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Blur LT Carbon Setup Thread

314K views 1K replies 254 participants last post by  beach_boy 
#1 ·
Won't actually be 'set up' for a couple of days; but, looks really sweet out of the box! 5.68 lbs. More to come. Thanks Zach at Competitive Cyclist.

Cheers.
 

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#7 ·
Here's the 'build':

Frame: Santa Cruz Blur LT Carbon, medium
Rear Shock: Fox Float RP23
Fork: Fox 36 Talas FIT RC2, 1.5 taper
Saddle: WTB Devo Carbon
Seatpost: Crank Brothers Joplin R, 30.9
Seatpost Clamp: Santa Cruz
Handlebar: Easton MonkeyLite XC, High Rise, 685mm
Stem: Syntace F-119 MTB, 90mm
Grips: Ergon GE1
Headset: CustomTapered headset
Shift Levers: SRAM X.0, trigger
Front Derailleur: Shimano XT M771 Direct Mount
Rear Derailleur: SRAM X.0, long cage
Derailleur Cables: Gore Ride-On Sealed
Brakes: Magura Marta SL Magnesium
Brake Rotors: Magura SL Drilled, 180mm F & R
Crankset: Shimano XTR Hollowtech II Crankset FC-M970, 175mm
Chain: SRAM PC-991
Pedals: Crank Brothers Mallet 3, Aluminum + Ti
Cassette: Shimano XTR Cassette CS-M970, 11-34t
Wheels: Industry Nine Enduro Flow (Stan's Flow rims)
Tires: Continental Mountain King Protection 2.4 in., converted to tubeless (Stan's)
Rear Skewer: DT Swiss RWS Thru Bolt, 10x135

Cheers.
 
#10 · (Edited)
So where are you heading with this build spec, there's not a great deal of difference between your LT & XC builds other than fork/ wheels, maybe spec the XC closer to it's intentions.

My XCc (24.5lb) feels like an ultra lightweight LT2a (28.2lb) to me, so I'm curious as to what you think the LT2c will be of benefit to you over a more durable alloy frame.

BTW if I post a LT2c here as my own send me abusive PM's as I don't believe that a carbon trailbike is the right decision for me. I understand that the carbon is strong in SC impact tests etc. but there's the everday durabilty issues that concerns me, the rear dropouts with no plated protection from skewers let alone a bolt up rear hub eek.

I'll suffer these on a job specific bike like the XC, but a trail rig....nah.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Man, that's what I call beautiful. I thought the Mojo was kinda nice for a carbon bike, but this is beyond imagination. I'm waiting my modest and regular BLT to come, and from my experience with it, I'll probably order a BLTc next year. If a carbon Nomad doesn't show up before! ;)

Hey, is that a press-in BB like those on Pivot bikes?

Congratulations, that will be a really smooth ride! :thumbsup:
 
#14 ·
Gripo: All good questions and comments. I'm not quite sure where it's headed either. I've got three bikes and I'm trying to differentiate them (like fly rods). The XCc should probably be pushed more towards XC. I'll see how it sorts out.

Black Ronin: The BB was wrapped in masking tape. I'll have to check tomorrow. It was represented as a custom proprietary tapered headset. I don't even know who makes it.

Almost together, except the front wheel needed a 20mm sleeve from I9. It will be here on Thurs. Raining now, but supposed to be a good Memorial Day weekend here with temperatures in the low 70's. I'll post some more pictures on Friday.

Cheers.
 
#18 ·
Ok so my story is I have ridden a hard tail wicked since 1990 or 91. a year & 1/2 ago I bought an older gen1 bruja. (just to give a where I'm at sort of reference). I love the squishy of the bruja- vanilla f & r. So I have been trying out lots of different tires, forks, wheels etc. NOT very tech trails but over and over on the same trail day after day I get a pretty good feel for the changes.

Then my buddy at my LBS is buds w the owner of SC bikes. A few weeks ago he had the XC version.. I did not get a chance to ride that, however when the offer to spin this came I jumped on it.My story is this- just returned from mendo 4 days of riding long weekend, went and grabbed the bike for my morning ride on my way to work. I checked out a few angles and heights to compare to my current bruja. BB 1 inch lower on the LT, Bars 1" lower as well, Seat to bars 1" longer, a plus as my bruja is m and the LT is L . Bars are 27 bruja 26". Seat tube angle looked identical, head tube maybe 1/2 degree more slack- almost identical. wheelbase 1" longer. I weight 170 and 5' 11" tall.

This one had the revalation forks and RP 2.3 shock. Apparently the owner is 185lbs so I did not touch the air pressure. I did reset the orings for reference. Initial sag looked pretty much inline for starters.

