I used to ride a size Medium DH frame in the past but always ended up feeling a bit cramped on the bike, so I decided to order a large Legend. I was a bit concerned that the bike might feel too big but I was pleasently surprised when I finally got the chance to hit our local trails. I felt right at home on the bike - as a matter of fact I was grinning from ear to ear on the very first run. The bike feels very balanced and neutral so it doesn't take long at all to get used to it. In my opinion, the head angle is spot on and the bottom bracket is nice and low without being too low. I won't comment too much on the ride characteristics as I still haven't quite dialled in the rear suspensions, but claiming that my first impressions are very positive would be a huge understatement - this bike rips and it's a blast to ride!
The frame is definitely a work of art. I was blown away by the quality of the frame - the welds are beautiful and the shock canoe looks brilliant. The frame itself looks very sleek and not overly swoopy. In addition to that, I was pleasently surprised to find out that the bike is very quiet, despite the Hope Pro II rear hub that I'm running. The frame features so many neat little details that truly make it very fun to thoroughly check out the entire construction.
Before picking all the components, I decided to go with a proven and durable build that wouldn't weigh too much. Of course owning a light bike is great, especially when posting on one of the many forums, but these days it seems like a lot of people tend to forget that DH bikes are actually meant to be ridden hard. I'd much rather be out riding than in my garage fixing broken parts so while weight savings are great, they must be durable as well.
Frame: Banshee Legend MkII, polished, size large
Shock: Fox DHX RC4 with a Nuke Proof 3x350lbs Titanium Spring
Fork: Rock Shox Boxxer Team
Wheels: Mavic Rims, Hope Pro II Hubs, DT Swiss Spokes, Schwalbe Tubes
Tires: Maxxis 2Ply DH tires - either Minions or cut down Wet Screams
Brakes: Avid Code, 203mm front, 185mm rear
Cranks: Truvativ Descendant, 165mm
Drivetrain: Sram X9 Shifter & Derailleur, 11-21-cassette, KMC X9 Chain
Chainguide: e13 LG1+
Pedals: Superstar Ultra Mag
Stem: Straitline Ultra 50mm
Handlebar: Funn Fatboy 785mm
Seatpost: Banshee-Seatpost
Saddle: stripped Selle Italia SLR TT
The bike weighs in at 16.90kg (that equals 37.25lbs, dear American readers) - which I'm perfectly happy with. At the same time I'm confident that the entire part will hold up just fine, so let's see how that goes.
A nice bike would be pointless though without the people running the company truly standing behind their products. So thanks a lot to Keith, Rob, Jay and all the other people involved in making such rad bikes and being such nice and supportative people!
Cheers from sunny Germany,
-Moritz Zimmermann
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