[Closed] Trail Centre Santa Cruz

Blur (LT), Heckler is a great fun bike for single pivot but the Blur LT wins hand down for me.

Never got a go on the butcher but it didn't last long.

The Blur XC is still a fun bike but a bit too racey for me.

However the geometry haters will be along soon to tell you it's rubbish 🙂

Are you Joking ? I'd of said cannock was a rougher trail.

Took my privee round degla the other weekend and it was perfect.

If you get a Blur Lt, get the mk2 version. Originals had a dead steep head angle iirc. Or depending on your height, find a Blur 4x. Or another alternative, buy something which doesn't eat bearings and bushings!

why only santa cruz?

I've got a blur TRc; I'd have to say it is the perfect bike for trail centres - slack angles for loads of fun descending, but still climbs and tracks brilliantly.

Dave

I find my carbon hard tail 29er the perfect bike for Llandegla! Much quicker & more fun than my full sue bike around there.

Read the post! He said he'd have "[i]preferred a full susser[/i]", he didn't ask "[i]will I be faster on my carbon HT 29er[/i]".
I'm faster on my HT 29er round Degla but that's irrelevant to the OP.

Heckler for simplicity and there's lots around if you're trying to pick one up 2nd hand.

Superlight/bantham

All pretty meaty bikes. For me its close between a Blur LT2 and a Heckler, I'd say Blur as I find they climb more efficiently. Descending they are both very capable and great fun. Although if you value maintenance simplicity greatly then go for a Heckler. Either way you won't be disappointed

Heckler is a very versatile frame. It will never be a race bike, but will be happy with anything from 140-170 on the front end. The high chainstays and single pivot make it ideal for a British winter. Build it with a set of Revs at 140, and if you ever go to the Alps, get a cheap set of Marz55 to transform it.

Superlight/bantham

This. Or a Blur Tr. Why most people are recommending Hecklers and Blur LTs is beyond me, that much travel always feel squishy and crap at a trail centre imo.

I'd be looking at a Heckler personally, although I agree Cannock is a rougher trail really you'll probably enjoy both more with some added rear plushness.

"Why most people are recommending Hecklers and Blur LTs is beyond me"

Because those are two of the three options he wanted to choose between in his original post 🙄

I do agree with you though as it happens, a Blur TR would be ideal, however it sounds like his price range probably wouldn't stretch to one as they are still relatively new and second-hand ones still pricey.

Buy whichever one you like the feel of riding the most.

OP is looking second hand so I'm guessing the reason he hasn't suggested a Blur TR etc is because it won't be in budget.

Suggest reading the content of the post first and then posting something meaningful to it.

Fair play, did read the OP but must of glossed over that. It wasn't specified which model of Blur, so I'm recommending an XC or an a TR even if they are hard to find.

My 150mm travel heckler is overkill for the likes of degla and cannock but it's perfect for bridleway rock gardens. Unless you're planning on hitting rougher terrain you might be better off looking at something with less travel, around 120-130mm on the rear. Like others have said the old 26" superlight would probably suit your needs better.

Nickel! I love mine (140mm up front) and I do most of my riding at trail centres. I've never felt the need for more travel at the back.

Thanks for the responses.

Basically some of the black runs at Degla are pretty rough, and I had a go on my mates full susser and it felt nice. I'm not an amzing rider, but I pedalled everything at Degla, which wil be important with a full susser. Can't say the same for some other folk there, too many Bronsons and Orange 5s being pushed!

I am happy on my HT round Cannock, with 140 Revs, yes there are a lot of braking bumps, but I hit everything as fast as I can. At degla I found myself scrubbing speed off, but I've never been before so didn't know what was the other side of jumps etc.

Why Santa? Well I just love them, but I am happy to hear of any other frames people would like to recommend.

It's very hard to prescribe one of the bikes over another.

I know that I would choose the Blur out of those, because I value stable pedalling and am crap at remembering to use shock/fork switches.

The heckler has been a bit strange recently - they moved from old geometry to slack, to 27.5 all in about a year. I know plenty of people happy on few-year-old hecklers, but they've all also got hardtails.

Superlight/bantham

This. Or a Blur Tr. Why most people are recommending Hecklers and Blur LTs is beyond me, that much travel always feel squishy and crap at a trail centre imo.

+1

There aren't any bumps big enough to justify more travel!

Trail centers are another odd UK thing though (like 5" travel hardtails), an artificial, smooth, dry trail. So what you really want is the geometry and strength of a 5" travel trail bike with only 80-100mm of suspension. Personaly I'd comprimise on a tough-ish 29er hardtail.

Depends on the bike - I've never felt like I have too much travel.
Too much weight, yes. Too much tyre, yes. But never too much travel.
That's because it pedals well.
From memory, the heckler didn't pedal well, but the blur was fine.

Depends on the bike - I've never felt like I have too much travel.

I used to think my 456ti was great until I got a Blut LTc

Around Llandegla, I was ashamed when bottled that rocky little drop onto the wooden boardwalk at the start of the black. Next visit I'd sold the 456ti (owned since 2009) and was on the Blur LTc and I rode down it without a second thought! 😀

Blur LT(2 or C) gets my vote because its made me ride thongs I wouldn't.

Blur LT(2 or C) gets my vote because its made me ride thongs I wouldn't.

You wanna go careful riding thongs Luke.

I have an LTc too, and yes I've been riding thIngs I wouldn't have before, and seem to find myself in the air a lot more too.

Nomad ftw!