Over the Christmas break I had a chance to put together a new DJ bike after retiring my older Opus. This year I decided to go with the Banshee AMP after a great season of riding the Banshee Legend. Calling up Banshee and ordering an Amp frame in black was an easy decision.

I had to wait a while as the company was completely sold out at the time. Thankfully, the guys were cool enough to ship it out immediately after it arrived, since I was seriously stoked to build it up!

The AMP can be purchased as a frame-only or as a complete bike. I opted to go with the frame-only and build it the way I wanted with a mix of black, red, and white components. With gear from Answer, Manitou, SunRinglé, Twenty6, Loaded, Cane Creek, and Syncros, I was good to go.

Specs

The AMP frame is tight with some unique features. It’s been designed not only to be a good jumper, but a great park bike as well. With a relatively low bottom bracket (12.4″ with a 100mm travel fork), a 68.5° head angle, and a 69.5° seat angle, this is a tight turning, flickable bike.

As I looked over the frame I could see right away what Keith and Jay had in mind when designing this bike: simple, strong, and lightweight. Every effort went into making this ride as stiff as possible without compromising weight. The internal ribbed rear chain stays (same idea in the Legend) add strength without much weight, and are mated to tough vertical drop outs and a reinforced bottom bracket shell. With a 100mm fork installed you have a short 1024-1049mm wheel base (small size) and a stand-over height of only 24.5″ (625mm). This is achieved in part by using an integrated headset for the most compact stack height possible.

Pictured above is the packaging for the complete Cane Creek 40 Integrated headset. You can only imagine how small the actual headset is. I even ordered the tall carbon cover so I could get some height to my stem without a stack of spacers.

The Build

I decided that because of the riding I do (mostly the indoor bike park in the winter and dirt jumps in the summer), I was going to make sure I could stop, climb over obstacles, and get the bike up to speed quickly. To do all of that I needed to make it light. I also took into consideration some of the things that I will not be doing (20 ft. drops or 360-degree back flips) and opted out on some features.

Unpacking the bike took a bit of time. I first installed a seatpost (a simple 30.9mm post I use just for service is shown) and started cleaning the frame so I could install the decals.

I decided to run the Manitou Circus Expert this time around. I loved using the Circus Comp on my old bike, and after a service it is still running strong. But I wanted to build this DJ bike as light as I could, so the Expert was the way to go.

Installing the Cane Creek headset is pretty easy. Since all you have to do is install the lower crown race and the bearings (no need for cups), the only difficult thing is cutting the steering tube to the correct height.

Establishing the correct height is easy enough, especially when you follow Cane Creek’s video instructions.

The next thing I was looking for was a balance between weight and strength in the parts I chose. I looked at what I had on hand, and the Syncros Fric stem that I reviewed not too long ago was first on the list. The Fric is lightweight, and at 45mm it is the perfect length for this application.The unique design of the Fric makes this unit friendly to the *anatomy*: close-fitting, without any bulk or sharp edges.

The drivetrain on a DJ bike is pretty dead simple. I needed a crank and a single cog for the rear. Up front I had to consider both strength and cost, as cranks on DJ bikes tend to take a lot of abuse. I also wanted something to match the bike’s colors. Again, going over the parts that I had on hand, I chose the Respond cranks from RaceFace. With a 165mm crank arm length and single ring compatibility, this was it. I just had to install the bottom bracket and toss on a 32T e*thirteen chain ring and life was good.

In the photo above you can see that the AMP comes with ISCG 05 tabs, which is great, but I am opting not to add a chain guide. It’s an option for a future change if needed.

The AMP does come with two spare derailleur hangers, in case I choose to run the bike as a 1×10 or 1×9 (for 4X or as a speedy park bike).

Lastly, I wanted fairly strong wheels but not totally beastly ones that would hinder the light, flickable feeling. Running a set of Charger Pros from SunRinglé was just the ticket (in case you’re wondering, I used these all season last year on my FR bike). The myriad adapters available for these wheels and the addition of the SunRinglé 135×12 conversion axle make these a great set for this project. The addition of the axle allowed me to use bolts to tighten these down. (It is a much better option than a quick release when dealing with vertical drop outs.)

People usually install just a rear brake on dirt jump bikes. I’ll use this bike for a variety of riding conditions, so I decided to run both front and rear brakes. I had a set of Formula The ONE’s on hand, and while they’re totally overkill, these are just the ticket for stopping on a dime with minimal weight. The only concern here is that the wheel has to be set properly on the chain stay so that the rotor does not contact the caliper.

