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Santa Cruz Blur TR Carbon – Longer Travel Trail Version

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2012 santa cruz blue tr carbon lightweight long travel full suspension mountain bike

Zach just posted the first images of the new Santa Cruz Highball carbon hardtail last night, and now we’ve got photos of their new Blur TR, a “trail” version of their popular Blur XC and LT that comes with 5″ of travel (127mm).

Built on their extremely well-performing VPP platform (we have a Blur XC carbon in our test stable and love it), the Blur TR is a half way point between their XC offerings and their longer travel AM/FR bikes, including the Blur LT with 140mm travel. The top tube is a bit longer than their gravity loving rigs, but the head angle is a bit slacker than their XC ones. The result claims to offer climbing prowess with stable descending. I’ll be on this bike for some solid miles this week.

Jump on in for more pics, specs and notes…

2012 santa cruz blur tr carbon full suspension trail mountain bike

I saw this one in person last night (albeit with a bit o’ mud on it) and it’s sharp looking…but I really thought it was the Blur LT just from looking. That’s what I get for not asking! As shown, they say it’s 24lbs complete.

2012 santa cruz blur tr carbon fiber mountain bike

The frame is completely carbon fiber save for the hardware, putting it at 5lb for the frame and shock. That’s about a full pound lighter than the LT. We’ve got our Blur XC sitting at 23.4lbs (XL) complete without stupid light parts on it (XO, Rockshox SID LT, Easton, Shimano Pro, Ashima brakes), so there’s no doubt you can build up this bike pretty light even without going to full XTR as shown.

2012 santa cruz blur tr carbon fiber mountain bike

Lower link grease ports for the pivot axles are standard fare on their suspension bikes. Links use oversized aluminum axles with angular contact bearings.

Same bearings and axles up top with a full link. The pivots are molded into the frame using a one-piece layup for an overall stiffer, stronger construction.

Tapered headtube, something the XC doesn’t have.

The full carbon frame build extends to the dropouts and brake mounts.

The driveside chainstay has an integrated chain slap guard and metal strike plate to protect the frame from chain suck.

$2699 US MSRP frame with Fox RP23 – Complete bikes from $3799. Available April 15.

2012-santa-cruz-blur-tr-carbon-geometry

The Blur TR comes stock with a 130mm Fox fork. You can remove a spacer inside the fork to bump it to 140mm, which is the maximum recommended travel, or add a spacer to bring it down to 120mm and make it a bit more XC racy.

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topmounter
topmounter
12 years ago

Those wheels look tiny…

jonah
jonah
12 years ago

“complete without stupid parts on it (XO, Rockshox SID LT, Easton, Shimano Pro, Ashima brakes)”
did your really put a fork on this bike that has less travel than the rear wheel?
Also how much clearance does the rear wheel actually have?

Trail-rider
Trail-rider
12 years ago

Will there also be an aluminum version (lower cost), or will this be carbon-only? If so, do you have details on that frame too? How does the geometry compare to the Nickel?

David Ovitsky
David Ovitsky
12 years ago

@jonah – Learn to read, they built a Blur XC with the SID, not the new TR.

devilish_dwarf
devilish_dwarf
12 years ago

can someone explain to me what are the main differences between asr5 carbon and this blur tr carbon on the trail?
which bike is faster, better?

Dubdryver
12 years ago

Very close to being the same as the ASR-5 by Yeti. This does have shorter chainstays and a more sophisticated suspension. My experience with 4-Bar/Single pivot bikes is that they require more pro-pedal when pointed uphill. I have owned a Blur since ’04, and then the Blur Carbon, and now on the Tallboy.

I know it may seem that I am bias towards Santa Cruz. The truth is, prior to purchasing the Blur XC Carbon, I demo’d 5 to 6 bikes competitively classed against the Blur (Epic Carbon, Ibis Mojo, Pivot Mach 4, ASR Carbon, and the Scalpel) and none of them felt quite as good as the Blur in all aspects. I feel this one will be no different. I also feel that although Yeti may have a great heritage, Santa Cruz makes better bikes with more overall value.

devilish_dwarf
devilish_dwarf
12 years ago

@dubdryver: thanks.

i have always liked single pivot designs because of their ease of maintenance and high lateral stiffness. besides that, i like yetis because of their long and slack geometry, but now and then i wonder if dw link (i like ibis and santa cruz bikes) is way to go…

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