Hello folks.

I’ve got back into riding after a long layoff but been on my hardtail for the last 12 months. Now decided to get a proper trail bike.

First bike i demo’d was a SC Bronson.

I am just shy of 5’10 and fall exactly between M and L on the Santa Cruz size chart .

I assumed I’d want a medium but after trying the Bronson in both sizes I’m not so sure.

Descending the medium felt much better than the large, much easier to move around underneath me especially in the air and much more nimble. However climbing it felt too cramped and the large was so much more comfortable to wind up the hill in fact, I’d go so far as to say the medium was uncomfortable, felt the saddle need to go back an inch (stem was already long 50cms on medium so no movement there i think)

On the Large the stand-over height was such that the top tube felt perilously close to my nuts! but i think i have always favored a slightly smaller frame size

Looks like its a similar situation with sizing from other brands, anyone else had this issue?

well confused!!

I like the SC but need to try some others for a comparison, also tried a trek remedy 29er which the medium felt better but I’ve decided on 27.5

Any other suggestions welcome!

Many Thanks

Try putting a longer say 70mm/80mm stem on a M

Santa Cruz bikes always used to be shorter in the TT than other manufacturers (don’t know if this is still the case). If neither size fits you when set up in the appropriate manner for the bike then I’d say it was a bad buy.

There are plenty of other brilliant bikes in the same category as the bronson. I’d find one that works for you (and ignore wheel size, these days it has about as much relevance as paint colour in my experience).

also tried a trek remedy 29er which the medium felt better but I’ve decided on 27.5

My only real advice in the current bike market is to pick the bike not the wheel size. Don’t prejudge by wheel size.

Assume the bronson Stem was 50mm? Was there an inch of saddle adjust? I run my Med LTC at the back of the rails and with a 50mm stem and it works for me.

There are lots of bikes around, take a look at some demo days coming up.

I’m presuming that the new Bronson has the recent SC geometry i.e. 584mm effective top tube on the medium and 610mm on the large?

At 5ft 10″ I’d say that either size could work for you with a bit of stem and bar tweaking to get a good reach. It really depends on the riding you’ll be doing (not the riding you aspire to be doing but only do 5% of the time).

Oh, and forget sizing by standover. The 2″-4″ standover rule is more of a hangover from the days where the ‘LBS’ (usually Halfords) would stand you over some frames and size you up that way. As long as your nads aren’t directly touching the top tube then a couple of centimetres is ok. 9 times out of 10 when you crash you’ll be going over the bars anyhow.

My only real advice in the current bike market is to pick the bike not the wheel size. Don’t prejudge by wheel size.

thanks for that, the whole wheel size thing is a new area for me coming back to the sport. When i tried the 29er i thought it felt to planted on the descents compared to the equivalent 27.5 which felt more lively i was putting that down to the wheel size but you are right, hopefully i can try a few more variants of bike/wheel size before i take the plunge.

There are plenty of other brilliant bikes in the same category as the bronson. I’d find one that works for you (and ignore wheel size, these days it has about as much relevance as paint colour in my experience).

Yea i guess i might be trying to force bike to fit. Only picked the Bronson a it was an easy local demo, gonna look at some other bikes for comparison, suggestions welcome!

Santa Cruz are a funny one, as others have said – they come up short in the top tube for their given size.

584mm for the medium is on the short side. 609mm is not long for the Large either.

For comparison, I am 178cm/5’10” with a 32″ inside leg and ride a Whyte T130. The Medium is 594mm in the top tube. Even with the 70mm stem, it just felt that bit short. Nimble and chuckable sure, but just not quite right. I since changed to a Large T130, which is 609mm in the toptube. It’s much better and with a 60mm stem it will be perfect. This said, I wouldn’t want the seat tube any longer. At 19″ I have the reverb dropper all the way into the frame – perfect pedalling height at full extension and saddle out of the way enough when fully dropped for descents. I still wish I could drop it a touch more at times (18.5″ would be the ideal), but it’s perfectly workable.

The advantage you will have with going for a Large for bikes like: Santa Cruz Bronson, Santa Cruz 5010, Nukeproof Mega TR etc is that they tend to have 18.5″ seatposts, and a 609mm top tube. Combine that with a 50-60mm stem and you (should) be bang on for sizing. This is assuming you are fairly normally proportioned.

Best bet is to get more test rides though. And others have said, there are other options. A medium in another brand may well fit perfectly too. But if going for Santa Cruz Bronson or 5010, I’d strongly recommend a Large. Look at other forum posts on the Web, it’s full of similar stories…

Thanks that’s really helpful post.

I guess i was worried about having a large even though it felt more comfortable simply because i assumed i was a medium. I have one more ride on the Bronson so i will try the large again and focus on the bike as a whole not the frame size.

Whyte is on my list to try.

cheers

On a separate note, the wheelbase on a large Bronson is 1165mm which is a few CM shorter than current trends for a long travel bike which I think is a good midpoint between chuckable and long and planted.

Effective top tube is a poor measurement to use as it is longer with taller head tubes and slacker seat tubes, without actually being longer in practice. Use the ‘reach’ measurement instead. My Banshee Spitfire medium has a 590mm ETT but a 427mm reach – a large Bronson is 610mm ETT but 428mm reach – and the Spitfire has a 16.9″ seat tube vs the Bronson’s 18.5″, so would fit you much better. Arguably better suspension design and adjustable geometry too.

http://brightonmtb.org/2015/01/31/a-review-banshee-spitfire-v2/

Thanks. I’m in Brighton too so might head down to freedom and take a look!

Let me know if you want to give mine a whirl, I don’t think Freedom have any in at the moment! It’s about time it got dirty again, I’ve been solely on my Soul in 2015 thus far…