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Home | Product Reviews | Freeride Full Suspension | Banshee Bikes Chaparral | ||||
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Submitted by
Nick
a Weekend Warrior
from Santa Monica
Date Reviewed: 12/6/2007 9:01:34 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Westridge |
| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Price Paid: | $1400 |
| Purchased At: | pedalshop.com |
| Strengths: | Strong, versatile, vertical shock orientation, aethetics |
| Weaknesses: | slightly heavy, made in taiwan |
| Similar Products Tried: | none |
| Bike Setup: | 888, EX721's, hayes, race face evolve x-type |
| Bottom Line: | This is the best pure freeride frame I owned. Indestructible and flashy-looking. Frame is stable at high speeds and nimble through streep, technical descents. Despite its weight, there is almost no pedal bob and thus it climbs efficiently. I had the 6 inch travel. I imagine the 7 inch is even better. |
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Submitted by
Cooch
a Weekend Warrior
from Brisbane, Australia
Date Reviewed: 10/11/2007 5:39:39 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Tewantin |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $3000 |
| Purchased At: | www.xxiv.com.au |
| Strengths: | Frame is exceptionally well built and super strong. 8mm thick head tube walls, big CNC'd drop outs, super gusset welds and appropriate walled tubing. Incredibly well thought out and tested geometry. Can build it as downhill, freeride or super-tough all mountain. 10 year warranty! Nuff said. |
| Weaknesses: | Nothing at all really. Some riders have bagged the paint and overall finish, but I find it just right. The only real weakness is the broken seat tube, requiring a telescopic seat post. It can get frustrating at times when you want to raise the saddle for a climb or long XC ride. I keep my saddle slammed most of the time, so I should just get one seat post. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Kona Stinky, Santa Cruz Nomad. |
| Bike Setup: | I built my bike as a Heavy Duty - All Mountain - Freeride. Final weigh in 19kgs, with the following. Marzocchi 66 RC2 with ETA, Hope headset. Hope hubs laced to single track rims. Hussefelt bb and cranks. Sram components and WTB saddle. I've to a Medium frame and I'm 1.75m and 72kgs (82kg with gear). I'm also running the Manitou Intrinsic Air as the rear shock. |
| Bottom Line: | My God - this is an incredible machine!! With the build I adopted, I can do everything on this bike - even whip my chicken legged XC friends on the short blasts on flat sections. This bike drops and flies so straight, true and controllable and just eats up the landings. The gnarlier, rockier, steeper it gets, the bike just comes into its own! It crushes rockgardens and takes drops so effortlessly. What previously scared you, is dusted off with so much ease, you'll be looking to step up your riding at every opportunity. The 66's on the front were an excellent choice for this frame. Don't sell the frame short and get any less travel. 180mm travel or more is required on this frame - perfectly matching the rear end travel and geometry. With ETA (forks) on my bike, you can also climb quite steep technical terrain too - especially if you stop and raise your saddle. The bike gives you that plush lounge-chair like feel on really nasty terrain, but without compromising its handling, feel and intuitiveness. The best bit is, when you make a mistake - the 7 inches of travel and the weight of the bike will save your arse - all you have to do is lean right back over the bike, hit the rear brakes and the bike does the rest - kind of like auto-save-your-arse stop! The geometry is so good, you'll be hitting berms like you're on a 4X bike, doing jumps like you're riding motocross and still having that great feel to be able to wheelie, roll skinny shore/ramps and take that huge drop. I'm absolutely loving it. Highly, HIGHLY recommend. |
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Submitted by
DD Monkey
a Downhiller
from England
