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2013 Spitfire

510K views 3K replies 288 participants last post by  RS VR6 
#1 ·
What do we know so far?

Does it have bearings?
Adjustable geometry? Looks like there could be adjustable geo built into the dropouts.
Geo specs?

27.5" compatible dropouts as option

"Banshee Bikes 2013" by fakawi
 
#209 ·
Yeah, Build-Up made by german Distributor Mr. B.. :cornut:
Steerer will cut down, rear Brake gets longer Cable and a lower external Cup (Fox Talas with "only" 15 cm Travel).

[Taking pic out of quote because it's the right thing to do]

Edith: Weight is 12,3 kg!
Holy. Freaking. Crap.

I was pretty bummed about the Spitfire being red while the Rune got the blue that I adore. No longer bummed.
 
#8 ·
I'm a bitter soon to be former Spitfire owner...I'm only speaking from my experience unless you feel having 2-3 mm of vertical play in the lower linkage is normal after 4 rides with new pivots and bushings. That said, I do enjoy the way the bikes rides as they totally nailed the geometry, but I'm (and many others - just look at the Rune bushing thread) done dealing with this headache.
 
#64 · (Edited)
My personal opinion is:

There is too much talking about single Parameters like Reach, short Chainstays or too slack Headangles only ... Geometry always works as a whole, it´s not that short CS alone are the guarantee for a flickable Ride, or slack HA are a hindrance on steep technical climbs. To me it seems like 650B-specific Geometry has the same variety as 26ers have for years now. I know that I would never ride Trailbikes with steeper than 66er HA and slacker than 74er SA again - that is why 90 percent of the current and new offerings are falling from my selection ...
As far as I know the new Spitfire has one of the lowest BBs, one of the steepest SAs (that must be the reason for the increast Reach) and the slackest HA - especially when going 650B. Slightly longer, low and slack are the ingredients for a fast tackling and aggressive Ride. If you ride more tight technical Terrain look for something else. The Spittys CSs are nicely in the middle of the long Scott/Rotwild/Jamis 450 mm and the short Norco/RockyMountain +/- 425 mm ...
If you think that the new Norcos or Intenses are more spot on than go for them and enjoy the Ride! To me it is really curious that for the slightly bigger 650B some offer shorter CSs, steeper HAs and shorter Wheelbase than their 26ers do have ...
 
#65 ·
...Slightly longer, low and slack are the ingredients for a fast tackling and aggressive Ride...
Guess I'm not the typical Spitty rider as I prefer the tall setting on my 2011 Small which yields a 67.3 degree HA and a 13.5" BBH. Perfect for the technical terrain I ride, only thing I'd change on it would be a slightly shorter CS and a more active rear which the new one has but at the expense of a full inch longer WB which I guess is my biggest concern since to me TT is a more important measurement than Reach. Regardless I may end up trying it as my family is Banshee through and through, other than my 2001 RFX on DH days we have the following in our garage:

2011 Banshee Spitfire Sm - mine
2011 Banshee Amp Short - mine
2010 Banshee Scythe Sm - my wife's
2008 Banshee Rune Sm - my wife's
2003 Banshee Morphine - my wife's

and prior to the Spitfire I owned a Banshee Rampant for 3 years as my trail bike. Tons of fun but not a great climber nor good on long rides. Banshee's have been very good for us, I just hope the WB on the 2013 small won't be a problem for me since all the other measurements work out for me using the tall/steep setting. Every FS bike in my garage including the RFX is a bushings bike, I look forward to finally trying a FS with bearings.:)
 
#121 ·
Easiest way to think abut this is tha roughly for every 15mm the saddle is above the ETT line (horizontal to top dead center of headtube) the cockpit feel will increase by about 1mm over the ETT. There are a lot of bikes out there that are like this, but the manufacturers don't mention it.

Nostyle, it sounds like a medium would be best fit for you probably, but only you can decide for sure.
 
