First Look: Updated 2015 Banshee Legend MKIII DH Bike 16

Banshee's Legend downhill bike has received some major updates for 2015. The company's goal was to create "a leaner, meaner, and ultimately faster DH racer." Improvements include tweaks to the geometry, more travel, better tire clearance, a stiffer tube set, less pedal kickback, and refined forgings.

Here they are in detail, courtesy of Banshee's lead engineer, Keith Scott:

• The geometry of the frames has been updated to supply what our riders have asked for. We have dropped the small size, lengthened the medium and large top tube lengths (while also lowering the center of gravity and standover), and added a new XL size for longer front center to allow taller riders to get into a great attack position.
• The head angle has been slackened to 63.0 degrees, the BB has been lowered 2mm, the travel has increased to 205mm, and rear tire clearance for 26" wheels has been improved to help on really muddy tracks.
• A new tube set not only increases strength and front triangle torsional stiffness by 5%, but it also creates a cleaner merge with the shock basement forgings, and improves compatibility with the tube for integrated frame bumpers from ODI.
• The linkage kinematics have been improved to work more optimally with modern DH race cassette ranges while slightly reducing pedal kickback.
• The MY15 legend forgings have all been refined to shed weight and improve aesthetics, the frame has tubes for ODI fork bumpers, and now has a 44/56 tapered head tube to make it compatible with tapered steerer triple clamp forks running a zero stack headset, while the whole center of gravity of the frame has been lowered to make it the best in it's class by a margin.
• Lots of other small manufacturing details to improve strength, stiffness characteristics and ultimately performance.

The new 2015 model is shipping now. Color options include Red/Blue, Raw/Red, and Stealth. Visit www.bansheebikes.com for more info.