Speaking of rotors, Ashima was nice enough to send me a set of their new prototype lightweight rotors. At 67 grams apiece, these are stupidly light.

I finished off the bike with Twenty6 pedals, a Loaded seatpost and bars, and a Silverado Syndicate saddle from WTB.

I was ready to rip.

First Impressions

I took the newly-built AMP to my favorite place to ride this time of year: Joyride 150. It’s a great spot for testing out a DJ bike. I have written about Joyride before, and the fact that they continue to improve the place never fail to impress me. With a bunch of refinements to the intermediate skinnies and the jumps, Joyride always feels fresh. The XC track has been also been improved with some additional skinnies and more challenging features to really add to the excitement.

Right off the start I could tell that this ride was significantly lighter, faster, and more responsive than other DJ bikes I’ve owned. I found that the bike sailed over table-top jumps without a problem. I could literally do them all day long. The very low weight also made it easier to handle while in the air. Speaking of air I found a new love for the foam pits. Spending days at the foam pit with the AMP, I had a great time learning how to do 360′s and tail whips. Did I actually land them? Not yet but getting close. In the air I found the buttery smooth headset really allows me to spin the bike very fast while attempting to whip.

Not only was the bike a great jumper, it handled very well on skinnies. I found that even on the gas pipes in the advanced skinny section I had decent control.

The MSRP for the frame is $675, but I am sure you can grab one for a couple of dollars less than that. A complete bike build like mine may cost around $2,000 if you find deals here and there on components. The great thing about a frame build-up is that you can make it as nice or as economical as you like. Half the fun is putting the bike together and choosing the color palette.

The other half, of course, is the ride.

Bottom line: The AMP frame, in my opinion, is definitely on the top of the food chain as far as hardtail dirt jumpers are concerned. With its outstanding performance on skinnies and pump tracks and its amazing flickable feeling in the air, the AMP really makes me smile whenever I’m aboard it!

If you’re planning on hitting up the dirt jumps or buying a park bike, check out the Banshee AMP for yourself!

I would like to thank the folks at Banshee for setting me up as well as the folks at Manitou for the Circus DJ up front. A big thanks to the folks at Joyride for keeping up the great work and providing a fun, safe place to ride!

This is pretty much it. My little red rocket. The Dream Machine. The Monster. Here is the Banshee Legend II that I finally have all built up and ready to rip. It took me a while to get it (nearly) complete – I’m actually still waiting on two items that should be arriving shortly. But other than that, it’s done. I can’t wait until the slopes open for the season.

I first managed to get the bike together and out on the trail late in the season last year where I tested out some great products from Rockshox, Avid, and SRAM. Since then I added the final touches of bling from Loaded as well as Deemax Ultimate wheels from Mavic. Those early test rides on the Easton wheelset and Answer products really whetted my appetite for the main course.

The frame is a Banshee Legend II in medium:

Head angle: (63.8°) Seat angle: (70.5°)
Wheelbase: 1171mm / 46.1″
Bottom bracket height: 348mm /13.7″

If you don’t understand those angles and measurements, let me break it down for you: this frame is a purpose-built DH racer, designed for speed and fast cornering. The ultra-low BB keeps the center of gravity down low while the long wheelbase is great for stability.

The suspension arrangement is what Banshee calls their VF4B (Virtual Floating Four Bar) suspension. Now you might say it looks like someone else’s design but let’s face it: unless you have a single pivot, multi-link, suspension configs almost all look alike. However, there are actually small differences in pivot placement that make a big difference in performance. The virtual center region where the Legend II pivots is also different from other bikes. The short lower link, positioning of the links, and lengths of the links make for an ideal axle path. This path starts arcing up and to the rear (perfect for absorbing square edged bumps) in the first bit of travel; from the middle to the end of its path, the axle goes up and forward (reduces chain growth and pedal feedback).

Up front I’m running the Manitou Dorado Pro. I did have the BoXXer WC on there, but for now I’m running the Dorado Pro. I just received the Loaded AmX Rizer bar, a beast of a bar at 31″ wide and 328 grams. The AmX Rizer features 8° back sweep and 4° up sweep which is just right for me. Connecting the bar to the Dorado I have the Loaded AmX direct mount stem set at 45mm length (adjustable to 50mm as well).

