BANSHEE TITAN V3.2 REVIEW

Words by Robert Johnston  |  Photos by Micky Francis

Banshee bikes – hailing from Canada but now designed in Scotland – have a diverse range of mountain bikes. From hardtails and short travel – yet aggressive – full suspension bikes, all the way up to their Legend downhill bike, there’s a Banshee bike for most riders out there. Sitting at the top end of the pedal-friendly machines is the Titan, now on version 3.2, which aims to offer the best performance possible for aggressive pedal-fed mountain biking and Enduro racing. We got one in to test, and set about subjecting it to some of the gnarliest trails Europe has to offer. Read on or watch the review video to find out how it performed.

ABOUT THE BANSHEE TITAN V3.2

The Banshee Titan V3.2 is the latest iteration of their long-travel Enduro mountain bike, with 155mm of travel out back paired to a 170mm fork and 29” wheels as standard. For riders looking to obtain more clearance or a slight boost to agility, the Titan V3.2 is also mixed-wheel compatible, with a 27.5” rear wheel going in with only slight changes in the geometry thanks to a replaceable dropout.

FRAME AND FEATURES | Banshee bikes are manufactured from 7005-T6 aluminum, with highly shaped hydroformed tubing and the unique 3D-forged shock cage that forms the heart of their KS2 dual-link suspension system. This 3D-Forged Shock Cage delivers a number of benefits to the overall frame structure and ride characteristics. The loads from the suspension are all contained within this forged structure, ensuring the remainder of the frame is unaffected and so can be optimized for other loads. This concentrates the center of gravity low and centrally in the frame, aiming to deliver optimal riding characteristics. The seat stays and chainstays feature internal ribbing, for your berm-ripping pleasure. This is done in a bit to maximize strength and stiffness without the addition of excessive weight.

Adjustability to the geometry comes in the form of Banshee’s modular dropout system. The same dropout can be used to swap between a “Neutral” and “Low” geometry setting by adjusting the orientation of the flip chips. These dropouts can also be swapped between a 148mm Boost spacing and 142mm spacing for those looking to use an older wheelset. Finally, Banshee offers “Compact” and “Long” options, letting riders select their chainstay length to tweak the handling, as well as offering compatibility with up to 29×2.8” rear tires.

Cables are routed internally, with clamped ports at the headtube. A water bottle will fit inside the front triangle with ample clearance. ISCG tabs sit around the bottom bracket to add chainring protection and a chainguide to keep things in check. Lastly, there’s a custom-formed chainstay protection to keep chain slap to a minimum, though this could have been more effective as we’ll talk about below.

SUSPENSION | As with all Banshee full suspension bikes, their long travel 29er relies upon the KS2 suspension design to control its 155mm rear end. This is a dual-link suspension design, with two co-rotating links that emulate the DW-Link suspension design found on the classic Iron Horse Sunday. The looks of a system and number of pivots only tell a small part of the story though, and Banshee has worked on their kinematics to deliver what they consider to be the best handling characteristics.

The leverage ratio sits at a low average, progressing 27% over the stroke to make it coil or air compatible. Anti Squat is quite high, sitting at 125% at sag in the 3rd gear of the cassette. This makes for high levels of pedaling efficiency, with the bike “standing up” when pedaling, but it drops throughout the travel to avoid any unwanted forces towards bottom out. Finally, Anti Rise (or Brake Squat) sits around 85% at sag, giving a balanced braking character.

GEOMETRY | The geometry on the Banshee Titan v3.2 is typical for a modern enduro mountain bike, without going into the crazy long or slack camp. Offered in sizes Medium to XL, the size large has a modest 470mm Reach with a high 652mm Stack height. The chainstays are fairly long at 452mm, giving a wheelbase of 1270mm.

BUILD SPECS | Banshee doesn’t offer complete bikes. Instead, they work with select bike shops to deliver a fully tailored build to each customer and ensure maximum satisfaction. We covered their relationship with one bike shop in particular – BC Suspension in Grantown-on-Spey, Scotland – in this article.

