[Deyv]

I finally rode my Bike yesterday night after spending some time tunning sag, compression/rebound/lockout, stem height etc...

I have been riding a racy Zaskar for 4 years so most of my initial impressions are lead by that fact.

First the specs.

SantaCruz Blur Trans Red Medium
Fox ava RL rear shox
Fox Float F100 rlc
XTR 03 all around
Easton post and stem (currently a borrowed Titus stem to test lenght)
Mavic x3.1 rims
$hitty Kenda tires
Eggbeaters
Titus seat

The bike is light for a Fs trailbike bike at around 25.5 or 26 pound.

the geometry: The blur has a higher BB and higher standover so the bike looked a little big for me at first. The Stem was way to high at 40" off the ground. I swap the spacers to bring it down to 38". The swaped 90 mm stem (instead of the 130mm) gave me the same strench has my zaskar and felt good. The bars are larger than my previous at 26" instead of 22" which is a big difference + it's a low rise compared to my flat bar. In a nutshell, the geometry is very different and a lot less racy which is what I was going for.

The Ride: (please note that I rode 30 min in a parking lot at -4 Celsius and snowing)

The bike accellerate fast! the suspension felt very bob less at first but because of the cold weather the fork and rear shox were way to soft after 10 min. Due to the cold the fork felt terrible, diving under braking and boobing while pedalling hard, the rear shox was similar but a little less. I did not adjust the pressure for sub zero riding so only my first 10 minutes of riding were Ok. But that 10 min was sweet, stopping and sprinting felt very crisp and soooooo good!

I was a little worried about the height and the different geometry but the bike felt perfect right away, It's very stiff (fork and frame) so even if it's bigger the control is awesome.

The XTR disc were not breaked in and only after 30 min of riding started to feel OK.

I tought I would hate the new XTR shifting but I was suprise to find that it was pretty easy to shift with the back of the hand. I was very worried about the front shifting but i does not take a lof of energy to shift up front.

I hated the Fox forx lockout at first cause it only slowed the compression in the first part of the travel until I played with the blowout threshold. At maximum setting the fork is really locked out. The blowout threshold is a great idea and mandantory on that fork!

That's it for now, I will post my first real rides review when that stupid snow melt!!!!!!

just one question, are wide are you bars for a lightweight trail bike ? 26 just seem way too much?

 

[Squeak]

I think your issue is that your going from flat bars to risers. I stayed with flats on my Racer-X, I think you will have to get used to them. They feel real wierd whenever I get on a bike with a riser bar.

 

[Deyv]

Originally posted by Squeak
I think your issue is that your going from flat bars to risers. I stayed with flats on my Racer-X, I think you will have to get used to them. They feel real wierd whenever I get on a bike with a riser bar.

You are probably right but the lo-rise monkeybar is the same width as my full on dh bar, is that normal?

 

[Squeak]

Originally posted by Deyv
You are probably right but the lo-rise monkeybar is the same width as my full on dh bar, is that normal?

Don't know? Someone here must though!

 

[Heidi]

That seems like a wide bar.

 

[Instigator]

Originally posted by Heidi
That seems like a wide bar.

No way! My narrow bars are 26" my others are 27 & 28"

Much more confidence with wide bars, but don't go flying thru narrow tree openings

 

[Heidi]

Originally posted by Instigator
No way! My narrow bars are 26" my others are 27 & 28"

Much more confidence with wide bars, but don't go flying thru narrow tree openings

Yah, I guess it depends on use. Mine are 23.25".

 

[spincrazy]

Nice write up Deyv. I look forward to a more in-depth trail review.

Wider bars rock! You'll learn to love them and will get used to them in no time. This is an entirely different bike than your Zaskar, don't expect too many similarities. I say this as a Zaskar & LocoMoto rider myself. You're going to love it.

 

[VTinCT]

That is such a sweet bike man! I can't wait to hear how it rides on the techy stuff!

 

[Deyv]

Thanks for the reply guys, I will give the wide bars a try and thoses trees better get out of the way 'cause I am going to cut them in half with my wide bars! TIMBER!!!!!!!!

 

[SwisSlesS]

Man, I can't get over it. That bike is just so beautiful.

 

[ohio]

There's a long thread in the DH forum about bar width, but basically do whatever is most comfortable. While you have all that bar still on there, experiment. Scoot your grips and levers in (leaving bar exposed to the outside) for a ride and see if you prefer it before you trim down the bars.