Date Reviewed: 9/10/2007 3:32:44 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | DH3 Aston Hill |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $600 |
| Purchased At: | Second hand frame only |
| Strengths: | Clearly a very well made and thought out frame, strong, nice paint finish. Once built up the handling is sharp and the ride very quiet. Feels lively and straight away I was hitting jumps and drops with confidence, great fun! |
| Weaknesses: | None yet |
| Similar Products Tried: | Ellsworth Joker, Remec DH Pro, Orange Patriot, Specialised Enduro |
| Bike Setup: | Boxxers, Mavic and Hope wheels, Hope Disc Brakes, Romic rear shock, hone cranks. |
| Bottom Line: | Just a great fun freeride bike from the moment I got on it, strong, quiet, nimble. Suspension action is very plush for small stuff without feeling soggy or bottoming out on the drops. Yet to try full on DH with it but its not a race bike anyway. Money well spent. I am a Banshee convert. |
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Submitted by
westwood tom
a Weekend Warrior
from gilford ct usa
Date Reviewed: 3/14/2007 6:56:18 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | orange ta yello ta red ta green ta blue ta... |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $1399 |
| Purchased At: | bullydog bikes |
| Strengths: | Strengths... Yeah lookit the frame. There's no metal under 1/4" anywheres... Fox 5 DHX Coil... Bullet Proof... Balanced... A bike to be ridden. |
| Weaknesses: | Piss poor paint job. But then you don't care so much when you drop 'er in the dirt. |
| Similar Products Tried: | I had a tank ride once... |
| Bike Setup: | Marz 66 Light, Saint Cranks, DT FR w/Onyx Hubs, Hope Stem, Hayes 9 brakes, Panaracer 1.75 XC tires (kidding), Race Face Bars, King Headset What else? |
| Bottom Line: | I must work to keep up with the AM boyz... Until the trail tilts downward. Then, I cin hear the Banshee Scream on the front as the trees and trails become a blur. Drops? bigger. Bumps? not noticable. Bike is quiet and powerful. Climbs okay, does trails okay, but when you need balance, strength, and fortitude... This bike rocks. It's fast & the funnest. It's not the right bike for everything. Its the right bike for menacing terrain that would crush udder weakling trail bikes. |
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Submitted by
Kir
a Downhiller
from Russia Moscow
Date Reviewed: 1/7/2007 8:29:59 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $1400 |
| Purchased At: | Timmano |
| Similar Products Tried: | - |
| Bike Setup: | Frame 2006, Fox 36 van rc2, hayes 9 ctr |
| Bottom Line: | Wonderful full suspension bike with real good parametrs. |
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Submitted by
Andrea
a Weekend Warrior
from Italy
Date Reviewed: 12/10/2006 1:59:43 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Strengths: | Geometry Suspension system Easton tubes Versatility of the frame Look |
| Weaknesses: | Just to write one the paint is not very solid, but I like to have the bike a little scratched and used like a pair of jeans, so for me it is not really a weakness. |
| Similar Products Tried: | the last two: An Ellsworth joker and a Scirocco, which is another good bike from Banshee. |
| Bike Setup: | Fox 36 coil fork,xt and truvativ components,avalanche twintube rear shock ,formula oro brakes,mavic crossmax wheels and wtb mutano raptor 2.24 tires. FUNN viper pedals |
| Bottom Line: | The 2006 Chaparral is the best and most versatile bike I have ever had, I'm 1.89 Cm tall and the XL frame is perfect for my height, it is not too big as other XL frames I had and is the first good thing because I'm in the middle between LARGE and XL. The bike has something special in its geometry,it pedals very well and at the same time has a freeride attitude that inspires you confidence when it is time to go down,technical things are a joke compared to other full suspended bikes I had. I wanted to build an aggressive all mountain bike and that's what I did,the bike weights around 35/36" with standard and solid equipment. The Chaparral suspension system works great, very firm when you go uphill but still very responsive downhill, the avalanche twin tube rear Shock works very well, it's not too heavy and I forgot to have it. When I go to bike parks I use larger tires and I have another bike,that's why I said that it is the most versatile bike I have ever had. I hope that Banshee will build more all mountain frames in the future,but until now the Chap is great! |
