REVIEW: Banshee Rune frameset

Words by Dan Gronross. Photos by Dan Gronross / Dan Barham.

Close your eyes and think of one of the few bike companies that is synonymous with the North Shore, a local company building proven bikes that could take the rigors of what this hallowed land could dish out. The name Banshee comes to mind, doesn't it? Now, you might as well keep your eyes closed because it seemed that up until recently Banshee might just fade off into folklore.

Everywhere I went, everyone seemed to enjoy the Banshee Rune. || Photo: Dan Barham

Banshee Bikes has been designing and building bikes for any abuse that the North Shore could throw at them for a number of years. I remember strolling the bike shows and seeing the guys on the Banshee Screams and Morphines, in awe of how “North Shore” they looked. Unfortunately in the later years, it seemed that Banshee bikes fell to the wayside as the advent of lighter and more nimble bikes took over the lion’s share of sales. Gone were the big burly bikes that could drop 20' to flat, and in came the tidal wave of lighter weight, pedalable 6-and-6 bikes.

All that ended with Banshee's 2008 line-up. Completely redesigned, it is a new series of bikes that takes the venerable North Shore company in a new direction. From hardtails to full-on downhill rigs, Banshee Bikes has been reborn. One of the new bikes is the Rune, Banshee's trail bike that is designed to explore the back country but will still handle the North Shore's trails and the Whistler Bike Park with the best of them when properly spec’d.

The Banshee Rune resting by the Kenai River in Alaska after a long day of XC. || Photo: Dan Gronross

The 2008 Banshee Rune
The Rune is an all-new frame design that relies on Banshee's VF4B, or Virtual Floating 4 Bar, design. It utilizes iglide polymer bushings instead of conventional bearings for the pivots. The reasoning behind changing from bearings to bushings was that they are easier to maintain, they weigh less and are self-lubricating. It remains to be seen how much better they are with respect to longevity, but I guess time on the bike will tell. I will admit that they were much easier to lubricate, though. You just pop off the small rubber plug at the end of the bushing and squeeze a few drops of oil in there and presto, lubricated bushings.

The Rune frame is built with hydroformed, triple butted top- and downtubes. The hydroformed tubes are lighter and stronger than conventional tubes and gusseting, as the hydroforming eliminates the need for conventional gussets and are stronger than welds. Attached to the front triangle is a OnePointFive headtube, which is super strong, light for its size and has a larger area to weld the hydroformed tubes to.

The cockpit of the Banshee Rune. || Photo: Dan Gronross

The rear triangle is constructed of ribbed tubing. The internal rib gives the rear triangle better lateral stiffness, reducing the flex associated with conventional tubing.

I was testing a size large '08 Rune in Team Colours/white as spec’d in the list below. I went with a pretty light build as I foresaw this bike performing double duty as a climber/all-mountain/Whistler Bike Park rig.

Frame: 2008 Banshee Rune
Fork: '08 Manitou Nixon Elite 160
Rear Shock: Manitou Evolver ISX-6
Headset: FSA Pig
Stem: Funn 45mm
Bar: Funn
Shifters: SRAM X-7
Brakes: Avid Juicy 7
Saddle: WTB
Seatpost: Northshore Praxys
Front Derailleur: SRAM x-7
Rear Derailleur: SRAM X-0
Crankset: Truvativ Stylus
Pedals: Straitline X-Ray
Chain: SRAM PCS 99
Wheel set: Alex Rims FD 28 matted to Novatec hubs
Tires: WTB Descent 2.5

The back end of the Banshee Rune. Tried tested and true, Avid, SRAM and Novatec wheels. || Photo: Dan Gronross

Riding the Rune
Because the Rune is a trail bike, I decided early on that I was going to throw the Rune down pretty much any trail that I came across. I took the Banshee Rune to the Sunshine Coast, rode it in the Rat Race DH, put her through her paces at the Whistler Bike Park, Cypress, Fromme, Seymour and a trip to Alaskan to take in some epic singletrack. The Rune also made an appearance in the first three Ripper Events on the Shore, from the semi-fast climb of the “Not so 7th Secret” to the fast descent of the Super D on Seymour. While most of the riding was gravity assisted, there was a ride “to” the Sunshine Coast and the trip to Alaska comprised of 25-30 mile XC loops.

Five minutes into riding the Rune, I found that the spec was not really what I was looking for. The bike came with WTB Prowler XT 2.3" tires and a 95mm stem on top of three spacers. Even with a 67 degree headtube angle, the long stem and pinner tires made for an interesting first ride. The long stem had me feeling that I was too far out over the front tire and in danger of being pitched over the bars, and the tires with their thinner sidewalls never gave me the confidence at high speeds. Once I had switched to a Funn 45mm stem, moved the spacers to the top of the stem and installed a pair of WTB Dissent 2.5s, I felt right at home on the bike.

Going with air suspension on the front and rear was the only option to keep the bike a decent weight. Had I chosen a coil front and back, it would have added over a pound and a half to the bike's weight. With the new tires and stem, the weight of the bike was close to 37 pounds. I have never ridden an air and air bike before, so I was interested to see how the suspension would survive some of the riding that I had planned to do.

Me rocking the Banshee at the Rat Race. || Photo: Dan Barham

Right off the bat, I noticed the bike's incredible ability to climb. Having come from a hardtail, I was concerned that some of the power would be lost as the suspension ramped through its travel. I never thought twice about grabbing the Rune and pedalling up the mountains that only days before you would have seen me shuttle. The rigidity of the frame and dialling back on the low-speed compression on the Manitou Evolver rear shock made the Rune a very stable platform for pedalling up hill. The climbing ability was the same whether it be the slow climb up Seymour or the fast climb up Fromme for the Rippers.