Completing the controls, I’m rocking Formula’s ONE brakes (I also run the 2011 Avid Codes) and I love the levers because they take up virtually zero room on my bars and have a great feel (never mind the power and excellent modulation). The shifter is  a SRAM 10spd X0 (presently my favorite) with 1×10 gearing.

Now let’s talk about the high performance drivetrain. The Descendant cranks are from Truvativ and I’ve added the e*thirteen SRS+ chain retention device to keep the SRAM PC 1091 chain in line. For now the pedals are Xpedo XMX12ACs which have a great feel and provide a wide foot plate. I’m also looking forward to trying Spank’s new Spike pedals soon. Although I don’t plan on doing much sitting on this bike, the saddle is a WTB Valcon mounted on a Loaded X-Lite seatpost.

On the back I have the SRAM X0 short cage 10spd derailleur on an OG1090 11-25 rear cassette. Talk about great shifting. Despite the fact that the rear cassette is the road version, it works great with the X0 rear derailleur. Wheels are the iconic Mavic Deemax Ultimates (12x150mm rear) which are super light for DH (under 2,000 grams) and oh so smooth.

Now all this is tied together by two other important things: the rear shock and tires. I’m running the Rockshox Vivid Air which provides an excellent feel while controlling the wheel nicely. For tires I went with the ITS Invader 2.5″. At about 1100 grams each, they offer a decent mix between weight and durability. The Invader is also what is considered an all conditions tire, perfect for the Ontario landscape where I do most my riding. Lately I’ve noticed North Shore type features popping up around here so I’m excited to see how these tires perform in a variety of conditions.

In its current state the bike weighs in under 40lbs. – 37 lbs. to be exact – and it’s still bulletproof. Weight savings come from several areas, starting with the innovative Interspoke milling on the Mavic rims. Banshee carefully selects tubing thicknesses and machined shapes while including titanium pivot hardware. The Vivid Air and the Sram OG-1090 rear cassette shed massive amounts of weight over competing products, accounting for a whole pound of savings together. The final little bits of weight fell off by replacing stock hardware bolts with titanium and alloy parts.

In case you’re interested here are the build details:

Frame: Banshee Legend II
Fork: Manitou Dorado Pro  / Rockshox BoXXer WC
Rear shock: Rockshox Vivid Air (240mm x 76mm) (9.5″x3.0″)
Seatpost: Loaded X-Lite
Saddle: WTB Valcon (Silverado Syndicate on order)
Cane Creek XX II headset
Stem: Loaded AmX direct mount / Answer -ONE (not shown at this time)
Bar: Loaded AmX riser bar (790mm / 31″) / Answer ProTAPER 780 DH
Bar Grips: ODI Ruffian
Brakes: Formula ONE 208mm rotors F/R / Avid Code (not shown)
Shifters: SRAM XO 1×10
Wheels: Mavic Deemax Ultimate
Tires: ITS 26 x 2.5″ Invader tires
Cranks: Truvativ Descendant / GXP BB 83mm 165mm lengths
Cassette: SRAM OG 1090
Chain: SRAM PC1091
Pedals: Xpedo XMX12AC
Extras: Alloy rotor bolts from Ashima, Titanium hardware for brakes, Titanium hardware for rear shock.

Based on a few early test rides I’ve found this bike loves all the lightweight components; in particular the lighter Deemax wheels actually showed increased precision and tracking. I love pitching the bike in corners and the feeling of control I get with the bike in the air. In the hands of a pro rider I can imagine some spectacular whips coming outta this bike!

One interesting thing I noticed so far is that for my body type (5’9″, 190lbs with 31″ inseam and regular arm length), a 50mm or 45mm stem works well with a riser bar; otherwise, running a 55mm stem with a flatter bar works equally well. A 30-31 inch bar seems to offer a good mix between control while limiting over-steering.

Speaking of control, I found with a properly tuned suspension I didn’t get a lot of the diving I normally expect from a long-legged trail machine. Keeping my weight centered or further back and nailing the brakes coming into sharp corners, the bike remains civil without that pitch feeling I’ve had on other machines. The front and rear suspension work well together to keep this ride stable (time spent setting up the shocks is key!). And when things do get rough, I absolutely understand why so much time was involved in the development of this bike. The Legend II feels pretty forgiving – hitting rocks didn’t seem to be much of an issue. The bike tracked nicely over that kind of stuff.

Once I get more seat time in and experiment a little with settings and parts, I’ll post further updates. Stayed tuned for more!

