Monday, March 31, 2008

Pyre to AMB mag


Check out Kens sick ride...
Since the Rune got stolen by someone at a courier company {that will go unamed} we've got another bike going for review now. Its the Pyre and shes a beaut. ... check out those sweet SL levers; almost makes you want to just put it on a shelf and just look at it instead of ride it.
So make sure you pick up a copy of Australian Mountain Bike Magazine and check out the Pyre

For more details and additional pics look here

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Scott Alleyn and his new ride

Scott sent me some sick as photos - BIG THANKS David they look great - of him and his new wildcard... he also sent a few from a little sesh he did.
It looks like he got a little worked before the photo... Scott "Ya haha I broke my nose on a gt and I caught my tire in my face so it got all scratched up!! The wildcard is sick I session skate parks and street with it so funny I am off to kamloops next weekend for a road trip so more pics and maybe a video soon. I really badly want the new amp before creston comp which is at the end of may. If possible I would like a 22.5" actual tt size the small you sent me was a 21.75" actual and I would like it in kelly green! You can post those pics on your blog forshure the pics were taken by david bennison.
Peace Scott"

Somebody buy that kid a chaintensioner hahaha.

Heppy in Revolution Mag

Australias no#1 mtb mag has a little feature on Alan and his Wildcard. If you get the mag in your area make sure you pick one up. Also he'll be one of the guest coaches for the Camp of Champions in Whistler this season so if you wanna learn the secrets to busting some knar tricks start annoying your parents now so they'll get rid of you for the summer.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Jungle biking the Rune

UPDATE:
Got another one... but this time 2 Runes



Nick from Fakawi Tribe says:
"gives you a feel of what jungle mountain biking in Malaysia is like..
You won't see Banshee bikes flying through the air here.. but you can see the climbing ability of my RUNE.. keeping up with the lightweight titanium hardtail in front of me as we climb in the jungle mountain trail..."

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Speedgoat Rune Review

" The Rune seems like a friend that I will have for a long time. "

Jeremy has been getting sometime in on the Rune and if you're interested to see what someone who has ridden many bikes working at Speedgoat thinks about the Rune. Check it out here http://www.speedgoat.com/blog.asp?p=1352

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Legend complete

For those that can't get enough, here are some more pics of the Legend Mk1

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Banshee Rider Taiwan

Jeff is a Canadian ex-pat living with his wife and 2 dogs Tard [the little black one] and Nub [the rottie] just north of Taipei. I can't really remember how, but our paths crossed and now we were finally getting a chance to ride together.

We first went to a trail that had a serious hike-a-bike for about 15min through a cemetary. Apparantly the Taiwanese bury their dead on the mountains and Jeff pointed out a couple of human bones to me... he also had to watch the dogs cause everyone knows dogs like bones, and that would be a little creepy catching Tard running around with a human femur between his chops - "here girl go fetch"... gawh!
We just didn't have it in us for a hike a bike with DH rigs so we decided to hit our fav little spot, speedtrap, again for the next shuttle.

I was testing a new set of Funn brakes, and me and Keith always like to test anything that we spec on our bikes. Rather then just having some sales dude tell us how wonderful they are, we like to find out for ourselves.

Unfortunately the Legend wasn't out of T6 in time to build up for the ride so I had to rely on my Scirocco. I love that bike and whatever I throw at it, it just steps up and amazes me. I did however kill the fork on my 5th run and had to shut it down... Jeff let me borrow his Scream which was cool but I should have taken it easy as my front washed out during a high speed run and I got rocked - the limping is slowly going away. I guess I assumed the tires would hook up the same as what was on the Scirocco - a wrong assumption.

What was cool was to bump into John, one of the original builders of speedtrap who was over here from Hong Kong where he now lives. It's always cool to get the history on a trail and some of the challenges they had to get over to build it - like crazy machette weilding bamboo farmers!!!

