My 2010 Santa Cruz Blur LT

Specs:
Black Medium 2010 Santa Cruz Blur LT with Fox Float RP23 shock
Marzocchi 44 TST2 Air Fork
Shimano Dyna-Sys SLX Groupset 3x10 (FD, RD, Cranks, BB, Cog, Chain, Disc brakes & Shifters)
OTA (Seatpost and Stem-70mm)
Race Face (Deus XC Low riser handlebar, Headset, Grips)
Wheelset (Stan's ZTR rims, DT Swiss spokes & Element XC100 hubs)
Wellgo platform paddles
WTB Pure V saddle
Intense System 5 tires (2.25 front, 2.1 back)

Total weight: 13 kg or 29 lbs

Review
If this is all you would read of the review, then I would save you time and say that after riding around the neighborhood and trashing some local off road I would say just one word "Awesome". And if you want only one bike to rule the world, you would be right by choosing the Blur LT2. I can't wait to loose it out on the trails.

Journey begins
When I started the journey to replace my existing GT Avalanche 2.0 HT, I've never thought that I would own a piece of cycling art made by Santa Cruz. My seven year old HT is way past its lifespan, but due to tender loving care and mid-life component updates, the rig is still usable. However, having used it in trails such as in Batu and Putrajaya Challenge Park, I needed something that can give me that extra confidence to tackle hills, berms and switchbacks. Furthermore, the trails of Kiara (a 10 min cycle away from home) is taunting me. For sure, any MTB can ride those trails, as its all about the rider's skill and not the rig but I'm a lazy ass so a full suspension rig would provide some extra help.

So, I figured the objective of my riding would mostly be about riding local trails and the rig must be able to soak up what most Malaysian trails can offer i.e. muddy, mossy, rooty and rocky natural trails. It should be able to also do some light downhill, jig some cross country and splash the occasional racing. Hence I was looking for a well rounded all in one bike that could last me for at least 5 years (occasional upgrades as needed), and its a cross between XC (skinny) and All Mountain (burly). Tough order since the industry has segmented the market to death, so finding one bike to rule them all is harder than I imagined. Also like everything else in life the build must also fit a certain budget. (I don't have an unlimited spending budget as my kids need to eat and have a roof over their heads)

Choices
Living in Klang Valley we are blessed with the amount of cycling shops available. You can find at least one in any part of town. For me it came to finding a rig that suits my needs and a shop that can deliver that rig and is conveniently located, have good customer service and is well stocked with parts.

After reading magazines and more websites that I can remember (thanks Google), I looked at offerings from Specialized and Giant. Later after trolling various forums in MTBR and Singletrack, I pondered products from Ibis, Turner and Santa Cruz. So where does these companies sit in the scheme of things? Specialized is a long time American brand and has a large setup. It has a product line that caters to every segment in the industry. Giant which is based in Taiwan and incidentally is the world's largest bicycle manufacturer has the same profile as Specialized. Giant also does contract manufacturing of other brands. Both of these companies are really mass market manufacturers, as such their product mix and components reflect that. You can also think of them as Ford and Toyota respectively. On the other end are the niche manufacturers who built bikes according to what they "think" a bike should be. They have an ardent following and a fanatical fan base. Ibis, Turner and Santa Cruz can be considered the MTB world's Lotus, Ferrari and BMW. They also mass-customize their offering i.e. provide frames with varying levels of component customization options. In KL, you can find Giant in most shops and you can get Specialized through the newly opened concept store. So far I could not find a Klang Valley Ibis supplier while Turner and Santa Cruz can be had via KSH.

So what does the marketing arm of these companies think a trailbike should be? In 2010, they think it should be a bike with 5.5 inches of travel (140mm) and weigh around 30lbs. Being there are no baseline to refer to and reading up from various sources, I tend to agree with this general spec. So the choices were the Stumpjumper FSR, Giant Trance, Ibis Mojo, Turner 5 Spot and Santa Cruz Blur LT. After additional due diligence, the Trance, Mojo and 5 Spot were dropped due to the Trance having only 120mm of travel, unavailability of the Mojo in Klang Valley and limited available size Turner. Thus the contenders were the Stumpy and the Blur LT.