2010 was a big year for me. After a little soul searching I decided I would like to work in the bike industry. It seems like a natural progression given my lifelong passion for bikes and past work experience. I found a job in Vancouver, B.C., packed up my truck and drove across the continent. Over the past year I’ve made many new friends and had some amazing rides. Here’s a 27 minute video documenting some of my favorite rides of the year. I hope you enjoy it and that it inspires you to get out and spin those cranks!

Cheers,

Bob_the_Builder

Hi folks, I hope you enjoyed the Holiday Season. I also hope Santa was good to you as well. So… what did you do over the break? Anything interesting show up under the tree for ya? I ended spending some time over the break at Joyride 150, an indoor bike park up in Toronto, Canada much like the two Ray’s down in the States. I gotta say, indoor bike parks are a good idea for the whole family because there’s something for everyone.

I ended up riding indoors 4 times in 2 weeks, taking my XC, trail and DJ bikes out for spins. I rode just about everything they had to offer from the two pump tracks on my DJ bike to the challenging skinnies on my trail bike to the XC track with my XC bike. Joyride also has progressive jumps and a vert park for those who dare to enjoy air. Believe it or not, indoor riding is a great way to stay in shape and sharpen up your riding skills during the “off season.” I spent a ton of time learning a sweet new tail whip move on the progressive jumps, something I always wanted to do on the slopes but was a bit too shy to try. The idea of sucking dirt and rocks just doesn’t appeal to me so a controlled environment like the one at Joyride (high skill, low consequence) is perfect for building skills.

During some of my visits to Joyride 150 there up to 280 riders, not to mention families hanging around and watching everything from a few folks honing their trials skills to others nailing 360-degree backflips and tail whips into the foam pit. The great thing about many indoor parks is that they’re usually close enough to a hotel and other attractions that can add to the experience of your mini vacation if you have to travel. Fortunately I live very close by so I get to ride pretty much whenever I like!

Mark Summers, one of the owners at Joyride 150, explained how he got the idea to open the place after taking his own mini vacation a few years back with his family. He said he loved the idea so much they had to do it here (Toronto) and it was just a matter of finding a location big enough to do it (Joyride is 80,000 sq ft). These days Joyride is well established and has partnered with local hotels for deals and family packages. This, in turn, has lured more and more out of state visitors.

Well needless to say I continue to have a great time at Joyride and find that I use the facilities often when testing new products as well. I can always count on some of the key features to be there so I can evaluate products without second guessing if it’s the product or the terrain that is making a difference.

New MTB Gear

The photos below show a sneak peak of some hotly anticipated skid lids I just received. The new T2 from THE is for the gravity park folks and the new XAR is for all of you who want a lightweight XC / AM lid with superior protection and fit.

Speaking of products and parts and stuff – Santa (and his manufacturing reps) recently sent out some of the new 2011 items for product review. Look for product tests from Giro, POC, THE, Mavic, Fox and more to help you gear up for the upcoming riding season!

Looking further into 2011, we also have more cool contests on tap as well. Thanks to your word of mouth, singletracks has been growing and with growth comes notoriety (which helps us get great prizes for giveaways). Just above is my Opus Nelson FR bike which this year is sporting the all new Fox 36 Talas 180 FIT RC2 and a SRAM XO 9spd drivetrain in red.

My DH project bike, the Banshee Legend II, has been coming along nicely as well. Here is a glory shot of the bike just waiting to hit the slopes! The build now comes in at just a hair over 36lbs. with dual ply rubbers from ITS. The new Mavic Deemax Ultimate wheels, in case you’re wondering, are under 2,000 grams (1,965).

We’re stoked for mountain biking in 2011 and hope you are too! Stay tuned and stay well everyone.

Happy New Year.

Ohhh yeah! Finally, after what seemed like ages of waiting, my Banshee Legend II is ready to ride – and this past weekend I got to break it in. After the final parts arrived on Wednesday while I was work, I spent the evening getting everything cut, measured, installed, and torqued in place (more on that in a few).

A project bike like the Banshee Legend II is not something you can slap together and hope for the best. It’s important to look at what you’re going to be doing with a bike like this before you even spec the first part. Flying over rock gardens, drops, step ups, and almost anything else, you gotta make sure the bike (and you!) survive.

