Oooh, that looks good 😛 . I love a happy ending Hora.

Hopefully these'll work from facebook…
The bike on a lift in Verbier this summer:

In action on Jackass, one of the best trails I've ever ridden:

DBW- thats the 05/5th air shock model?

Not sure on the year as it was Neil Donoghue's ex-team spare race frame. Got a 5th Element air though – going to shove an RP3 on it maybe sometime but to be honest, the 5th seems pretty good. Coped with descending nearly 7000m a day in Verbier!

You look happy!

Here's mine with Pikes…

And now with 55s…

Is that Stanage? I took the wrong (longer option) and went the longer route missing that bit

Yes it's Stanage.

Awesome bike. Click for full size

Awesome little bike (not so awesome camera phone!)

awesome bikes, i really miss mine. crap bearings and could easily be a pound lighter though.

I thought they fitted lifetime/sealed bearings on the latter models? I know the bearings now have a lifetime warranty any-huuuw. On the weight- I had both OrangeFive and the 4x in my hands- I swear the Orange is heavier (just a tad).

I'm nearly there with the build, how do you upload a photo? Agree with Hora on weight mine feels a tadligher than my Orange Five.

…and a tad more special

I thought they fitted lifetime/sealed bearings on the latter models? I know the bearings now have a lifetime warranty any-huuuw.

Nope, never in the 4X.

I think the only thing I'd ever swap mine for would be if there was a VPP2 4X with grease points 'n'all but there's nothing in the pipeline AFAIK.

Can anyone tell me why to buy a santa cruz apart from that it is a designer bike?

Would really like some input back fromt he santa cruz crew.

I'm particularly liking the superlight but can't justify £1350 on a frame that is basically a better looking kind of GT.

ta.

Ah, your right- I was thinknig about the Heckler.

whyter- no alu frame is worth what they are asking now. However Ive always found SC's to be stout, honest frames. I definitely wouldnt describe them as designer- no way. They are mass produced in Taiwan. Only the carbon blur is designer. Plus Everyone else asks a similar price now so SC areny 'bling' alu frames? (apart from the VP2's I guess)

deleted.

whyterthanwhyte=troll

how is a single pivot anything like a URT?

Hora – lovin' your bike…apart from the layback seatpost. What's that all about!?! Doesn't it make the bike climb like a pig. The only time I am in the saddle of mine is when I am spinning up a hill and it is great to take advantage of the steep seat angle and get your weight forwards. Plus layback Thomson seatposts look just wrong 😉

Anyway, here's mine. No action photos unfortunately.

Regarding the weight, for me its not really an issue, my bike gets used and abused, and substitutes for my DH bike on occasions, so a little extra meat is always welcome. It's not exactly heavy though. My bike as above, is 28.5lbs & there is plenty of scope to lose another pound or two.

The early frame came with the poor open bearing design, they were utterly useless, however they are standard size and any local bearing shop can supply you with some decent rubber sealed replacements for not much money. Its a relatively easy job to swap them out as well.

Such a great fun little bike for a more gravity orientated rider, compliments a DH bike nicely. My Mrs loved mine so much she's now got one and building it up now.

Hora – Your brown Spoon would look much better on my bike. Not interested in selling it are you (or swapping for my Flite)?

I already have a flite somewhere…I only put the laid-back on until I bought an alu shim fot the KS/pure racing dropper that I bought for £30 last week (now bought sorted).

Definitely recommend: http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/pure-racing-i850-post

Ive got a fair few Thomson posts and stems in various sizes knocking about 🙄

Good news 🙂

First ride today-corr blimey it is exactly how I remember it. I thought maybe I was viewing the frame with rose-tinted specs abit. First ride and you can tell its more than capable/a talent compensator/a little bit special.

The rear also felt very plush whilst the front felt like the SC Chameleon. Awesome. I'm going to get some mtb training to get somewhere near its potential.