Virtual Shoot Off: Stumpy FSR vs Blur LT
In my opinion both of these bikes have similar frame characteristics, from the slack head angles to the tapered top tube. They also have been designed for trail with the Stumpy more towards XC while the Blur towards AM. In any case both have a solid pedigree. So what differentiates one from the other? I'd be looking at platform performance, component spec and LBS support.

Suspension Platform comparison*
The Stumpy uses FSR as its suspension platform. Specialized owns the FSR/Horst link patent in the US. The FSR consists of four bars i.e. the seat tube, seat stays, upper and lower link. The upper link is connected to the shock and lower link to the swingarm. The FSR is designed to isolate braking forces from the suspension. Thus making the suspension active all the time. There is some minimal bob in the platform but this is countered by the platform damping feature in the shock i.e. Propedal setting in the Fox Triads. On higher end Stumpys, the FSR comes equipped with a BRAIN that automates the plushness of the shock based the ground effect.

The Blur LT uses VPP or Virtual Pivot Point suspension platform. Santa Cruz owns the patent to VPP. VPP is a modified dual link configuration suspension. It has a triangulated swingarm that rocks a pair of links which counter-rotates each other. Santa Cruz wants to manipulate the link such that it changes the suspension rate. The suspension rate starts with a moderate falling rate followed by a rising rate. In the real world it means firm pedaling at the start followed by the wheel going through the shock travel and finally resistance to stop the shock from blowing its travel. Bottom line, pedaling is firm with the shock feeling "bottomless".

Bottom Line: Equal but I prefer VPP due to its engineering complexity. (I'm an engineer by training. To me complexity when it works simply is a piece of art).




*MBAction Magazine, June 2010, pg 89 & 94

Component Spec
Specialized configures their Stumpys according to price levels. As such the components reflect those prices. In this comparison, the components baseline of the Stumpy FSR Elite is used. Specialized uses the Fox 32 TALAS 140mm fork with proprietary Fox Triad shock on the Elite. The drivetrain and groupset is a combination of Shimano and SRAM while the wheelset is custom DT Swiss. Everything else is peppered with own brand components i.e. tires, saddles, seatpost, handlebars etc.

For the Blur LT, the frame comes with Fox Float RP23 as standard. All the other components are customised to my liking and budget. And I got some pretty good deals on 2011 kit such as the SLX Dyna-Sys 3x10 Groupset. The final configuration is as above.



Bottomline: Blur LT, with components that I want, not what the manufacturers think I should have.

Test ride
You must be kidding right? In Malaysia, there is no way the bike shops let you test ride unlike in more civilized countries. So it is all up to how much reputation and trust you put in reviews, and shop mechanic's advise. Thanks to the miracle of the Internet (Google & Youtube), at least you will not go in 100% blind.

Shop Support
For Specialized, I hangout at the Concept Store in Kota Damansara. They are a new setup. Went there almost weekly. Prices are slightly expensive compared to US RRP probably due to duties and shipping. Service is unknown and the sales staff do not really know their product line well enough yet. I asked them some simple questions regarding the Stumpy and they were stumped answering it. So it did not spur confidence to me particularly if I'm going to spend some large sums of money on their product. I would at least expect some product intimacy and expert advice on the right rig setup. I felt like they were just shoving products on me.

For the Blur, I hangout at KSH TTDI. They carry a number of brands and have been in the local scene for ages. Their prices are reasonable for KL. I had some experience buying from these guys as I bought the GT from them previously. What sway it for me? I felt confident in their experience and service. The guy attending me was Lim, who's an old timer I suppose. So I asked him to spec me up given a certain budget. It was tight, but he managed to deliver by proposing a component mix that was reasonably good. I never felt like I was being pushed to buy something, which is a good thing, as I get easily turned off by over eager salesmans. Furthermore, KSH provides free service for life. Awesome!