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Submitted by
BamsheE66
a Weekend Warrior
from G-Town
Date Reviewed: 11/27/2006 1:56:59 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Purchased At: | pricepoint |
| Strengths: | burly, stifness, geometry, looks, versatility. |
| Weaknesses: | none, i love this bike. |
| Bike Setup: | Banshee Chaparral, vanilla r, 66rc 170 mm, SIC stem and bar(camodized), Truvativ Howitzer cranks, Azonic xtension pedals, Atomlab pimp rims with IRC trailbear tires and 07 Formula ORO k18 brakes. sweeet set up. |
| Bottom Line: | This bikes is just plain awesome, rides great, climbs great, jumps like no other and its just fun to ride on any type of trail. Can be set up in many different ways to accomodate styles of riding. I would like to say my set up is in between light and heavy but i havent weight it yet. Get one, bad ass bike for the money. and you have the liverty to build it as an XC or freeride bike. |
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Submitted by
chris
a Downhiller
from north carolina
Date Reviewed: 10/24/2006 7:46:47 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $1300 |
| Purchased At: | recycles bike shop greensboro |
| Strengths: | super burly frame with awsome dhx 5.0 shok. rearend is ultra stiff. great on downhill, freeride, dirt jumps, slopestyle and all mountain. great warranty |
| Weaknesses: | none after 6 months and a brutal dh season |
| Similar Products Tried: | kona stinky dee lux |
| Bike Setup: | 66 light eta, shimano drive train, e 13 srs, race face dh crank, clim8 brakes 8in front 6in rear with shimano saint brake levers, fizik freek saddle, ect |
| Bottom Line: | the frame is super strong and worth the money. its listed as a freeride trail but ive hit 25ft hucks and big dirt jumps on mine and not had any problems. best bike ive ever owned |
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Submitted by
Randy
a Weekend Warrior
from Calgary, AB, Canada
Date Reviewed: 10/18/2006 10:20:51 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Price Paid: | $1200 |
| Strengths: | Solid, well built |
| Weaknesses: | heavy for my riding |
| Similar Products Tried: | Rocky Slayer, Cannondale Gemini, Bullit, Stinkys |
| Bike Setup: | Sherman DC, Fox DHX3, SRAM drivetrain, raceface, mavic 729 and Juicy 7's |
| Bottom Line: | I have have this bike for over two years now and it has been bombproof. The geometry is bang on for me for XC riding and turns into a dh bike with a matter of lowering my seat. I have had some clearance issues with my front derailleurs and chain line since day one. My LX derailleur never worked well(either it rubbed on the rear tire or the bottom pivot pushed it out too far and it would rub on the chain. Also happened with my new SRAM X Gen but I have been able to fix that by grinding out a notch on the back of the derailleur) That also was affected by the set up of hte cranks. They had to be fine tuned just right to keep the chainline rideable and not have the cranks rubbing on the chainstay or the chain rubbing on the derailleur cage. I have been able to get it perfect but there is not alot of room for error. I also have a small dent in my downtube from a rough ride in the back of a pickup on a rough road but it is small and I doubt it will affect it adversely. If it does, I will buy an '06 or '07 because this bike is the right one for me. |
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Submitted by
Zeebar
a Cross Country Rider
from Cairo, Egypt
Date Reviewed: 8/24/2006 1:44:04 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | The Caldron |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $1600 |
