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I am currently in the market for a new full suspension bike. So far I’ve narrowed my search down to three candidates:
Santa Cruz Bronson R1x Carbon — Santa Cruz 5010 D — Niner Jet 9 1 Star (5010 and Jet 9 are both aluminum)
Previously, I was only interested in the 5010 but my local shop has a carbon Bronson marked down to a pretty killer deal for a carbon bike. I do think the 150 mm fork on the Bronson might be a little much for my local trails. It may likely sell before I come around to actually pulling the trigger. I’ll more likely go with either the Niner Jet or the 5010. Both bikes seem pretty similar. The Niner seems to have a better fork but I’ve never used 29 wheels. I’m also not sure if the Niner alloy stock wheels are any good or even tubeless capable. I like the look of the 5010 better than the Niner.
It seems to come with more options in terms of colors and different builds. That being said I’m really stumped as to which bike to go with. From what I’ve been told the pros and cons even out. Any advice, opinions, experiences from the community would be greatly appreciated, thanks everyone. Also if anyone thinks there are better bikes for this budget- $2500-$2800- let me know, I’d definitely check them out. -
You don’t mention riding any of them….any LBS worth their salt will let you take the bikes out for test spin, the better LBS will even let you rent a model for a 1/2 or day.
Folks can talk all they want about travel, slack, “flickability” (my personal fave)….but until -you- get your butt in saddle and ride them, it’s just talk.
my .00002 cents.
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Your choice and that which influences it will boil down to a matter of perspective on having the “right” tool for the job. One point of view is to ride a bike that suits 85-90% of your local trails. Most take this sensible option. I however do not. I prefer riding bikes I cannot find the end of that will still do well on 85-90% of my local trails. Some believe this is not possible, but there are great examples of such bikes available today that will let you have your proverbial cake and eat it (or actually not eat it on those “oh shit” sections) too.
I say go for the Bronson (especially if it’s the V2 current model; the V1 was kind of a dog). It will handle the tame stuff with aplomb and still let you get your freak on when those situations arise. That bike can be built up really light if that matters, but it can take a beating.
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Robert Dobbs- I definitely plan on riding before buying. I just wanted to see if the community had any experiences to share. I rode the Niner at a Niner demo event. I plan on doing another, more extensive demo through the stop. It was the best bike I’d ever ridden but I didn’t have other bikes to compare it to. The Santa Cruz models are sold at a different shop and they said they don’t like to do demos/rentals because people take bikes out with no intention of buying one and ‘intentionally’ destroy them. I find that hard to believe and pretty ridiculous. However, I didn’t want to write off the whole brand. I won’t spend thousands of dollars on a bike without riding it first. Considering I’m a serious buyer, I would hope they’d come around. I can’t imagine they would throw away a big sale for petty shit like that. We’ll just have to see what happens.
Raymond Epstein- The Bronson is from the v1 time period but the components (fork, drivetrain) are different from the specs listed on Santa Cruz’s website which is strange/suspicious. I’m thinking it could be a returned custom build which could explain the mark down.
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V1 Bronson? Nope. The other two are okay and if you are locked in to that bike shop then pick the one you like best.
However, I will offer an alternative. If you want something really unique that is an absolute trail slayer and fantastic all around bike that is a screaming deal pick up a Banshee Spitfire. You can build one with as nice if not a better kit than what is on either of those bikes for under $3K and you’ll get a dropper post with it too. I can assure you this bike will blow the doors off either of those bikes regarding handling and all around fun factor and you’ll be the only one in your town with one. They are easy to maintain and have one of the best pedaling platforms around.
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Some links… Banshee Spitfire Jenson XT build and if a small is too small call these guys… Blue Mountain Bikes
PinkBike review also check out this review of the Rune, the Spitfire’s bigger brutha. My friends all had Banshee’s and would not shut up about them when I was looking getting a new bike at the time. Banshee was WAY ahead of the game regarding the LSL (long, slack, low) geo that every back has now as the Rune V2 debuted in late ’12 nearly a year and half . I rode my Rune V2 from Spring ’14 until about 2 months ago. It was and is a phenomenal bike outperforming bikes costing 2-3X as much. Banshee is still a teensy company, so most don’t know about them, but again there is almost nothing that beats them on cost to performance ratio. They are the choice of many shop guys and industry types I’ve met. While I’m digging my new rig (Evil Wreckoning), I’d have no problem being back on a Banshee (now it would be a Prime). Party.
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I have test rode the Bronson and 5010 this last year, and a different Niner, of the three I liked the Bronson best, and bikes I liked better than the Bronson were Giant Trance and Salsa Redpoint, but the Redpoint and Bronson were close.
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