keroMX Santa Cruz Blur LT

[keromx]

I picked up my new frame today and swapped all the components over from the Scott Genius which sold over the weekend. Took it for a ride around the street and it just suits me more than the Scott (which I did love also).

This is the quick pic of the frame taken this afternoon before I got into putting it together. I am sorry that I didn't take too many pictures of the build but I wanted to get it ready for a ride in the morning.

Going for a ride on the trails at Daisy Hill tomorrow morning at 5:30am, give you the update tomorrow.

Thanks for looking

Andrew

Frame out of the box::



Latest pic 2009-02-07::

[Clifton]

looks freaking awesome!

[felixR]

damm red rims!

that looks great

[Jarod]

Those red rims are what make it. Looks wicked!

Be sure to let us know how it rides.

[Justin Fox]

Sure looks a lot burlier than the Scott did.

[keromx]

Well here are some more pics, sorry the photos aren't that professional as these are taken on my iphone just prior to hitting the trails.

Here it is ready for the ride with the entrance to Daisy Hill in the background. We don't use the normal carpark where 90% of people start riding. This is the back entrance and is only a couple of klms from my house. I must admit, I wasn't convinced with the grey colour at first, but it is growing on me the more I look at it, it also looks better in the real skin::



RP23 shock works really well and gives me the 5.5" of rear travel. Raceface evolve XC seatpost::



Fox Talas RL fork with 140/120/100 travel::



I sold the Scott pro bars and stem with the Genius frame and bought a new Truvativ Stylo World Cup bars (680mm wide) and 60mm Truvativ AXA stem. I hadn't use Truvativ gear before I bought my Scott bikes (both my roadie and duallie had truvativ cranks). I had no problems with this gear so thought it would be OK to go with the bars and stem::



Avid Juicy 5 brakes and Oury Lockon grips (oh year)::



Fizik Aliante XM seat, this is a very comfortable seat::



Truvativ Firex AXA crankset, with the big ring swapped for an e-thirteen bash guard. THis is one of the best investments I have ever made, there are alot of logs on the trails I ride. Also, only ride clipless pedals on the trails::



DT Swiss E2200 wheelsets - OK, so this is the best purchase I have ever made and they keep outlasting my bikes. These give me so much more confidence, sure they are heavier than your standard XC, but allows me to hit anything I want. Also I cannot go past the Nobby Nics from Schwalbe, only problem is they are $99 each from LBS's. I have a supplier though that gets them to me $60 each::



One more pic for good measure, love the finish and build of the SC Blur LT::



Review of my first ride coming very soon (in about 1 hour actually)...

AK

[keromx]

Hi Guys, thought I would drop you a review of my first ride on the Blur LT which was done at my local Daisy Hill trail this morning at 5:30am. My old bike was a Scott Genius MC20 carbon 5" travel bike which was more bred for racing and XC than all mountain.

My riding of late has been getting more "all mountain" and it was time to move back to the land of alloy, short stems and wider bars.

Initial Feel

From the first sit, this bike feels great, it is nicely matched with the Fox talas RL fork, Truvativ Firex cranks, SRAM X-9 Rear der, XT Front der and new Truvativ bars and stem. Rolling around the carpark it felt like I had found what I had been searching for, but the test was still ahead of me up the dirty pathway leading to Daisy Hill State Forest. Some minor adjustments to the RP23 sag and off I went.

Bike Setup

The bike is setup to have fun, wide (680mm) bars, short (60mm) stem which is a little different to the Genius (which had 640mm bars and 110mm stem). But this is feel I was after.

Climbing

From the underwood rd entrance there is an immediate climb to make your way up to the forest proper (the entrance can be seen in the background if the below pic). The propedal of the RP23 really worked nicely and I noticed if you stood up out of the pedals (which I do sometimes to get up and over rather than changing gears) there was no rear wheel loss of traction, the suspension just sat really nice and even with weight forward I had every confidence in giving it all I had.



Took me a while to adjust the pro-pedal to where I felt good, but once I did this bike soared up hills like a terrior. I would guess that I didn't ascend as quickly as the Genius, but that might be just me getting used to cockpit change. Loved the way the Virtual Pivot suspension held traction in and out of the saddle.

Cross County

Wow this bike is fast - now I know why they call it the blur. Across flat or waving tracks - this baby flies. It felt that every bit of energy that I put into the pedals was not being wasted. The VPP suspension sucks up every little bump better than any bike I have ridden before, this is often commented on by other reviewers, but after riding I know what they are talking about - woosh!

Downhills

Simply Fun! - let go of the brakes and watch this baby come to life. Now the blur LT is not a downhill bike by any means, but this just soaks up the bumps really well and makes a rough track really smooth.

Jumps

I found myself wanting to really give this bike a go this morning and was launching off anything that I could find, whether it was small drop offs, ledges or high speed water bars, this bike felt really at home. there was every confidence the suspension still had more to give, the combination of the DT Swiss E2200 (freeride rims) make it a very capable all mountain bike.

Summary

Ok thats it! Am I happy with my purchase - you bet! And thats only after one ride, I can only hope that getting used to the new geometry and cockpit that I will get to enjoy it more. I do not regret this purchase at all and is what I have been wanting to do for a long time. The Santa Cruz Blur LT has made me very happy this morning.

Done! And bike straight into the back of the fourby and ready to goto work. Finished at 7:00am and already 31 degrees in Brissy, gotta love it::

[Jing]

ahh yes waking up early for a ride.

dedication ftw

[Jarod]

Nice mini review. Glad you're happy with it!

[TOU93]

Nice write up!!

Bike looks great.

I should go for a ride with you someday, but i never get up before 11am when i'm home