Long Term Update – Tom’s Santa Cruz Bronson
Toms had his Santa Cruz Bronson long-termer on the go all through the winter. Check out how he’s been getting on…
Back in the dark times of November our postman had crazy busy time with steady stream of parcels as I put together my new long term test rig. The idea was to put together a bike that could handle being used as a proper mountain bike – long rides, short rides, uphill, downhill and pretty much everything in-between. I was over the moon when Jungle Distribution confirmed that they could sort a Bronson frameset to base the build round. As one of the earlier bikes to the 275 party, it took a tried and tested suspension platform and built a chassis around it. The numbers stack up nicely – 150mm of travel out the back, and a decent bit of room in the front centre both tick the boxes for a decent trail bike. The 67 degree head angle, on paper, sounds like it could be a degree on the steep side, and there was some chin scratching about the idea of an angle-changer headset. 7 Months later, I’m totally happy with the original head angle, even on the steeps and roughs. Wide bars courtesy of DMR help stability at speed, and the 275 wheels that everyone has now got over help out when rolling into steeps.
Out front, the Marzocchi 350 NCRs haven’t skipped a beat, remaining stiff for steering and supple in their action through some real grotty weather. Add to that the esspresso coating’s bad-ass look and you have a great fork that works seamlessly with the back end of the bike. The wheels are taken care of by Pro-Lite Antero AMs which have been faultless straight out of the box. Shod with Continental’s Trail King tyres, they have been a great match, holding up to all the usual dodgy cases and square edges I love so much!
Finishing kit like the awesome Fabric Scoop saddle, Hope Dropper seat clamp, DMR wingbars and stem help make the bike even more great. The Fox CTD shock does an admirable job of delivering smooth and well dampened travel to the back end, though can’t match the butteryness of the Marzocchi 350s.
From the word go, the Bronson has been a massive bag of fun to ride. The angles strike a nice balance between all day trail bike and aggressive enduro machine. While the longer travel Nomad has attracted a powerful fan-base, I do wonder if perhaps some of these people should have been more realistic in what they ride frequently. That’s a rant for another day though. At 5’11, the large is about right for me, generally they do seem to come up slightly small though, so it’s worth getting a demo if you can. Jungle run plenty of demo events across the UK, check out their website for a calendar of them.
Longevity of bearings was something I was a bit worried about, North Wales not really sharing much of the climate of the Californian coast. Luckily, the Bronson features a very clever and easy to use system that’s shared across their range. Simply pop the supplied grease gun onto the ports on the lower link, a few pumps and your angular contact bearings are smothered in fresh grease.
SCB Tech Support – Grease Gun from Santa Cruz Bicycles on Vimeo. (I assume the music is from a gentleman’s interest videograph)
After a winter of wet filthy riding and unsympathetic hose-downs the regular greasing had done the trick and the bearings were still good. An achievement given how quickly a UK winter can eat a set of bearings! Price-wise, the alloy frame comes in at about £1800, while full alloy builds start around £2800. The Carbon C and CC options are less easy going on the wallet but obviously come with a reduced weight.
Overall, I’ve been so happy with the bike, it’s a real workhorse. Equally happy plodding away on the climbs, and galloping on the downhills. Be realistic about your daily riding, do you need a 170mm travel trail bike? Or do you need something that can be a little more brisk on the ups?
I’m off to BC for my honeymoon at the end of the month and the Bron-dawg will be coming along, detailed review and a catch up with our resident boffin Tam for some linkage science soon!
Santa Cruz | Jungle Distribution