First ride out on mine yesterday, after years of single pivots it was very interesting! Overall I love it and its a keeper for a long time I hope. Didn't quite manage to get used to how it feels off the lip of a jump but that will come, seemed to soak up the takeoff more than the 5 did, maybe I need to go faster! Did some nice mellow drop offs, about 5 feet, and it felt really solid and stable, so all in all really looking forward to getting lots of time on this bike. Looks ace in the flesh and surprisingly light about 30lbs all up I think. Set up is:

Large frame in Orange, 2010 RS Pikes, Hope pro II hubs on mavic 717 rims, Sunline V1 65mm stem and 710mm wide V1 bars, Gold (!) CK headset, XT cranks, V12 pedals, XT shifters, Formula K24 brakes 180 / 160 discs.

DD I dont 'do' air but I imagine run you're rebound faster or put more psi in?

Yeah had a bit of a tweak, one click faster on the rebound did help it was set quite slow, think the PSI is OK cos 25% sag is where I want it. I think its just a matter of getting used to it, felt better and better as the ride went on. Next stop Swinley forest for a decent bit of up and down and along… I must say it was the smoothest build I've ever done, no issues and its all working great straight off, must be a sign!

I'm going to get some mtb training to get somewhere near its potential.

Someone else on here (I forget who, sorry) once said that you need to ride these bikes at ten tenths for them to make sense and that they punish you if you are "off your game". At the time I didn't know what he meant but now it completely makes sense. Somehow mine feels bloody hard work if I am not nailing it, flat out. The good thing is that the need to nail it flat out has definitely made me push my riding further and harder, and at ten tenths it is such great fun.

Chasing a young lad on a pink Stiffee, who was a much better rider than me, down Whytes Level was the most fun I've had on a bike 🙂

ddmonkey – Swinley is my local play area too so I'll keep an eye out for another Blur 4X there.

Sure? I rolled mine down blue pig and it felt utterly effortless. Normally I'll grab abit of front brake as well (I know) but I didnt go near the front brake yesterday.

jfeb – that makes a lot of sense, I found the ride I did yesterday a lot of fun but hard work, partly because I'm not very fit at the moment, but I kind of got the feeling I was going faster than normal and felt on the edge at times. I had put that down never having ridden a VPP bike before and the whole getting used to a new bike thing.

Drop me a mail timbo_tepATyahoo.co.uk and I'll let you know when I'm heading over to Swinley, probably the weekend after next.

Hey guys just imported this little beauty from America as I couldn't find one here in the UK for a reasonable price, they just hold their value so well!

Let me know what you think, it''s still a wip, but I can't wait until it's all finished. I'm gonna stick all the best bits on it as I think although the frame is getting on a bit it's worth it.

Looks nice – what Magura forks are they? Done similar with my bike, taken all the best bits from two bike plus frame to make one… I like the simple choice now, do I want to ride my hardtail or my full sus? Easy!

I managed to get out on mine for the first time in 3+ months yesterday. She obviously didn't take too kindly to not being ridden, I got spat off over a big double resulting in an impressive crash and a large amount of pain.

That will teach me!

the forks are magura menja's got 130 travel, they are a stop-gap to get a working bike together faster, were cheap you see. I want either fox float 36's or XX U-turn Rev's eventually, not sure which yet.

I am currently trying to convince myself I don't need RF Atlas FR cranks to go in the Hope Ceramic BB I have!

Full spec will be Sram X0 gears XTR Front mech, Hope BB and Headset, Hope Tech M4 brakes floating rotors Blue with matching bore caps, crank bros/KS Cobra/Maverick Speedball haven't decided yet/depends what I can get hold of.

I'm also gonna do a full rebuild next year including, bearing overhaul and paintjob possibly, the anodizing looks a little sorry with scratches and rub marks, might leave it though as it looks quite stealthy.

Silver ano with the white graphics is the best way, doesn't shout 'look at me' as they are!

Looks like yours is a large, i'd forgotten how small the medium is until I rode mine again. I forgave it after the crash though, and started to get used to riding it again. Still good fun!

yeah it had to be a large I know it's only a .5 inch difference but at 6'2" it's still a push for the large one, although TT length feels good, I've only rolled it down my street once so far so i'm reserving judgement for a proper ride which may take some time.

If I leave the anodizing the graphics are anodized also so are practically invisible which I quite like. What is the absolute max travel you'd suggest on the frame without affecting performance or handling?

you can get away with 140mm as long as its ajustable i reckon. i tried 150 and 160 and it was fun on fast open stuff but just didnt feel good on the kind of stuff that the bike normally excells on eg twisty lumpy steep stuff.