Tell me about your Santa Cruz Blur LT Carbon

After being a bit indecisive about my next bike, I think I have finally settled on one of these.

A few questions.

Is it worth the extra over the aluminium BLT?

How tall are you and what size do you ride?

How do you get on with it in general?

Thank you please.

6 feet 4, ride an xl
very stiff,goes down well, but i dont think it climbs as well as my old enduro, seems to have a steeper head angle,cable runs are a bit messy
other than that fantastic bike, bloody expensive, not sure i would pay full price, got mine in sale from usa

This American bloke in the middle had one, bumped into him at Stainburn. He was ravin about them, can’t quite recall his name, Rob….Something? 😀 8) (I’ll be milking this pic for months on STW)

The owner of my LBS had one for a while, his only comment was that at point it worked well, he was going too fast (to crash).

Had one for about 9mts took it abroad with me etc and used it as my only bike for a short period of time – so think I got to know it well.

I’m 5 11 and rode a large with a 60mm stem
Wasn’t too light in reality 30lbs with air shock and 32 ishwith coil
Ran it with 150mm forks all the time

IMO not worth the money, head angle too steep for an AM bike, TT too short for a XC bike. My alpine 160 descends better and climbs better. Vpp2 isn’t the plushest of suspension designs either.

Other than all that it was a pleasant bike!

30lbs, what did you have on it?

Had one for about 9mts took it abroad with me etc and used it as my only bike for a short period of time – so think I got to know it well.

I’m 5 11 and rode a large with a 60mm stem
Wasn’t too light in reality 30lbs with air shock and 32 ishwith coil
Ran it with 150mm forks all the time

IMO not worth the money, head angle too steep for an AM bike, TT too short for a XC bike. My alpine 160 descends better and climbs better. Vpp2 isn’t the plushest of suspension designs either.

Other than all that it was a pleasant bike!

Did you have the aluminium version? This one weighs 26.74 lbs with 36’s and a coil shock.

I think I will be a large as I am 5’11”, seems right from the charts and my current bike is roughly the same dimensions.

B.A.Nana, isn’t that a Blur TRC in the photo?

i came soooo close to getting one but went for the bottlerocket instead

What made you change your mind Jedi? Bottlerocket is a completely different bike.

not really. the blur is what dylan (coastal crew) used for over a year. i wantd a bike for coaching and all my riding. i didnt trust the carbonness in the end to go with it (expnsive) its still on my want list though

B.A.Nana, isn’t that a Blur TRC in the photo?

YES, probably. Otherwise, no definitely not.
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I have no idea. I could never afford any of them tbh, you lucky people who can.

I’ve had one for about 14 months now. I have to say i really like it, climbs really well, decends unbelievably well and is just generally a well behaved bike. Agree with the comment about the cables, if they were internal it would be so much neater. I have to add though i didn’t get on with the shock initially, just seemed to wallow in the middle of the travel and was hard work climbing. I spoke to mojo who said the compression settings from SC were incredibly light. For £35 they re-valved the shock and its completely different, well worth doing.

Agree with the comments with the weights though. You can get them down to very low weights but there’s comprises. Mine weighs 29lbs with some pretty light kit, only things really would be lighter wheels (I’ve got proII’s on 819’s) and brakes (I’m running 4pot Saints). Having said all that i don’t feel its heavy. Test ride one, I did and it made my mind up.

Thanks Neil.

Sounds like a test ride is in order. What kit you got on it for it to weigh that much? My Five Pro is about that weight and the frame is over lbs heavier.

I’m 5’10” and this is a large with a 70mm stem. I love it! It used to have Revelations and a Monarch, but wanted 160mm forks so jumped to Fox all round. 29.5lbs here…

The mrs has 1. She’s 5.10 and rides a medium with a layback post.

Weight is pretty much bang on 25lbs, talas 32, XX gears & chainset, R1 brakes, Mavic something wheels.

She loves it, so much so she’s buying a new one because they’re red. She had a Spicy 516 prior to that and said the blur isn’t as planted on the descents but much quicker everywhere else.

I’ve taken one for a spin a few times and the acceleration is impressive, it certainly jumps forward when you want it to. Climbing’s easy enough and descending felt fast & flickable. At 6’3 I need the xl though.

