After my first ride on it last night, I'm very impressed with the Blur XC carbon. This is my 3rd Santa Cruz ride and they have yet to let me down. Hope it stays that way.
First of all, this bike is a completely different animal than my previous Superlight. It climbs and descends in a whole new way that I didn't expect.
Climbing:
Great amount of traction compared to the Superlight. I prefer locked out shocks and the Rock Shox does a great job with their gates. The Monarch 3.3 has 3 settings of Open, Mid-Gate, Max-Gate. I started out with the shock open and as expected it felt very plush while pedaling through Whiting. Once I reached Mustard, I put in it the Max-Gate mode. This totally caught me by surprise. I was expecting the bike to feel more like a hardtail since that's how my Superlight felt with Max Pro-Pedal on. However, the suspension was very compliant. While spinning in the saddle the suspension would just open up enough to absorb the smaller bumps while keeping the rear tire planted, tracking and more importantly my efforts being applied to the wheels. Out of the saddle, there is no bob what-so-ever relating to even more power put to the wheels. Still, the suspension would give just enough over bumps resulting in maximum traction. The bike would react very well to my power inputs and is just responsive as hell. Traction was the biggest thing that surprised me. With the superlight I would be bouncing off small bumps, rocks, which would lift the rear tire off the ground just enough to slip under power. This was not the case at all with the BXCc. I couldn't say maybe it's the tires because I transferred all my components from my SL over to the BXCc. Only thing different was the frame. I'm sure this can be contributed to the VPP as well. One thing that I wasn't happy with was the amount of lift on the front wheel. I felt that the front was just a tad to light and it would come off the ground more often than the SL, but I believe that will be solved with lowering my handlebars for more of a XC position. I did have them in the highest position. That's small potatoes to me. BTW - This was my first time riding a VPP bike.
Descending:
Nothing but awesome things here. The Luge is practically my second home and I never tire of it. I really wanted to see what this bike could do and it didn't disappoint. The steering was the first thing I notice over the SL. It felt a tad bit slower due to slightly slacker head tube (69.5), but after I was used to the steering, everything just started to click. This bike is amazingly smooth and holds a line so much better than the SL. The bike induces much more confidence and speed all around. The SL is a fast bike, but definitely more twitchy in the turns than the BXCc. Again, I was so surprised by the amount of traction this bike has. I was able to carry more speed in the twisty sections which allowed me to brake even later into the corners. The bike was very lively and responded very well to my weight transfers and movements. I just felt like it was in sync with my thoughts doing exactly what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it. I was completely amazed. This put a huge grin on my face knowing that my investment was well worth it. Only thing that was annoying was the slapping of my chain on the aluminum protector on the chain stay. Made for much more clanks than I was used to. I'm sure I can do something to quiet that down a bit. SL has those elevated chain stays where this was a non-issue. I couldn't wait to get to Live Oak and Cow Serrano in Whiting for some more fun...and fun is what I did.
Overall:
This bike is FAST! After a couple of small tweaks, fine tuning, and more saddle time, I should be able to put down faster times on the race course. This bike holds a line far better than the SL. It feels more connected and planted with the trail. The traction is great! It's stiff, yet very smooth. It's a very very efficient climbing machine. It's a great all around trail bike. Did I say it tracks great!? This bike is capable of way more than just XC. It easily could dabble in the AM terrain, but it's bigger brother the Blur LTc can stay there. This bike was built to go fast and fast it goes.
Huge thanks to Jake for building it and to Switchback Cyclery for getting it in for me.