| Purchased At: | through friend |
| Strengths: | Very strong, well made, very affordable and even though it is heavy it is fun on the techincal terrain. |
| Weaknesses: | It is the ugliest bike I think I have seen along with the scream. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Orange 66, Commencal Supreme 6.1 DH, Nicolai Nucleon and Scott Randsom Ltd. |
| Bike Setup: | Romic coil shock, Magura Wotan 160mm fork, Deemax wheels, Kenda Blue Groove tyers, Sram X0 (06) drivetrain, Chris King headset and all the cool gear one really needs for fun riding. |
| Bottom Line: | Hated the origional paint job so I had a custom paint job with and annodized purple with metallic flec. Looks great. The bike is fun when set up with goods specs and I am looking forward to adding it to my other 40 bikes. Thank you!! |
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Submitted by
Dustin Robertson
a Weekend Warrior
from VanAnda,BC,Canada
Date Reviewed: 8/22/2006 10:41:38 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $2500 |
| Purchased At: | Sports Junkies |
| Strengths: | THis frame is the strongest ever built .look dead sexy .lighter then it looks.That head tube is HUGE! Built like a brick wall. Rocker linkage bars are huge |
| Weaknesses: | i would liek to see ajustable wheel base like on the scream |
| Similar Products Tried: | Norco savage |
| Bike Setup: | '05 chaparral,super t's ,FS Bars and stem,Fox Vanilla Rc,HIghrollar and mobsta' all the goods |
| Bottom Line: | This bike is probably the best bike i have ever seen or ridin, i would recommend this bike to anyone that can ride a bicycle. THE BOYS AT BANSHEE ROCK! |
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Submitted by
JayRock
a Downhiller
from Ontario
Date Reviewed: 7/1/2006 9:11:40 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $1800 |
| Purchased At: | local shop |
| Strengths: | - |
| Weaknesses: | - |
| Similar Products Tried: | - |
| Bike Setup: | - |
| Bottom Line: | follow up 200km later i noticed when i pulled the shock out for cleaning, frame linkages where super stiff. I took off rocker arms and shaved plastic dust seals down and now the frame is way more supple and has better small bump feel. other than that the frame is awsome still the best frame I ever rode. |
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Submitted by
JayRock
a Downhiller
from Ontario
Date Reviewed: 6/5/2006 5:06:50 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | I ride everything |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $1500 |
| Purchased At: | local shop |
| Strengths: | super burly head tube, awsome geomatry, nice machine work, super tight berings no play in the backend whatsoever, comes with seat post, the averge hucker,jumper,freerider will probably not break it, the shock bushings are one piece tube of steel with bolt through it won't bend like the old stinkies,TEN YEAR WARIENTY!!! super tough dropouts |
| Weaknesses: | paint is weak skratchs easy, found some porosity in the welds at the head tube(I'm a welder thats the first thing I look at on a bike) Made in tiwan |
| Similar Products Tried: | santacruz v-10, Kona stinky, Brodi thumper, specilized big hit |
| Bike Setup: | 06 chapprale with fox dhx5, marzocchi 170mm 66rcx2, juciy 7 disks, xt drive train azonic outlaw wheelset |
| Bottom Line: | I'v been riding 8 years and have worn out alot of highend bikes, but this is by far the sweetest bike i have ever riden. Its very nimble not twitchy, super stiff, pedles like a hard tail with the fox dhx5, and climbs like a frightend cat, the kind of bike you can do 40km trail ride on, hit some dirt jumps, then go look for a 15 foot drop! the best alround bike ever!! I'm 6ft 190lb and ride a larg and its perfict. The only let down with the frame was the welds on the head tube. Bottom line best bike i have ever riden!!! you will be happy with this frame. |
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Submitted by
Dennis Manniche
a Weekend Warrior
from Denmark
