My latest Project – Santa Cruz Blur
As I have now left the urban concrete jungle of London for the mountains of Colorado, it is very appropriate that I turn my attention to mountain biking (especially since I am not able to run for the next several months). With that in mind, I decided to build up from the frame, a new super light, super high performing XC racing machine. I believe I have done it.
The frame of choice was the updated Blur by Santa Cruz in a super light, strong and stiff carbon fiber. I owned the original Blur and loved it (still do) and raced it successfully for many years. Making the decision on a new frame, I considered Specialized, Trek, BMC and a few others, but in the end, the performance of the VPP design, the quality of the carbon Blur and the overall weight benefit it gave made for an easy decision.
For the fork, this was a much harder choice initially as I was somewhat disappointed in my Rock Shox SID World Cup on my old Blur, and have heard many grumblings over the years about the flexibility in RS forks. Of course, I left the world of MTB in 2007 when I moved to London and since then, RS has made huge improvements. In fact, one day when I was shopping around at a great bike shop in Golden (Golden Bike Shop), I asked about the Fox shocks and told them about my project. They were quick to point out that RS had to be considered and overall, for a lightweight racing bike, it was the highest performing fork available. Of course, the SID is much more spendy than the Fox, but this project was not about retail price.
On to the drivetrain and brakes. This was a very easy choice as SRAM XX has set such a new benchmark in performance, weight and sensibility, that I only had to find the kit.
I was fairly set on getting Stan’s wheels for the bike, but after talking to some friends I began to consider the new Easton Haven Carbons and not only found a light wheel, but also a super well built one with a great warranty to back up the no weight limited carbon hoops.
The other choices were Easton carbon bar, stem and seatpost, ESI grips, carbon Selle Italia SLR saddle and Stan’s Ravens tires. The tires are a bit of a experiment as I haven’t used low profile XC tires in the past, but I had some really strong recommendations for the Ravens and decided to give them a shot. The good thing about Stan’s tires, is that getting a seal is very easy and requires much less time than many other tire brands.
Now, I just need the snow to melt so I can get out and do more than a 15min spin around the neighborhood. I am very excited to race this beast and only hope I don’t prove to be the weak link. On thing is for sure, I can’t complain about the weight as it cracks the scales at just under 21lbs.
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