Tested a carbon Bronson yesterday. Loved it. Climbed well and went down better. After three years on an Orange Five which has been a hoot, I feel ready for a change. She’s a pricey choice but it rode better than expected. Before I order, am I doing the right thing? It’ll be x01 with pike and CCDB/inline.

Worth test riding a few other bikes, I test rode the bronson and found it quite short (previously had a mega tr and before that a 5ive). I settled on a Trance, as the frame is very lightb(mine is 27lbs with maxxis exo minions/ardents), pedals well and is a true do it all bike.

Only experience is a chap that I ride with, didn’t like his – chopped for a carbon Nomad.

Try a nomad. They climb better and descend better than the Bronson despite the extra travel. I found the Bronson too short and really hard work. A worst of both worlds bike sat in the middle of a trail bike and an enduro bike (which is what I thought I wanted) and good at neither. A couple of ex owners I have spoke to said similar so I’m glad it wasn’t just me. It sounds harsh but I pretty much hated every minute of the rides I did on the test weekend.

If you like it then buy it. They’re a nice bike

Enjoying mine

Nomad is better. I love mine!

I have one with a pike and CC DB inline and xt/ one up 10 speed. I absolutely love it…

I test rode one and didn’t feel like it was any better than my blur TRC at the time. Then tested the nomad- and bought one. So much more confident descending than the bronson. Some would say completely overbiked but I’m no slower climbing on it and way quicker downhill! I’d definitely say try one before ordering the bronson

I dont think you can say one bike is better than another. So much depends on where what you ride, your fitness etc. I did a few demos on other bikes and the one thing I came away with was just how different ech bike rode. No such thing as over biked 🙂 You should try a Nomdad and a solo maybe some other bikes too.

Like @ssholes at the moment, everyones got one. Nice bike though.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I am considering a nomad too tbh. Need to try one before parting with my dosh. The Bronson was fantastic in my opinion. I thought the Nomad would be too much bike and a cow to climb hills on. If it really can climb I’d be a fool to rule it out.

Don’t listen to all the “over biked” rubbish you read. It all comes down to fun.
I really didn’t believe anyone who told me the nomad was a good climber but it genuinely is. So good that you don’t need to mess with the switch on the shock, I just leave it fully open all the time.

My friend and I did some testing on the Bronson and both came to the same conclusion that it was not the bike we expected or wanted it to be. One example was a long fire road climb, me on the bronson and my mate on his nomad. normally we are very evenly matched but I couldn’t keep up with him. I was having to put a lot of effort in and he was just tootling along. I thought I was just having an off day but when we swapped bikes he couldn’t keep up with me.
We couldn’t work out why, The brakes were not dragging and everything was working as it should be. The only things we could think that could be causing it were heavy 27.5″ wheels (stans something or other) and the geometry not putting us in a very good pedalling position and maybe using different muscles to we normally use. The next thing we found was that we really had to wrestle the bike around on corners. Almost like you could feel the gyroscopic effect of the wheel. It felt like it would get tiring pretty quickly. Again this was back to back tested against the nomad which just felt easy to ride and rewarding.

The Bronson did have a couple of good moments, it pedalled efficiently under standing up power and didn’t bob much. On wide open corners it felt pretty good.

All in all as mentioned above it just felt like it had the worst traits of a trail bike (125mm travel) and a bigger bike (160mm travel) and we concluded that you may as well pick one from the end of the scale you prefer more.

This was confirmed a few days ago when a guy was asking me how I was finding the nomad and if I had tried a Bronson. I told him what I thought about the Bronson and when I had finished he told me he had just got rid of his because of pretty much the same reasons.

Had mine two years in October and absolutely love it, its my only MTB (although have a roadbike) and it does everything I need it to do and only feel slightly over biked when I do my local canal loop but frankly I dont care! They are short in the top tube but this suits me and is the reason I always end up going back to Santa Cruz again as they just suit my body shape.

Oh meant to also say mine weighs in at 12.74kg so can be quite light if built up right.

^does the nomad not also have 27.5″ wheels?

The nomad does have 27.5 inch wheels but light bicycle carbon ones.
I think wheel weight is the key to getting a 27.5 to feel like a 26″ which is what I wanted.
My Nomad weighed exactly 27lbs.