Just after arriving home from Interbike back in September, I was stoked to unbox the Banshee Legend II frame. At that point I already had some of the major components handy so I got most of the bike assembled. I installed a Cane Creek XXc headset and moved my Dorado fork over to the new rig. With a frame that’s worth a lot of $$, you may want to get a pro to do this part of the build, or at least invest in a headset press. I added an Answer DH direct-mount stem and my favorite handlebars, the Answer 780 DH, which pretty much completed the front end.

For stopping power I installed a set of Formula ONE brakes and the like-new Havoc DH wheel set I had on hand from last year (gotta hand it to Easton for building such a great set of wheels).

Then, a few weeks back a nice box of components arrived at my doorstep from SRAM with X.O shifting and the new Descendant crank (same one Peaty rides with). Now some may wonder why I decided to put a 10-speed drivetrain on a DH bike (many riders may argue a 9 or even 6 speed cassette is good enough). Three reasons: I’m not interested in butchering a cassette just to get a six-speed drivetrain, 10-speed spacing is tighter so shifting speed increases, and, perhaps most importantly, I’m no pro so I need a few extra gears when I actually have to pedal on the flats.

After another long night of installation and getting all the gears perfect and shifting amazingly on the stand, I had to wait on a rear shock and possibly a matching front fork. Well just last week a rather large box arrived, once again from SRAM. I got everything I needed to finish up the Legend plus two other bikes I’m building for next season (get ready for some interesting reviews and great products). This delivery added the new Vivid Air RC2, the BoXXer WC, and the new Code brakes. So yup, I had work to do. Off with the Dorado and on with the BoXXer as well as installing the Vivid and the new Codes. Looking at the bike I realized that this is turning out to be an almost all-SRAM DH bike.

Finishing off the bike with pedals, grips, saddle, and seatpost, I was still a few hours away from completion. Getting the cable and hose lengths just right is important and shouldn’t be rushed. After all, perfection is in the details so I ended up using Gore cables (love those so much!) for the rear derailleur to make sure the shifting is as smooth as possible. In fact these cables from Gore are a bit different from previous versions; unfortunately I can’t tell you how yet (they’re still top-secret). Anyhow, I also spent some time bleeding the Codes after I shortened the hoses; now I was ready for testing!

This weekend I took the Legend II to a local area where I could do some DH pre-testing (rock gardens, step downs, jumps, gaps and table tops abound). After a few runs I realized many of the components need a break-in period before they’re operating at full performance. Needless to say I still had a blast and I can’t wait to get more serious test rides in on my project bike.

I am very greatful to everyone who helped make this bike happen. Folks like Tyler Morland (Avid, Rockshox) Morgan Meredith (SRAM), Jay MacNeil (Banshee), Lois Mabon (Gore), Richard Travis (Manitou), Tom Porter (Answer), Christoph Vogl (Formula), Toby Henderson from THE, and Mark Reidy who reps Easton.

Stay tuned for more reviews on these great products and hopefully some more great AM-DH reviews on other items not yet installed!

Cheers

Being Canadian I have to say I have a lot of pride whenever it comes to things made in Canada. Banshee bikes are no exemption thanks to Jay MacNeil, Keith Scott, and the boys who went and put together another great line up of mountain bikes for 2011. In case you missed it, last year I introduced Banshee here, even though they’ve actually been around for quite some time. In fact Banshee started off in 2001, born out a need to produce a bike that could tame the North Shore. Up until that time companies were scrambling to produce frames that would live up to the sick moves and big terrain that are an integral part of the BC bike culture. Fast forward to today and the refined line-up that Banshee delivers – no hype, just bikes that can take it, whatever “it” may be.

The DJ / Slopestyle hardtail pictured above is called the AMP. This purpose-built stiff and compact bike was designed by Keith and is a no compromise bike. Keith eliminated all unnecessary gimmicks and went straight to the heart of the design with internally ribbed chainstays to increase stiffness and torque, keeping them as short as possible. That and another host of other features make this bike one really flickable ride.

The Rampant is another cool specific-use bike from Banshee. Designed primarily as a 4X bike, it works equally as well as a dual slalom bike. You could even consider this a great play bike if that’s what you want to do with it. Here you get a bike with 4 inches of rear travel that has a ton of clearance between the top tube and your “boys” (or “girls”, whatever the case). This ride pedals firmly and almost feels like a hardtail, perfect for those hole shots outta the gate.