#122 ·
Thank you Keith!
I think for me this is a very welcome Feature, as the effective Toptube will be around 595 mm, maybe a tad more when sitting high on the Saddle. That is close to my "Dream-Toptube-Length" of 600 - 605 mm. I will stick to the Medium now, as the Spitfire is already longer (+ 18 mm Reach) than the M Wildcard and a Wheelbase of 118 cm (26") / 119 cm (650B) seems pretty long for me. Plus having the most possible Standover-Hight for steep and technical Terrain - sounds pretty good for a Bike that is going to be ridden everywhere! :thumbsup:

Many Greetings from Cologne, Germany
NoStyle
 
#286 ·
Hi from Trident. I figured I would clarify what availability is like for Spitfire V2's in North America. Select colors are sold out from the first shipment of Spitfires to North America but we do have some available now. I would get your dealer to inquire as to what we have that can ship right away, I'm pretty sure we have something in nearly every size available.

We are seeing very high demand at the moment for Spitfire V2's between upgrades and shop orders. We have increased our orders with Banshee to keep up with demand. We have more coming in late February and then early April just in time for Spring time riding. If you are super keen to get one asap the I highly recommend placing an order asap with your local shop or one of our dealers. Otherwise if you wait for them to arrive to place your order you can run the risk of them being sold out or not getting your first color choice.

Hope this helps to clarify things with availability.

Please keep in mind I do not spend a lot of time on MTBR so if you send me a message or ask me a question it may take some time for me to respond.
 
#287 ·
Hi from Trident. I figured I would clarify what availability is like for Spitfire V2's in North America. Select colors are sold out from the first shipment of Spitfires to North America but we do have some available now. I would get your dealer to inquire as to what we have that can ship right away, I'm pretty sure we have something in nearly every size available.

We are seeing very high demand at the moment for Spitfire V2's between upgrades and shop orders. We have increased our orders with Banshee to keep up with demand. We have more coming in late February and then early April just in time for Spring time riding. If you are super keen to get one asap the I highly recommend placing an order asap with your local shop or one of our dealers. Otherwise if you wait for them to arrive to place your order you can run the risk of them being sold out or not getting your first color choice.

Hope this helps to clarify things with availability.

Please keep in mind I do not spend a lot of time on MTBR so if you send me a message or ask me a question it may take some time for me to respond.
Trident,
Well the guy who is handling upgrades for your business must be extremely busy because there are several riders still awaiting warranty replacements that have yet to be addressed. If Trident is saying V2 spitfire frames are still available then why are there still warranty claims for the spitfire pending? Myself included. Can you give" that guy" some help?
 
#352 ·
Get the facts correct......

Wow, some awesome non fact checking going on here

The old Spitfire weight of 5,86lb's is without the shock.

In this thread a 2010 (large) painted spitfire was measured as 7lbs 2oz including shock and hardware and 7oz in ano with shock. http://forums.mtbr.com/banshee-bikes/spitfire-frame-weight-642257.html.

Dont forget the new frame has
> 20mm more travel
> Bearings (as opposed to plastic bushings)
> 142mm x 12mm axle (as opposed to QR) - just the axle probably adds 100grams

Finally, the clear coated raw frames are approx 150-200 grams heavier than the ano version and 50 grams heavier than the painted version (raw is the heaviest).

The new spitfire in raw with bearing hardware, shock, axle kit at 8lbs seems about right.
 
#436 ·
Are you saying that you feel your weight is too far back or that you need to move your weight back when you're airing off of bumps in the trail? One thing that strikes me is that if you shorten your stem and widen your bars, it's kind of a wash. Add that to the fact that the consensus seems to be that the V2's are a bit longer than the V1's and it may be that you are too far forward compared to what you're used to. This would make it feel like you need to get back all the time. If it were me I'd try a shorter stem if anything. Steepening the HA a bit will also make manualing a little easier and would shorten the wheelbase. Just a thought....my frame hasn't arrived but I'll post my thoughts when it's ready (going large V1 spitty to V2).
 
#562 · (Edited)
Here's mine.