If your spending cash, sling your leg over a Pivot Mach 6 too. Such a hoot a bike.

Definitely try a Nomad. Although if you do, be prepared to want one badly.

I rode a Nomad and a Bronson back to back and felt underwhelmed by the Bronson’s climbing ability – generally infact, not just compared to the Nomad. Granted, it was a brief demo, with only a quick shock setup (the shock was a DBAir) but still, so was the Nomad…

Completely agree with the poster above – pick one from either end of the riding spectrum. In fact, I’d go so far to say that actually the 5010 gave nothing up to the Bronson (and with a shock upgrade to, say, a Fox Float X) would be just as capable.

For me though, the Nomad was on another level and had no right to climb so well. I actually ended up getting an Orange Alpine 160 but had I gone for a Santa Cruz, I’d have gone for the Nomad, no question.

As an aside, I’d recommend the Alpine as an alternative to the Nomad, but it certainly isn’t lightweight!

I’ll second the mach 6. Speak to Colin in rush cycles. Can be had for a lot less than the Santa Cruz and the dw link works better than the vpp IMO. Does every type of riding with very few compromises up, across and down.

+1 snorkel – Alpine 160 would get my vote.
Amazed folk still buy SC when there are others half the price and probably just as good, if not better? Capra etc.

3rd the Mach6, though to be fair these days you are spoilt for choice.

Poss worth a test ride on a Spec Enduro. The carbon 2015 ones are reduced from 4600 to 3600 at the moment. A mate has just got one and it goes uphill incredibly well, it really surprised me. Downhill capability is well documented.

I bought a carbon Bronson earlier this year. I LOVE it and the other pals I know riding them also love them.

I also swapped from an Orange as I wanted a change. To be honest the price wasn’t the issue with the full bike builds being offered at the moment and was very comparable to the 2015 Oranges.

I’m climbing more than I have done for years and am much more confident on the descents. I find it highly maneuverable on techie trails, and very much fun. I tested a few bikes (including the Solo/5010) but the Bronson was by far the best choice for me.

Go for whatever makes you smile 😀

richwales – Member
I’ll second the mach 6. Speak to Colin in rush cycles. Can be had for a lot less than the Santa Cruz and the dw link works better than the vpp IMO. Does every type of riding with very few compromises up, across and down.

Assuming you can cope with the crazy short reach.

The good/bad thing is – there aren’t many bad bikes out there right now! What there is though is an abundance of choice, and its being honest with yourself as to what sort of riding you want to do.

I test rode (in no particular order) Yeti 575, Santa Cruz 5010/bronson/nomad, Ibis HD3, Orange 5/Alpine 160. And I sold an Enduro 29.

Climbing prowess – HD3 & Nomad were standout performers (5010 was good, but that was to be expected).
Descending prowess – without doubt, my Alpine. Nomad was good also. HD3 too, but that was rolling on the uber wide carbon hoops they do!

If it suits you then Canyon & YT both offer killer specc’d bikes for comparable money but after changing 12 bearings on my Specialized after only a few months, one of the key considerations for me was longevity & maintenance – Santa Cruz, Ibis and Orange fared well in this regard.

I suppose I should also add that I did get a good deal on my Alpine – if it wasn’t for that then a well priced Nomad I’d seen would have taken the win I think.

Have you looked at a transition scout? Sounds like it would fit what you’re after

honourablegeorge – Member

Assuming you can cope with the crazy short reach.
On paper it may seem short but it didn’t feel like that. I’m 5’11” and tested the medium and that was rideable no bother. Bought a large tho 🙂

I’m deliberating over a very similar buy (although prob more descent bias). I’ve done spreadsheets and everything.
I’ve only applied bias/preconceptions into a couple of choices (bikes or brands I plainly don’t like) and to my surprise, the Devinci Spartan is currently looking a favorite, but I’m hoping that Evil release the new uprising and make a late entry.
Others still being considered; Mojo/Nicolai Geometron, Intense Tracer T275C, Kona Process 153 DL, Rocky Mountain Altitude, Canyon Strive CF (and the two mentioned).