Mullet Effect on @bansheebikes V3 models - Phantom and Titan

2/14/2020

It is no secret I love the way a Mullet bike feels.... be it the wheels, or because my height feels between a 29 and a 27.5 wheel size... whatever it is, I love riding Mullet Bikes!
What will follow will be a re-count of how the change to a 27.5 Rear wheel on the Phantom V3 and Titan effect the geometry figures.

The following is just the measure change in degrees or millimeters, not the angles observed. With these number you can transpose those based on the geometry figures outlined by banshee, but don't forget to account also for fork axle/crown changes as well.

Here is how these two were set up for the measurements:
PHANTOM V3 - 140 Fox 34 - Seatpost @730mm
TITAN - 170 Z1 - Seatpost @730mm
When wheels were changed the tire type was kept identical, just the diameter changed.

Figures were pretty similar, and no.. they are likely not 100% Accurate, but, they will give you a good idea how the mullet set-up will effect the bikes geometry.

NOW.... GO RIDE #MOREAWESOMER

14 Comments

Jason

7/7/2020 05:12:09

Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems then you could preserve the 29er rear geometry vs. the low setting by switching to the neutral with the 27.5. I see on the Titan, you were in the neutral for both and the Phantom you were in the low for both.

Brandon

7/7/2020 06:45:11

I did the measurements more so to get an idea of the change numbers, then the difference could be applied the different dropout positions.

As an extra note... ended up preferring the titan in 29r, rear wheel rollover and traction was better🤘

Ben

8/1/2020 13:48:51

Do you have a review of how it handled anywhere? I’d love to hear a lot more of how these bikes specifically felt post transformation. Seat angle, pedal ability, cornering differences etc.

DirtMurderR

8/1/2020 13:56:18

Hey, so here is what I really noticed.
The handling effect was noticeable, the rear end did have a slightly faster/nimbler feel to it.. however..... I was also riding a shorter travel full 29r Following MB at the time and I could not figure out why it felt faster and more composed.
So, swapped back to full 29r and the speed, rollover and impact dampening was noticeable. The full 29r setup just...rode..faster.. and more composed.
So, back to full 29r and I am lovin’ it!

8/1/2020 14:03:26

Thanks for the reply! I’ve been thinking about picking one up and had the idea in the back of my head to play with that experiment. The Titan seemed like a good option for it using the flip chip as a way to offset the wheel size and preserve original geometry and pedal clearance.

What are your overall thoughts of the Titan? I haven’t seen many reviews or comparisons to other mainstream long travel 29s

Dirt_murderR

10/29/2020 20:29:53

Ben, just did an updated long term review... check it out.

https://www.inceptioncyclery.com/dirt_murderr-reviews/banshee-titan-long-term-covid-season-reflection

10/29/2020 22:17:58

Thanks for the additional info! It’s winter build project time and it sounds like something along these lines will keep me occupied

Martin link

7/6/2021 11:20:58

Hey just wondering, I'm debating between the spitfire v3 and phantom v3 as mullet. ( I already have a 29er Lyrik at 140mm). I want this bike to be my one bike to do it all. I do all types of riding from bike park to more XC terrain. I have a 2020 Norco Torrent hard tail and love it but my legs are starting to take a bit of a toll from riding bike park style terrain on a hard tail. I still want to have a bike that's responsive but want to take the sting out. I ride a medium btw

7/6/2021 12:23:24

I would run one of the 29r platforms as the mullet, not the 27.5
Raising the front end on the 275 spitfire will pop the bb up a lot, one of the nice things about doing the 29r models as mullet is you can preserve the geometry mostly on the prime or phantom, or, get even lower with the 275 backend.

7/6/2021 12:37:43

Thanks for the fast reply! Do you think the chainstays would be a bit too long on the medium size prime since it's 450mm with 445mm reach? I'm just scared to have a bike that's so planted that the front end would be glued to the ground. I'm 5'6" at 175lbs btw

7/6/2021 13:29:56

This glued to the ground is not as drastic as people let on, and in fact, the taller stack help negate that by creating a better pull angle to initiate lifting the front end.
I have ridden 430 chainstay bikes with really low stack that were harder to pop up than the Medium Prime I was riding.
Plus, going mullet adds a little extra juice to your pull up position too

7/6/2021 14:10:08

Thanks for the input it's really helped a lot I think it's gonna be phantom for me then! Or prime uh why is this so hard lol. Thanks for clarifying the 29er turned mullet vs 27.5 turned mullet question

Terry

1/23/2022 16:23:02

I'm in the same boat, can't decide between the the Prime V3 and Phantom V3. I'd be running 29/29 though. The mystique of the PhantomV3 is that you can ride it a bit more agro vs other 115mm travel bikes. And I'm sure same can be said about the 135mm Prime. I am basing my experience off a RipletAF with 120 rear travel. So if the PhantomV3 would allow for more pedal to the metal vs the RipleyAF , I might just spring for it.

Oh, and regarding the PrimeV3, isn't the reach 450mm? I know the PhantomV3 and Titan are 445.. Based on the charts anyway, I'm sort of an inbetweener with a 780mm saddle height, booo.

1/23/2022 16:59:49

The pedal difference between the Phantom and The Prime is so minimal that of you wanted one bike, I would go with the Prime.
Then, if you wanted to liven it up a little and maybe extend the 450 reach a little run it with a 140 fork, and/or toss on a 5mm offset headset.

The Prime full 29r still resulted in rides and long pedal and sprint sections as fast as the Phantom.. but the Prime I felt ok pushing it hard like the titan (almost).

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