Size Medium, 142x12 dropouts, 26" mode
Cane Creek 110 head set
Rockshox Revelation RCT3 150mm. 20mm dropouts, tapered head tube.
Fox CTD rear shock
Easton Haven Bars
Syntace Mega force 2 stem 60mm
Shimano XT Brakes, 180mm Icetek rotors front and rear
XT Shifters
XT front der.
XTR shadow Plus rear der. med cage
XT Cranks 2x10
HT AE-01 Pedals
XT Cassette
E-13 Turbocharger Bash guard
Hadley Hubs on Mavic 819's, DT Swiss Comp spokes with standard brass nipples
2.35 Schwalbe Hans Dampf snakeskin tubeless ready evo front, 2.25 Schwalbe fat albert snakeskin tubeless ready evo rear.
SDG Mico I-beam seat post
SDG Bel-air I-beam saddle
Hope seat collar
Odi Ruffian lock-on grips.
3M protective film tape at chain and seat stays in lieu of tube or velcro or chainstay protector.

Weighed in at 29.10 lbs complete
 
#1,090 ·
Hate to say it, but this is pretty much a commonality across the industry and one you should pretty much expect when dealing with boutique manufacturers. A few weeks can easily turn into a month or two. You can always buy a Trek or Specialized!!! While I may not like it, I'm completely cool waiting for my 2014 to come in. All I've had for the past 4 weeks is a road bike since I sold the Rune.
 
#1,292 ·
more photos of the black stealth Spittie

Just wanna share the Spitfire set up. Weighs about 13.5kg.
 

Attachments

#1,331 ·
This is somewhat of a repost for me as I had previously posted pix of my 2014 Spitfire. However, the original pix were of the bike with my old 26" wheels which came off my Rune. I've had a pair of Syntace W30 wheels sitting around since November, but due to some major challenges (including an XX1 freehub falling out of the shipping box in transit from Germany to California), I was unable to run the Syntace 27.5 wheels this week. The wheels came in, and since my truck is in the shop, I decided take the long way home from work on the Spitfire. I'm riding a medium anodized spitfire with proper tires (Hans Dampf 2.25, no nobby nics!), proper fork (Pike), and dropper. The last thing i have to do is add the Fox Float RP spacer to the Float CTD shock.

Final weight: 28.5 lb even



My ride yesterday from Marin County to my flat in San Francisco. I didn't bother taking too many pix on the boring pavement :)













 
#2,205 ·
Swapped the original Fox on my spitty with a monarch RT3 (M/M, no air volume spacers, 215-220 psi - 187lbs ready to ride) from the get go. Really happy with it. Super supple in the early stroke and quite some ramp up towards the end when things get super gnarly (flat landings, high speed plowing). Might say that this is might not be for everyone though, since you have to ride really aggressively to use all of the travel. So on a really relaxed XC loop I might only be using like 120mm of rear travel. But since nearly all of my trails have some jumps, really fast sections and/or gnarlier features this works ok for me :)
 
#2,292 ·
First ride

First ride yesterday at Rotorua's infamous Redwoods.

Set up the CCBDACS as per recommended settings and left it there for the day. Played with the Pike and tire pressure after that.

I wont bore you all with minutae but this the best bike I have ridden let alone owned (and I'ved ridden and owned a lot of bikes)

Looking forward to my wheels arriving and getting back out there. Hope to have a video of its first run down Eagle vs Shark soon.

Cheers, glad to be part of the family.

Clothing Wheel Tire Bicycle wheel Bicycle frame
 
#2,522 ·
Yesterday was 4 years to the day I built my second Spitfire, I had the generation prior too.
Still loving it.
Other brands may have caught up but nothing's caught my eye to ever replace it.
(Maybe that ridiculous new Evo Stumpy?)
Had been having issues for a few months with the top frame pivot having wiggle room even with the correct torque on the bolt.
Turns out it was bottoming out so just added a washer and she's tight once again.

I was riding out of town on the Easter break and bumped into a family out riding in the same area.
Turns out the boy was sitting on my old Gen 1 Spitty that I sold those 4 years ago.
He was stoked to see not only 1 but 2 other Spitfires in the same place.
I was just happy to see how much he loved riding his bike and seeing how hard it can still go.
 
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