My on-going ramblings about my Santa Cruz Nickel!
So I got a quick 12 miler in yesterday morning just to test my Nickel.
https://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/83955437
Just wanted to share my initial thoughts on this bike:
I love the way the bike rides, it climbs very well, descends better than the VPP blurs (and similar) in my opinion as the travel seems to be more bottomless and confidence inspiring to me. I like the BB height, as on my other bikes I am used to pedal and crank strikes which didn't seem to happen on the Nickel.
I managed to build the bike up pretty light at just over 27lbs, it'll be a little heavier when I get my Reverb that's been on order for a while, but it will be a good trade off having to stop far less!
I thought long and hard about the wheels, tyres and brakes and couldn't be more pleased with the results of fitting the Hope Hoops Pro 2 Evo SP/ Stans Crest wheels with Schwalbe RoRo rear and NoNi front with the Stans Tubeless kit. I also went for Formula R1 brakes and I'm astounded at how well the bike stops and grips, especially having giving the bike a quick shake down a few weeks ago using Panaracer CG tyres (yuck) and the Avid CR's off my Orange.
Also I seem to have found a sweet spot on the forks, running slightly less air in than I should according to Fox, and only 3 clicks on the Terralogic knob, seems to have struck a great compromise so that the fork is still fully active, yet climbs really nicely too, especially when I turn the Talas knob and go down to 120mm travel for the steeper climbs.
The XT 10 speed Dynasis seems to be working very well, baring in mind I am more used to SS in recent years, I have found the transition between bikes pretty easy.
All in all I'm really pleased with my decision to go with the Nickel over the Blur LTc I test rode at the same time. :thumbsup:
So I got a quick 12 miler in yesterday morning just to test my Nickel.
https://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/83955437
Just wanted to share my initial thoughts on this bike:
I love the way the bike rides, it climbs very well, descends better than the VPP blurs (and similar) in my opinion as the travel seems to be more bottomless and confidence inspiring to me. I like the BB height, as on my other bikes I am used to pedal and crank strikes which didn't seem to happen on the Nickel.
I managed to build the bike up pretty light at just over 27lbs, it'll be a little heavier when I get my Reverb that's been on order for a while, but it will be a good trade off having to stop far less!
I thought long and hard about the wheels, tyres and brakes and couldn't be more pleased with the results of fitting the Hope Hoops Pro 2 Evo SP/ Stans Crest wheels with Schwalbe RoRo rear and NoNi front with the Stans Tubeless kit. I also went for Formula R1 brakes and I'm astounded at how well the bike stops and grips, especially having giving the bike a quick shake down a few weeks ago using Panaracer CG tyres (yuck) and the Avid CR's off my Orange.
Also I seem to have found a sweet spot on the forks, running slightly less air in than I should according to Fox, and only 3 clicks on the Terralogic knob, seems to have struck a great compromise so that the fork is still fully active, yet climbs really nicely too, especially when I turn the Talas knob and go down to 120mm travel for the steeper climbs.
The XT 10 speed Dynasis seems to be working very well, baring in mind I am more used to SS in recent years, I have found the transition between bikes pretty easy.
All in all I'm really pleased with my decision to go with the Nickel over the Blur LTc I test rode at the same time. :thumbsup: