What to do with my bicycle

colintrax
Posts
4695
Joined
8/25/2015
Location
Taylorsville, GA, USA
Back story, I got sick with some mystery disease over a year ago on a camping trip. Recently my blood tests and lung tests have come back normal, and I've been feeling better.
So, time to break out the mtn bike and get some exercise right?
Aired up the tires. Did a check over... and the brakes squeal like hell. Checking spoke tension I noticed the rear wheel has a dent and flat spot in it. 1 spoke broke while tightening and I can see it's been cracked for a good while.
The gearing on the bike has needed changing since I bought it. Cassette just doesn't have the range for a 1x crank. The short derailer won't work with a better cassette so that'll need to be changed.
Paint is looking ROUGH. Faded, chipped, scratched all to hell.
My baby needs some love.

But is it worth it?
The bike is a 2016 Banshee Rune V2. An enduro/long travel type bike. I'm not really in shape to ride like that right now, and I don't know if I'll ever be again. Brake pads for the DH brakes are expensive. Drive train is expensive. Plus all the time to fix this.
But I do love this bike. Ergonomically it's fantastic. Suspension is perfect. It is MY bike by all accounts.
Maybe I ought to sell it and buy a cheapo hardtail though?
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gsxrcr28
Posts
7416
Joined
3/5/2009
Location
Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
7/13/2022 8:36pm
Sell it, and buy a new bike. One that matches your level of capability and terrain you’ll be riding the most. I think you’ll be much happier and have a warranty.
early
Posts
9914
Joined
2/13/2013
Location
University Heights, OH, USA
7/13/2022 8:40pm
Depends on what kind of riding you plan on doing. Going from 160-180mm bike to a hardtail is as apples and oranges as it gets. I've been riding my hardtail almost exclusively for the last couple years, it's fine for the type of riding I do and I like the extra physicality of it. Over the 4th I met up with an old friend and did some riding on his carbon frame carbon wheeled Santa Cruz Blur and Hightower, I came home and dusted off my old stumpy fsr and boy was that a disappointment! It's impossible for me to justify a high dollar bike right now so I'll just suffer on what I have. Good luck with your decision.
1
7/13/2022 10:15pm
Ali-express for Dh pads. My sintered in my Magura mt5s are excellent and 2 full sets for 15 bucks delivered.
Wait for the deals on parts. Do the work yourself. Much cheaper.
Bearuno
Posts
5412
Joined
6/28/2014
Location
AU
7/14/2022 1:52am
colintrax wrote:
Back story, I got sick with some mystery disease over a year ago on a camping trip. Recently my blood tests and lung tests have come...
Back story, I got sick with some mystery disease over a year ago on a camping trip. Recently my blood tests and lung tests have come back normal, and I've been feeling better.
So, time to break out the mtn bike and get some exercise right?
Aired up the tires. Did a check over... and the brakes squeal like hell. Checking spoke tension I noticed the rear wheel has a dent and flat spot in it. 1 spoke broke while tightening and I can see it's been cracked for a good while.
The gearing on the bike has needed changing since I bought it. Cassette just doesn't have the range for a 1x crank. The short derailer won't work with a better cassette so that'll need to be changed.
Paint is looking ROUGH. Faded, chipped, scratched all to hell.
My baby needs some love.

But is it worth it?
The bike is a 2016 Banshee Rune V2. An enduro/long travel type bike. I'm not really in shape to ride like that right now, and I don't know if I'll ever be again. Brake pads for the DH brakes are expensive. Drive train is expensive. Plus all the time to fix this.
But I do love this bike. Ergonomically it's fantastic. Suspension is perfect. It is MY bike by all accounts.
Maybe I ought to sell it and buy a cheapo hardtail though?
All the issues with your current bike are normal wear issues.

Brake Pads and Rotors - wear and set up. Both can be found at very affordable prices. Though, just recently there was an announcement from some f**knuckle company selling wooden boxed, Gold Plated Back Plate and Pad springs Pad sets for some mindboggling price........ there's some idiots in the MTB Industry / Community....... Whistling I'm a Frame maker, by the way.

