Been looking at a Banshee Titan for months, you guys finally convinced me to pull the trigger, frame on the way. Your videos are highly appreciated, you're some of the only guys (along with Steve at Vorsprung) who talk in a clear manner about what actually matters. Thanks a lot
Banshee has been ahead of the curve with geometry for years. Other brands now realizing a tall stack and long stays is the way. Little annoyance, if your shock has the rebound knob on the bottom (rockshox), it’s difficult to access it.
Nicolai and Chris Porter from Geometron developed the geometry, Nicolai own the manufacture process and it is pure Made in Germany. In the mainland Europe it is mostly known as Nicolai G1, in the UK and the USA - Geometron owns the distribution.
Nicolais are such good no bullshit bikes. Impeccable tolerances, well sealed bearings, external routing, modular. If you have a solid idea of the geo you want, the custom fee is very reasonable - no need to agonize over the chart. Still costs less than a mass manufactured plastic bike. My short travel trail bike is a custom Nicolai with a tall stack and if I break my Gnarvana there's a 99% chance I'll be getting a long travel Nic to complement it.
This rings home so much, on medium spires, throw away the 150mm dropper and needs minimum 50mm rise bars. Double check all pivot hardware tolerances out of the gate.
Not just the spire, transitions latest gen of bikes have tons of issues with frame alignment and cracking/ blowing main pivot shells from my experience. Did you have a main pivot go on you?
I've had this problem with several of their bikes starting around the SBG era. My Sentinel was a nightmare: rear triangle broke after 3 weeks, bearings didn't last beyond a few months, the bearings in the rocker walked out of their shell and were half hanging out, and the swingarm was out of alignment. I've since worked on several others and they all had alignment problems or every bearing in the frame was seized. My Smuggler Carbon was less of a problem but still had bearing and alignment issues. They've also had problems with their cable routing since that same era, they were a pain to route or work on in comparison to their peers and still are. Great company to deal with, very helpful and great warranty folks, they eventually took care of these problems for me, but their frames have no longevity and a lot of QC problems IMO. It's a shame because my gen1 Smuggler and Patrol were awesome bikes and had 0 problems of this nature.
Really enjoying these chats. Nerding out on bike geo! Banshee titan rider here also but looking at upgrading soonish. Looking at the new V3 Madonna. But keen to see what forbidden do on the V2 dready. As I’m keen to try a high pivot bike. The V1 dready might be a bargain buy.
I think I’ve been at this point about two and a half years ago when I bought a bike from a small German company called Kavenz. Awesome bike, aluminium frame, high pivot, single size bearing, custom colour. Everything I could wish for and it’s still going strong. But in the meantime I was looking for an e-bike for these long trail centre weekends without shuttle or lift. Bought an Orbea carbon bike, bearing fitment is really bad, also the paint quality is bad. Already warrantied it once, the second frame is better but one bearing housing is so tight, it’s hard to rotate the bearing by hand. So I guess it’s only a matter of time until it fails again and I’m in for my second frame replacement. I have to say the wild rides very good, but I think for me the differences are not worth it. Next time I will go again for a aluminium boutique frame like Nicolai or Kavenz or similar brands.
Hi Nick - just a quick one about the Spire - did you get the feeling that as soon as your weight is shifted slightly to the back of the bike - and the front wheel looses traction? Thanks!
I cant remember having this symptom occur. The only time the front end of the bike felt washy/unconfident was when I first started riding it and had the fork rebound waaaay too slow. I set my rebound based off the setting I ran on the first gen Zeb, the spire came with a charger 3 which has a very different rebound tune and required a different setting to feel the same. What size bike are you on? There are quite a few things that can contribute to a light feeling front end. I would start with confirming your rear shock sag is no more than 30% that bike is slack to begin with, if you ride flatter stuff reduce the sag and see if that helps.
@@nikdommen hi there and thanks for detailed answer! Actually I do not have Spire. Just wanted to know if the front end gets washy too easy but seems it does not.
I am currently running 454mm chainstay with the 41mm mutator. I do have the longer one and will try it, but right now I am happy with how the bike handles. GeoMetron does make a mutator longer than 47, you might want to contact them about that.
@@nikdommen I already bought the longest one 54mm. With a 241x76mm shock and a 15mm seatstay mutator I get 462mm CS. If I remove the seat stay mutator they would be longer but then my bbh would be too low and the HA would be too slack!
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![You'll HATE it but these 4 "Inside-Out" Cornering Drills ELIMINATE DH/Enduro washouts forever [4K]](/img/n.gif)
Been looking at a Banshee Titan for months, you guys finally convinced me to pull the trigger, frame on the way.
Your videos are highly appreciated, you're some of the only guys (along with Steve at Vorsprung) who talk in a clear manner about what actually matters. Thanks a lot
Banshee has been ahead of the curve with geometry for years. Other brands now realizing a tall stack and long stays is the way. Little annoyance, if your shock has the rebound knob on the bottom (rockshox), it’s difficult to access it.
I appreciate it! More videos on the way. Congrats on the Titan!
Nicolai and Chris Porter from Geometron developed the geometry, Nicolai own the manufacture process and it is pure Made in Germany. In the mainland Europe it is mostly known as Nicolai G1, in the UK and the USA - Geometron owns the distribution.
Nicolais are such good no bullshit bikes. Impeccable tolerances, well sealed bearings, external routing, modular. If you have a solid idea of the geo you want, the custom fee is very reasonable - no need to agonize over the chart. Still costs less than a mass manufactured plastic bike. My short travel trail bike is a custom Nicolai with a tall stack and if I break my Gnarvana there's a 99% chance I'll be getting a long travel Nic to complement it.