Later it was off to a resturaunt/bar that Jeff likes to frequent. Steve ordered some kinda drink that came out looking like a Dairy Queen sunday... not really sure what the hell he ordered.
About a half our later on mass all these girls pile into the place and we can hear them singing happy birthday. Jeff says that we'd be rockstars if we went over there and wished them a happy birthday... Steve was caught doing more then that.

I guess the results of the election earlier that day had come in because some dude just started firing off fireworks in the middle of a sidewalk. Although fireworks seem to happen alot here for all sorts of reasons so it might not have been the election.

We stopped to have one last glimpse of Beitou before the final drive home. We'll be seeing you again but not for awhile as we head back to our respective countries.
It was another great trip and I look forward to coming back in October to learn more about this island in the east. Hopefully I'll get my shit together next time so I can visit some of my other distributors in Malaysia, Phillipines, NewZealand, Indonesia, Korea, Hong Kong and Ken down in Australia

I suppose my next trip will be Sea Otter but beyond that I'm not sure as I usually leave things to the last minute.

Tomorrow I help Gabriel pack up Markolf and Marcelos Legend Mk1's. I'll have a seperate post on that.

Oh and one last thing to Ryan... who failed to tell us where speedtrap was the many times we asked him. Ryan you know how you like Mexican food... and you know how hard it is to find here... well we found burritos and if your reading this then you're gonna be pissed to know we're not telling you where they are - touche mon a mie.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Hi from Szwed











Hallo Friends , first i want to tell You that i'm still alive !! hehe. And i just have started to ride again.




It's so F***ing hard for me to get back. My femour will be ok on july , then i have got operation on august and then probably next operation in 6 months time. It was hard for me when 6 weeks after accident "wife hehe " left me. Bad time , thanks to parents and my new great fiance i'm still here it was realy close from being second Kowalski from "Vanishing Point" for me .




I'm working on gym day by day and riding my Banshee almost every day. After accident i have just realized how dedicated for riding and adrenaline i'm it's just my passion my drug , fear is my motivation . My normal weight is 91 kg after accident i was 67 kg hehe now i'm 91 kg again hehe.




I want to thanks BIG BIG TIME to my fiance Sylwia for helping and charging me !!!! My photos from today. UNTIL THE DAY I DIE !!!!

Update:
Szwed forgot to post up this picture.... hahahaha ok he didn't but I'd thought I'd burn him... he sent it so he should know I might just post it up.... hahahaha

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Legend Funn

It was Saturday morning, woke up and had swapped over the parts from the Scythe onto the Legend in record time. Unfortunately we didn't make record time to the show and ended up driving around for 4 hours looking for the convention center. Things to note in future... don't use maps in show guides, and just because people live in the city doesn't mean they'll know where the location is for a massive convention center which has been under construction for 6 years - taxi drivers and police included??!!

Its Sunday now and I'm relaxing in the lounge with Gabriel from Brazil and throwing this up online.

We went by the Funn both to see the Funn girls [Cosmic and Joan] and also to see Ollie cause I needed to get my pricelist and OE catalog. We spec Funn stuff on our bikes and they also are our team sponsors so its always good to say hi to the guys.

Gabriel says we're going to the bar with the Funn people tonight so I gotta finish up my meetings and put on my party helmet.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Legend 14th March

Frame looks freaking amazing... thats all I can say. Its painted and everything is on it and I'm very pleased with how it went together.

Its just after 1am and the guys didn't show up with the parts until about 11pm so building it is a no go I'm just too tired. I did however stay up long enough to take a whack o pics in the studio and Jason at Sicklines has them and is doing the editing right now. Expect to see him post them up by the end of the day here.
I will take the frame to the show tomorrow and then while everyone is partying after the show i'll build it up in my hotel room for Saturday and Sunday.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Legend 13th March

Shows on right now and I'm here at the factory missing a bunch of appointments.