Bottomline: KSH due to experience and service.

I choose....
In the end, after adding up the scores above, I picked the Santa Cruz Blur LT from KSH. Lim built it probably in a few hours, but I only picked it up a week later. The first time I laid my eyes on it, I was blown away. I asked Lim to color match it in red components, and the end result was more than I expected. It really looked bling. The only off part are the hubs which were anodized blue.

Backstory Santa Cruz Blur LT2
The Blur LT2 was designed by Santa Cruz as a replacement for their popular Blur LT1. Santa Cruz went back to the drawing board and came out with a set of requirements to improve on the LT1. Furthermore, they wanted more improvements to the suspension platform so they also revamped the VPP suspension, by introducing a revamped link design. The upper link is now made of carbon and lower link aluminum (with grease port added for easy maintenance). It took them almost 2 years to complete the design and it was introduced in 2008. The end result is the Blur LT2. It has been one of their best selling line ever since.

The Ride
Handling.
The Blur feels light, flickable and snappy. Due to the short stem and wide bars, the overall control was great. There were minor bob while pedaling, but that was expected of a full suspension platform. However, it did not feel like the bob was robbing energy away from me. Also I was confident of the bike such that I chose the less smooth lines as it was a joy to go over them. Overall the handling was great.

Update:
Initially I was slightly confused when I played around with the shock Propedal and Open switch. When in Propedal, the bike feels plush and when fully open the bike pedals like a hardtail. That doesn't seem right to me, so I double check the manuals thinking I switched it wrong. But nope, it was correct. So the verdict is that VPP at full open configuration really pedals great! I am totally stoked on VPP.

Climbing
Eventhough having 140mm of travel, the Blur did not feel out of place while climbing. The short test I had did not fully show all of its climbing capabilities. I'll add on to this part once I have tested it in more trails.

Cornering
The Blur handles corners as if it were on rails. I did not feel out of control while banking. Next is to try out berms and switchbacks and see how it holds the line.

Downhill
The Blur excels here. The shock absorbs all and never felt I didn't have enough travel. This bike is happy going down. The only limitation I think is the rider.

Conclusion
From the first sight to the first ride, I believe I've made the right decision. If you ever wanted one bicycle to do multiple jobs, the Blur LT is all you need.

Components feedback
Shock
The 2010 Fox Float RP23 shock is the best in its class. The one that came with the frame was custom tuned for the Blur. After reading some info on the characteristics of the VPP, I set the sag setting at 25% of travel to fully exploit the platform. So far the setting is dead right as it felt plush at the outset. The shock reacts well to small and large bumps. The lockout and propedal setting is easy to use. Furthermore the propedal setting can be tuned to either full open, medium or hard. Overall I couldn't ask for a better shock.

Fork
The 140mm 2010 Marzocchi 44 TST2 Air fork was designed for all mountain riding. It has rebound setting and lockout levers. The fork is air adjustable. I set the sag setting at 20% of travel. So far the fork worked better than I expected. It absorbs the small and large bumps well. No stinction was felt, probably because its still new. The lockout is easy to reach and use. However, according to online forums the fork has some manufacturing issues. I hope I would not be inconvenienced by this in the long run. In any case this is a temporary solution. I intend to either get a DT Swiss or Fox fork in the future.

Shimano Dyna-Sys SLX 3x10 drivetrain
The core of my bike is the 2011 Shimano SLX Dyna-Sys groupset. I was totally impressed by the drivetrain. The new crank combination of 42-32-24 feels more useful and there was less correction needed when changing the front. Furthermore the shifting is buttery smooth. I really felt that I can traverse anything a trail can offer using this groupset. Again the limitation is the rider. The disc brakes are adequate for the time being. Comparing with SRAM X7 2x10 Cranks 42-28 or 39-26, I believe the three up front in the SLX makes it more versatile out in the trails.