The Titan V3.2 frame can be purchased with a custom-tuned Fox Float X2 shock and headset for $2599 / €2399 / £2099. Our build from BC Suspension was £6,650 (approx $8,500), and featured a mixture of high-quality componentry where it mattered, with slightly more modest components in other areas to keep the price from climbing too high. This is very typical of the kind of build that BC Suspension would recommend to their customers, and proved to be an absolute delight.

With the latest Rock Shox ZEB Charger 3.1 and Vivid Coil suspension, adjustability was plentiful to get the Titan dialed in. SRAM’s Maven brakes provided insane stopping power, and a dependable GX Mechanical shifter and derailleur didn’t put a foot wrong. A set of Hope Fortus 30 Pro 5 wheels were wrapped in burly Continental Kryptotal tires in the downhill casing, with ultra soft rubber up front and soft in the rear.

The cockpit was provided by Chromag; and a Wolf Tooth 200mm dropper post was topped by an Ergon SM Enduro saddle.

Overall, the Titan V3.2 in this burly build spec tipped the scales at 17.25kg/38.0 lbs. It’s certainly not a lightweight machine, but given the no-nonsense burly build on a coil-sprung alloy frame, it wasn’t a surprise. It’d be easy to knock off 2 or 3 lbs with different component selection if desired, without adding excessive cost.

THE DIRT

SETUP | Getting this Banshee Titan V3.2 custom build setup was an easy affair. With the rear spring rate being selected by Ben at BC Suspension based on my weight, riding style and his experience, I initially felt a little oversprung sitting around 25% sag. However, when I began to attack the highly gravity-fed trails of the French alps, it started to make a lot of sense. The Charger 3.1-equipped RockShox Zeb was nothing short of excellent, with slightly over the recommended air pressure for my 100kg / 220lbs mass and fairly middling damper settings offering up an incredibly comfortable yet composed ride when things got hectic.

When I came back home to the high frequency chatter and limited traction of the Tweed Valley, I did begin to feel a little oversprung in the rear once again. I have faith that dropping down one or two spring rates would still deliver acceptable reserves for the bigger hits thanks to that progressive rear end.

CLIMBING | A sticky tire-equipped 38lbs enduro bike is never going to win a cross country race, or even be a bike that you’re excited to take on a huge day out. But given the handicaps presented to the Titan from the get-go, it was far from the most arduous bike I’ve had to climb. The KS2 rear end offered plentiful pedaling support, even feeling to extend slightly under power in the easier gears when really giving it some power. As a result, it wasn’t the most comfortable climbing machine in choppy terrain. With an approach of putting the power down hard in the smoother sections and letting it roll through the rough, it got up technical climbs without much complaint.

The climbing geometry was solid once the saddle was rammed forward in the rails, even at my high saddle height. Its high stack and fairly conservative reach gave a nice relaxed upright position, making the granny-ring slogs a comfortable affair. Overall, you’re not going to break any records going up on the Banshee Titan if it’s built like this test bike, but it’ll serve its purpose of getting you up to the top of some gnarly descents, where you can reap the rewards.

DESCENDING | As modern enduro bikes go, 155mm travel may not seem like enough, but you should not be fooled by that number. In no way does the Titan V3.2 feel like your run-of-the-mill 155mm travel bike. In fact, it wasn’t until I began typing up this article that I was reminded of this relatively short travel number. It’s amazing what a solid kinematic combined with high quality modern shock can deliver, and that’s exactly what the Banshee Titan has.

The sensitivity of the suspension on both ends muted the overall hectic feeling coming through some of the gnarly trails in the Alps. This skewed my perception of speed, and so there were numerous times where the Titan’s composure in the rough led me to coming into a drop or jump too hot. Much to my relief, Banshee’s Enduro machine was up to the task, and shook off some big hits without flinching. 27% progression combined with a coil shock with Hydraulic Bottom Out resulted in a rear end that handled just about everything with impressive composure.

