What are people’s thoughts on the current model? Can it take a day of rocky descents or bike parks without you feeling beaten up? Is it a good climber?

My friend seems convinced that its not enough bike to do bike parks on or spend a day hitting some of the most demanding trails in the peaks – eg the beast or potato alley.

What do current 5010 owners think? What are the pros and cons? Also, do any of your run the 2.6 tyres?

I do all day bike park rides (including black trails at BPW / Antur) on my 140mm trail bike and don’t feel too beaten up. I can’t imagine the 5010 will be too much different. I’m not going very quickly mind!!

Mate loves his, though he’s just elected to take his Hope full-sus on a Lakes trip coming up soon. Sure the 5010 will ride pretty much anything, albeit slower and with a bit more rider input (and fatigue at the end). I ride a Five and wish I had an Alpine about 2% of the time, riding all sorts in the Pennines and Lakes.

Just returned from four days riding in Torridon and Skye with a new 5010 alloy. Bought as frame only and running with a 140mm Fox performance Elite on the front and 2.6 tyres. The bike handled everything with no problem. Climbs well, descends great and feels super comfortable for long day rides. It generally makes me feel like a better rider than I probably am and gives me added confidence to attempt things I would have avoided in the past. Great too for forest singletrack I ride an XL so can feel a bit weighty on any hike-a-bike sections, but other than that I’m loving it. Caught an old chap admiring it the other day, “reckon you could ride on the moon with that” he said. He could be right!

My 2C. To offer a cautious view, be aware of some of the oddities of the 5010 in todays market…I have a V2 CC 5010 and if I had to replace it tomorrow there’s no way I’d buy the same thing. I’d go for a 29er for that length of travel, or if sticking to 27.5 I’d go longer travel & Bronson. Don’t get me wrong the 5010 is a very competent bike, nicely made, reliable- but to be critical it’s just feels like a solid allrounder without really blowing my mind at anything (which it should do given how overpriced it is). It’s not designed to be that plush which I think is what you’re friend is alluding to, rather to be nimble and adjustable, which it is good at. Pedals alright but not great (i’ve had much better). For me I’d describe its character as wanting to be ridden like a 4X bike all the time, shooting Youtube up (or whatever the kids do nowadays) and excels and can tolerate that super aggressive style. It has great frame stiffness to excel at this and feels tough enough to take a beating but on the downside feels a bit overbuilt for more general XC/Trail type riding. On my local lumpy terrain the low bottom bracket is a constant irritation, great for railing corners hard on smoother trails but get pedal strikes which you can count on a by-the-minute basis on natural rocky terrain, though this could be mitigated somewhat by running bigger tyres.

Maybe they’ve fixed a few of these things on the v3, but I believe it’s even more aggressive so in a bit of a no-mans land. Definately make sure you test ride before you buy…I wish I had done so…

If it’s just a day, it’ll be more than capable. I only feel beaten up on multi-day trips in the Alps.

Thanks a lot endoverend. These chime with the nagging thoughts I’m having. It looks like a lot of fun but will it be good at my regular trails which are more rocky than flowing.

Came from a Mk1 Bronson, it’s longer slacker and as capable. Check the geo. I did go for 140mm. Having a lot of fun on the v3. I could have got the new Bronson but I think it’s gone a little more Nomad. Excellent bike just think v3 is actually better, lively, quick. Depends on what where you ride. Depends on rider and skill.

Oh and it would eat the trails like Beast etc I’ve done them on the Bronson. I’d suggest try a demo before you part with your money. It will be money well spent. I’d avoid mates views based on zero experience and make my own mind up. I thought I’d like the S.C. HT. Demo at stiff I went for 5010. Rides much like the Bronson

Thanks mate. What about pedal strikes? Does it suffer from it on rocky trails in your experience?

5010 V3 is 12mm lower than Bronson. Didn’t have pedal strikes. When I demo the Bronson, coming from a Zesty 714 4 bar what I noticed is how different VPP is. Bronson and 5010 really come alive when the speed picks up and really suck you into the trail. I’d suggest pedal strikes maybe more due to technique. I’m 68kg. 29s ride well. The ‘dad’ bike 🙂

Your thoughts Bronson or 5010 certainly is something a lot of us have thought about. 5010 rides very much like a Bronson. Your talking about 10mm difference in travel and 20mm on the rear. Will you really notice? I haven’t.

What did it for me was v3 5010 was lighter, slacker and longer than my v1 Bronson. Which is a great bike I’ve ridden for 5 years. So I couldn’t really go wrong. As I said the new Bronson has become a bit porky and more Nomad. Which had in turn become more of a DH bike – my opinion. Get the bike you enjoy riding and don’t listen to opinions. Reserve wheels are OMG great 🙂

Cool. Defo going to demo it. Do you run yours with 2.6 tyres?

