Bruce from 3Sixty Sports called by the office last week with a car packed full of goodies from a bunch of brands he’s picked up recently. Some you may have never heard of, but others, well you at least should have. But the big news is that he’s landed the New Zealand distribution for Banshee bikes. A few Banshees have arrived in New Zealand over the years and a couple of people have had a crack at importing the bikes, but Banshee’s international exposure level at the time probably wasn’t in the right place. However, it is right now, what with Matt Walker, Reece Potter and Tom Matthews all getting signed to the Factory team. Those chaps will be shredding the DH bike but if you weren’t aware, Banshee make a few absolutely killer trail bikes, the Rune (pictured above), the Spitfire, as well as the 29″ Prime model.
The Rune is a super versatile 160mm travel bulletproof all-mountain rig. And when I say versatile I really mean it; those chunky rear dropouts have three positions which change the angles of the bike and also lower the BB (roughly 7mm each time). Currently this Rune is in its slackest setting (65°), but flip them and it steepens up (66°), and there is a separate chip that has a neutral setting (65.5°). Adding to that, there is also a set of 650b dropouts available as well. So with the same frameset you have 6 potential setup options available, and the same goes for the 140mm travel Spitfire. Check the chart down below for all the different angles in its different configurations.
Banshee’s owner Keith Scott is also the bike’s designer. With a Masters in Engineering, he’s designed the Rune’s short link 4 bar suspension platform (the K and the S in KS Suspension). Like those used on Santa Cruz, Intense, Niner etc it’s a thoroughly workable suspension design that pedals surprisingly well.
Oh, and the framesets have a bunch of shock options, including the Cane Creek Double Barrel.
It’s not an all-mountain bike these days without a internally routed dropper post.
And the same could be said for a 1x setup, but just in case you want to run a front mech there is a low mount up front for you all you Luddites out there.
And because this thing is built for The Shore, there’s extra gussets where needed to beef things up a bit.
Another one of the cool things Bruce has secured is UK-based Halo Wheels. This particular wheel is the Carbon Vapour, which comes in 29″, 650b and 26″ versions with a 28mm external width. They come as rims, as well as fully built wheelsets with either of Halo’s super durable hubs.
To get more info and to find your closest Banshee/Halo dealer hit up Bruce at 3Sixty Sports here. We have a Spitfire on its way for review in next issue, and frankly we can’t wait to get our leg over one of these bad boys! Oh and Banshee have just announced that they have signed up to donate 1% of every bike sold to Trail Fund, How freaking awesome is that!
Dirt Merchants are importing these was my understanding, and they don’t feature on the dealers page… Clues?
They were importing them for their store and not acting as a distibutor. 3sixtysports are now the new zealand wide fistributor. Although I’m pretty sure dirt merchants will still be stocking them.
Dealer page is now updated. Dirt Merchants have chosen to continue to deal with Banshee. Cheers