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Banshee Bikes Prime Prototype – Full Suspension 29er For “The Shore”

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Banshee Bikes has come up with an answer to the question: “Is there a longer travel full suspension 29er out there that isn’t all XC-ed out, noodly, and twitchy? Y’know, something I can ride on the North Shore?” Their answer is: “Yes, yes there is, because Keith Scott designed one, it’s called the “Prime.” It’s a 130mm travel frame designed around a 120-150mm fork. The frame is made out of stiff 7005 alloy and it weighs in at about 7.5lbs. But we aren’t worried about weight, we’re focused on performance, focused on the bike not being a flexy piece of junk. All the pivots are sealed bearing and the anti-squat profile of the linkage is designed to work well with the wee-bitty chainrings that folks generally use on their 29ers (bigger wheels make gears bigger).”*

Kind of a long-winded answer if you ask me, but there are a whole lot of gigantic, clickable photos after the break.

* This not an actual quote from anyone at Banshee Bikes, it is merely a bunch of information about the bike compiled into a made up quote.

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Carlito
Carlito
13 years ago

7.5 lbs is a big porky, but not too bad for something “huckable”. I’m surprised they put that riser bar on there… seems they’d spec it with a sturdy/wide flat bar.

Varaxis
Varaxis
13 years ago

There’s no front derailleur mount on it, nor do I think there is one planned, so you’ll need to run an e-type FD if you want gears up front. I dunno about their low focus on weight. I think once they get the riding characteristics down, they’ll shave weight, so that might not be the final weight. The Giant Reign gained a good deal of performance by losing weight.

It’s good to see that 29ers are moving more into the AM world, rather than being something for XC race types, XC or trail HTs, and SS riders. With what experience they have from their Paradox 29er trail HT, they may be able to change a lot of impressions the AM/trail [north shore-type] riders have for 29ers. There are plenty of happy 29er riders already riding trail/AM class 29ers, like the GF Rumblefish, various Lenz bikes, Intense Tracer 29, Niner RIP9 and WFO9, etc. but none seem to have really have made a splash with the folks making the videos that glorify high level riding. I have my reservations, since I know 29ers make things from bumps to jumps look smaller, so those who like to get air and try this may be initially put off, while those that like to charge through the rough may be impressed.

adam
adam
13 years ago

I don’t get along too well with catching air, but I do like the larger wheels while rolling through/over chunk and ruts. For the right kind of rider, this bike will rule

ShopMechanic
ShopMechanic
13 years ago

I have a Specialized Stumpy FSR Comp 29er with a 140mm fork on it and that bike has no problem getting off the ground. In fact all the 29ers I have owned seemed to jump just as well as my 26er bikes. If anything they are easier to jump because they are so stable in the air with the big wheels. You can still throw them around though, you just need a little more body english.

giovanni
giovanni
9 years ago

è possibile sapere il prezzo di questa bici è il peso totale grazie

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