Santa Cruz BLT2 - 160mm 36 forks and wide bars?

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Santa Cruz BLT2 - 160mm 36 forks and wide bars?

22 posts & 14 voices | Started 4 months ago by agentdagnamit | Latest reply from honourablegeorge

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agentdagnamit - Member

Has anyone beefed up a BLT2 with 160mm forks, short stem and big bars? I'd probably stick a 203mm rotor on the front as well.

I'm thinking of this as an option for a long Europe trip this summer, rather than buying a second full suss bike. SC spec some of their BLTs in a similar way, so I no it wont kill me.

I've got some doubts over how well I could climb on it in this mode (I already find the front wheel is prone to lift, combination of bad technique and the geometry no doubt) but reckon the slightly slacker head angle would help. The trip will involve at least 80% downhill around Andorra, Chamonix, Italy, Verbier and the usual bike park trails

Not sure if the relatively short top tube would make this work better or worse for me. I'm pretty light weight and not too jumpy, so happy with current wheels and shock. Currently got 150mm Revs.

Or, will this **** up the bike and would I have more fun on a (fairly) budget 160mm specific bike like a Fritzz or Spicy?

Or, trade in the BLT and upgrade to a carbon Nomad as my one bike to rule them all?

Posted 4 months ago #
whatnobeer - Member

slightly slacker head angle would help

That will make climbing harder, rather than easier, with the front more prone to lifting and a wondery front wheel. If its doing that at 150mm it will still do it at 160mm. That said, an extra 10mm shouldnt make a huge amount of difference.... does that make sense?

Posted 4 months ago #
Bregante - Member

My mates Blur Lt2 has 36 floats on it but he's reduced them to 150 travel. It doesn't seem to hold him back tbh.

Posted 4 months ago #
honourablegeorge - Member

whatnobeer - Member

That said, an extra 10mm shouldnt make a huge amount of difference.... does that make sense?

There's a shade more than 10mm involved - the 36/Lyrik have a longer A2C than Revs/32s - the difference is close to an inch.

Short stem will only make the front end wander more too, although the wide bars counteract that a bit.

Posted 4 months ago #
neil853 - Member

You'll be fine, the slight disadvantage when climbing will be more than made up for with all the decending. I'll be looking for a cheap pair of 36/lyrics when I head to the Alps this summer with my LTc

Posted 4 months ago #
agentdagnamit - Member

Thanks. Sorry, my question wasnt really about "would it be harder to climb", obviously it will (though heavier forks help a little keeping the nose down). I was more interested in experience of people trying to turn their BLTs into more downhill orientated bikes.

The big forks would come off again when I'm back in the UK.

Posted 4 months ago #
Mbnut - Member

I run 160mm on my zesty and have done the alps on it a couple of times... slight downside is the front end being lifted 21mm but you tend to find half of that is lost to extra sag. Plus the BB is raised too.

That said bigger forks are not that easy to set up using sag as they don't really sag when you are just sat on the bike so it'll be a case of trial and error... I go and ride the biggest hitting section of trail locally and look for it to have about 40mm of travel in reserve.

This year i will being putting some off set shock mounts in for the Alps to slacken out the head angle and reduce the BB height.

Once you have ridden it with those super stiff forks you won't want to go back so you can space the trabel down internally when you get back, it's an easy job and will give you a chance to change the seals and oil too.

Have fun

Posted 4 months ago #
roddi18 - Member

If you go for a set of talas 36's you can adjust the travel right down for climbs from 160 - 130 - 100. I run my five with a set of 36 floats, wide bars and short stem and think its cracking. The front lifts a bit but imo a bike like this is aimed at hammering the downs and then just getting up the climbs. Saying that i rode it last weekend for the brechfa enduro and passed 6 people on the climb stage alone so it will still climb well enough if you can power it

Posted 4 months ago #
agentdagnamit - Member

Mbnut - tell me about offset bushings. I cant quite picture how they work? As far as I'm aware, my shock has a certain eye to eye length which the frame is designed for. I can see that I could fit it in a small frame mount by compressing the shock - is that how it works. That would slacken the head angle and hower the BB, but wont that then leave me with less travel remaining to use?

Or do you use 2 sets of bushings, so keeping the eye to eye length the same and moving the whole shock forward or back (or up and down depending on the bike).

Either way, I'm interested!

Posted 4 months ago #
agentdagnamit - Member

...and couldnt I achieve the same effect as a set of offset bushing by just running more slack in my shock.

Obviously these do work as advertised, but I need the physics explaining to me. Got to be worth £20 for a go.

Posted 4 months ago #
Northwind - Member

agentdagnamit - Member

...and couldnt I achieve the same effect as a set of offset bushing by just running more slack in my shock.

Yes, but that'd also effect how the shock performs- it'd be like shortening a fork by running a soft spring.

The shock bushings work exactly like fitting a shorter shock, they just reduce the effective eye-to-eye. But do bear in mind you need a little extra clearance for this to work- some bikes will have hard parts clash, or the tyre buzz the frame.

