MY new bike. Another whoot!!

[SOAZ]

So excited! I found that steal of a deal I've been looking for.
I found a great deal on a GT Zaskar 8 years ago. A shop owner had bought a bike to race and rode it one time. He let me have it for his pricing. I jumped on it and road the bike for the next 8 years. I only replaced tubes, tires and cables for all of that time. Great bike!

I saw a deal that was too good to be true, but as I always do I look into it skeptically. I checked and double checked the bike out. I did my research.

2005 Santa Cruz Blur. Tubeless rims and tires. All XT.
My dream bike.

I went to look at it sure that it would be sold as all good deals are before I got there.

The fellow who was selling had a wife with a great rule. Great for me. He can't build his new uber cool 29er single speed until he sold his santa cruz. SO he was selling as fast as possible.
It was exactly as he said it was. :jump: :elkgrin: :Wow1:
I bought it and took her home.

On my first ride with rear suspension and a front shock that had NOT puked all of the oil out of it I was in heaven and road faster on the unfamiliar new bike than my old trusted steed.

I love it!!!!

weee!

 

[ThomD]

Very nice. The one is on my short list of I ever get around to full suspension.

 

[SOAZ]

Very nice. The one is on my short list of I ever get around to full suspension.

Its amazing and at the same time... not that different from my old hard tail.
Its definately fun and fast, but I'm convinced that the folks who look at me with a straight face and say that Mountain Bike technology has vastly changed every 3 years are crazy.
Oddly enough, I still have to pedal this one to make it go. :sombrero:

But I love it!

 

[DaveInDenver]

I have a November 2005 Blur LT, warranty replacement from my original April 2003 Blur (Classic). I'm running a Fox Vanilla RLC forks and otherwise pretty typical XT, X.9, Thomson stem/post, Hayes HFX-9, Easton Monkeybar, Cane Creek Terros build. Love the bike and Santa Cruz has always been a good company to deal with. Easy to get parts from and they replaced my Blur even though it was about 6 months out of warranty. If the bike has not been upgraded to the better bearings, that's a good thing to do. I have not gotten mine done but plan to either get the kit and do it at home (I have the SC VPP tool) or send the frame in next winter. The new (post about middle 2007) bearings and axles have grease ports and better dust shields and seem like a significant improvement. BTW, mine's black, too. Good choice...

 

[SOAZ]

Thanks! I pulled the bearing to check them out. They look good and I just cleaned them. I put some of the stronger bearing on order from my LBS.

I also went over the handle bars and bent the rear derailleur, and my pride.
A little less blood and I was on my way.
Until the chain jumped the sprocket and ripped the rear derailleur in HALF and bent the hanger. DOH!!
This bike is going to get expensive quick!
So, got some stans tubeless tire goo, putting some new grips on, and a new xt rear derailleur. Darn, darn!

Oh, yah and I'm throwing my 110mm stem from my old bike on it. The guy I bought this from was using a 130mm stem!!! No wonder I felt front heavy and went over the handle bars! :smilies27

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

I rode a brand new '07 5.5 Blur LT in Moab for a few days, this one was havy but awesome bike IMO... Congrats!

 

[DaveInDenver]

I rode a brand new '07 5.5 Blur LT in Moab for a few days, this one was havy but awesome bike IMO... Congrats!

Tim's is either a Blur XC or an older Blur (what's called the 'Classic', pre-XC/LT, but then it would have to be a 2004 I think). Looks like a large to me and the way it's built, I'd guess SPX XC build kit. Probably weighs about 26 lbs, if that's a Float RLC fork.

 

[SOAZ]

Tim's is either a Blur XC or an older Blur (what's called the 'Classic', pre-XC/LT, but then it would have to be a 2004 I think). Looks like a large to me and the way it's built, I'd guess SPX XC build kit. Probably weighs about 26 lbs, if that's a Float RLC fork.

Classic it is. 05, but the late year 05's were LT's and XC's I think.
Tubeless shimano rims. XT build kit.
Carbon bars and seat stem.

 

[RHINO]

good for you man !!!

brings back memories of my old AMP, kept breaking it and after the 5th replacement frame they said no more, so, its the wifes bike now. i'm not implying anything, i'm just very hard on bikes.

 

[SOAZ]

Just noticed that you have an Easton EC70 post. I had one of those on my Blur originally, just a head's up to watch them. Mine failed instantly and violently. Sounded like a gunshot crack. The head decided it no longer wanted to be part of the carbon post. It looked like the carbon developed cracks in the top layer and all it took was the right weight placement to fail. F@#$ing thing broke, I rolled off the back and the saddle flew up and hit me in the chest. Easton gives you a 5 year warranty on parts and they warrantied it with a new one. But I ride a one piece Thomson now...

The fun part, it was nearly at the half way mark at a 2AM lap of the 24 Hours of Moab. The course is 15 miles long, so I was left with bad choices. Give up the lap and short cut back (also risking DQ) or ride/walk 8+ miles with no seat. I ended up finishing the lap standing the whole dang way with the saddle stuffed in my Camelbak. Joy. My quads burned so much, standing and pushing on the pedals for 45 minutes. The upside, I guess standing the whole way lit a fire under my rear, I only lost 15 minutes off my average lap times for the year, at night no less.

Ouch! Yikes!
I'm not a fan of my shifters either. The stupid brake lever shifting. :smileeek:
I don't care much about weight or new technology. I just want it to be bullit proof. So far so good. I'll definately keep an eye out on my seat post.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Ouch! Yikes! I don't care much about weight or new technology.

I was lucky to be on a relatively easy section, had it been on a technical or high speed section... It startled me more than anything, but I now know an easy way to take a core sample of a MTB rider. Yikes would be right! I think the design is revised now (mine was made in 2002 IIRC).

 

[SOAZ]

:bike_rider:

 

[RHINO]

ive had two seatpost failures, the worst ended with 9 stitches to an area i had only been kicked in before:smilies27

the next best failure injury i have had was handlebars resulting in a dislocated shoulder and broken collar bone.

all the other bike failures have just been inconvenience. oh the price we pay.

 

[DaveInDenver]

oh the price we pay.

Way back in the early 1990s during the anodizing and ultra light craze, I had the right side of my Blue Answer Hyperlight bars break off. I dislocated my shoulder in that wreck, hard to operate the back brakes! But, yeah, most other failures have been serious wreck-free.

 

[SOAZ]

You guys are scaring me. I'm used to my dirt bike hurting me, but not so much my mtn bike.