There was, however, one characteristic with the linkage that took some getting used to: there was a wallow when you pedalled hard in the granny gear. The only time that it became very apparent was when I was climbing a steep technical hill, and the rear shock was loaded and unloaded.

The rigidity of the frame also made for a very nimble platform. When climbing, descending or even in the air, the bike never seemed to waver from its intended path. I don't do big airs, but confidence in the platform is huge when leaving the ground. Bottom line - I always felt like I was in control on the Rune.

The bike pedaled so well that weight was never an issue for me. I will never forget the jokes at the weight of my bike as the crew tried desperately to heave the bike into the van while in Alaska - they couldn’t believe that I would even consider riding a bike that weighed this much. I am, however, able to sit here and gloat that I did very well, and on one occasion lead the pack. Plain and simple, the bike pedaled very well and long distances were no problem with the saddle up and the low-speed compression dialled back. I would have liked a seatpost quick release to adjust seat height, however, as it was a slight pain to stop and dig out a tool when the mosquitoes were swarming.

Putting the Rune through her paces on Seymour. || Photo: Dan Barham

Speaking of confidence in the platform, the Banshee Rune was built with a 2008 Manitou Nixon Elite fork and a 2008 Manitou Evolver 6 rear shock. The Elite came with 32mm stanchions and Manitou's 20mm Hex Lock thru-axle, compression and rebound adjust to dial the fork to your needs. Manitou has had a very rough ride with their forks in the past and after riding this one for a few months, it seems that they have addressed most of the issues. I had no problem with the fork exploding as so many people warned me about.

Just prior to me penning this report, there was an issue with the fork and I had to take it back to the shop to see what was wrong. I am assuming that riding the fork in the Whistler Bike Park might have had something to do with it, as Manitou specifies that the fork is built for trail/enduro riding. I'm not sure, but I am thinking that endless laps of Dirt Merchant don’t fit into the trail or enduro riding categories. A personal note - this fork looked down right twiggy fitted into the OnePointFive headtube. That didn't affect performance, though.

As it turns out, riding the Nixon Elite in the bike park, tearing through Dirt Merchant, Freight Train, Crank It Up and GLC isn't really what the fork was designed for. I ended up destroying the bottom-out spring. A few days in the shop and she was better than ever. It lasted a fair chunk of riding, including the Rat Race and several runs down Cypress. Don't blame the equipment, blame the rider.

The Manitou Evolver 6 is their do-all rear air shock. I must admit that I have little to no history with air shocks, but the Evolver made the transition easy. The bottom out, rebound, high-speed and low-speed compression made fine-tuning easy enough for even this noob to learn. The knobs were clear and easy to adjust, and after a brief introduction, the shock performed well.

The 2008 Manitou Evolver 6. || Photo: Dan Gronross

Final thoughts on the Banshee Rune
What can I say, I enjoyed the bike. It single-handedly made me enjoy climbing. It's not very light for a bike that was supposed to perform XC duties, but thanks to the bike's ability to pedal so well, the additional heft was never noticed. As a side note, the weight of the bike is not an issue here on the North Shore but elsewhere was considered heavy. Even more than enjoyment of the climb, though, the Rune allowed me to enjoy riding cross country-ish terrain. The bike stayed true to its intended use as a trail bike. You could climb and you could descend with ease.

While I enjoyed the Rune immensely, there were a few issues that cropped up over the course of the test. One of the things that I found interesting for a bike that was designed on the North Shore was the bottom pull front derailleur. I have never been a fan of them, especially in this climate. Living on the Wet Coast means that even a dry ride can turn ugly and end in rain. With a bottom pull derailleur, any moisture that makes its way into the cable will settle at the lowest point at the bottom of the BB. Finicky of me to bring it up probably, but having to change the cable an unnecessary amount of times is never fun.

There were several times when I landed that the bike dropped the chain while riding in the park. The pristine white frame now has a few less-than-good-looking scrapes in it. This can be attributed to a spec issue more than anything wrong with the bike itself. The frame does come complete with chain device mounts, which I would definitely recommend if you plan on riding the park.

The WTB Dissent 2.5 was an issue in the loose stuff. When ripping the Bike Park, I could plant the tire into the packed berms and have no issues with it going squirrelly. In the loose gravel and dirt of the Sunshine Coast the tire washed out in every corner. Running a squarer tire up front with larger knobs would probably result in a slight loss of speed, but definitely more confidence in the loose corners. That being said, running the Dissent 2.5 in the back was great. It rolled well and despite the extra heft was very quick and climbed very well.

I started off this test wanting to take the Rune down every mountain I could get my dirty fingers on. I wanted to see how it could handle in all conditions, terrain and weather. With a few minor specification issues, the Rune never under performed. It rides great and looks way better than the Banshees of yesteryear. If you are in the market for a do all "mountain bike", go throw your leg over a Banshee Rune. I can't guarantee that you will end up loving climbing, but I can say that the ride up will be as rewarding as the ride down.

The 2008 Banshee Rune comes in sizes small, medium, large and extra large frame and rear shock combinations. MSRP for the Rune frame w/DHX 5.0 Air is US$1813 / CDN$2035, US$1760 / CDN$1969 for the DHX 5.0 coil, US$1593 / CDN$1805 for the DHX 3.0 coil, US$1618 / CDN$1835 for the Evolver X4 Air and US$1535 / CDN$1735 for the Swinger X4 Coil.

Lifestyle shot of myself and all the things that I love. || Photo: Dan Barham

Think Dan hit the nail on the head with this one, or is he on glue? Drop the hammer on him on the boards.