No bullshit bikes is a good way to put it. Performance based not marketing driven
11:56 Chris Porter Of Geometron developed the geometry, and was a big change in geometry thus the name Geometron I guess.
I put the XL chainstay on my Large Spire and confirmed it's awesome
Pimp decision
Did transition sell you the stays or did you get them off another bike?
How much was the xl chainstay?
This rings home so much, on medium spires, throw away the 150mm dropper and needs minimum 50mm rise bars. Double check all pivot hardware tolerances out of the gate.
Not just the spire, transitions latest gen of bikes have tons of issues with frame alignment and cracking/ blowing main pivot shells from my experience. Did you have a main pivot go on you?
I've had this problem with several of their bikes starting around the SBG era. My Sentinel was a nightmare: rear triangle broke after 3 weeks, bearings didn't last beyond a few months, the bearings in the rocker walked out of their shell and were half hanging out, and the swingarm was out of alignment. I've since worked on several others and they all had alignment problems or every bearing in the frame was seized. My Smuggler Carbon was less of a problem but still had bearing and alignment issues. They've also had problems with their cable routing since that same era, they were a pain to route or work on in comparison to their peers and still are.
Great company to deal with, very helpful and great warranty folks, they eventually took care of these problems for me, but their frames have no longevity and a lot of QC problems IMO. It's a shame because my gen1 Smuggler and Patrol were awesome bikes and had 0 problems of this nature.
You should try some m-suspensiontech tuned marzocchi cr shox. They work just like brilliant and the prices for tuning are really fair.
Mondraker Superfoxy Carbon. Size L: reach 475, chainstay (geo flipchip): 450/455/460, wheelbase: 1295 (supposing numbers on their web are correct)
Really enjoying these chats. Nerding out on bike geo! Banshee titan rider here also but looking at upgrading soonish. Looking at the new V3 Madonna. But keen to see what forbidden do on the V2 dready. As I’m keen to try a high pivot bike. The V1 dready might be a bargain buy.
Transitions have become notions for manufacturing issues
Bro had so many issues on my 3rd spire frame. Bike rides great though.
Thank you for the video you guys 👍
Thanks for watching!
How are you swapping the steer tube? Just a press?
I think he meant he changed the entire csu unit including stanchions
Some suspension companies can actually swap a steerer. Had it done to my lyrik for 120 euros.
Yes. Suspension Syndicate in SLC will do it if you're in the US.
I think I’ve been at this point about two and a half years ago when I bought a bike from a small German company called Kavenz. Awesome bike, aluminium frame, high pivot, single size bearing, custom colour. Everything I could wish for and it’s still going strong. But in the meantime I was looking for an e-bike for these long trail centre weekends without shuttle or lift. Bought an Orbea carbon bike, bearing fitment is really bad, also the paint quality is bad. Already warrantied it once, the second frame is better but one bearing housing is so tight, it’s hard to rotate the bearing by hand. So I guess it’s only a matter of time until it fails again and I’m in for my second frame replacement. I have to say the wild rides very good, but I think for me the differences are not worth it. Next time I will go again for a aluminium boutique frame like Nicolai or Kavenz or similar brands.
super happy with the nicolai build quality. But the sizing is weird. Just switched to a M coming from an L. Feels a lot more natural.
I could see that. I’ve got a size comparison video coming up between the small and the large
Brian, an interview with Chris Porter (Geometron) would be awesome.
Would be stoked if I could pull that off. I’ll look into it!
Just wait till you see the new dreadnought geo it's right in your wheelhouse.
I’m sure it’s going to be dialed
Can you guys tell how tall are you,so I can compare it to myself?
Nik is 5’11” and I’m 6’1”
Hi Nick - just a quick one about the Spire - did you get the feeling that as soon as your weight is shifted slightly to the back of the bike - and the front wheel looses traction? Thanks!
I cant remember having this symptom occur. The only time the front end of the bike felt washy/unconfident was when I first started riding it and had the fork rebound waaaay too slow. I set my rebound based off the setting I ran on the first gen Zeb, the spire came with a charger 3 which has a very different rebound tune and required a different setting to feel the same. What size bike are you on? There are quite a few things that can contribute to a light feeling front end. I would start with confirming your rear shock sag is no more than 30% that bike is slack to begin with, if you ride flatter stuff reduce the sag and see if that helps.
@@nikdommen hi there and thanks for detailed answer! Actually I do not have Spire. Just wanted to know if the front end gets washy too easy but seems it does not.
What size chainstays did you get on that S frame? I'm running 462mm on my size L and still want longer chainstays.
I am currently running 454mm chainstay with the 41mm mutator. I do have the longer one and will try it, but right now I am happy with how the bike handles. GeoMetron does make a mutator longer than 47, you might want to contact them about that.
@@nikdommen I already bought the longest one 54mm. With a 241x76mm shock and a 15mm seatstay mutator I get 462mm CS. If I remove the seat stay mutator they would be longer but then my bbh would be too low and the HA would be too slack!
Did you ever run a dual crown on the spire?
I did not, but I did run it at 180mm and liked that.
You guys need to throw up some photos or clips during the chat. I’ve been nicolai curious for a long time.
There will be more riding content in the upcoming videos
is that the dude from lord of the rings?
Which dude?
@@nikdommen homie on the left.