Cassettes / Chainwheels / Chains- wear items. Just make sure the derailleur you have will handle the range of the cassette you are thinking of. Since I almost exclusively ride my DH bikes (though I do get around to the Shops and Fat Burning rides on a Dual Slalom framed bike I made in '96, that I somehow thought to put the seat stay and chain stay cross braces high enough to just enable use of 29" / 700c wheels with Road / Cyclocross tyres on it - it's a Hoot!), I run at least a 10 speed cassette, for 'usefulness', or, a 12 or 18 gear Pinion Gearbox.

Rims / Spokes - wear item. Cripes, any given weekend, I, or my Riders / riding group, can go through a few rims, with the rocks we have on our DH courses / general trails.

It can all get expensive - and MTB / Bicycles in general, are very pricy. Well, at the level I'm involved in for over 5 decades now. And, it all very much teeters / crosses over into the 'rip off' area. Tyres that last a few runs, that are just as expensive , or more so, than MC tyres. Rims - and without getting into CF ones - that are more expensive than Excels. And on and on.

You love your current bike - give it some love back. Just riding the streets for now, to regain fitness? - put some slicks / road tyres on whatever diameter wheels it has. Just watch out for 'pegging out' through corners due to the smaller OD of the slicks! Woohoo Blink Blush
2

The Shop

DoctorJD
Posts
2977
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Somewhere in..., GA, USA
7/14/2022 5:05am
Not sure if you're on FB but there's a "Georgia MTB Buy/Sell" group that's pretty active. Sell your current bike and buy something more...modern. A lot of those Covid-lockdown-impulse-buyers are starting to part ways with their bikes and the prices have actually come down to a reasonable level. And yes, lots of aggressive HT bikes on there.
1
colintrax
Posts
4695
Joined
8/25/2015
Location
Taylorsville, GA, USA
7/14/2022 10:50am
I think I bought it off that Facebook group lol

Well I was hoping for a more concise group answer. I think I'll keep it though.
When I bought this bike I had an older Marin XC bike that I loved, but I found I never rode it after getting the Banshee. Even on trails the Marin would be the "better" bike.

I've rode more "modern" bikes and I dont like them. 29er wheels and slack head angles just make for a lazy feeling bike to me. I think it was a Trek I briefly owned? Couldn't make that thing turn worth a damn. Just couldn't get enough weight onto the front wheel. Different strokes for different folks, I like the 26" wheels.

Jenson use to have tons of closeout stuff. Where's the deals these days?

Any suggestions for painting the frame? I'm thinking plum purple. I also happen to have some Ford antimatter blue laying around.
three9zero
Posts
1454
Joined
9/26/2010
Location
Kamloops B.C, CA
7/14/2022 11:40am
Bikes have changed alot since '16. Are you into climb up shred down riding or more XC/trail riding? By the time you upgrade the bike and fix all the issues you may be better off getting something newer and more up to date.
Falcon
Posts
12421
Joined
11/16/2011
Location
Menifee, CA, USA
7/15/2022 9:10am
You mentioned the deraileur needs replacing... are you sure? For $5, you can get a new cable which I am 99% sure will fix any shifting/ adjustment issues you have. See the video below for adjustment instructions.
Is your bike a 1x drivetrain? I couldn't quite tell from your original post. If not, do this for the front deraileur also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkZxPIZ1ngY
colintrax
Posts
4695
Joined
8/25/2015
Location
Taylorsville, GA, USA
7/15/2022 9:41am
Falcon wrote:
You mentioned the deraileur needs replacing... are you sure? For $5, you can get a new cable which I am 99% sure will fix any shifting/...
You mentioned the deraileur needs replacing... are you sure? For $5, you can get a new cable which I am 99% sure will fix any shifting/ adjustment issues you have. See the video below for adjustment instructions.
Is your bike a 1x drivetrain? I couldn't quite tell from your original post. If not, do this for the front deraileur also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkZxPIZ1ngY
Noting wrong with the derailer but the cassette is only like a 32-11 gearing or something like that. DH set up from the previous owner that I've lived with. So the derailer is a short cage that won't accept a bigger cassette.

