Banshee Rampant - Bike Check

Why I ride the Rampant:

For quite some time I have been switching between the Banshee AMP and the Rampant. Both bikes have their pros and cons for the type of riding I do, which is kind of a mix between pumptrack, dirt jumping and downhill, therefore I opted for the Rampant because of the 4" of travel. Actually I spent the most of my time on the Rampant for different reasons. Firstly there isn´t a lot of downhill tracks around my house, that are fun the ride my Legend on and secondly the Rampant is so much fun to ride. I can ride the pumptrack as good as on a hardtail and rail the corners better than a hardtail. Furthermore it is really stable in the air and in general. Which is down to the suspension at the rear that makes me more comfortable, properly because of the fact that is reminds me of my Legend MKII a bit...

Setup:

I run my suspension pretty stiff both front and rear giving me the hardtail fell but allows me to push a bit more when I ride. On the rebound side I run it pretty slow, like I do on my Legend, which I just think is better:) As for tire pressure and tires it really depends on what I am riding, but I tend to run the Maxxis DTH´s with 60 psi most of the time, since is am too lazy to change them :) The bars are also pretty wide at 760mm for a DJ bike, nevertheless I like them wide and I also run the same with on my DH bike.

The build is kind of lightish I guess, since it around the 12 kg mark (26,4 lbs). It wasn´t really a goal of mine to make it as light as possible but build a bike that could take some hits. The bike isn´t too light nor too heavy giving it a nimble and responsive feel, that I am quite happy with:)

Spec list:

Frame: Banshee Rampant w. Fox RP2 - size M

Fork: Marzocchi DJ1

Headset: Chris King

Bar: Gusset Slade - 760mm

Stem: Gusset Staff - 50 mm

Grips: ODI Longneck XL

Seat: Gusset Slim Kev

Seatpost: Random..

Brake: Funn F2 - 160mm

Crank: Gusset Pigmy 853 w. steel axle

Sprocket: Gusset 4X - 25t

Pedals: Straitline

Chain: Gusset Expresso

Rims: Halo 4XR

Hubs: Halo Spindoctor/Halo DJD bushed

Tires: Maxxis DTH 2.4

Tubes: Maxxis..

You can find alot more info on Banshee site: http://www.bansheebikes.com/rampant.html

Pictures: Lars Mortensen

SJ