Mountain Biking Guide

The Blur LTc's complete commitment and balls-out muscularity were clear to everybody who rode it, whether we were on open moorland, local woodsy singletrack or a heartbeat rate drag race. Regardless of the rugged build, it was always handed back with a disinclined smile and an approving nod.


Ride & handling : Fitness and talent flattering all-day trail bike that gobbles up technical sections - While most other full-carbon bikes are barely plastic and twisty in 1 direction, the Blur LTc is rock solid vis on-trail feel.

In truth, the commonest comment we had from our testers was that it just failed to ride like a carbon bike. Add decent width edges and a bolt-through RockShox Revelation fork, and you seem to have a bike that'll drop its metaphorical shoulder and barge straight thru anything you have the balls to hit. As much as the additional weight and incessant swivel of the Joplin adjustable seatpost is annoying, it's helpful to show the technical terrain flexibility of the bike.

Taking one of our favorite test sections as an example, the LTc carves the tightest possible line up the cobbly diagonal from the cinder trail, and the reactive VPP2 suspension nails traction thru the subsequent 2 corners. Lean back, manual the 1st ditch, run again with no sideslip on the oily off-camber, keep the power down, duck under the tree, drop the seatpost, G-out thru the second ditch and then into the clincher... 90 % of the time we either bottle or crash this chainring-scraping, stepped rock gully with a stream in the bottom, but the LTc feels completely secure. Up to date stormwash means a slot between 2 big cobbles is the straightest line and it never feels like we are going to miss it, even if the forks crush to full travel in the base.

Santa cruz blur ltc : santa cruz blur ltc The suspension bottoms out too but there isn't any hint of deviation or hesitation as the LTc gets straight on the power, and there's tons of feedback but no hint of power loss as it claws past the 2 stalling point corners and up, up and away. It is the same story 2 mins later a pretty piece of double vertical drop-in, rock knife edge, powered corner low before a split-second dog hiker check as you run middle ring, middle cog off a 5ft rock drop. In spite of greasy tyres and some contemporary timidity even on much bigger bikes, the LTc nails it without any thought. The new Fox Float shock at the rear keeps beautifully connected thru the corners, before hitting its Boost Valve controlled travel marker rings to full travel with no kickback despite a longer than common flight time.


Frame : Stupendously stiff and exact frame with responsive, big-hit-friendly suspension - While most makers can't fight against a little bit of changing when they jump between materials, the Blur LTc truly is a copy ( tee hee ) of the Blur LT. The proved geometry is bang on for the right handling style, with a 69 head angle for a 140mm fork, 68 for 150mm and 67 for 160mm travel forks. Choose from a variety of fork options when you purchase any Blur LT. The chiseled head tube gives a maximum rigidity begin to a phenomenally stiff framework that carves and kicks like a heavyweight at a welterweight mass. There's clearance for 2.4in balloon tyres and we have been hammering our amalgamate sample for 18 months without a single issue with the new ultra-sealed grease-ported bearings. The LTc is clipped for a remote-adjustable seatpost, there is a chain slap guard moulded into the chainstay and a gouge guard on the bottom too. It's still usefully light ( a large frame is 6lb / 2.7kg ), and with the anodised amalgamate frame costing £1,949 and weighing 0.86lb / 0.4kg more, it's worth the additional for weight watchers.