Have you looked at the other option, slackening headsets? I'm a big fan of these things... I big-jobs'd my Hemlock with a 2 degree slackener and a set of Lyriks, and tbh I'd expected to find downsides but didn't- the BB is about the same, the bike is beautifully slack, yet it still climbs very well- a little floppy perhaps so it needs a little attention to keep it straight, but the longer front-centre and weight redistribution seems to balance that out a lot, it's not wheelie-prone or imbalanced at all.

Posted 4 months ago #
Mbnut - Member

I looked at the headset option but once they are in they are hard to get out again and the cost is quite high.

I will be putting the off set shock mounts in for a play in about 3 weeks as i'm rebuilding the Zesty after showing it a little TLC.

I will report back.

Posted 4 months ago #
CaptainMainwaring - Member

I reckon that a 36 Talas up front would be perfect for the BLT. I wanted to go that way when the Pikes on mine needed replacing last year but didn't have the cash so went with Rev 150 dual positions. The 36 Talas would increase sagged C/A measurement by about 12mm over the Revs IIRC, so would reduce the HA by about 0.5 deg and slightly raise the BB.

The dual position Revs work really well as I can drop the front for really steep climbs to stop it wandering about - it makes a huge difference. Having 36 Talas but being able to wind them down to 130 for climbing would give you the perfect do it all bike

Posted 4 months ago #
goatster - Member

I have been running a Blur lt2 for the last 18months. It is set up with Carbon haven 711mm bars, 50 mm thompson stem and fox 36 van rc2.

It hsa done the Mega, Kielder enduro dh, trips to france, spain and italy. Ridden the steepest technical terraine you can imagine. Also it has done 50mile day rides, local xc rides, everything.

My opinions:
St
short stem doesn't make it wander at all.
711mm bars perfect for a man of my build, short and stocky.
Don't bother with Talas.. they arent as good as vans or floats and the travel adjust is useless cos you won't use it after the first ride.

in this set up it is the best, most enjoyable, capable bike I have ever ridden.

Tony

Posted 4 months ago #
mtbmarkymark - Member

Hi, Can i suggest Coil u-turn lyrics, Wind them down to 115 to climb, out to 160 for the downs. They work great on my Nomad and on my mates Yeti 575. In my experience the extra stiffness at the front moving up from 32 forks to 35/36 will make far more difference to the decending ability in the Alps than the difference between 140 and 160mm at the back.

Posted 4 months ago #
Northwind - Member

Mbnut - Member

I looked at the headset option but once they are in they are hard to get out again

They're just headsets

Posted 4 months ago #
CaptainMainwaring - Member

Don't bother with Talas.. they arent as good as vans or floats and the travel adjust is useless cos you won't use it after the first ride

Well it depends on what sort of riding you do. I didn't think I would use the short travel option on my Revs. I don't use it often, but there are a few short steep technical climbs locally that I wouldn't be able to clean otherwise. It allows me to keep a shortish stem and still manage those steep bits.

Of course if I was a riding god I would be able to manage without the short travel option

Posted 4 months ago #
blur3810 - Member

hi i have the lyrik coil uturn on my 2009 blur lt2 with a 50mm stem and in my opinion has transfomed the bike . It still climbs and can be ridden on all trails but is more than capable coming down . I took it to destinstion x in the rhone alps with trail addiction last summer and never felt out of my depth on the decents . The larger stansions and 20mm axle realy stiffen up the front . If you want pics email me .

Posted 4 months ago #
agentdagnamit - Member

thanks - I'm pretty much sold on the 36 160mm option now, rather than a new, cheaper bike. I might be tempted by coil Lyriks, but would probably take them off in the UK due to the extra weight over Team Revs.

If I got lighter Fox 36s, I might keep them on. My previous experience with TALAS was ok, but would prefer the dual position that Rockshox offer. Not a massive fan of U-Turn either, I find I either have the forks at either max or min travel, so dual pos would be better for me.

Now to find a cheap deal on some 160mm forks, much as I'd like some kashima coated, FIT 2012 Fox's, I dont have that sort of cash spare really....

cheers

Posted 4 months ago #
DaveyBoyWonder - Member

Thats how my Blur 4X is setup. 160mm Floats and 780mm Renthals. Never really felt out of its depth, even in the Alps. LT2 would (I imagine) feel even more ace.

Posted 4 months ago #
momo - Member

I run a similar set up to DBW on my 4X, 36 Vans, 50mm Renthal stem and 740mm Sunline bars, yes it does wander a bit when you're climbing, but you just need to shift your weight forward a little to counteract it. The 36 is such a solid fork, gives me great confidence when choosing my lines, completely different fork to the QR 32 I had on before.

(gratuitous picture whoring)

Blur by le_grande_momo, on Flickr

Posted 4 months ago #
honourablegeorge - Member

Mbnut - Member

That said bigger forks are not that easy to set up using sag as they don't really sag when you are just sat on the bike so it'll be a case of trial and error... I go and ride the biggest hitting section of trail locally and look for it to have about 40mm of travel in reserve.

Er, what?

Posted 4 months ago #

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