The Santa Cruz carbon XC bar has a great profile and at 760mm it’s wide enough for even the broadest of XC brawlers.
In keeping with the lightweight theme, the Blur XC uses a standard 31.8mm bar and stem. The fit is spot on and thanks to the size-specific geometry that sees the chainstay length increase by 2.5mm with every jump in frame size, the Blur feels remarkably well balanced and that weight distribution should translate to all four frame sizes.ģ4t SRAM X1 chainset with chain guide Components Geometry-wise, the Blur is modern, if not quite progressive, with a 68° head angle and 463mm reach. We actually dropped the shock out of the bike and it’s interesting that there’s no noticeable spring force in the flexstays until you get deeper in the travel, which could explain why we struggled to use all of the 100mm available travel. Santa Cruz also adopted a flatter leverage rate so it could rely less on anti-squat to stop the suspension bobbing – claiming that this approach allows the suspension to have more traction and sensitivity both climbing and descending.
It’s pretty much ubiquitous on the XC circuit, because everyone has worked out that replacing bearings, links and pivot hardware with flex in the carbon stays is a great way to save substantial amounts of weight.īut that’s not the only change to the suspension on the Blur XC. With 100mm of rear travel in pure XC guise – there’s also a longer-travel TR option – it’s no surprise that Santa Cruz dropped its signature twin-link suspension for a lighter flexstay design. How light? Well, compared to the previous Blur, Santa Cruz has managed to whittle away 289g from the frame weight alone, which helps explain why our size large test bike weighed an impressive 10.45kg (22.95lb), which is lighter than most of the best crosscountry mountain bikes we’ve encountered. The Superlight single-pivot suspension design is back, albeit with flexstays and a linkage-actuated shock to deliver 100mm travel.Ĭombined with Santa Cruz’s modern carbon tech, it’s the lightest Blur the brand has ever produced. It’s fitting then, that the latest Blur XC blends aspects of the old and new world. Even before the original Santa Cruz Blur – even before VPP in fact – the single-pivot Santa Cruz Superlight was a firm favourite among XC racers and trail riders alike.
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