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SC Superlight Geometry History?

WTGPhoben

Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
717
0
One of them Boston suburbs
I broke the front triangle on my SC Superlight frame (a 2001) and just got a replacement (a 2006). Putting one over the other, it's clear that they're not the same...



My hypothesis is that they actually are the same geometry, but based on different axle-crown fork lengths (if you rotate the white frame in the pic about the bottom bracket until the seat tubes line up, the head tubes also line up, except that the white one is lower), but I can't find the geometry chart for the 2001 model anywhere to determine if this is actually true.

Does anyone have the geometry charts for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, or 2005 model years? Post 'em if you got 'em.

Here's 2006 and 2007, fyi...



 

WTGPhoben

Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
717
0
One of them Boston suburbs
i didn't find anything just now, but have you poked around in the wayback machine?

http://web.archive.org/web/*/santacruzbicycles.com/*
pure genius! The wayback Machine's bandwidth is miniscule, so it's hard to get anything once SC went to a flash site, but here's the geometry sheet from 2001 (which is the relevant year):



From these specs it looks like the HT angle is .5deg slacker in the 2001 vs. 2006, but also the forks spec'ed on it (SID 100, Judy Race, marz z2 and xfly) were smaller (ex: the Marzocchi z2 Atom 80 is 453mm, as compared to the 461mm the 2006 frame is designed around), which would lead me to believe that this bike was designed around a smaller fork, despite the fact that this chart doesn't say.

Conclusion... was there supposed to be one? I'll post back on how it rides when it stops raining.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
Can't remember where I read it but the '06 supposed to be designed around a 100 mm fork vs the 80 of yore.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
If that is the case, which all signs point to so far, my rebuilt ride is going to feel very different (more like 1.5deg steeper HT hangle). It's still raining tho, so only speculation for now.
It has been a while since I looked at it but I ran a 100mm fork on the older 80mm frame. Going in that direction it slacked things out about 0.9 degrees. I would expect it to get steeper a similar amount going in the other direction.
 

WTGPhoben

Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
717
0
One of them Boston suburbs
What's the stroke length on the rear shock...?.......on the 2007....
Most of the older models were 7.875" eye-to-eye with 2" stroke.
I found one sheet (http://www.velocycle.com/pdf/Informations_download/14_3_Guide_force_de_levier_2005.pdf) that listed some models having more travel and a 2.25" stroke, my guess is it's the same bike tho with some sort of mod option.

I don't know officially about the 2007, but looking at the sizes Fox offers for the float R (one of the shocks available on SL for 2007), I'd guess that it's still 7.875" with a 2" stroke.
 

WTGPhoben

Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
717
0
One of them Boston suburbs
Update on the ride:

Took the rebuilt bike out for a short spin and it's a totally different ride. I think we've established that the HT is ~1.4 deg steeper - .5 difference in the spec, plus it's designed for a fork at least 10mm longer than the 2001 and the BB is lower compared to the old setup as a result.

Riding it around, the steering is much sharper and the front wheel feels a lot more like it is glued to the ground. With the old frame, the feel was borderline freeride. With the new one it is definitely XC. I don't know if I like it...

For Reference, I'm running a 2002 Marzocchi Atom Race 100. A-to-C: 473mm
 

trailblazer

Monkey
May 2, 2005
464
4
Jamaica
i put a fox van rlc on mine 6 months ago. Everyone said the angle was wrongand I shouldn't do it.
It rides like a dream and is as fast as the wind.
My point is simple. if you like it forget about any of the angle crap.
I am wondering about replacement as well with the new 2007 being completely different from the old superlight. [shorter top tube and longer wheel base]
Same way the Heckler changed a few years ago.
and...i love my indigo superlight.[2002]
 

WTGPhoben

Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
717
0
One of them Boston suburbs
For the sake of completeness, updating this thread with the 2007-2011... (Which I currently have).

This version shaved something like .5lb off of the previous version and has noticeably thinner tubing (as evidenced by the multiple dents I've put in it). Still rides great.

 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,029
7,549
Sweet jeebus, that's a lot of money (near $2500 for frame and fork). Bikes are overpriced, I tell ya.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,029
7,549
If only you stopped contributing your time and effort gratis to open source projects... :D