Carrera Banshee 2011

chemicalviking

i smashed my rear mech last night so i went along to halfords today to have a look at what they had but i had noticed the Carrera Banshee full suss in the corner and priced at £599. Now i know a lot of people rave about the Carrera's so do you think this would be a good starting point for a full suss on a budget?

spec is as follows
Alloy Rims: Yes
■Brake Type: Hydraulic Disc
■Chainset: SRAM E300 3.0 PS
■Exact Frame Size: 19"
■Fork Lock-out : Yes
■Fork travel: 140mm
■Forks: Suntour Raidon-LOD140 coil fork
■Forks - Adjustable damping : Yes
■Frame Colour: Black
■Frame Material: Aluminium
■Frame Size: 19-20
■Frame-: Lightweight 7005 T6 aluminium with 4 bar horst linkage suspension
■Front Brake: Clarks SX hydraulic disc brake
■Front Mech: Shimano FD-M311
■Gear Shifters: SRAM X4 trigger shifters
■Gender: Mens
■Handle Bars: Alloy oversize riser bars (20mm rise) (31.8mm diameter)
■Headset: Semi integrated
■Hubs: Alloy with Q/R
■Number of Gears: 24
■Pedals: Alloy platform with toe clips
■Rear Brake: Clarks SX hydraulic disc brake
■Rear Mech: SRAM X4 rear mech
■Rear Shock Adjustable Damping: Yes
■Rear wheel travel: 140mm
■Rims: Double wall alloy rims
■Saddle: Carrera
■Stem: Ahead aluminium stem
■Suspension: Full
■Tyre size: 2.20"
■Tyres: Continental Mountain King
■Wheel size: 26"
■Approximate Weight (KG): 15.4

i also noticed it had truativ(sp) cranks on it. Anyone have this bike ? it would be great to have your input into how this rides.

cheers.

1mancity2

Have alook at this,
http://paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s1p1747

then with the £180 saved get some of these,
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop ... L-DISC.htm

Cracking bike for £600

The Rookie

What sort of riding? The banshee is a heavy bruiser of a bike, great for urban/Am style use (at that price point) rubbish for XC, the daughters BF has one, he's a lot fitter than me, downhill at Cannock he romped away, uphill I had time to have a brew by the time he caught me up, all red hot and sweaty with quivering muscles from the workout. For that money get the Fury HT instead for XC/trail type work.

Simon

jayson

As above really. If most of your riding with it will be downhill then it will do the job just fine but its a HEAVY old beast and will take some serious effort if you ride up hill.

For me i would rather buy a HT for that money or wait abit longer while i saved some more cash and get something better and significantly lighter.

d00m

I had a look at one for my mate, and the spec for the money is great. worth buying even if you find the frame isnt your cuppa.

I reckon it would be ideal for trail center riding. On rocky trails like the ones we have in afan it'd be pretty rapid.
You can always spin your way up the climbs.

Pudseyp

I wouldn't say it was mega heavy at 33lbs for a 140mm for 600 sheets !

However take a look on the big online stores like Chain Reaction, Wiggle, Wynstanleys, Lesuire Lakes, UK Bike Store, etc as it's sale time and you may get a better spec for a similar price

The Rookie

Not sure about 33lbs, the daughters BFs Banshee weighs more than that with the better bits he has on it over stock!

Trail centre - great downhill, but uphill it will really be a slog, if I at as a relatively unfit 45 year old office worker on a modded Kraken can reduce a fit (and better rider) 26 year old manual worker to a quivvering wreck up knapsack hill at Cannock, it's giving away more than 8lbs to mine!

Simon