Looking for customer feedback

Hello ladies,

I'm approaching the point of choosing colours for our (Banshee) 2008 bikes. Our bikes will be be totally revamped by 08 and will be much lighter and still very strong, and we are hoping to get more of the fairer sex shredding on them.

Colour choice has been brought up in a meeting…

please let me know if the colour of your bike matters to you (not trying to be sexist here, I'm actually under the belief that more guys I know care about bike colour than the girls I know who ride) basically we are going to anodize all of our bikes, and stick with a simple one colour option for mainframe (suspension frames may have different colours linkages).

So does colour matter to you?

What anodized colours would you like to see (maybe give details for epic through to hardcore freeride if colour options should differ in your opinion?)

If you could help me with that, I'll do my best to design amazing bikes which are strong, light, high performance, low stand over etc…

also please make suggestions regarding bike design, geometry, what we should spec bikes with etc..

We are a company who really cares about what our customers want, so please give us some good feedback (be brutal, that way we can achieve more).

Thanks!

Keith

Ask Graham. He's got ladyarms.

I like neutral colours for bikes, such as grey and black, so even if your clothes are colourful you don't look like a box of Smarties going down the mountain.

let's see..

colours
- i like black, gray, dark red, silver (polished), something that lasts and isn't going to scrape off after the first crash
- i'm not into the girly pinks/blues or flowers, but hey that's just me

geo
- personally i like shorter top tubes and seat tubes, ie 21 tt and 14 st (i'm 5'5") - i like a short cockpit
- uninterrupted seattube so you can slam the seat down for riding down but have it high for riding up

- dont know enough about head angles/bb height to give specs, just a bb thats high enough so you dont get stuck on a-frames, average wheelbase length (not dh style long) and a ha for a 6-7" fork so it doesn't end up being too raked out

specs
- something that's around 35-38lbs so you can still ride it uphill but not too xc so riding down it feels solid
- lighterish fork so you can lift the front end, but still feel confident on doing a 4-6ft drop

not sure if that's helpful, but my 2cents.

oh and i'd be MORE than happy to act as a test rider on any prototypes :P i ride enough to give a fair amount of feedback :D

You're going to make them lighter? Damn, you shoulda done that a couple of years ago, my Chaparral is a tank!

I'm not overly picky about colour but I was told the red ones are faster ;) and I'd never buy a pink bike.

I would agree with what Lady Gravity said, women would probably prefer a shorter top tube because women tend to have longer legs and shorter upper bodies than guys do. And I had to put a 24" wheel on mine so I could put my feet flat on the ground. Apparently I'm average height for a woman and I know my shorter friends have had some hard times finding a freeride bike that fits them.

And yeah, if you're looking for test riders… I ride lots too and I could do a comparison against an older model :)

Oh, and in my experience with sporting goods, a "woman's" line usually means an inferior product but maybe you could do a womans build kit option with a shorter handlebar, shorter brake levers, shorter seat post and a 24" wheel.

This actually belongs in The Inside Line forum.

It's pretty much a solicitation - which is against our terms of use out side Inside Line.

sorry cam didn't think it was a bad thing asking the opinions of riders? I'm not trying to sell them anything, just want to get their perspective so I can try and design and spec bikes better to suit them. and only put it in ladies forum cos we wanted to make sure that their views and opinions were understood and noted.

This actually belongs in The Inside Line forum.

It's pretty much a solicitation - which is against our terms of use out side Inside Line.

so he has to pay to get opinions? people post in gear saying they're making stems and such and get feedback, how is this any different :???:

IMO i'm ecstatic that a bike company is looking for female feedback, seeing as the market is totally geared towards guys

Colors are dictated by market trend, but treatments are not, maybe you can try some sort of dark patina look, or a very rough matte that won't show scratches.
Treatments that stand up keep a bike looking fresh longer, and are better advertising than a cable rub monster.

Keep it mythic and angry.
Attitude helps, but trendy (pink?) will be so played in 2 years.

I like your colors so far

Suggestion - Black/orange/red make me think of ghosts and banshees… (halloween).

BTW: Thanks for the touch up kit. Dents and scratches will eventually win, but its nice to pretend you can keep it new longer….

Hey Keith,

still working for the fairy of death? How's life been lately?

hahaha hey Mic, yeah life is good. Graduated from university now so working for banshee properly this time.

Thanks for the feedback so far, I'm glad to hear that my suspicions are being confirmed. Am definately planning to make the finish tougher to resist scratches as much as possible. sounds like we are on the same wavelength in many ways, which is great to know!

Thanks!

Am definately planning to make the finish tougher to resist scratches as much as possible.

Ver important. Nice to see that you are really interested in improving the kick-ass products banshee sells, and this by getting in direct contact to the customers. sweet. :D

Is it possible to do an anodized white? I love lighter frames but the cable rub is a bummer.

Is it possible to do an anodized white? I love lighter frames but the cable rub is a bummer.

that is one of the options we want… not sure if it is possible yet… but will do out best!