Date Reviewed: 3/13/2006 4:11:47 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | 5k freeride |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Purchased At: | 222 cycles |
| Strengths: | Awesome trength and stiffness. The bike rules op an down. Does not feel heavy. The costumer service Banshee performs!! |
| Weaknesses: | Broke it at the weldings between seattube and BB. Banshee replaced it with a spanking new "Chap" 06 !! And they did that in a week!! |
| Similar Products Tried: | none able to be conpared |
| Bike Setup: | Boxxer, Saint, Hayes, Draco on halo, LX |
| Bottom Line: | Everybody who wants a bike for doing everything all day is uninformed if they shoose other than the Banshee Chapparal. Well i broke mine but it`s something that happens once in a while. Even though i did`nt expect it due to the trength of this frame. Banshee had NO problems in swapping it for a new one. Only thing is that i got to buy a new shock, but that im getting sheap. On top of that i get an opgraded frame with more standover clerance, better cable routing and an even more strong frame! Now im looking forward to ripping my local trails and seeing peoples jaws drop. |
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Submitted by
J
from Colorado
Date Reviewed: 2/23/2006 11:02:24 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $1400 |
| Strengths: | This bike is so well built, from the day you get it, it just begs you to do stupid stuff on it. When I first built it up, it was a little hard to get over the weight but then you point the bike downhill or hop off something and you instantly fall in love with this thing. I ride an '04 chap w/the 6" of travel and I've only bottomed out a couple of times, (plus the bottom-out wasn't that bad since the susp. ramps up at the end.) They're making the 7" models now but honestly I don't need to hurt myself anymore than I plan to this season already. |
| Weaknesses: | PAINT. There are ways around the obvious ones but you will scratch this frame (and pretty easily.) I used a motocross grip tape (a clear film sold in big squares) on the bottom of the downtube, all over the chainstay and where any cable rub spots occur, it's kept my frame in pretty good shape and still turning heads w/that Banshee logo. |
| Similar Products Tried: | none yet |
| Bike Setup: | 04 blue chap w/fox dhx 5.0 rear marzocchi 66vf 6" front 8" HFX Mags Holzfeller cranks XT drivetrain Singletrack rims w/hadley front and hugi rear 2.35 maxxis minions |
| Bottom Line: | Do yourself a favor, don't think about weight or money for this purchase and buy yourself the Banshee. If you don't care about the extra inch of travel for a newer frame, get yourself a closeout for about $1300-1400 (w/a DHX) which is about what you'd plop down on anything else in this category (none of the others would have the 10 year warranty or the unrivaled customer service.) There's another plus, the guys at Banshee rock and you get to actually talk to somebody who knows what they're talking about and rides and helped design the bike you're on. |
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Submitted by
BUNGLE
a Downhiller
from LA HABRA,CA,USA
Date Reviewed: 12/18/2005 9:45:48 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | san juan to chaquito trail |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Purchased At: | FRAME ONLY/BRO DEAL |
| Strengths: | LOW-CARB SCREAM!!! THE BIKE HAS A PREFECT FEEL TO IT. JUMP ON AND GO. NO WORRIES ABOUT BEING FLEXY OR WEAK. STRAIGHT UP SOLID...VERSITILE FRAME (PRE '06 MODELS) |
| Weaknesses: | FINDING THE RIGHT CABLE ROUTING THAT DOESN'T GET PINCHED EASY FIX WITH ZIP TIES AND SOME ADHESIVE BACKED FOAM TO PLACE BETWEEN THE CABLES AND FRAME |
| Similar Products Tried: | MY SCREAM, A FRIENDS SCREAM |
| Bike Setup: | '04 FRAME, 2002 SUPER T, HAYES 8" ALL AROUND,D321,MAXXIS 2.5 HIGH ROLLERS. BLACKSPIRE DS-1 CHAIN GUIDE SYSTEM WITH 38TH RING |
