[CaseyD17]

What's up, guys?!? :winker:

I come from the Jeep community and am used to maintaining a build thread for my Jeep, so I wanted to do the same for my bike (and I hope this is the right location to do so)! Honestly, I'm not sure if it's common to do this, but I hope some people find it interesting and potentially helpful/inspiring.

The bike is a 2017 Banshee Rune SLX Jenson Edition 2 Build that I paid exactly $2,763.99 ($4,951 MSPR) to have it shipped to my door. I'll post the details below, but here it was as I got it (posted at Mountain Creek Bike Park where everyone gets married):



And here's how the bike sits today:



The idea of this project was to keep EVERYTHING, other than the tires, the way it came for an entire race season so that I could enjoy the bike, but also really get a feel for what I wanted, and needed, to change, fix and modify. To this day, I haven't changed anything on this bike other than the decal kit which I'll get to later.

Here's the build as it came:

Frame:
Banshee Rune V2, 160mm travel, Size Medium

Suspension:
RockShox Monarch Plus RC3 shock, Solo Air, LL, 216mm x 63mm
RockShox Pike RC fork, Solo Air, 15x110mm Boost axle

Cockpit:
Cane Creek 10 headset, ZS44/56
Race Face Aeffect bars,10mm rise, 35mm clamp, 760mm width
Race Face Aeffect stem, 50mm length, 35mm clamp
Lizard Skins 494 grips

Saddle & Post:
SDG Falcon saddle
RockShox Reverb Stealth dropper, 150mm travel, 425mm length

Brakes:
Shimano SLX M7000 disc brakes, RT66 rotors, 180mm front, 160mm rear
Shimano SLX M7000 levers

Drivetrain:
Shimano SLX M7000 shifters, 11-speed
Shimano SLX M7000 rear derailleur, 11-speed
Race Face Aeffect Cinch cranks, 175mm length'
Race Face Aeffect Cinch chainring, 32 tooth, direct mount
Raceface Chester peddles
Race Face BSA 30 bottom bracket, 73mm
Shimano CN-HG601 chain, 11-speed
Shimano SLX M7000 cassette, 11-46 tooth, 11-speed

Wheels & Tires:
Race Face Aeffect 30 rims
Race Face Aeffect hubs, Boost axles
Schwalbe Hans Dampf tires, 27.5" x 2.35"

What I ride.
This is challenging to define, but if I had to choose, I'd live at a park. That being said, I went with a 160mm setup because I do work and I am a college student, so finding time for lift access is very limited. More often than not, I'm riding my school's trails in the back which has over 40 acres of land including mild jump courses, drops, and more. Other times, I ride state parks more suited for something without a 65-degree head angle. I do race enduro with my school as well which is the main motivation to upgrade this bike!

Claimed weight of 31lbs (14.0614 Kg)

I grouped everything into categories because I plan to swap parts out in those categories. As I said, I kept everything the way I received it and I cannot wait to get some lock-ons and when I do, I'll swap the handlebars and stem at the same time.

The last thing I want to add is that I have been running a pretty successful Jeep media channel across most platforms. I'm studying mechanical engineering, but cinematography has my heart. I'll be creating content along the way as I make this the Banshee Rune of my dreams! I'll post more on this to come, but just know I want to make content that I believe will be fun to watch, I'm not trying to be any other mountain bike channel or compete with anyone, just in it for the love of the sport.

Anyhow, I'll keep this thread updated and I'll post more soon with information and to catch up on some small changes I have done in the time that I've had it such as the new tires and decal kit. Otherwise, thank you so much for checking out the build and I welcome all recommendations!

Cheers,

Casey

 

[Rocket88R]

Sweet bike!!! Welcome to the Banshee clan!

Looking forward to seeing Banshee focused video content.

 

[CaseyD17]

Sweet bike!!! Welcome to the Banshee clan!

Looking forward to seeing Banshee focused video content.

And I can't wait to get it out there! I have a film competition through my school with an April 12th deadline that I hope to get the first short film put for! Keep an eye out and I'll be sure to update this thread.