Considering an hour of PT kicks my ass. I dont think I can pull the DH gearing around the trails. I need to get lower.
colintrax
Posts
4695
Joined
8/25/2015
Location
Taylorsville, GA, USA
7/15/2022 9:45am
three9zero wrote:
Bikes have changed alot since '16. Are you into climb up shred down riding or more XC/trail riding? By the time you upgrade the bike and...
Bikes have changed alot since '16. Are you into climb up shred down riding or more XC/trail riding? By the time you upgrade the bike and fix all the issues you may be better off getting something newer and more up to date.
Right now I just want to cruise some trails. I want to get back to more gnarly stuff though.

What's changed since 2016? Internal routing is more common but I don't care. Centerlock brakes don't really look like an improvement to me.
I'm not interested in 29" wheels. I think thats about it no?
Bike has cane creak DB air shock, fox 34e float fork. Dropper post. 1x drive train.
early
Posts
9914
Joined
2/13/2013
Location
University Heights, OH, USA
7/15/2022 10:00am
Might be cheaper and easier to just put a smaller chainring on the crank with the limited availability of some bike parts nowadays. Might get a little spun out on downhills sometimes.
Falcon
Posts
12421
Joined
11/16/2011
Location
Menifee, CA, USA
7/15/2022 1:22pm
Falcon wrote:
You mentioned the deraileur needs replacing... are you sure? For $5, you can get a new cable which I am 99% sure will fix any shifting/...
You mentioned the deraileur needs replacing... are you sure? For $5, you can get a new cable which I am 99% sure will fix any shifting/ adjustment issues you have. See the video below for adjustment instructions.
Is your bike a 1x drivetrain? I couldn't quite tell from your original post. If not, do this for the front deraileur also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkZxPIZ1ngY
colintrax wrote:
Noting wrong with the derailer but the cassette is only like a 32-11 gearing or something like that. DH set up from the previous owner that...
Noting wrong with the derailer but the cassette is only like a 32-11 gearing or something like that. DH set up from the previous owner that I've lived with. So the derailer is a short cage that won't accept a bigger cassette.

Considering an hour of PT kicks my ass. I dont think I can pull the DH gearing around the trails. I need to get lower.
Can you swap out the front chainring for a smaller one? That will drop your overall gearing significantly. You won't have the huge range that some of these dinner plate cassettes have, but at least you'll be starting in the right ballpark.
I have a 1x11 on my Commencal, and I don't often use the bottom one or top three gears. 2-8 is where I live.
colintrax
Posts
4695
Joined
8/25/2015
Location
Taylorsville, GA, USA
7/15/2022 3:54pm
Actually I do have another chain ring. I think its a 32 on it, and I have a 30 sitting in a box of extra parts.

That's a good idea to at least try before dumping money into a cassette and derailer. Thanks!
colintrax
Posts
4695
Joined
8/25/2015
Location
Taylorsville, GA, USA
7/15/2022 6:22pm
I can't ever get the edit button to work.

Anyways just checked. The chain ring on the bike is a 36, and I have a spare 36 as well as a 30. I'll toss that 30 on, fix the brakes and rear wheel, and get to riding!
I can get around to other stuff over winter.
1
Pirate421
Posts
1826
Joined
7/26/2015
Location
USA
7/15/2022 9:07pm
Check out ibis they are moving factories and have 25% off right now. I’ve owned both a Ripley AF and a Ripmo AF and they are fantastic bikes pretty reasonable great suspension. 25% off is an insane deal as well. N+1 bikes will ship it to your door for free and they are great to deal with.
Pirate421
Posts
1826
Joined
7/26/2015
Location
USA
7/15/2022 9:08pm
Also I liked the ripmo AF better than the Ripley which is what I currently ride. The ripmo is 160/147 but pedals really well and isn’t too progressive geometry wise, a great do it all bike.
7/15/2022 10:36pm
36 to 30 is a big jump. 36-32 gearing no wonder you struggled up climbs. I agree the newer bikes went too slack and long.
1
Falcon
Posts
12421
Joined
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Location
Menifee, CA, USA
7/18/2022 8:28am
colintrax wrote:
I can't ever get the edit button to work. Anyways just checked. The chain ring on the bike is a 36, and I have a spare...
I can't ever get the edit button to work.

Anyways just checked. The chain ring on the bike is a 36, and I have a spare 36 as well as a 30. I'll toss that 30 on, fix the brakes and rear wheel, and get to riding!
I can get around to other stuff over winter.
Remember you may need to cut a link or two out of your chain.
1

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