What is my bike for??

Phillw454

Basically as per title. What is my bike used for?

Iv bought a Carrera Banshee XXX 2008 model. 160 mm travel front and rear. I believe this website gave it a 4.5 out of 5 review.

I know its not a pure DH bike, but it really cant be a XC bike with the travel and settings of the shocks, no lock out etc and its heavy.

I bought this bike on the cheap as it claimed as freeride and I guess to some extent it is. Obviously not a huge freeride/DH bike but I feel it can still tackle most light courses.

Am I mistaken? Is this bike just a complete tool? Or is it actually not half bad at the lighter side of DH/freeride?

Iv been out the MTB world for 4 or 5 years so sorry for the silly questions a bit out of touch.

ilovedirt

I think it's marketed as an 'all mountain/freeride' bike, but more down than up... or at least i certainly wouldn't want to spend too much time pedalling it up anything!

jonnyc2420

more info here -
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/banshee-xxx-08-32168/

The Northern Monkey

Riding....

nicklouse

its a general trail bike. But it works best pointing down hill.

not FR or DH but is a bit of an All mountain bike plus.

Phillw454

Well thanks Northen Monkey for that amazing Insight.

As for the other responses they are more usefull thanks. All mountain plus....Yes that seems a good explanation thank you.

I may have to upgrade the parts or complete bike come a few months as I want more of a DH bike and am not 100% happy with the feel of it thus far. Just seems to feel....lazy if that makes any sense.

EDIT- to Jonnyc (Sorry if mis spelt) yes this is the review that led me to believe it wasn't a half bad all be it basic all rounder. So far It has lived up to everything iv thrown at it. As the drops get bigger Ill keep you all updated thanks

supersonic

What terrain do you ride? Is it letting you down?

As Nick says, is a AM bike with an emphasis on some gravity.

Phillw454

Currently very basic XC to get my fitness back up. Today hit some 2ft drops and some nice soft step downs, not had it long (1 week) so far so good but everyday I see myself growing in confidence again.

I was a half good rider before I broke my neck and fractured my skull 5 years back and am only recently back in to it. I'm looking at bigger and bigger drops and just wondering am I really worried about my bike or my own ability after being out of it for so long. So far the bike hasn't missed a beat.

nicklouse

2 foot drop, I do that on my 11kg XC fully.

just get out and use your bike for its use - playing of most of the trail centres and dont worry.

supersonic

I do that without a bike, beat that!

Phillw454

nicklouse wrote:

2 foot drop, I do that on my 11kg XC fully.

just get out and use your bike for its use - playing of most of the trail centres and dont worry.

Well maybe thats the kick in the ar*e if needed. Been blaming my set up for lack of confidence perhaps.

I'll go out and hit some real trials this week.

cee

Phillw454 wrote:

I may have to upgrade the parts or complete bike come a few months as I want more of a DH bike and am not 100% happy with the feel of it thus far. Just seems to feel....lazy if that makes any sense.

expect a full on DH bike to feel even lazier, unless you are riding fairly steep trails.

bagedntaged

"Well maybe thats the kick in the ar*e if needed. Been blaming my set up for lack of confidence perhaps.

I'll go out and hit some real trials this week."


just keep riding, your confidence will soon grow, and as it grows you might find yourself going bigger and bigger, or you may find that you reach a nice level where you do everything you want to do on your current bike.
also my mate had one of those carreras, really nice bike to ride, had a kinda point and go feel to it.

hope you have a helmet. cos you know if you nod your head too much it can fall off

dan shard

To be honest theres not a whole lot you cant attack on a 160mm bike. Ive recently upgraded from a 100mm XC bike to a 160mm AM bike and I reckon its just as good on the up, if not better than the xc. Neither of them were crap (Cube AMS 100 to Trek Remedy 8 ) but obviously the difference on the downhill and technical terrain is amazing

Northwind

It's for XXXXXXXC. Think that's the right amount of Xs, can't be totally sure though without putting it through the radometer.

meesterbond

Northwind wrote:

It's for XXXXXXXC. Think that's the right amount of Xs, can't be totally sure though without putting it through the radometer.

I thought MBUK had reclassified XXXXXXXC as 'Aggressive AM Gnarcore'?

Thewaylander

Bout to say if it is a slack play bike it will feel lazy till you get it sifting or pointing down and i mean steep down.

The slack head angles of bigger bikes can slow downt he handling not making it feel sharp on most normal trails. but as soon as it goes down a bit they fly

Northwind

The angles on that aren't so different from my Hemlock and it's not exactly lazy, just very capable when pointed funwards. Just, mine weighs about a quarter less Personally I wouldn't want to pedal a Banshee up hill too much, it's got very active suspension and weighs as much as a car but the one I rode (which had a few wee upgrades) was a ton of fun coming back down. Good bike, just a bit in no-man's land, I wouldn't really call it an AM bike. Good for stuff like a day's pedalling and pushing up and down innerleithen.

Phillw454

Yes It's really not the....lightest bike to put it nicely. Saying that I don't find it the worse thing in the world, the weight seems to make it feel more planted on the faster corners.

After looking up the general meaning of AM yes I'd say it fits roughly into that bracket. I was a bit out of touch, last time I looked up Riding styles there was DH XC and freeride. Seems now theres sub sections of them all.

Well so far so good with it anyway. I'll look at upgrading the shocks as my confidence grows and if they let me down. So far can't complain (Apart from the cycle up the hill anyway).

Thanks all

EDIT- I don't suppose you can remember any of the Upgrades on the Banshee you rode Northwind?

Steve_F

I had an older Banshee X, 06 or 07 and never found it that bad uphill. When a heavy bike is your only one it's what you get used to uphill. When you've got a nice light bike and a heavy play bike the heavy one starts to feel tough heading uphill!

I never found the Banshee to be great pointing steep down, it was fun heading down medium steep tracks and a great first 'proper' mtb but when it got really steep I didn't like it much at all. In fact it stopped me riding the bike down short steep slabs or the likes which took me a long time to get my confidence back for.

Hopefully the 08 has different angles.

From my experience I'd say don't put too much effort into making it like a DH bike. It'll be capable on the trails but I think if you try to make it into a smaller DH bike it'll end up like a bit of a pig. Just my opinion of course.

Anonymous

Whatever doesn't break the bike.

Just ignore the safety stickers (mine had loads of "not for DH use", so I removed them and used it DH ).

Northwind

Banshee X is a pretty different bike btw, different frame.