 

[CaseyD17]

I ran into an issue one winter day here in upstate NY when I tried to take my trail pup on a ride when it was below zero degrees out. Halfway through the ride, I noticed that my fork stanchions were stuck in the lowers leaving me with below 100mm of travel. I searched night and day through forums to find a fix for this to no avail (see this post to see the methods that I tried).





Through the research, I did find that this was a somewhat common issue within the solo air springs that Rockshox offers. It's cold here and my pup needs his exercise so I opted to upgrade to the Debonair air spring with Rockshox's dedicated kit to do so. I really wanted to make a video covering this, but there's already a very in-depth guide on how this is done via SRAM Tech (video found here) and there was a couple months gap between now and the last time I rode, so an honest and genuine comparison between the original solo air spring and the upgrade would be tough to do. For comparison, here are some photos of the solo air (the one covered in grease) and the new Debonair spring.





You can see that there is a complete redesign between the two springs with some hefty claims that are made by Rockshox on their site (which can be found here).

I can say that running this new air spring that I have to run significantly more air pressure in the fork to keep my sag at 30%. While I was previously getting 30% sag with ~85PSI, I now run closer to ~95PSI which doesn't sound like much, but that's more than a 10% difference. I did this to spec using the appropriate oil with Slick Honey and torqued everything to spec so I can assume this can be due to the lower friction within the system. That being said, I noticed that the fork sits within 5% sag with just the weight of the bike and upon asking Rockshox about this, they said it's due to the lack of friction. I can say with honesty that there is less stiction in the fork's initial stroke as I did see that the fork previously would feel "sticky" over small bumps.

Next up will be taking care of the dampening side of the fork. I can choose the new Charger 2.1 upgrade kit (which are available through dealers, confirmed by Rockshox) or the new Push HC97, any thoughts?

 

[chuckiebruster]

I wouldn't do much more to the Pike. You are holding the Rune back by using that fork. Keep an eye out for a good deal on a Fox 36, Lyrik - something that you can really beat on.

 

[CaseyD17]

When I got the bike the new (now old) Lyric came out with the Charger 2 damper. I was so tempted to buy it, but when I think realistically I prefer park riding, but I ride local trails/college campus trails 80 percent of the time. I'm trying to build this bike with my riding in mind and I'll take the reduced weight for a slight lack in stiffness. Also, if I were to move to a stiffer fork, I'd go with a 160/170 setup which would make the HTA steeper and make climbs even tougher. It's a double-edged sword for me as I'd like a slightly longer wheelbase, slight more travel and stiffness for the park, but it just doesn't make sense for my main riding.

 

[CaseyD17]

I finally got things together and posted my first video to kick off my YouTube channel! To start, I took a set of custom decals from Slik Graphics and transformed my Banshee Rune! Being my first video, support and criticism are greatly appreciated if you have the time. Let me know how I did!

 

[rock-rod]

I wouldn't do much more to the Pike. You are holding the Rune back by using that fork. Keep an eye out for a good deal on a Fox 36, Lyrik - something that you can really beat on.

Agree. Started with a Pike and wasn't happy with the small bump compliance. Did the Vorsprung Luftkapp and it helped some. I eventually invested in a Fox 36 grip2 (170mm travel) and added the Push ASC coil conversion right out of the box. I LOVE the fork. It's sturdy with it's 36mm stanchions, travel is smooth and small bumps are invisible. Love the fork and I love my Rune.

 

[chuckiebruster]

Agree. Started with a Pike and wasn't happy with the small bump compliance. Did the Vorsprung Luftkapp and it helped some. I eventually invested in a Fox 36 grip2 (170mm travel) and added the Push ASC coil conversion right out of the box. I LOVE the fork. It's sturdy with it's 36mm stanchions, travel is smooth and small bumps are invisible. Love the fork and I love my Rune.

Thumbs up - to anyone else on the fence - DVO is running a sale. My rune is kicking ass with the Onyx Single Crown set to 170. I think you can get it for something like 740 shipped with the current sale.