The Banshee Difference

Banshee is made up of a handful of riders who share one simple goal. To make the best mountain bikes possible so that you can upgrade your ride.

We are not a brand that takes the easy buck by jumping on the latest hype, or questionable marketing claims. Instead we choose to focus our efforts on the performance and quality of the product, to make frames that we and our customers want to ride. Frames that perform better the harder they are pushed, so encourage you to ride faster, jump higher, explore further and never hold you back. As soon as you ride one of our frames hard you’ll know exactly what we are talking about, but the below information shows a few features that make us stand above the competition.

We make Real Bikes for Real Riders.

 KS2 Linkage

The new KS2 linkage structure is the culmination of 3 years of work and over 10 years of experience. The key benefits over other system are:

Ultra low friction - With full complement sealed bearings throughout all linkage pivots including the trunnion mount, there is almost zero rotational friction (only the very minimal friction found in the bearings themselves). The result is incredibly supple suspension linkage enabling huge amounts of traction.

Leverage ratio - By fitting longer stroke shocks than competitors with same amount of travel, our frames have a lower overall leverage ratio (under 2.5:1). We have also adjusted the progression of our bikes to work optimally with both large volume air and coil shock options.  Giving our customers a wider range of choice and better performance.

Axle path - The initially rearward axle carries better speed through square edge hits. Combined with high initial antisquat this also generates more speed when pumping terrain and landing drops and jumps.

Antisquat profile - The Antisquat profile has been specifically tuned to maximize pedal efficiency in sag range. This value reduces as you go deeper into travel to minimize pedal kickback and offer a neutral feel through the roughest terrain.

Anti-rise - Has been optimized to result in maximum traction and balance under hard braking, so you can brake later and ride faster.

Shock Cage

The shock cage is a complex 3D forged section that is the foundation of the KS2 platform. By forging this as one large piece per side rather than simply machining from billet or making in multiple sections, the final design is significantly stronger, lighter and stiffer to create a solid foundation for the whole frame. It might be a far more expensive and difficult option than most brands use… but it makes a huge difference to ride quality, and we always put the performance of our products above all else.

Load isolation - The 3D forged shock 7005 T6 cage of the KS2 design contains all the rear suspension loads that are amplified by leverage ratios within the forged section. Effectively equalizing these loads within the cage and isolating them from rest of the frame. This results in a better front triangle with all high loads contained by the strongest section.

Low center of gravity - Mounting the shock low down in the shock cage results in an incredibly low center of gravity. Making the bike more stable when things get rough, easier to lean over into corners to carry more speed and helps initiate turns faster.

Found on Rune V3 and Titan

 Forged frame sections

While most brands either CNC from billet, or buy catalogue parts, like chainstay yokes and dropouts for their frames, all our designs are bespoke and we open our own forgings for every one. Expensive… yes, but worth the cost to ensure superior performance.

By using bespoke designs we are not limited by the design or dimensions of admittedly cheaper catalogue parts readily used by many brands. This means that Keith can design every part from scratch to be optimized for exact purpose on every specific frame. Therefore he can control all dimensions, tolerances, shape and stiffness to deliver exactly what he wants.

Found on all models.

We choose to open forgings rather than just CNC machine from billet for a few reasons:

Strength: Forged parts are stronger than machined parts due to the pressures of the forging process aligning the grain structure of the alloy. Ultimate strength for forged parts is around 9% higher than machined from billet due to the alignment and size of the grain structure. Forged parts also offer a higher resistance to impact and fatigue loads.

Less waste: Our forgings are still post machined by CNC to tolerance where required, but the parts are near net forged, meaning that the form of the forgings is close to the final form. Therefore there is significantly less material being machined off than there would be if a part were machined from billet. While all our off-cuts are always 100% recycled, it’s better to make full use of material in the first place and reduce machining time and energy consumption significantly.

The result is a stronger, lighter frame with lower environmental impact.

Engineered Compliance

Using fundamental principals and FEA simulations Keith (Banshee’s engineer / owner) has strategically machined the yokes and dropouts of the Paradox V3 to offer a level of vertical compliance that other aluminum alloy hardtails cannot match.

By designing in optimized flex into each forged component they work together as a system to take the edge off the sharpest hits as you ride. Yet at the same time lateral stiffness is maintained to maximize power transfer and efficiency.

This all results in a more traction, a nice playful feeling and an all round more comfortable ride, so that you can ride faster and further.

Found on the Paradox V3

Custom Hydroformed Tubeset

Hydroforming is a process that enables us to maximize strength to weight ratio of our tubesets by tightly controlling cross-sectional shape and wall thickness exactly throughout the length of each 7005 T6 tube.