Tbh the only real reason I don’t own one myself is cos I don’t want his & her matching bikes.

This was mine (my FS thread) which shows spec – http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-3x-bikes-santa-cruz-blur-ltc-dialled-lovehate-ti-road-bike-might-split

The tyres didn’t help with weight!

My GF had a nicely specced LT2 which weighed 28lbs which she absoutely loved – I must just have had a different experience.

Got mine 3 months ago

Is it worth the extra over the aluminium BLT?
I thought so – but not as a weight saving move.

How tall are you and what size do you ride?
5’10” – Medium frame

How do you get on with it in general?
It is the apple of my eye and I love it. Tried all the contenders in this bracket and just ‘clicked’ having ridden the demo BLT2 at Afan last summer. Never looked back. The bike is much better than I am so I think this will be a good partnership and a few seasons of learning!

Snags are as above. Cable routing not brilliant but solve-able, but that’s it, ime.

Thank you please.
Pleasure

I’ve had a standard BLT2 for almost 4 years. Exactly the same dimensions as the LTc. As said above, go and ride it. I test rode against a Trek and a Giant and it was streets ahead although you wouldn’t think it just looking at pics and specs.

Also don’t worry about the steep (by recent standards) head angle as it just works absolutely fine in practice even on the steepest, rockiest Scottish descents. If you ride steep stuff pretty fast then put some Fox 36 160’s on would give extra stiffness and take the head angle out to about 68 deg

Mine is 1×9 xtr, revelation wc xx, RF sixc bars, Joplin post etc. I run tubeless tyres which aren’t light but give genuine tubeless advantages such as being able to run at low pressures without killing sidewalls.

Its not meant to be a feather weight, but its just incredibly stiff. And also, it just looks lovely and not like an A-level engineering project 😉

Don’t really see/feel the issue regarding the head angle its about spot on for me.

Can’t tell you about the LTc but I can tell you the TRc is an awesome bike, haven’t stopped riding it yet!!
XO 1*10 Hope X2 Fox 32 140 Reverb Easton Haven wheels have not weighed it but feels really light.

Skidsareforkids, nice looking bike is that. You are roughly my height, how much standover you got?

Tbh the only real reason I don’t own one myself is cos I don’t want his & her matching bikes.

😆 I know the feeling

Thanks giddyp and CaptainMainwaring, very helpful.

Its not meant to be a feather weight, but its just incredibly stiff

Thats one of the things that appeals to me, its light-ish, but apparently incredibly strong.

What length stems are other people running? I’m 5′ 10″ and running the original 90mm stem, I reckon the top tube feels about 1″ or so short. Wishing I’d gone for large or could get a lay back dropper seat post.

Not sure how people get the weight down so much. Mine is just under 30lb with air Revs, x9, air shock, Joplin and hope hopes. But 30lb isnt heavy unless you obsess about that sort of stuff.

Agree that it doesnt climb well (hindered by my cr@p skills no doubt), front tends to lift on steep climbs and corners. The head tube angle does feel steep, that and the top tube length are tempting me to go for a new bike, maybe 575 or Spicy. Alternatively, I might go for 160mm forks.

Agile though (I wouldnt like to use “flickable”….) and has been used for many weeks on techy stuff in Spain, Alps and at bike resorts. The wheelbase feels short, but is the same as the Yeti.

Ms AD rides a Prophet which seems to do most of what my LT2 does at about 40% of the price and a fraction more weight. Not sure any £4k bike is really worth the price (got mine in a favourable insurance deal).

What length stems are other people running? I’m 5′ 10″ and running the original 90mm stem, I reckon the top tube feels about 1″ or so short. Wishing I’d gone for large or could get a lay back dropper seat post.

At 5’10” I would have definitely got a large if I were you. The top tubes are roughly an inch shorter than most other bikes.

Agree that it doesnt climb well (hindered by my cr@p skills no doubt), front tends to lift on steep climbs and corners.

Do you have any rise on your stem, high rise bars, loads of headset spacers under the stem?

Not sure how people get the weight down so much. Mine is just under 30lb with air Revs, x9, air shock, Joplin and hope hopes. But 30lb isnt heavy unless you obsess about that sort of stuff.