Basic rule is your hands should never be so close together that your arms would be less than parallel. From there, you can keep going wider.
The more you like to stand up and pedal (cranking on the bars) the wider you should leave them. Width gives your upper body pulling leverage.
The more you like to sit and spin, the narrower they should be. Parallel arms are less fatiguing for your body to lean on.

edit: almost forgot, that bike is friggin' sweet.

 

[FlipSide]

Awesome bike and great initial review!!!

Keep those bars 26" wide at least until mid-june or something like that. If you still think they're too wide, then cut them if you wait.

P.S.: Titec != Titus;

 

[Deyv]

I rode the Blur to work today and I was so disapointed I was slower than usual (a small headwind but no more) and my starts/sprint were terrible due to bobing mostly front but some rear.

So I wanted to get at the bottom of that bob thing so I went at lunch time and did 2 lap of the women road world cup circuit on Mount Royal, It's hilly and the bike felt great, I concentrated on what my friend Toninator told me and I pedalled less aggressivly with a round stroke. I was almost as fast as on my hardtail and even if I saw the linkage moving, it climbed well. On my second lap, I locked out and it felt way faster but my compter said otherwise In the hard part of the course, I switch from locked out to full on and did not notice any speed loss on the computer but I felt less crisp and slower. I locked out the fork and hammered up a hill and the back did not bob at all!

The temperature was milder so maybe that helped also on that cold vs psi prob.

I think my very aggressive city riding style requires a good ol'hardtail but for the trails, I think the BLur will rip!

I am very pleased with this lunch time ride. I post some reviews when I get this baby on the trails!

 

[The Toninator]

Originally posted by FlipSide


P.S.: Titec != Titus;

damn beat me to it.

for XC lots of people go by their shoulder width.
I've done 22" on flats and 23.25 on mid risers. I might cut another 1/2" off of the risers.

 

[-BB-]

Originally posted by The Toninator
damn beat me to it.

for XC lots of people go by their shoulder width.
I've done 22" on flats and 23.25 on mid risers. I might cut another 1/2" off of the risers.

Titus owns Titec?

 

[The Toninator]

Originally posted by -BB-
Titus owns Titec?

no. the stem is a "Titec" not a "titus."

 

[VTinCT]

Originally posted by Deyv
I switch from locked out to full on and did not notice any speed loss on the computer but I felt less crisp and slower. I locked out the fork and hammered up a hill and the back did not bob at all!

The temperature was milder so maybe that helped also on that cold vs psi prob.

I think my very aggressive city riding style requires a good ol'hardtail but for the trails, I think the BLur will rip!

I am very pleased with this lunch time ride. I post some reviews when I get this baby on the trails!

The "crisp" feel was the hardest thing for me to get used to when I went from my Stumpy M2 HT to the Isis. But what you lose in "snap" you make up for elseware.

Glad to hear you're warming up to the rig...you're gona love it man.

 

[Deyv]

I did my first offroad test yesterday!

I cannot tell you anything about the bike because I did not see anything coming. A mix of snow,ice, slippery mud and wet leaves combines with very steep short section kicked my arse big time ! The first thing I knew is that i was at the bottom of Mount Royal, coverted in mud, my rear tire was flat and I was bruised, it was great! I climbed again and I crashed again. The trails are not near ready to be ridden and it was stupid of me to try.

One thing I know for sure is that the stupid lightweight racy kenda tires are not worth crap (but that I already knew)

 

[Squeak]

Crashed. Haha.

 

[Deyv]

Originally posted by Squeak
Crashed. Haha.

I would not say crashed, I would say, fallen off the bike, slid down a muddy chute while trying to hold on to trees without success.

 

[Squeak]

Did you jump up and check the bike first, regardless of broken apendages?

At least you got the first falls out of the way!

 

[Jozz]

So I got to try Deyv's bike yesterday, not for a long while but enough to at least give my impression of the Blur...

I haven't tried a lot of dual suspension XC bikes, but I can definitly say that it is the best I've tried so far! Eventhough the bike's suspensions were not set for my weight, Deyv being about 10-15 pounds lighter than me, the bike felt wonderfull, really plush when zoomin along in mid gear.. but as soon as you apply some torque to the pedals, the suspension kinda lock's up so that you don't feel it compressing when hammering on the pedals!!! Really wonderfull feeling! The XTR stuff was also great, the brakes had jsut the right modulation in the lever, and felt really strong, shifting was a bit weird with the brake lever but I guess it could be me, being a first minute gripshift user... just getting use to my rapidfire on my new FSR...

Now I just need to get me some eggbeater pedals so I can get to ride it longer...