| Bottom Line: | THE BIKE RULES!!! IT FEELS LIKE MY SCREAM YET WITHOUT ALL THE BULK. SNAPPY TAKE OFF, SMOOTH LANDINGS. CARVES UP SWITCH BACKS.FEELS LIKE MORE THAN 6" OF TRAVEL (THE NEW MODELS SPORT 7" OF TRAVEL) VERY GOOD ALL AROUND HANDLING. IN REGARDS TO CHAIN STAY SLAP, I PUT A STRIP OF ADHESIVE BACKED FOAM ABOUT 1/8TH OF AN INCH THICK ON THE TOP SURFACE OF THE STAY AND THE BIKE IS PRETTY QUIET ALSO PUT FOAM ON THE REAR DERAILUER AND THE CONTACT POINT OF THE DERAILUER AND FRAME NO MORE CLANK ON BIG HITS OR ROUGH STUFF. I HAVE BUILT MINE UP AS A FREERIDE,DOWNHILL SIMPLE MACHINE. FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT WANT MORE OF A EPIC/TRAIL BIKE THIS BIKE IS FOR YOU TOO...YOU CAN CHANGE ROCKER POSITION SLAP AN AIR SHOCK GET 4-5" OF TRAVEL PUT LIGHTER PARTS ON..STILL THE FRAME IS SOLID. LAST WORD...IT'S A BANSHEE!! |
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Submitted by
Dusty D
a Downhiller
from Reno, Nevada, USA
Date Reviewed: 10/24/2005 11:09:55 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in S. Lake Tahoe |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $1200 |
| Purchased At: | Rim Tours in Moab, Utah |
| Strengths: | Nearly indestructible trail-bike frame from head-tube to swing-arm. Adjustable/Versatile design for a variety of riding conditions and trail types. Tracks great, soaks up small, large, and big hits great, stiff rear end, climbs the tech-stuff surprisingly well. It says "Banshee" on it. Frame comes with a free Praxxis seat-post. Makes any trail seem like less of a challenge. |
| Weaknesses: | To achieve indestructible strength frame must be heavy. Rear triangle only allows the narrowest 2.5" tires (Maxxis High Roller 2.5 & Intense DH 2.5 fit. Kenda Nevgal doesn't fit). Swing-arm at bottom bracket gets beat-up by chain-slap really bad. Four-bar linkage rear swingarms don't have as much "pop" as Single-pivot rear swing-arms. Makes any trail seem like less of a challenge. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Cannondale Gemini built up w/PUSHed rear and Shiver DC. |
| Bike Setup: | Extra Large "Burnt Champagne" Chaparral frame, w/an 05 Boxxer RIDE (5"-7" adjustable DC fork) w/Core-Rat fork guards, Romic rear shock w/850lb spring (just upgraded from 750lb spring, 850lb is strongest made for this stroke length), Front: Mavic EX 823 Disc UST w/Michelin DH16 Tubeless 2.5", Rear: Mavic 321 Disc w/Intense 909 FRO 2.5" & Maxxis DH tube, FUNN front bars, Race Face Diabolus stem, Hayes Mag hydro disc brakes/levers w/8" rotors front & rear, Shimano XT cranks, Shimano SPD pedals (or Wellgo platforms), Shimano bottom bracket (size?), 22/32 FSA chainrings, Race-Face bash-guard, Shimano XT rear cassette, Shimano LX shifters, Shimano chain, ODI Ruffian lock-on grips, Praxxis seat-post, WTB Speed-V saddle. Me: 220lb w/armor, 6'5" tall, agressive downhill/free-ride dude. |
| Bottom Line: | Read any of the magazine reviews linked to on the Banshee Website and you will see this is the BEST bike for a certain size of hardcore free-rider that occupies the "one-bike" niche market. If you are a big-boy and ride your bike really f*cking hard off some really big drops often landing off-camber but don't want to own one bike for trail and another bike for the downhill-park, do some in-depth research on this one, especially if you have damaged or broken another bike. This bike really does make all trails seem easier. For better or worse the bike has few limitations. For the money, you can get a LOT of different high-end frames. The price I paid included the frame, a Romic rear shock, and a free Praxxis seat-post. What makes it worth it for me is that I know this is the only bike I will be riding until frames with deraileur-less drive-trains become affordable. When those frames become available, I will sell this frame and it will work as good as the day I got it with no cracks or slop guaranteed by Banshee (10-year warranty). I like the Gemini a lot, but burly as it is, the single-pivot rear swingarm developed so much slop (and again mere months after replacment of the swing-arm bearings) that it ruined my rear shock. Then I cracked it at the downtube/headtube weld. Because of this, I bought the burliest trail-bike available: the Banshee Chaparral. One sad trade-off from the Gemini is that the Banshee rear swing-arm