TBH I can’t see how yours all weigh so much, like I said my Five frame is a pound heavier and my bike is lighter than most here.

I’m not sure what to think now 😐

Skywalker – I run the usual small rise on my bars and a few spacers, I like my seat level or ideally lower than my bars for descending. I know that obviously doesnt help climbing, but it seems difficult to reach a happy balance.

5′ 10″ is borderline between L and M on the SC website. I tried the M and it felt fine at the time …. yep, should have tried large too, but never had a large framed bike before.

Hmmm, Blur TRC is slightly slacker and longer, maybe a better option.

Regarding the build weights, as ever, the devil is in the detail. However, looking at the frame weight I would expect to be able to build one up to around 25lbs without much of an issue.

I’m still at a loss to the Blur TRC, supposedly the replacement to the 4X, but nothing like it really. Designed around a 130 fork, and they are funny if you put a 150 on it.

Anglset/offset bushes on the LTC will give you more options on the build.

Plus the TRC looks gopping.

I’ve got the alu version, weights in at around 28.5lbs which I’m happy with. I’m 5’10 and ride a medium.

Just weighed mine, 31 lb. Medium anodized aluminium.

Hope Hoops
1 x 2.35 High Roller 1 x 2.3 Swampthing currently
with inner tubes
Team Revs (1lb lighter than original Pikes)
Carbon Syncros bars
90mm thomson stem
ODI lock on grips
x9 shifters and rear mech, xt front mech
Hope X2 brakes, 180mm floating rotors
Joplin 4 post, Gobi Fizik saddle
2 truvativ rings & cranks & gigapipe BB + e13 bash guard (some extra weight there)
Nano flat pedals
RP23 shock

….would happily lose a few pounds

Not sure how people get the weight down so much

Just weighed mine, 31 lb. Medium anodized aluminium.

That will be because yours is a Blur LT, not a Blur LT Carbon 😉

Carbon saves you a full pound of that 31 lb. If I scraped off the mud that is currently baked on to it, I might save the same. 😉

here’s mine

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glentress ’11 04[/url] by 99c5faa01725362d73494aff686e3664[/url], on Flickr

However, looking at the frame weight I would expect to be able to build one up to around 25lbs without much of an issue.

Full XTR/carbon/Ti build then…, and no pedals.

You can see the weights of different builds here

6’1″ and went for a large LTc
Full XO 2×10 with XX 11/36 cassette
180/160 rotors
Crossmax SX wheels
2.35 UST High Rollers with 75ml of Stans in each wheel
Boobars cut to 750mm
Reverb
70mm Thomson stem
XTR Trail pedals
Revelation World Cups

Weighs in at 27lbs. With lighter bars, standard post & less beefy tyres you could save a bit more weight I suppose.

Does feel a bit short in the top tube sometimes so thinking about an 80mm stem this year.

Great bike though that I ride year round. Very happy with it.

I’ve got one of the first BLTc frames that came into the country in 2009. Have run it with 140mm Revs, 150mm Revs and 160mm 36s. With the 36s it was a pretty capable big hit bike, but I felt it unsettled the geometry a bit, felt like steering a barge. Best fit is easily the 150mm Revs imho. Frame feels super stiff after my old horst 5spot. Bearings are holding up well, not needed to replace them yet & I only dismantle & clean the moving bits once a year. With Crossmax SX, ust rubber queens & a mix of xtr and x0 mine comes in just under 30lbs on some pretty reliable scales. Nice bike, but the price is a bit mental, and I wouldn’t spend so much on a frame like that again. Mind you, I mainly ride a rigid singlespeed these days so take that with a pinch of salt.

edit – oh and I’m 5ft 9 and I ride a large with 80mm stem. Only large frame I’ve ever ridden that fits me. Weird sizing on this frame, but still a tall seat tube which causes problems for me if I want to run a dropper post.

Standover on mine is about 2″ which is nearly identical to the medium Yeti 575 I had before it… In fact, every proper bike I have ever owned was a medium before now, and I have never felt anything less than comfortable on this large… Well, that’s not true, it took me a little while to get manuals going on this for some reason, but that may be the suspension design too…

Hey skidsareforkids,how are you getting on with the Fox 36 160’s on the LTc? what is the steeing like? does it climb well? i’m looking at 160’s for my LTc.