I agree with the two bike approach. I've been using a Ripmo and would like something a little quicker and nimble and am looking at the XC version of the Blur. Using both should open the door to just about everything w/out the need to compromise too much. Tell me about the brakes - I'm 6'3" and 210 lbs. Do two pistons & bigger rotors on the ultimate brakes get the job done or do you think four pistons is the way to go?
Very nice long-term review. My Tallboy pivot axles recently started creaking after 500+ miles and my bike mechanic said that they (the bolts) were all pretty dry and the noise went away after he greased them. There are Zerk ports on my bike that I didn’t know about. At first he thought the noise was the E*Thirteen hub because they can have known noise issues, however that didn’t seem to be case as the noise returned after messing with the hub. My Reverb dropper was also replaced under warranty but that was after I already replaced it with a different dropper. So, I have a brand new Reverb (150) that I have been trying to sell but maybe my price is not right or people are not looking for this dropper. Let me know if you have any sales tips! Tan sidewalls look great. I have recently been tweaking my suspension as well but in the opposite sense. 25% sag was too rough for me so I let a BUNCH of air out (to match Fox’s body weight recommendation) and it still doesn’t bottom out! I need to measure the sag yet to see what % it’s at. It almost feels as though it climbs better now, if that’s possible after increasing rear sag. My Tallboy is incredible with descents, especially rough and technical! It also handles jumps and drops very well! With the beefier Tallboy frame (my medium is 30+) and the slacker geometry, I would be curious what differences you might feel in climbing capabilities compared to the Blur TR. It may be a bit more work but I don’t know how much more. I felt great on my recent 50 mile race/ride and it was over 6,000’ of climbing! I switched to Ergon GA3 grips and the Ergon SM Comp saddle, both of which I love! I wonder if I should keep a spare rear axle handy based on your experience with breaking one? I have not heard about the paint peeling issue and have not noted it on my bike. Don’t Santa Cruz bikes simply look awesome?!
UPDATE: grease to the pivot points did not fix the creaking noise. Will be taking it in to the shop again next week as Santa Cruz has some recommendations for my mechanic.
Dakota.Covers, I have the Tallboy 4 too and love it. I grease that lower link every 4-5 months and am so fanatical about the maintenance of it. I will say, Santa Cruz is by far, the best in customer service of any bike I've ever owned. I've never heard of any issues with the axles but I always re-grease mine every 5-6 rides. Maybe it's your crank arms or pedals which need a re-grease or tightening? Order a new frame bearing kit from Santa Cruz which is free for the life of the bike. Best of luck!
Great review, dude! Maybe one of the best I’ve seen on the blur! Tnx! Question, what your weight? I’m @ 230 and looking for a more xc oriented bike but not sure how this one would hold up. I don’t do drops or ride overly aggressive @ 55 yrs I’ve learned to hold back a bit. I can’t find my replacement body parts @ my lbs 😅😂
@@alvindiazmarquez I’m about 170. At 230, you might be pushing the limitations of the shock if you also add in weight for all your kit. I’ve got an ex-power lifter friend who’s a bit younger than me (mid to late 40’s) and is in the 250 range. He tends to prefer coil shocks and chunkier bikes. His XC bike is a Transition Smuggler with an aftermarket coil fork and shock. I think he runs Carbon rims to offset the weight from the coil setup. It’s a lighter setup than his enduro/all Mtn bikes but can handle his weight better. Plus the geometry is more forgiving than the Blur. Wish I could provide you more details on running the Blur with heavier weight, but I’d honestly think something like what my friend did may work better for you. Plus, the Blur can get pretty twitchy in rough, steep terrain. It’s a fun feeling, but not very forgiving. Something like a smuggler could be a good compromise between robustness and weight saving.
Nice review! I have a 2020 Tallboy 4 and love it, except that it's a bit heavy for a short travel trail bike and I wish it were just a little more efficient pedaling-wise, albeit it's not that bad. I'm looking at this Blur TR now and wanted to know how much more efficient a pedaling bike is it compared to the Tallboy 4? There are times when I want my bike to just get up and go and it just doesn't have the snap of an XC oriented bike. I'm also looking at the Specialized Epic EVO which is apparently quite efficient in the pedaling department.
The Blur is amazingly efficient! You can get the 100mm travel version for even more pedaling prowess but I think the TR with an additional 15 mm hits the sweet spot. I think it is more efficient than the Tallboy and it has a different feel. The Blur uses a flex stay and is a kind of linkage driven single pivot design versus the VPP suspension of the Tallboy.
@@TheAncientScholar Thanks for the reply. When you say efficient, you mean efficient in terms of power transfer to the pedals, correct? The feeling that every ounce of your input moves the bike forward? I just say this because my Tallboy 4 is a very efficient "Technical" climber, meaning the suspension is active enough to soak up terrain and keep going forward without the rear end bouncing around and spinning out. However, on flat fire roads/hardpack dirt, it seems like there is a very slight hesitation when you put the power down on the pedals. I guess my concern or desire is to have an XC Trail bike which feels just like say my friend's Specialized Epic XC bike, which immediately puts power down to the pedals and makes the bike jump forward with no wasted energy, but with a bit more travel. My dealer has a medium demo which I'm dying to try if it weren't for this lousy wet NY weather we've been having lately!
Thanks for the details. Interested in how much you weigh. Seems like SC dropped the ball with those level brakes, but I feel like I would have moved to 4 piston weighing over 200 myself.
I agree with the two bike approach. I've been using a Ripmo and would like something a little quicker and nimble and am looking at the XC version of the Blur. Using both should open the door to just about everything w/out the need to compromise too much. Tell me about the brakes - I'm 6'3" and 210 lbs. Do two pistons & bigger rotors on the ultimate brakes get the job done or do you think four pistons is the way to go?