I rode Fremont older in Cupertino. I start in the prospect lot. Initial impression was climbing felt good. now I am really tired from riding for a 10 day s straight.. but it climbed well middle chain ring all the way to Maisies peak. I dropped into granny for that. Now I did not lock out anything as far as shocks go.. Then the fun begins.. So I blast down from Maisies and do my normal left and duck oder the tree branches- it feels great. then some fire road, zig zag around the rain ruts, pop a little air off the bump, then to the chopped up from the horses section.. Well I do feel the bumps but it is more like good feedback not beat you up stuff.. Then a bit more fire road and blast a right to the toyon trail single track, now this is getting good.. It is super responsive, back it here, jump off the hump, zig over to the skinny section, up, then down, the roller coaster, then small climb out, back down the next toyon section- fantastic!, a hop here, zig there, a few banks off the side, then back to fire road, through the meadow, short climb then seven springs single track downhill, then climb out. They had done some recent trail work here and for some reason installed about 15 speed bumps / jumps. this bike is tracking wonderfull, goes where you put it, pop off the bumps, then climbing it just goes great.. NO pedal bob like my bruja/vanilla. it has a great 'feedback feel' like pedaling a HT yet softens up the bumps like they are not there. The tire were more xc than what I tend to ride, but the did not slip even on the powder sections like the susp. took up what it needed and made the tires stick.
In the end the rear had used most of the travel so the air might have been slightly too low, front used 3-3 1/2" travel. (even low rear shock pressure had less pogo when pedaling than my bruja)

To sum it up it was a very expensive test ride for me and I have a bruja for sale..

Also I heard they were not quite out for a few weeks or so- or at least not the large ones..

Just my take on it. NO technical stuff involved. I just had the best ride ever IMO..

Steve

Disclaimer- interpret it in your own way. Hope my description compares to yours when you ride it.
 
#21 ·
Awesome write-up, thanks. Makes me want to go out & ride my bike! From your description, I'm pleased to see it sounds very stiff...point & shoot...nimble, just what I'm after, but with the trail-bike angles I prefer, rather than being race-steep. From my test ride of the standard LT2, I thought it had all the good bits of my Horst Fivespot...nice angles, burly feeling but not too heavy, but also felt tighter...not as plush, but I like that, the Fivespot can be too plush & can suffer on climbs. I found the LT2 to be a lot quicker on the climbs, and I found myself in the middle ring when often I knew I'd have been in the granny on the 'Spot. I'm liking the idea of having all these features, but in a lighter, stiffer frame, so the carbon it had to be.
 
#22 ·
>>>but also felt tighter...not as plush<<<

I'm telling you the 'feedback' feel was unlike anything I had ridden before. I really think it will be unreal in the technical trails. Much more than the plush or pogo of my vanilla.

The other thing I dont know if you caught was how much rear susp travel there was (or I used) . I think it will even climb better with it setup slightly stiffer/ more air psi in the rear...

steve
 
#23 ·
smittylube said:
>>>but also felt tighter...not as plush<<<

I'm telling you the 'feedback' feel was unlike anything I had ridden before. I really think it will be unreal in the technical trails. Much more than the plush or pogo of my vanilla.

The other thing I dont know if you caught was how much rear susp travel there was (or I used) . I think it will even climb better with it setup slightly stiffer/ more air psi in the rear...

steve
Awesome, that's what I really liked about the BLT, it felt really connected to the trail, but at the same time with a feeling of having a good amount of travel available if needed. Bearing in mind the traits of carbon over alu, I wouldn't be surprised if this one felt even more so.
 
#24 ·
Gripo said:
I'm curious as to what you think the LT2c will be of benefit to you over a more durable alloy frame.
Im nor trying to turn this into a carbon vs.. thread, but this frame is claimed to be significantly stronger than its alu counterpart (which I have LT2 'a' XL Ano Black)

My experience with carbon, and exposure to it in diff applications agrees with that, as do the engineers.

Maybe Im misinterpreting, in which case - oops, but it just seems a casual allusion to a commonly held, but incorrect, belief that carbon/thermo-plastics are weaker or more prone to failure than aluminum when the opposite is true.

Back to OP/OT - that build is sweet; Im one that would prefer a matte finish, but you cant stop the sexiness that is the BLT2c!!! Enjoy that thing!!
 
#25 ·
Huck Banzai said:
Im nor trying to turn this into a carbon vs.. thread, but this frame is claimed to be significantly stronger than its alu counterpart (which I have LT2 'a' XL Ano Black)

My experience with carbon, and exposure to it in diff applications agrees with that, as do the engineers.

Maybe Im misinterpreting, in which case - oops, but it just seems a casual allusion to a commonly held, but incorrect, belief that carbon/thermo-plastics are weaker or more prone to failure than aluminum when the opposite is true.
I don't doubt the outright strength of carbon but could see an issue with durability/longevity. True about it's strength, how long has it been used in the aerospace industry or sports like F1/Moto GP etc. but then how often is a carbon component replaced in those arenas?

For example the rear dropouts on the LT/XC's is all carbon without any metal protection, I can see a longevity issue with some users who may overtighten the qr's or worse would be a bolt up axle/hub that grinds into the carbon as it's tightened. Then there's the seatpost clamp area which will be crushed 1000's of times by seatpost QR's.

Time will tell, I'm just being cautious.
 
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