The Spitfire can best be described as Banshee’s answer to the lightweight trail bike with 5 inches of travel. Now what’s cool about this bike is that you can easily fit an adjustable seatpost (30.9mm). Beyond that the bike offers convenient cable guides for routing the seatpost remote and ISCG05 mounts for a Hammerschmidt if that’s what you want. The Spitfire will even allow you to alter the geometry with a slight position change of the rear shock for a distinct difference in ride. The frame offers enough tire clearance in back to accommodate many 2.5 inch tires.

The Rune is similar to the Spitfire as it shares some of the great features for adjustable seatposts and ISCG05 tabs. However the Rune has 6″ of rear travel and a 1.5″ head tube to really put a serious fork up front. Best way to describe this bike is a trail bike on steroids. Not necessarily that much heavier than the Spitfire (6.22lbs vs 5.86lbs), this rig still can be built up as a bike that can go up as well as down. By carefully selecting your build you can get a DH feel or a more trail feel to the bike.

Stand back – take it in – ohhh yeah. They don’t call this bike the Legend for nothing. Yup here is the Legend II. After 5 years of development and input from more than 70 riders, this baby finally came into being. Did I mention my very own Legend II is here! (Build on the way) Yup the Legend II is a pure race machine with 8 inches of rear travel and at 8.73lbs (sans shock) this bike is designed to rule. One feature that I personally love is the “canoe” that holds the shock. Look up close and you see a high level of detail and care went into making this bike as strong and lightweight as possible. All the pivot bolts are titanium (not steel) and all the tubing is 7005 hydro-formed aluminum.

Check out Banshee and take a peek at the other great bikes they have. One of the great things about Banshee is their willingness to answer any of your questions so drop them a line. Look for an article on my Legend II build in the coming months!

So this may be a bit on the late side but seeing that most of this stuff still hasn’t hit the stores yet I thought I’d share these pics. What I have here is a compilation of my favorite photos from the show with some brief commentary so sit back and enjoy!

By far the coolest frame set I saw (next to the Banshee Legend) is the Intense 951 pictured above. I found myself just staring at this bike for far to long and almost missed my next appointment. Up close to this frame set you can see the quality work that went in to making this one of the most desirable DH frames around. With 150mm G3 rear axle spacing, one point five head tube, and over 8 inches of travel provided by an ohhh so nice Cane Creek double barrel rear shock this bike looked delicious.

Above, the same Intense 951 in red. Still nice, and this one was built up with Shimano Saint components and an Industry 9 wheel set with a Fox 40 RC2 up front and a DHX RC4 in rear. Can you say Sweet?!

Here is something that I personally want and not just for the red and orange anodized finish. The Ellsworth Rogue is a freeride bike with attitude. Not only does it look great but I had a chance to test ride one like this at Bootleg and it was super fun (the only down side – the run was too short). With 8 inches of rear travel and the Fox 40 RC2, this bike is a kick-butt machine.

It was hard to stop looking at Intense with all their models so close yet oh so far away. Here we have a pair of Uzzi frames. The Uzzi in blue has a Fox DHX Air 5 and the Red has the standard DHX 4 coil. You can also get this bike with the Cane Creek double barrel, at a cost of course.  For those who plan on taking big hits and hitting the park all day long you may not need look any further than the Uzzi.

This Ibis above boasts builds in the 25 pound range with 5.5 inches of DW link rear travel for those who want a quicker, snappier ride on a bike that won’t punish you too much after riding all day long. The Ibis can be ordered in various trim levels from Sram XX or X-9 group parts to Shimano XTR, XT or SLX.

I love cut-aways of bike stuff and there were plenty at Interbike to ogle. Here you can see a cut-away of the Fox RP23 with boost valve technology on your left, the new improved DHX AIR RC4 in the middle, and a 32mm F series front fork with Fit technology (borrowed from the 36 and 40mm forks) on the right. The Fit damper now allows the engineers to further save weight on the 32mm line-up by reducing the amount of fluid needed in that damper housing. Get close to a new 32mm fork and you will also notice that the engineers changed up the way the fork works as well by placing the rebound adjuster on the bottom (previous models placed the lock-out on the bottom). Check out FoxRacingShox.com for further information.

Walking around Interbike you couldn’t help but notice the Mavic display. Looking at the line up for next year they have really improved the wheels, especially for the trail and enduro riders out there. The new Crossmax ST wheels are even lighter than before, now at just 1615 grams. Mavic also changed up the graphics on the rims.

