Banshee Bikes has produced a pretty stunning looking Prototype Legend 29, and brought it to Crankworx Rotorua to get some first impressions.
Photos by Jason Beacham
First of all, the reason behind the 29r Legend, is primarily to accommodate the larger riders out there. This is why it will most likely ONLY be available in an XL sized frame. To Achieve a good geometry around the larger wheels, Banshee has a new custom tripple-butted hydroformed front triangle to increase stiffness on the larger frame. The geometry has also changed to match the bigger wheels and longer forks. The rear triangle has also been adjusted to accommodate the bigger wheels and create clearance along with a new forged linkage.
The Legend 29r also has slightly less travel (around 190mm) than it’s 650b counterpart. This is done to achieve an optimal BB height, which is very similar to the Legend 650b and maintaining a lower center of gravity, which is very important on bigger wheeled bikes. This also reduced the shock leverage ratio, which tends to suit larger riders. The reach has also been lengthened to balance out the longer chainstays and maintain an aggressive race-ready position for the rider.
The Linkage design is coined: Vf4b, or Virtual Floating 4-bar. It was designed by Keith Scott (One of the owners and designer for Banshee Bikes) for his masters degree in engineering.
The Legend 29r is designed for Riders over 6′ tall. It is very long, and DH race specific. It is designed for ultimate weight distribution, and race-specific suspension kinematics, which means, it’s all about speed!
Head angle: 63 degrees
Reach: 477mm
Wheelbase: 1299mm
Effective Top Tube: 671mm
Weight of Bike Pictured: 16.6kgs
