yawn ... another banshee :)

hungrytiger

Likes Dirt
OK, I have quite enjoyed reading the other threads about people's spitfires, so I thought I would post mine up. Its still a work in progress and family stops me spending any more than I otherwise would, but I think I've invested the cash in the priority components at this stage.

I came off a remedy from the last 4 years, so the natural progression would really have been to go the rune; but after a fair bit of research I opted to go the spitfire instead as it seemed to be capable enough for the trails I ride (mostly lysty and silvan in VIC, with the occasional trip to falls, Beauty, youies, buller etc). I'm not really any sort of extreme rider, but the bit I like best is going downhll and some techy stuff thrown in, so thats really what I was looking for.

Only done 2 rides so far, but these are my initial impressions:

  • Fireroads etc: it bobs a fair bit, more than the remedy did. One of the first changes I made was to dial in 5 clicks of LSC. But not really priority for me and the climb switch gets rid of any bob completely, so a minor point really.
  • Climbing Technical: just staggered by the amount of traction I was getting going up some reasonably tight and rocky switchbacks. Its no lightweight whippet, buts its by far the most capable bike I've had in terms of putting down the power in these situations.
  • Regular singletrack: Good, no issues here. Got it on the middle setting with the flipchips currently. Nice and poppy off little jumps and rollers.
  • Downhill: An absolute stormer. Its often said, but this thing just begs you to go faster. Yesterday I PRed all the downhill sections on my local tracks and by some measure. It felt fast at the time too. If it does that before I've even started fine tuning things then I'd say thats a pretty good start.

For future I intend to put a couple of spacers in the inline shock so it ramps up a little towards the end (mines a 2014 so it didnt come with them).

One tip I have for anyone with this frame is to secure the back cables on the small brace between the seat tube and down tube, then you route them through rear triangle on the inside below the top linkage, this keeps them well out the way and it does not seem to interfere with the suspension. Most people seem to route them on the outside for some reason.

So anyway, I'm glad I didn't go the Rune in the end, the spitfire seems like the perfect bike for the riding I like to do.

 

moorey

call me Mia
About the climbing traction, yes, it's phenomenal. There's a rocky section at the Youies I go up with easy, that none of my other bikes have a hope on. Easy to forget it's 140mm rear, both climbing and descending. Glad you're loving it.
 

DamionGiersch

Likes Bikes
Nice looking spitty. Personally, I think that's the best looking Spitfire colour that I've seen so far.

Excuse my noobishness, but is that a current Spitfire colour or from years past?
 

hungrytiger

Likes Dirt
It's a 2014 frame, I got it on a special from Ben at singletracks. I like the colour too, its a nice change from stealth black. :)
 

teK--

Eats Squid
Awesome colour I am so torn what I want for next bike/frame now lol.

The DBIL is an awesome shock hey.
 

Ezkaton

Eats Squid
Is the blue fairly accurate in photos?
I know their orange translates badly through many cameras... it's way too vibrant and glowing.

'Tis a nice blue, anyhow.
How are you finding the Hope wheelset? I got the ones with straight pull hubs and it's pretty damn good! Way stiffer than the Arch EX I was on previously... which is what ya want at ~90kg I guess. :)
 

hungrytiger

Likes Dirt
Its probably a bit deeper blue in real life, the camera seems to have lightened it up a little.

Pretty happy with the hope wheels, they are a reasonable weight and seem pretty tough. I think I might swap out the front rim for something wider in due course; was originally going to get some syntace W35 wheels but they went a bit out of budget.

DBIL is amazing , shits all over any fox shock I have ever had. Having said that it looks like it will be very expensive if something goes wrong!! I was in touch with the guys at nsdynamics the other day and they said its $220 for a service. I guess the advantage with the fox shocks is you can do all that yourself for a fraction of the cost, but like anything else performance comes at a price.
 

Ezkaton

Eats Squid
Its probably a bit deeper blue in real life, the camera seems to have lightened it up a little.

Pretty happy with the hope wheels, they are a reasonable weight and seem pretty tough. I think I might swap out the front rim for something wider in due course; was originally going to get some syntace W35 wheels but they went a bit out of budget.

DBIL is amazing , shits all over any fox shock I have ever had. Having said that it looks like it will be very expensive if something goes wrong!! I was in touch with the guys at nsdynamics the other day and they said its $220 for a service. I guess the advantage with the fox shocks is you can do all that yourself for a fraction of the cost, but like anything else performance comes at a price.
The blue sounds like the orange Rune, only not quite as dramatic... that thing just looks real washed out if ya camera isn't very good, whereas in real life it's super orange.

Hope have wider versions of the Tech rims coming soon, if you felt like sticking with them.

You may also find that Tekin in Preston will do your shock for less $$$!
I had a full rebuild of my CCDB Air CS done recently for less than $200.
www.tekin.bike

But I'm with ya on CC shocks shitting all over Fox... although to be fair I've only ridden Evo shocks from 2012, 2013 and 2014.
 

hungrytiger

Likes Dirt
Bit of an update.



Additions:
  • Hope V4 - tried Zees initially but dumped them after inconsistent lever feel.
  • 203mm Hope Floating discs
  • Boobar
  • Wheels trued by Cycle Science (a real bike shop!)
  • Warrantied the DBinline - it was making funny noises and shat itself after doing shuttle runs at Falls.
    DBAir feels better and is apparently alot more reliable according to those that know


Still want a wider front rim, which hope have answered with their new W35 wheel.
 

hungrytiger

Likes Dirt
I like it a lot, it handles everything from xc to downhill. I've had it almost a year now and not thinking of changing.
 
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