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Cycling is a broad church and after a few years in the road/gravel wilderness I have decided to head back off road. Having started out racing on the road 35 years ago, I find the road is too dull/dangerous these days and since moving house I have great trails from the house but not so good road routes. My cycling itch needed scratching in a slightly different way, so I find myself back off road and loving it despite the current slopfest that is the trails around here. I think that my roadie days are over. Fanning around off road whether a short blast, a longer day in the hills or a bumble just puts a smile on my face and I am beyond 'training'. As the big 5-0 looms, I just want to enjoy my riding and stay fit.
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I have built a few Santa Cruz bikes over the years. None have disappointed, but their build prices never really stack up in terms of value. I have always gone down the frame/build route and generally managed to come in at a good 40% less than the equivalent build from Santa Cruz themselves, so when this frame presented itself as something of a bargain, it was too good to resist. I looked at Forbidden, Yeti and Santa Cruz, but as much as they are somewhat ubiquitous, the quality, support and ride of Santa Cruz is difficult to beat. I tried a few 29 and mixed 27.5/29 test rides and decided that the mullet is definitely more than a passing thing. It felt very natural and less ponderous than a 29er both ends.
Thanks to Howard at Pedal and Spoke in Peaslake for the deal on the frame. No thanks to Royal Mail for basing up pretty much every delivery of bits for the build.
Some observations:
The 200mm dropper is brilliant. The One Up bar and stem really do work in terms of reducing trail buzz. Harry Rowland continues to build amazing wheels. Invisiframe is a royal pain in the arse to fit. SRAM AXS is hard to beat for gears, but the Fox Transfer is better than the Reverb AXS. After years on Shimano and SRAM brakes, I am loving the Hope V4s (almost too much power on tap, but I am sure I will learn to regulate it). I have no idea if braided hoses make a jot of difference.
Frame - Santa Cruz Bronson (XL)
Fork - Fox 36 Factory 160mm
Headset - Chris King Dropset 3
Chainset - SRAM XO1 Eagle (175mm/32T)
Bottom Bracket - Wheels Manufacturing
Pedals - Shimano XTR Trail
Rear Derailleur - SRAM XO1 Eagle AXS
Shifters - SRAM Eagle AXS
Brakes - Hope Tech 4, V4 (2.3mm 180mm/200mm)
Chain - SRAM XX1 Eagle
Cassette - SRAM 1295 Eagle (10 / 50)
Hubs - DT Swiss 240
Rims - DT Swiss XM481
Spokes - Sapim D Light
Tyres - Maxxis DHR II, DHF
Stem - One Up (40mm)
Bars - One Up Carbon
Seatpost - Fox Transfer Factory (200mm)
Saddle - Specialized S Works Power
Bottle Cage - King Titanium
Grip - ODI Longneck
That is really nice looking bike. Welcome back!
Thanks! Not much of a honeymoon unfortunately. First few rides have been a total mud fest. Now, where's that road bike.........?
Very nice. No expense spared with that build!
Dream build & component choice right there. Like that a lot :o)
That’s very nice, congratulations. Although I’m still training i recently bought a similar “less focused” bike for playing around on and it brought me right back to the enjoyment of MTB again, so I admire your thought process.
Look forward to seeing it in the weekly Pics threads.
Weapon.
Very nice. Substantiality impressive
Lovely looking bike that and a great build!
The bike looks amazing. Hopefully you’ll find some firmer trails .
I have great trails from the house
Sadly the quality of riding from most doors is quite season dependent
Lovely looking bike, just built up a mullet bike from frame only, yet to ride it
Lovely
Latest ride report - there is definitely such a thing as too much brake power! The V4 callipers with 2.3mm 200mm rotor up front and 2.3mm 180mm rotor out back on a smaller wheel is astonishing.
Maybe I am too used to road callipers and 140mm/160mm standard rotors on skinny tyres, but these Hopes are incredible!
Nice build.
A mate with a long history with Santa Cruz's warranty department has just built one & really stepped up his riding level.
You'll just afdjust to the brakes. My first ride ride with 4 pots i was rolling down a hill to a junction. I was signalling right and needed to slow down. I very nealry fell off as the decelearation flung me onto the bars and caused me to swerve right....