2.3 DHF DHR – when did they become the small tyres 🙂 I do understand the advantages of bigger wider. Just their enough for me-balance between weight grip. One thing that happened with my Bronson is I went for wide 30mm rims etc and then used the trail wide tyres 2.4- 2.5. Big advantage? Not sure. I slowed down a lot especially in the winter. On flowy trails I was slower. I guess in Morocco or Spain they would be a comfort where its really rocky. New Zealand, no its all flow there. Canada mmm not sure. Plenty of trails but tend to flow more. I’m not sure why the Peaks beast for example would phase any average rider. Its rocky but you flow over it and its short. Bike Parks – Val Nord, BPW, Queenstown etc all really flow so I cant see why pedal strikes would ever be an issue.

5010 v2 here love mine, fast acceleration and can handle 99% of what I’ve ridden,
Dales/Pennines/peaks/lakes/ardrock/Boltby etc, great fun at trail centres, surprised how agile and quick it was at Gisburn last week , climbs like a beast, and puts a big smile on my face.
I’ve now got a 140mm on the front and with the fork back from tf tuned feels so good.

I demo’d a bronson (albight yari and NX) and it felt sluggish and slow uphill, on trails it nullified and downhill it felt like a steamroller..
I prefer the liveliness of my 5010

Been riding with a dhf2.3 , but decided to stick a 2.5 widetrail for ardrock in 2 weeks, it measures at 2.32-2.42 , I couldn’t get my scale to read 2.5

In regards pedal strikes yes it does pedal strike but that’s technique I’ve found, I now pump the bike far more than pedal on trails/singletrack/downhill. In rock gardens looking ahead and planning a route and pedalling movement has resolved the strikes for me

Ps your mate seems to have been oversold on the travel by the bike press, elbows and knees add all the suspension you could need.
I counted 3 or 4 5010s on ladybowet loop a few weeks ago

I owned a 5010 v1 for 3 years and have been riding a new V2 since April, always with a 140mm fork.

The 5010 is for you if you love pumping, cornering and turning even the slightest bump into a takeoff. It acccelerates and corners very quickly, it’s super easy to manual and jump.

Mine has been at BPW loads of times, several North Wales, Snowdon & Lakes trips, and usually gets ridden at Wharncliffe, Peaks and Hebden Bridge. You cannot get away from the fact it has 130mm travel, if you get off-line when going quickly then you’re going to feel it, however it will carry speed under a good rider and will get back up to speed really quickly as it responds so well to pumping.

I’ve recently installed the rimpact rim strips which has allowed me to drop 8psi from each tyre without any drawbacks, this really helps add a bit more small bump compliance.

As you have less rear travel you have to be a bit more careful setting it up to get the most out of it, think quality not quantity. I’ve had great experience using a push tuned rp23 fox float and now have a DVO Topaz set up for 30% sag, with some tweaking it’s definitely plush enough.

I thought about getting a Bronson, Five, Alpine or Cotic Rocket after retiring my v1 but the 5010 is so fun and playful I had to have another, it has a real personality like a little jack russel and I quite like the fact that when you’re keeping up with much bigger bikes you feel like you’re responsible for it, like comparing a simple sports car to something with tons of driving aids 😀

I don’t have the latest, mine is a v1 CC, but it’s done rocky Wales, Lakes, Spain and used it for Ard Rock last year and love it (likely Ard Rock again this year).

Ard Rock, I debated taking my old Nomad (170 travel, very plush). It would be lovely for some bits I reckon, but then again the 5010 is just so much better for the majority of it. Fast, agile, fun. Also, the climbing in Ard Rock would be a killer on the Nomad.

I take the Nomad to BPW but I feel the 5010 would probably be more at home there. The Nomad comes into its own in places like Morzine though or throwing down a DH course, but I don’t really do much of that and I’m no good at it.

Neither 5010 or Nomad I feel beat up on with rocks, though the 5010 is a bit skippy on loose rocks perhaps but that can be the way it’s set up and tyre choice. The Nomad is more like a sofa to ride but is harder work in some ways to get the best out of it.

But as I say, not latest model and I know it’s changed since v1. I’d expect the later models with slacker geometry to cope better though.

well had the morning off so headed to leeds bike park for an hour, I’m blown away by the widetrail DHF 3C WT 2.5, fast as chuff, increases the grip massively, and even climbs really well, slight weight penalty on the 2.3, but the shape seems better on my 28mm internal rim..
I’ve been holding off changing it, but think i made the right decision

and only £35 using code SFK9AHA9 for a 27.5 x 2.5 WT [or 2.6 WT] or 29 x 2.3 WT [or 2.5 WT]
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Maxxis-Minion-DHF-Folding-3C-Maxx-Terra-Exo-TR-Tubeless-Ready-WT-WideTrail-27-5-650B-MTB-Off-Road-Tyre_95577.htm

They are great bikes. Have ridden Ainsa and the EWS trails there a couple of times on my V2 5010 and it coped fine and was great fun but have also ridden there on a Nomad V4 and was a hell of a lot less tiring and quicker. I found 2.4/2.5 Minions increased the bikes capability but killed a bit of the liveliness.
Going back to the Pyrenees this year and will be doing longer pedalling days and I’m generally riding more technical trails here now so I’ve just sold my 5010 for a Canyon Spectral as want a bit more travel. Not sure whether to take the Spectral or Nomad to Ard Rock now.