The geometry led itself to a very composed machine, without feeling overly geared towards high speeds in a straight line. A modest reach with high stack and long rear end gave a relaxed feeling stance on the bike with a very central position. It was easy to stand tall in the middle of the bike and flow down the rough. It’s not an incredible play bike, but the more gravity-fed trails were an absolute pleasure. A stiff and precise chassis combined with the burly Hope wheelset made it incredibly reassuring to push hard in high speed berms and hard compressions.

It was only upon riding some of the most awkward, technical and rough trails in the Tweed Valley, Scotland, that the stiffness of the Titan felt to be a little detrimental at times. In a straight line, the comfort and traction was excellent. But when faced with roots and slick rock coming at you from every angle, I felt there was a little more deflection than I’d expected from its composure elsewhere.

FINISH AND VALUE | The Banshee Titan V3.2 ran fairly quietly throughout testing, aside from an occasional slap from a rogue chain on a big hit. The chainstay protection was okay, but could have offered a little more coverage and cushion. Similarly, the unprotected downtube allowed loose rocks to create noise. Both of these could easily be remedied with some care and a protective rubber tape such as VHS Slapper Tape, but it’d be nice to see slightly better protection coming stock. The brake side rear dropout also had a tendency to shake loose from time to time. Whether it was the brute of the Maven rear brake or just insufficient loctite, I’m unsure, but I have faith it could be remedied.

One concerning element is the lack of clearance between the rear tire and the brace in the rear triangle. During testing you could hear loose rocks getting pinged off the rear tire by the brace frequently, and though it never caused any serious issues, I could foresee issues with mud clearance on the sloppiest days. If you’re a frequent slop or snow rider, you’ll want to opt for the long dropouts or a less tall rear tire to ensure you don’t have any complaints.

Otherwise, the Titan exudes high quality feelings all around, and feels absolutely worthy of its price tag.

COMPONENT REPORT

Rock Shox Zeb Charger 3.1 | Finally, Rock Shox has produced a Zeb version that has me somewhat blown away. I was able to get to a happy place with the setup in quick time, and once there it offered a beautiful balance of comfort, support and predictability. Best fork I’ve ridden? More time and some back-to-back testing will tell for sure, but it’s entirely possible. Watch this space.

Rock Shox Vivid Coil | With the 170mm Zeb doing great things, the 155mm rear end had its work cut out to keep up. But the Vivid Coil felt to be a great match, and the resulting suspension performance overall was excellent. HBO should be a demand for controlling the end of a high quality coil sprung rear shock’s stroke, and the remainder of the tunability of the Vivid Coil was very much welcome.

Continental Kryptotal Downhill Tires | I love how damped these Conti tires feel. They really calm the handling of any bike down, and undoubtedly aided in the overall feeling of composure delivered by the Titan. That said, they are not for the faint hearted, as they’re certainly not the fastest or lightest tires going. Absolutely worth it to unlock the descending capabilities of any worthy enduro mountain bike or eMTB in my eyes though.

The Wolf’s Last Word

The Banshee Titan V3.2 impressed during the test, offering a reassuringly solid feeling with great suspension performance. It’s not a super light or playful machine, and may be too stiff for the most compliance-demanding riders, but it’s damn fun and high quality throughout. A modern Enduro version of an Iron Horse Sunday, indeed.

WHO’S IT FOR?

The Banshee Titan V3.2 is an excellent candidate for riders with rough and abusive pedal-fed trails locally, provided the rider is happy to spin up the climbs and is more concerned about sure-footedness on the descents. It’s an Enduro bike that hard-charging riders are likely to get along with well. 

Price as Tested: £6,650 (appx $8,500)
Frame + Shock Price: $2599 / €2399 / £2099

Website: bansheebikes.com