Its lunchtime so I figured I could squeeze in a quick post before I need to go downstairs and start filing more space into the tight tolerances so I can get the lower link to fit together in a little smoother before we send this bad boy off to paint. I don't want to paint it and then have to adjust anything so I might as well since I'm still waiting for the axles to get here from the subcontractor.

This is all part of the prototype process anyway to figure out how your tolerances are and what kind of changes you need to be to make production go easier. I'm actually suprised we haven't run into more problems but everthings coming together nicely *knock wood*.
I'm very pleased with how easy it is to install the shock with everything together - it basically just slides in through the front and bolts up easy.

The weight is 10.67lbs with shock but we still need to add paint and 4 aluminum axles, but then we get to take away weight because they forgot to do the inside windows on the driveside aluminum seatpost mast. My guess is it will be around 10.9 with everything done... of course we'll weigh it after its painted with everything in it. Production will be lighter as there are just a ton of places to shave weight off.
UPDATE: Jason [sicklines] just had me weigh the shock [with pin and spacers minus bolts] The spring on it is way too heavy at 500# but it came in at 2.65lbs... so in theory the Legend without shock is 8lbs ... still need to add and minus as above. I'm really stoked on that weight... wonder if we could shave a pound off and beat the Socom in weight...

This will probably be the last post on the Legend and you'll need to check Sicklines.com for the next bit after its painted and assembled. Then you can come back here a few days later for tons more pics and other tidbits of information.

The Legend Mk1 will be the culmination of 3 long years to get this thing done. I will also be posting something on the speculation that we some how copied Canfield and might even get a quote from Lance and Chris who I know personally to go on the record that both of us knew nothing of each others projects until last August when we both found out we were doing something somewhat similar in suspension style but still different, in pivots, wheel path travel... well you name a characteristic and I'll guarantee its different. In fact I still remember the exact place and time when it happened.

Again thanks for the comments about me posting this stuff up.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Legend update 12th of March

W0w...
things are just crazy as the show is tomorrow and we're scrambling to get this done.
The rear triangle has gone off to heat treat and is back. If you look you can see how the metal looks like its been cooked a little... well thats how it looks after its finished T4'd.

The rocker is pretty much complete and you can't see from this pic but there is a hole that goes through the middle of center part that helps to remove weight. Also you'll notice the little groove on the edges of the rocker.... that's where the cables go and that little hole is where the zip tie slides into to hold the cable in place. We're pretty pleased with the smooth lines the cables run and it should help with crisp shifts.

The lower link is big, strong, and stiff with massive axles that should keep that backend from squirling around making the bike track great in the corners. The axles, again, will be similar to the VF4B axles with the grease ports and are aluminum to lighten the bike again.

I've weighed the rear swingarm without any of the pivots and exactly as you see in the picture. Its 2.65lbs exactly. that leaves us with 5-6lbs to play with for the front triangle and all the links. So far its on target for the 10.5lbs mark for the whole thing... infact we're looking at it and thinking its still overbuilt even at 10.5lbs. but rather this then having it underbuilt.

I'm glad i'm here to document it coming together for you. I've been getting emails from riders who are stoked to be a part of the process even though you can't be here at least maybe you can appreciate the pressure we're under and the challenges we're facing getting something like this put together.

I think tomorrow I'll be able to show you a complete frame after the front triangle comes out of heat treat tonight. It will then go onto paint and at the show I'll be assembling the frame with all the parts.
Yesterday I just picked up brand new brakes from Funn... the Drop ins and a set of Drop outs... So big thanks to Ollie, Lynn and the rest of the people at Funn for sticking around late and getting that together for us.
I'll have a seperate post for the mayhem of driving around downtown Taichung on a couple of scooters looking for a new laptop for Gabriel from Session.

Oh and I just got news Markolf and the rest of the team in Brazil pretty much owned the podium at last weekends races. It will be nice when Gabriel can hand deliver the Legend to Markolf and see how he does with a true Banshee world cup race bike under him.