Have you done ardrock before, the transitions are bigger/tougher than a lot of people expect, theirs a few peddly sections mid stages so my 5010 suited well, sure I could have gone faster on a big travel bike, but their were plenty slower on big rigs.
I’ve extended my fork to 140mm this year and cannot f####### wait

Interesting thread as i was also considering a 5010 for xc & trail duties but with the odd bpw etc trips

What other frames have folk considered as well based on circa 130 travel, 27.5 carbon (or light alloy)?

STW Tradition… Bird Aeris 120LT… I have one. It’s great. 120/130 rear, 130/140 front.

Used for trail centres, XC days out (SDW), and planning on taking it to BPW later this year. Not light – but certainly carries it’s weight well. Mine’s hovering around 31lbs with a few nice bits, GX Eagle and WT DHF/DHR/Rekon/Aggressor tyres.

Rich

Bookmarking this in case anyone else chips in.

I do like the look and what I hear of 5010’s, which would probably suit my riding. I gather you don’t get a great deal for your bang, componentry wise.

Q – I’m 5’9”. Am I betwixt and between a M and L size frame?

I would say, yes. I’m 178cm an think I probably want a large 5010 but normally go medium for non Santa Cruz.

Demo is the only way to be sure really. Agree that the SC builds don’t look great value wise but if you want carbon then it may be worth swallowing the spec to get the ‘C’ frame as only Alu and CC are available frame only. There’s a huge weight drop Alu to C but much less drop/more £/g C to CC. I had a thread about this that discussed it to death earlier this year. TL;DR was that with SC you didn’t get any real stiffness benefits by going Carbon over Alu but weight savings were welcome if your wallet wasn’t terrified of the price. I can dig the numbers back up if you like, but I seem to recall there was enough weight saving between the alloy and C to cancel out most modern forks…

Got the be an Evil Calling. Having test ridden back to back with a CC 5010, the Evil was a much more accomplished, not to mention entertaining, ride. About the same price [frame only] if you hunt about

Cheers vincienup. Yeah – would go for the C for sure.

I’ve always been a M but know SC are different from the norm. It’s trying to track down a 5010 demo – I’m in Bristol – I think BW Cycling have one.

I’m 5’6″ and ride a Medium (v2 C). I’d say you’d need a Large. BW can get demos in.

Great bike for Leigh Woods techy descents (although this morning was a bit challenging).

@dogbone

That’s good news – if I achieve certain goals I’m going to go for one and at that point I’ll contact BW.

I hear they’re agile/nimble. Perfect for me to blat around LW, Fifty Acre, Mendips and trail centres across the bridge.

To temper my gripes about the V2 above, I hadn’t looked at the current range in a while…the V3 seems to solve some of my issues with the ability to run 2.6/2.8’s which will raise BB and bring back some plushness – and, yeh, as mentioned above the Bronson’s moved into newer territory so 5010 looks the most sensible as an allrounder.

Definately go large if between sizes- Large spot on for me at a ‘short-armed’ 5’10”.

If the Blur 29er had been released when I got my 5010 I’d have gone for that one with a 120mm up front…which explains a bit my misgivings on my V2.

The easy process for striping down the linkage/ pivots to clean & regrease is a massive bonus for all these models if used in typical clarty conditions…. + the threaded BB is the other big reason to go SC, as is the warranty…..

i’m not keen on that new colour ‘Robin Egg’, but the Dark grey looks nice

The carbon S spec with Reserve wheels can be had off that spanish SC dealer for great price 20% off rrp

whats peoples opinions on the tallboy, i fancy building one up light fox34 (120-130mm) for local trails to replace mt lefty F29, which feels a bit stiff and short.

i got a 5010 v2 with 140mm fox34s, is it going to be too similiar a ride ?
better suited to Blue with a 120mm fork

I’m 5′ 9″ on a large V2, 45mm stem, feels fine.

Got the be an Evil Calling. Having test ridden back to back with a CC 5010, the Evil was a much more accomplished, not to mention entertaining, ride. About the same price [frame only] if you hunt about

As good as the 5010 is (I have a v2) this is what I would be doing having just swapped my v3 Nomad for an Evil Offering (140/160 29er)… especially if it was my only bike.

whats peoples opinions on the tallboy, i fancy building one up light fox34 (120-130mm) for local trails to replace mt lefty F29, which feels a bit stiff and short.

Pretty sure it’s getting a new version in the near future, if that’s a concern.

@tomhoward yeah new one due I guess, but the current one fits 27.5+ or 29 tyres and is boost so that’s all I need, plus the one I’ve seen is carbon coloured (black dark grey) so won’t age so badly as Santa Cruz colours, think I’m becoming a Henry Ford in the colour department, (you can have every colour in black)

I just think the tallboy is too similar ride wise to 5010, hence holding off.

Think I’ll demo that ibis and evil at ardrock next week

I’d probably be better getting a blur with a 120 fox34.. decisions decisions