The new Deemax Ultimate at 1915 grams a set is absolutely crazy light for a full-on DH wheel set. These wheels come with all the bells as whistles to make them both strong enough and light enough for the demands of the DH circuit. The Deemax wheels also sport my favorite ITS4 cassette body and ISM (inter spoke milling with central spine) which reduces mass on the rim without loosing strength.  Check out Mavic.com for more info on these and the rest of the line up.

Here is just a random photo of the new carbon Ellsworth Enlightenment. What caught my eye here is the fine machine work on a part that just holds the brake and rear wheel. This attention to detail is second to none.

This bike was another one of those that you had to stop and drool over for a while. The Banshee Rune pictured here was shown in flat black and bright orange components. The Crankbrothers Iodine AM wheels along with Race Face AM cranks and bars (not shown) really made this bike and the components just added to the already awesome construction of this frame. You have to check out the Banshee website for more information on this bike as well as the rest of their line-up.

Hubba hubba… umm sorry. But just in case you have no clue what this is, this is the new aluminum version of the Dorado DH fork from Manitou. I am dying to do a review on this unit. This fork has everything a racer would want: high and low speed compression, rebound, and top-out and bottom-out control. To top it all off, these forks are assembled right here in the States. With 36mm stanchions and an inverted design this fork will take a kicking and keep on bouncing.

Answer is back with all new products this year. New thin and stout pedals, super wide 780mm DH bars, and 720mm AM bars are also available. The bars will come in two versions: a one-inch and two-inch rise for the AM Bar and half-inch and one-inch rise for the DH bar. A direct mount stem for the Dorado allows you to change the reach from 45, 50, 55mm while providing a strong grip to the bar with its wide face plate.

Sun-Ringle has totally revamped the line-up with new hubs, rims and colors that promise to impress everyone. The hub shot above gives just a taste of what you can expect to see in 2010. Straight pull spokes, anodized hubs and aluminum cassette bodies.

What’s not to like about the new Hayes Stroker Ace look for this year? Now in jet black with bronze-ish piston covers, this is one great looking, high performance brake set. Along with the Stroker Ace the entire line up now boasts new graphics and now the Stroker Grams come in all white.

Well that does it for my list of favorites from Interbike – hope you enjoyed the pics!

On Wednesday I stopped by to chat with Jay MacNeil, operations manager / Bike Guru for Banshee mountain bikes. Jay was a wealth of information, giving me the low down on the Legend and the up and coming Legend MKii DH frame set, a frame set that I personally can’t wait to ride. The Legend is a Virtual Floating 4 Bar (VF4B) linkage which basically promises a stiff rear triangle with great pedaling performance.

The photo to the right show a running Legend Mki which gives you a quick look at the massively strong frameset as well as the attention to detail. All aspects of the build are there to keep the weight as light as possible – plus it also looks super cool up close. Another sweet feature on this bike is the ultra low center of gravity with the rear shock cradled within the lowest possible spot, just above the 83mm wide bottom bracket.

Banshee has some other great bikes like the Scythe, a freeride bike using a Turner 4 bar linkage with 7-8″ of travel in the rear and a OnePointFive head tube that is compatible with any long travel single crown fork out there.  There’s also the Wildcard which is kicking it at 5-6.5″ of travel, also with a OnePointFive head tube. The flat black, tough looking RUNE sports 6″ of travel in the rear and the same VF4B as the Legend. The RUNE also features a OnePointFive head tube meaning this all-mountain bike can take just about anything you can throw at it.

The Scythe

The Wild Card

The Rune

These are just a few of the great bikes that Banshee is offering up for the up and coming season (read trek7k’s test ride report of the Spitfire as well). For even more info, check out the Banshee website.

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be a mountain bike test pilot? Today I got just a taste when I rode a prototype of the Banshee Spitfire, a full suspension XC/freeride bike that isn’t scheduled for production until March of 2010! Now I know how Chuck Yeager must have felt

Cool things to note about the Spitfire:

1. It has an adjustable bottom bracket height. Nope, that isn’t a typo – you can actually choose between two bb heights by switching the rear shock mounting point. It’s like getting two bikes in one!

2. It’s one by nine. I’m a big fan of 1×9 set-ups myself and in talking to folks here today it sounds like the trend is really starting to catch on from downhill to XC bikes.

3. This bike is the boss of bosses. In the production model there will be frame bosses to accommodate just about any set-up you want to run, including HammerSchmidt.

Keep watching the Spitfire to see how it evolves over the next few months – this could become a very cool bike!