doesn't seem to launch me like the the single-pivot types (Gemini and Bullit) do. But, the Banshee rear is stiffer, stronger, and more plush. This bike is beautiful. It catches the eye with it's dope Burnt Champagne paint-job and strong lines. You will know it is a strong frame just by looking at its welds and geometry. You ride by and hear people muttering, "Banshee". People ask me, "Is that your downhill bike?" I tell them, "It's my ONLY bike." I ride it up and down everything with the same build. I am often slowed down by its heft but I can climb anything technical from Moab Slickrock, to rail-road tied stairs. The Boxxer Ride fork is the perfect compliment to this highly adjustable frame. From color to adjustable travel to larger diameter lowers for extra strength, a great combo. The rear tire width limit pisses me off. The chain slap on the swing-arm at the bottom bracket is something I am figuring out how to deal with. I don't know if I will put a Fox DHX shock on this frame. It pedals pretty good with the stiffer 850lb spring. The 750lb spring worked ok for just about everything but the 850lb is better pedaling and gives me more confidence on big drops. |
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Submitted by
Pedal Shop
a Cross Country Rider
from Ashburn VA
Date Reviewed: 10/20/2005 7:11:46 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | anything dry |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Purchased At: | employee purchase / direct |
| Strengths: | foo getaboutit, this frame is BEEF. I can't find anything wrong with the design. It's a lot like many other brands but with more beef, a lot more. e.g. the BB area is just has to be the strongest thing I have ever seen on a bike frame. I see some folks mention con's about cable routing. I always flip my brakes (front/right) - (rear/left) so, for me, that set up works fine with this frame. I didn't have any problems with the derailleur cable routing either. There is hownever one braze-on I didn't use, not sure why it's even there, it's REAL close the rear D (on the under side of the seatstay). Paint = sweet!!! Chianti looks purdy in the sunlight, we'll see how it holds up. I haven't had a chance to really use it to its full intent but so far, on our local huck trail, it's doing very well. point and shoot, it goes where you want it to. |
| Weaknesses: | over all weight = yeah, it's a bit heavy. I don't know why they say it's NOT a huck bike... huh? it's not? sure works like a true huck bike for me. Over all weight = who cares, this thing rides like a feather weight. The only time I notice the weight is when I'm pushing it up a hill you couldn't climb on any bike or when I tossing it on the roof of my car. I would like a little more tire clearance. I had 2.7 Intense tires which fit fine on the Coiler Primo I was riding. This frame I was only able to use 2.5 Maxxis Minions. I might be able to fit a slightly larger tire with a little product testing. SIDE NOTE: the 2.7's didn't actually rub the frame, there was plenty of room there, it was the front D and chain line that was rubbing. I went from an XT to a SRAM front D which helped, maybe a little adjustments with the BB set up will help too, we'll see on that too. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Kona Coiler Primo (that bike rocked too!!!) Ellsworth ID Mountain Cycle Fury, ZEN and SIN All nice but just something I didn't keep very long for misc reasons. |
| Bike Setup: | King headset Marzocchi 66VF Azonic Outlaw wheels Intense 2.7 front tire Maxxis Minion DH 2.5 rear tire SRAM trigger shifters SRAM X.9 rear D, SRAM front Saint cranks Time Z pedals IRD teflon coated chain SRAM 7.0 cassette Thomson post WTB DH saddle Thomson 31.8 stem (90mm) Planet X freeride risers ODI lock on Rouge grips Virginia mud Pedal Shop stickers |
