spitfire, a 3.2 Rune (which my eldest commandeered ) and a 26inch Legend so Im a fanboi.
Edit- I'll add that Keith (owner / designer) is always helpful and replies to my questions on Email and is often on the active FB user group aswell.
Double check the sizing - the seat tube lengths are very long relative to the reach, I.E. better for people who are long leg/short body.
spitfire owner here, love it, a mate was inspired to swap his privateer onto a prime and he appears to love it
yer just check the insertion depth for droppers, not a big deal, but had to swap a 180 to a 150 when i frame swapped onto my Spitfire.
2 years on it, holding up well
I'm also curious about the sizing on Banshee bikes. Particularly the relatively short reach (by today's standards) in relation to seat tube lengths and recommended rider sizing on their website.
I've been very close to ordering both a Paradox and Phantom at different times in the past, but in both cases split between L and XL options and then been distracted elsewhere while pondering...
Existing Banshee riders, did you go with recommended sizing or ignore it and go bigger with longer reach?
Former spitfire owner and current prime owner (and love it).
The spitfire reach felt a little short, but not much. But the same size prime is much better. Both XL.
Do it!
Interesting thoughts on sizing. The lad's at the bottom of the recommendations for a L.
It comes with a PNW dropper already so that should be ok.
Actually a decent build kit.
I think the seatpost insertion comment is fair, mines limited more by the join between the seatpost and the shock cradle than seat tube length.
Its not a long reach frame but stack height is decent which offsets the shorter reach, I dont run any spacers under the stem and have gone back to a 50mm stem from 40. I think its a good compromise as its comfy for pedalling about on flatter terrain.
Prime V3 owner here! Someone asked me about it on another forum so I'm just going to copy and paste my response...
Short Answer - Yeah, I like it!
Longer Answer:
Mine is a bit heavy bit it's very much a "solid" build, 160mm Marz Z1, Deore 10sp drivetrain, XT 4 Pots, Chromag parts etc.
Good stuff:
I wanted a do-it-all bike that would be OK for my local riding (lots of short punchy climbs and descents, tight woodsy singletrack) that would also not be out of it's depth in Wales, Scotland, Peak District, French Alps, etc. In Banshee terms The Phantom (115mm bike) would have been better for my local stuff but The Titan would have been better for "not local" stuff. The Prime is more than acceptable on both.
Climbing: It pedals fine on road/fireroad - I occasionally reach for the climb switch on long road climbs, but I would happily run a shock without one if needed. Proper climbing - You can winch yourself up some silly steep things if you have the legs, the 450mm Chainstays help with that.
Descending: Great, plenty of grip, you can get it into the air. It's a cliché but it is a FUN bike. Not too much travel for fun on milder trails without feeling completely out it's depth on faster rougher tracks, though you can find it's limit! I find it's great on steep trails (e.g. Golfie in Scotland) even though it's not particularly slack at 64.5 in Low and a 160mm fork. It's pretty stable at speed as it's quite long at 1250mm wheelbase. Other reviews, be that professional or user, have suggested it punches above it's travel number. I have nothing to compare it to but I can see why they would say that, certainly a 160mm travel fork feels to match the rear.
Less good stuff:
Flat/contoury trails: It's not a plodder, it rewards being pedaled hard, if you just want to cruise or you're feeling tired the bike will feel "bored".
It's not light, at all, it's about 37lbs (size L). But that is as much down to the budget/COVID/sturdy build, I have seen some silly light builds (google Rulezman Prime) but you need to chuck a lot of money at it to get the weight down to approaching mid-spec carbon framed bike weights. I keep thinking I should get a second set of lighter wheels with lighter and faster tyres for local riding but haven't quite got there as yet. I also quite fancy trying a mullet set up.
Some of the sealing on the bearings could be a bit better, but bearing life hasn't been a problem so maybe it's not a big deal. The fact that I don't jet-wash bikes probably helps.
It's not a quiet bike unless you break out the rubber piping for the internal cables and the fuzzy velcro tape.
I'd rather have external routing but that's me.
Summary: It's great, I'm not sure what I'd swap it for now that we have more choice to be honest, which is probably a very good sign. If pushed maybe a Forbidden Druid, Geometron (G1 shorter travel), Starling something, Chromag Darco, Cotic Jeht...anyway.
I haven’t ridden a Prime but I had two Spitfires (27.5 version) and they were really rather good at everything.
The geometry is generally shorter reach higher stack, longer chainstay, than many current bikes (although there’s a trend in that direction) but it makes for a very balanced body position.
Seat tubes aren’t super short and insertion isn’t super deep so it’s just a question of if you can fit a long enough dropper for your liking.
If I had space/time/money for another bike a Prime would be very much in the shortlist.
...well apparently it doesn't have enough travel for him. Trying to convince him to do a test ride to see.