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I gave my Blur 4X a new look...

Banshee Rider

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2003
1,452
10
I'm pretty much in love with my Blur 4X, to the point that I decided to keep it another year. Its hands down the funnest cross-country bike I've owned. The previous color was getting sort of tired, so I brought it to my local powdercoat shop and gave it a new look since it's winter n' all. I went to my local auto-body shop and got some decals made up as well, for less than I could get them from the company. I need a different LG1 backplate, so spare me the comments. I'm pretty stoked, so I figured I'd post photos. It's a completely different bike in the sun, so maybe I'll get some better shots tomorrow since these ones are pretty bad. Here is the build:

Santa Cruz Blur 4X, Large, Candy Red
Fox Float R
Pike 426 Coil U-Turn
Industry Nine's on Stan's FLOW rims
Chris King Headset
Avid Juicy 5's
X9 Shifter
X9 Short Cage Derailleur
Truvativ Stylo Singlespeed Cranks
E13 LG1
30" (yes) Truvativ Holzfeller Bars
Truvativ Holzefeller Stem
Thomson Elite post
WTB Devo Ti saddle
Maxxis Mono rail 2.1 UST tires (for stiffer casing)
ODI Ruffian Lock Ons
Crank Brother Acids (spec'd to change)










Oh yeah, my Nomad got a new toy as well...




And before I post this; a teaser for a thread to come...

 

Banshee Rider

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2003
1,452
10
That thing is awesome, great build, would like to see a full review of it as a cross country/trail bike
It's a very capable bike to say the least. I often question why I own a Nomad to be honest. I ride a variety of different locations; from semi-flat and rocky xc trails, to mountainous terrain that would boarder the edge of "downhill" to most riders. Before I had a Nomad, I rode my 4X everywhere. After buying the Nomad, and riding the same terrain, I realized that it was no faster or capable than my 4X. The Nomad is a more comfortable ride with the additional 2", but my 4X with a Pike at 140 handles the same. I generally keep my 4X around on local trails for leading group rides, and use my Nomad when I ride in the mountains on non-race weekends. In a nut shell, its a rad XC bike with the slacker angles we're acustomed to. If your a fit downhiller who rides with xc with the weight weenies, this is defeniately a bike with familiar handling to get the most out of your cross-disceplin skills.
 

Bevis

Chimp
May 24, 2007
37
0
Norcal
The 4x sounds awesome with the handling, but are the pivots as weak as the XC?
Having a Nomad and an '05 XC blur myself, it seems the only problem I have is the bearing life on the XC. Even by shelving it in the winter I cannot get six months out of them.
I should have better luck maintaining the Nomads pivots. It sure rides sweet.
 

Banshee Rider

Turbo Monkey
Jul 31, 2003
1,452
10
The 4x sounds awesome with the handling, but are the pivots as weak as the XC?
Having a Nomad and an '05 XC blur myself, it seems the only problem I have is the bearing life on the XC. Even by shelving it in the winter I cannot get six months out of them.
I should have better luck maintaining the Nomads pivots. It sure rides sweet.
The bearings are fine on the 4X. I believe the issue with bearing life in the XC has been addressed by Santa Cruz. As long as you pull out the axle sleeves and anti-seize them all, then you shouldn't have any issues with creaking/difficulty removing them. I'm not entirely sure on this, but I believe there is a lifetime warrentee on their bearings now as well.
 

bikenweed

Turbo Monkey
Oct 21, 2004
2,432
0
Los Osos
How's a Blur 4x for xc?

The Blur 4x rides great for XC. The HA is nice and slack, and the seat tube is pretty steep. It climbs really well. It's light and efficient. And with only 4" or whatever of travel, it doesn't get wild when you have to stand up and mash over technical climbs. I thought it didn't descend as confidently or corner as hard as my SX, but it did climb better. It's all a trade off.

I borrowed a buddy's Blur 4x to race some XC at Fontana, and won the sport level class by a couple minutes. The bike worked great!

Coming from an SX (Specialized SX, NOT the SX trail) the Blur 4x felt steeper, taller, and shorter. However, it rides really good. It is not a steep or tall bike, it is simply steeper than the uber mellow SX. It's also about an inch taller in BB height. If I had to ride stereotypical east coast stuff, I'd go for a Blur 4x over the SX. Here out west, with big ups and big downs, and very little flat, the SX has me done nicely. It's really just personal preference between the two.

Great bike, Banshee Rider! Yours looks awesome.
 

J

Monkey
Dec 7, 2003
437
0
San Luis Obispo, CA
Sick paint job, I like it and bet it looks even better in person.

I also have a Blur 4x, also set up with a Pike. I can lower the travel for smoother trails and get great turning response or up the travel to 140 for rocky descents. I race beginner XC and Expert Slalom/4X on the same bike, its great! I run a 34t single ring and a Gamut chain guide and can climb up almost anything. It pedals amazing! If I could own only one bike it would def be the Blur 4x.

Mine does creak a **** ton though. I even replaced the bearings about 3 months ago. But it's solid so I don't really worry about it.