Combined with multiple FEA load simulations to optimize every element of the design for each tube for each frame, hydroforming enables us to maximize frame performance. Creating complex shaped tubes to maximize specific strength while minimizing weight and control the stiffness profile to give us desired ride characteristic.

Other benefits of using hydroformed tubes include less welds, less waste material, and higher precision when compared to standard tubes.

We use this process on all our frames to ensure that Banshee frames have superior strength to weight ratio, and optimized stiffness profiles for maximum performance on the trail.

Found on all models.

Superior Alloy

All our frames are made using 7005 T6 alloy tubes and forgings. While most other brands use the cheaper and easier to handle 6061 T6 option, we choose to use 7005 T6 because it has superior properties which results in superior frames.

Ultimate Tensile Strength: The measure of the maximum load that an object/material/structure can withstand without being elongated, stretched or pulled. As you can see the tensile strength of 7005 T6 is 12.9% greater than 6061.

Tensile Strength, Yield: The stress a material can withstand without permanent deformation.

Fatigue Strength: The highest stress that a material can withstand for a given number of cycles without breaking. The figured below represent fatigue strength for 500,000,000 cycles (good luck trying to clock up this many pedal strokes!). 7005 T6 has a 55% higher fatigue strength over this number of cycles.

Also worth mentioning that 7005 T6 is 4.5% stiffer than 6061 T6… just saying!

Found on all models.

 Internally Ribbed Stays

All Banshee frames have (and always have had) internal ribs inside their seatstays and chainstays. This is achieved through a special extrusion process and significantly improves the performance of our frames when compared to using basic tubes.

Internal ribs maximize lateral stiffness and strength to weight ratio, This results in superior efficiency under hard acceleration and better control and confidence when riding at the limit.

Found on all models.

Threaded BB with splined ISCG-05 interface

By using a spline on the driveside of our threaded BB shells that interfaces with our ISCG-05 plates enables riders to rotate the chainguide mount to work optimally with any chainguide. It also means that if you were to smash a chainguide on a rock hard enough to damage the mounting threads, that the ISCG plate can be easy replaced without the need to replace a whole front triangle.

A very simple detail… but the devil is in the details!

Found on all models (except Amp)

 Custom Chainstay Protection

The rubber chainstay protector we use is 3D heat injected into our custom mold to ensure perfect fit and function. It’s designed to ensure that it maximizes heal and tire clearance while protecting the chainstay. The fins on the top of the protector are specifically spaced and aligned for maximum reduction of any chainslap noise.

Found on Titan, Rune V3, and Paradox V3.

Modular Dropouts

Why should we tell you what standard is best and which to choose for your bike? Have a rad wheelset from your last build, but it’s non-boost and won’t fit on most frames? Or if you’re ready to go all in on the most up to date option. All good here, we’ve got you covered.

With our modular dropout system you get the choice and the control. Now in the second Generation, the Gen 2 dropouts come in 142mm and 148mm boost, in both “compact” and “long” choices. Depending on the frame model, this allows for not only hub spacing choices, but also makes our frames compatible with different wheel sizes and plus size applications. Seems to us that backwards compatibility is a little more customer friendly than planned obsolescence!

Oh, and did we mention that the modular dropouts also offer the ability to change your frame geometry between neutral and low / slack quickly and easily without having any effect on shock leverage curve. Again… we want to offer you the ability to run your bike the way that you want it!

Gen 2 Modular Dropouts Found on Rune V3, Titan, and all 2017 and newer Rune/Prime/Spitfire/Phantom V2’s. Gen 1 Modular dropouts used on all years of the Darkside, and 2016 and earlier Rune/Prime/Spitfire/Phantom V2’s.

 Boost 148x12mm dropouts

There are a plethora of different dropout ‘standards’ in the mountain bike world, and we try our best to make our bikes compatible with as many as possible so that you don’t have to choose. However we feel that overall the Boost 148 standard offers the best all round performance with modern 12 speed drivetrains, and so for non-DH bikes if interchangeable dropouts are not an option, this is the standard that we use.

Combining an M12x1.75mm (maxle standard) axle with 148mm hub external width results in a stuff rear hub interface while also having guide seats for the hubs for ease of assembly. The spacing is not too wide to cause significant heel clearance issues, but wide enough to build a good stiff wheel. The chainring spacing allows greater clearance, but fits without requiring large Q-factor cranks. The chainline is optimal for middle of cassette gear. Overall it’s the best option in the market, and that is why we support it.

Available on all models (except Legend and Amp).