Ok, i'm out... gotta get back to all my emails. If you haven't heard from me for a day its because I didn't have internet access in Taichung but expect a message from me shortly.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Legend Mk1 update again

We've hogged out the inside of the "canoe" and created the little windows inside as well as outside.
Not only do these little windows look cool they serve a greater purpose by turning the piece into an I-beam. This shape is actually much stronger then if we were to just make the piece without the windows. So although generally you won't see this when looking at the bike the importance of doing it far from asthetics.
It does cost more to do the added machining but in addition to strength there is a further reduction in weight as well.
It will always be function before form at Banshee and we will compromise on looks before we compromise on strength, or performance but its nice when both can come together to make something beauty.

Update: later that day...
Ok now we have the back part started in the NC and have both halves of the canoe now.
The rear swingarm is being welded up and hopefully we can get into the oven for heat treating to T4 today.
All aluminum after its welded needs to be aged for strength. To age it faster you stick it in an oven but if you're willing to wait a month you can let it age naturally.
After heat treating to T4 we wait 3 days and then heat treat again but to T6 however I still think its best to let it still age a bit naturally after getting to T6 before you start riding the frame.

Weekend number 2 in TW

I had to stay at the factory on Saturday to be around for the Legend production so I missed out on Sat. ride. Steve [Niner] followed Lance [Canfield] off a ladder stepdown and the bike he was riding had too soft of front springs and basically spiked one of his crank arms into the ground which catapulted him sideways into a tree.
They got back to the factory around 10pm and Steve was totally worked. He figures he might have either cracked or broke a rib.

So its now Sunday as we leave Steve back at the factory and Me, Lance and Chris [both Canfield brothers] head out for a rip. We pass under Lance's favorite sign... we don't have a clue what it means but its got a skull and crossbones so I guess its a warning of some sort - ah ignorance is bliss.

I decided to ride a fully this time and we loaded up the Scream. It was definitely a lot faster and made the stair runs a lot smoother.
We all got in 2 runs and then it was time to do some trail maintenance.

We basically just built up a few berms, added a sweet hip to a current jump that was in the top section -Chris sent it on the last run after we finished the trail work and it looked flowy and sweet.
We built up the lip on the gap jump and basically did a few other things.

This week everyone in the industry who has any business over here -which is everyone practically- will be here for the Taipei show.

Gabriel, our Brazilian distributor-Session, is flying in tomorrow. I got his MSN message yesterday and hes bringing his Morphine with him. He told me he was riding around hamsterland [amsterdam] doing a little urban burn and visiting his friends before flying out here. I'm really glad he's coming because he's a good digger and I already scoped out where I want to build a set of dirtjumps... surprise ... as I hand him a shovel greeting him at the airport tomorrow.

Lance goes home on Friday -I think- so we're going to try to get out on wednesday for a little rip with whoever arrives this week. The ride might include Tom Delacy from WTB as he did mention an urban assault in Taipei; Harry from Hayes suspension and Ollie from Funn might be coerced into throwing on the gear but we'll have to see cause most people will be pretty busy getting ready for the show.

Anyway... it was getting dark and we wrapped it up for the day. Got in a couple more runs and then it was off to sushi express to chow down.
Each plate represents 30NTD which is equal to about $1.00US. Each plate has about 2pcs of sushi on it and when the bring you a beer the also bring 3 plates. At the end of the meal they add up all your plates and figure out your total.
We ended up with 42 plates which was about $40 for 3 and included 3 beers. Its such a great deal [about $14 per person] and your totally stuffed when you leave.

I wish i had some riding pictures but I hate to stop when I got the mojo flowing and you're trying to keep up with a redbull rampage alumni and his brother who races elite in the US. I think I faired pretty well... all those years on the Shore help to hone ones Ninja riding reflexes.

Well I'm out... look for more Legend updates this week as we should have it together before Friday if all goes well.