The Santa Cruz Blur LT2 is a 26" cross country bike with 5-6" of travel and a virtual pivot point suspension. This bike cometes with the Pivot Mach 5.7, the Turner 5-spot and other 5" trail bikes.

The bike is pretty straightforward in design, similar to others in the category, with the exception of the 2 zerk fittings below the bottom bracket.  It ships with a grease gun and you need to grease the lower pivot on a very regular basis or it will begin to squeak, more on that in a moment.

The Blur LT2 climbs well, the VPP suspension tracks well to the trail and provides a stable foundation for getting over the ledges and rocks of Austin trails.  When it comes to descending, the VPP eats up the rocks and ledges, easily consuming them and spitting them out along the way.  It tends to slink through the rock gardens, absorbing the impact versus bouncing around like some of the other bikes that it competes with.

The angled top tube brings a low standover which makes getting on and off the bike easier. The cockpit is well positioned with a 100mm stem and the balance is well maintained, regardless of the terrain.  At 6', a large is the perfect size. I had also tried a medium, but it felt too small.

Santa Cruz does not have model years, instead releasing new features and making changes as needed. The bike that I purchased was built in August 2011 and included the newest (at the time) Fox RP23 shock with Kashima coating, a solid performer to say the least.

One of the gripes that I do have about the bike is the squeaking.  The DU bushings needed to be replaced every 6 months, something that I rarely had to ever touch on other bikes.  I did replace them with the 2013 bushings that replace the metal DU bushings with a plastic bushing/metal "axle" combination that allegedly works better in these bikes.  Initially there was a lot of talk about needle bearings replacing the bushings, but over time these have not proven to be a good replacement as they are much more expensive and only last 6 months as well.

Tracking down creaks has been a frustrating activity, and something that seems to happen with regularity.  The bike has been in the shop plenty of times for this.  The creaking tends to sound like "metal on metal" which requires immediate attention as that is what a fatigued frame also sounds like when it has a crack.

Overall I have been happy with the bike and would probably consider another one in the future, but I would need to investigate what Santa Cruz has been doing to address the creaking issue.


Product:

Blur LT2 bike


Manufacturer:

Santa Cruz


Rating (1-10):

7.5


Pros:

Great climber/descender, solid performance on the trail. Extra cable routing for a dropper seatpost (though I would have preferred it on the left side.)


Cons:

Chews up DU bushings on a regular basis, can be creaky.


Configuration:

Fox Vanilla 140 fork, KS i950 seatpost, DT Swiss/Stans Flow wheelset, Truvativ Stem and handlebars.  SRAM X9 drivetrain with Shimano XT cranks.


Verdict:

Worth the money, but requires more maintenance than previous bikes that I have owned.


Website:

Santa Cruz

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