Two piston XT’s work well on the Blur for me. I ran with 4 piston XT’s on my enduro bike however.
Killing me with that bontrager rubber on that bike. 😂
Very nice long-term review. My Tallboy pivot axles recently started creaking after 500+ miles and my bike mechanic said that they (the bolts) were all pretty dry and the noise went away after he greased them. There are Zerk ports on my bike that I didn’t know about. At first he thought the noise was the E*Thirteen hub because they can have known noise issues, however that didn’t seem to be case as the noise returned after messing with the hub.
My Reverb dropper was also replaced under warranty but that was after I already replaced it with a different dropper. So, I have a brand new Reverb (150) that I have been trying to sell but maybe my price is not right or people are not looking for this dropper. Let me know if you have any sales tips!
Tan sidewalls look great.
I have recently been tweaking my suspension as well but in the opposite sense. 25% sag was too rough for me so I let a BUNCH of air out (to match Fox’s body weight recommendation) and it still doesn’t bottom out! I need to measure the sag yet to see what % it’s at. It almost feels as though it climbs better now, if that’s possible after increasing rear sag.
My Tallboy is incredible with descents, especially rough and technical! It also handles jumps and drops very well! With the beefier Tallboy frame (my medium is 30+) and the slacker geometry, I would be curious what differences you might feel in climbing capabilities compared to the Blur TR. It may be a bit more work but I don’t know how much more. I felt great on my recent 50 mile race/ride and it was over 6,000’ of climbing!
I switched to Ergon GA3 grips and the Ergon SM Comp saddle, both of which I love!
I wonder if I should keep a spare rear axle handy based on your experience with breaking one?
I have not heard about the paint peeling issue and have not noted it on my bike. Don’t Santa Cruz bikes simply look awesome?!
UPDATE: grease to the pivot points did not fix the creaking noise. Will be taking it in to the shop again next week as Santa Cruz has some recommendations for my mechanic.
Dakota.Covers,
I have the Tallboy 4 too and love it. I grease that lower link every 4-5 months and am so fanatical about the maintenance of it. I will say, Santa Cruz is by far, the best in customer service of any bike I've ever owned. I've never heard of any issues with the axles but I always re-grease mine every 5-6 rides. Maybe it's your crank arms or pedals which need a re-grease or tightening? Order a new frame bearing kit from Santa Cruz which is free for the life of the bike. Best of luck!
@@Dakota.Covers
How about your bottom bracket?
Great review, dude! Maybe one of the best I’ve seen on the blur! Tnx! Question, what your weight? I’m @ 230 and looking for a more xc oriented bike but not sure how this one would hold up. I don’t do drops or ride overly aggressive @ 55 yrs I’ve learned to hold back a bit. I can’t find my replacement body parts @ my lbs 😅😂
@@alvindiazmarquez I’m about 170. At 230, you might be pushing the limitations of the shock if you also add in weight for all your kit. I’ve got an ex-power lifter friend who’s a bit younger than me (mid to late 40’s) and is in the 250 range. He tends to prefer coil shocks and chunkier bikes. His XC bike is a Transition Smuggler with an aftermarket coil fork and shock. I think he runs Carbon rims to offset the weight from the coil setup. It’s a lighter setup than his enduro/all Mtn bikes but can handle his weight better. Plus the geometry is more forgiving than the Blur. Wish I could provide you more details on running the Blur with heavier weight, but I’d honestly think something like what my friend did may work better for you. Plus, the Blur can get pretty twitchy in rough, steep terrain. It’s a fun feeling, but not very forgiving. Something like a smuggler could be a good compromise between robustness and weight saving.
Nice review! I have a 2020 Tallboy 4 and love it, except that it's a bit heavy for a short travel trail bike and I wish it were just a little more efficient pedaling-wise, albeit it's not that bad. I'm looking at this Blur TR now and wanted to know how much more efficient a pedaling bike is it compared to the Tallboy 4? There are times when I want my bike to just get up and go and it just doesn't have the snap of an XC oriented bike. I'm also looking at the Specialized Epic EVO which is apparently quite efficient in the pedaling department.
The Blur is amazingly efficient! You can get the 100mm travel version for even more pedaling prowess but I think the TR with an additional 15 mm hits the sweet spot. I think it is more efficient than the Tallboy and it has a different feel. The Blur uses a flex stay and is a kind of linkage driven single pivot design versus the VPP suspension of the Tallboy.
@@TheAncientScholar Thanks for the reply. When you say efficient, you mean efficient in terms of power transfer to the pedals, correct? The feeling that every ounce of your input moves the bike forward? I just say this because my Tallboy 4 is a very efficient "Technical" climber, meaning the suspension is active enough to soak up terrain and keep going forward without the rear end bouncing around and spinning out. However, on flat fire roads/hardpack dirt, it seems like there is a very slight hesitation when you put the power down on the pedals. I guess my concern or desire is to have an XC Trail bike which feels just like say my friend's Specialized Epic XC bike, which immediately puts power down to the pedals and makes the bike jump forward with no wasted energy, but with a bit more travel. My dealer has a medium demo which I'm dying to try if it weren't for this lousy wet NY weather we've been having lately!
@ ancientscholar, how tall are you? I understand you're riding a large and I am in between sizes.
I am 6' 1"
Thanks for the details. Interested in how much you weigh. Seems like SC dropped the ball with those level brakes, but I feel like I would have moved to 4 piston weighing over 200 myself.
Good review. Go rent a Tallboy from Gila and do a follow-up video. 🙂
Great review!
what frame size?
Large