Vital's Banshee Spitfire Test Bike

When I'm testing individual trail bike components, I use this steed. Fast Frame Facts: 5-inches of travel // Two geometry modes // Tapered headtube // Hydroformed 7005 AL tubes // ISCG2005 tabs // Approximately 65.5-degree headangle in current configuration

Super short (35mm), super light, and super good looking. This baby brought it all together. I went with a long frame and short stem on this build, similar to what Mondraker is advocating with their "forward geometry."

SRAM sent over some of their new Rise 60 wheels for a good thrashing. These puppies weigh just 1330 grams and use 24 spokes a pop. Pretty sure my average trail speed just went up a few miles per hour!

While the Rise 60's weren't specifically designed for an aggressive all-mountain bike, I'm getting along on them pretty well. The flex is noticeable when really leaning into turns, but these bad boys are actually pretty burly. I tried to fold one in half while casing a berm-to-berm transfer. It's still ticking.

This new X0 Trail four-piston brake is one of the best I've used from the Avid crew. Minus some noise in the wet and a little bit of witchcraft during the bleed process, they've been dialed.

Climb. Trail. Descend. That's what CTD stands for, and you'll be seeing lots of it in 2013. Fox switched nearly their entire line over to this easy to use damping system. So far I'm spending almost all of my time in Trail mode, front and back.