| Bottom Line: | I'm really impressed with this one... Over a period of about 2 years, I slowly gave up on the feather weight cross country bikes, I guess you can say I got bored with it and I wasn't get any faster with ligher and lighter bling bling bikes. I no longer give a hoot about weight, this Chaparral is 45lbs. Freeride is still sort of new to me but man, I'm having fun with it. You can roll over anything with this bike. For short climbs (less than a 1/4 mile) it actually climbs great. I can climb just as well as I could on any feather weight bike I had, just not as long. You make up fot it when going down hill. And for huckin' yeeee haw!! it's the bomb. |
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Submitted by
Banshee Rider
a Weekend Warrior
from Big Mountain
Date Reviewed: 8/16/2005 3:39:44 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Oregon Trail |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $1000 |
| Purchased At: | Bike Shop |
| Strengths: | Spot on Geometry with 6" or 7" fork. Confidence Inspiring. Crazy climbing traction. |
| Weaknesses: | Cable Routing, Derailluer Hanger, Chain Line, Weight, Paint, Shock Bottoms out on seat clamp. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Bullit, VP-Free and Others |
| Bike Setup: | 05 Sherman Firefly or 04 Slider |
| Bottom Line: | DH and the crew at Banshee have the best products, customer service and technical service on the planet. If you want a great bike and a great company you simple can't go wrong with owning a Banshee. I use it for Street, XC and DH. The Chap pedals nice and the frame is rigid. Mine specs in at round 38-39lb with beefy parts. If you want an around bike and can only afford one, this bike is hard to beat. Slap on a 5" or 6" fork and hit some single-track or throw on a 7" dual crown fork for some downhill pleasure. Handling is second to none and with a 7" fork it's oh so sweet. I might be picky but here are a few things in my opion that could be changed to improve the Chap: Add travel limiter for Shock, paint is beautiful but lack durability, correct the chain line issue with certain cranks, cable routing already fixed for 05 models, replace cast derailleur with solid milled type and shave some weight off the frame and eliminate kegger head tube (other DH bikes have standard head tube diameters and can run dual-crown forks - why not PIP?) Only 4 chili's here because there is room for improvement. |
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Submitted by
jake
from torrance, ca
Date Reviewed: 8/15/2005 1:11:34 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $1100 |
| Strengths: | ultimate rigidity, A+ pedaling ability, super plush, adjustable travel |
| Weaknesses: | Derailleur hanger is a total joke, Broke 6 hangers in as many months - Need to go through axle (i.e. Saint)worst hanger made anywhere. Cable routing on seat stays is wrong. Had to customize routing to prevent pinching. Bad clearance between seat QR and seat stays in 6inch mode. Downtube dents REALLY easy (to big/thin). |
| Similar Products Tried: | turner RFX - 5 spot, Cruz bullit, ventana el salt, chamuco, cove g-spot |
| Bike Setup: | 2004 chaparral |
| Bottom Line: | stongest bike in its class, except for the ridiculous derail. hanger - fatal flaw. |
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Submitted by
Chris Holweck
a Weekend Warrior
from Toronto, ON, Canada
Date Reviewed: 5/27/2005 12:19:26 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Highway |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $2500 |
| Purchased At: | Broadway Cycles |
| Strengths: | The frame is strong as hell - takes a beating and keeps coming back for more! |
| Weaknesses: | None so far...except cable routing could be improved a tad. |
| Similar Products Tried: | none... |
| Bike Setup: | Marz 66RC's, Fox DHX 5.0, Truvativ cranks, stem and handlebar... |
| Bottom Line: | Couldn't ask for a better bike - I use it on sticky xc trails (Don Valley) to DH runs at Blue Mountain. I'd like to have this bike set-up with other configurations for diffrent types of riding but...This one will do the trick for now...I'm sure! |
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Submitted by
Randy
a Cross Country Rider
from Calgary
Date Reviewed: 3/18/2005 1:38:36 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Moosepackers |