Santa Cruzs new genre busting fun bike is a low slung, fast iingletrack gun slinger that radical riders will love.
Having translated all their existing models into lighter, stiffer carbon fibre versions Santa Cruzs designers decided to treat hemselves to the playbike they really wanted. The result is the unorthodox, orderline mental, Marmite trail missile hat theyre calling the Blur TRc.

The facts
Vhile it follows the classic Santa Cruz;
tapered head, curved tube asymmetric swingarm outline of its other carbon bikes, the TRail Carbon has no direct ancestor. Its got the same travel and 68 – degree head angle as the Nickel 125mm alloy bike. Its 0.5in lower in the bottom bracket and nearly 1kg lighter in the frame. In fact at 2.26kg for the frameset its only 0.22kg heavier than the Blur cross – country race bike. Despite its deviant intentions its the same length as the XC bikes rather than downright short like the Nomad and Santa Cruzs other nutters. Its relatively short compared to most other trail bikes, although low overall stance and standover clearance means sizing up isnt an issue.The practical aspects are well proven. Theres room for up to 2.4in rubber and the VPP2 suspension with carbon upper link, easily adjusted angular contact bearings and grease ports in the lower linkage have been ticked off as trustworthy via thousands of trail miles on previous bikes. The custom tuned 200mm length Fox RP23 shock is a top spec Kashima coated unit.

In terms of kit it takes a 30.9mm seat post with frame guides ready for a dropper post, which is a smart idea on such an entertaining bike. A lack of ISCG tabs may irritate some, but the conventional BB means a cup clamping chainguide can be used. Santa Cruz still says that screw thru – axle benefits arent needed on its frames, so the TRcs got a conventional 135mm QR back end. Disc brake tabs are International Standard not post mount.

In terms of kit, the frame and shock price is ?2699, which is ?200 more than the other SC carbon trail bikes and our only major complaint. There are two ready to roll complete bike options. The SPX kit with a Fox Float 32 QR fork at ?4899 and the XTR XC kit at ?6699 with Fox Float 130RLC QR15 Kashima fork. Jungle also supplies custom build kits from RockShox Sektor/Shimano Deore level upwards, and it will take up to a 150mm fork if you really want to slack it out.

The feel
Even in the stock 130mm fork trim theres still plenty of wheel out in front when youre sat in the saddle. The shorter fork also means a lot tighter grip on the front wheel than there is with the more stretched reach of the 150mm version of the same Fox chassis. The whole handling character feels instantly right too.

The immediate eye widening promise of the low slung, slack fronted fun thats about to happen isnt diminished as soon as the faffing is finished and you head for the first bit of singletrack. The pedal stiffening action of the VPP suspension, rock solid frame rigidity and race bike weight mean Millennium Falcon – style acceleration. Whether youre spinning gears in the saddle or standing up and wrestling a big ratio round it launches down the trail, making snap singletrack passes or flat – out – between – corner blasting the default group ride setting. Because its low weight not just stiffness that underlines the snap, the longer the climb goes on, the more of a killing youll make.

You have to work around its geometric eccentricities on more technical climbs. Until you learn to get your weight forward and really heave it round, the slack front end can wander off into the bushes on slow speed climbing turns. The ultra low BB means you have to pay close attention to your stride pattern, otherwise your feet, cranks and rings will come a cropper on a regular basis, causing stalls and grinds thatll frustrate you on technical sections it would otherwise clear with ease.

The reason for the snakes belly stance is obvious as you start punching into corners at speed. With your centre of gravity so low, outrageous lean angles and drifting are second nature, and itll create a slingshot berm out of the slightest bank, root bowl or row of rocks. Its combination of surefooted stability and snap 3D reactivity is even more obvious on groomed trail centre pump and hip sections.
While 125mm doesnt sound much, the custom tuned shock sucks up big stuff remarkably well too. It gets caught out occasionally – particularly under power – but it genuinely feels like youre running fat sticky rubber not a skinny semi – slick on the back when youre taking straight line through, not round line options. The more stuff you hit, the more youll realise how much it can handle and your concepts of reasonable racing, overtaking or just basically rideable lines will skew dramatically towards the really dirty. The shorter travel means none of the communication and acceleration numbing squat or wallow of some mid – travel bikes either.

Summary
Low BB clearance and occasionally wandering front end will upset some riders, as will the rider reactive VPP suspension. If youre prepared to work with it youll find a punchy, blisteringly quick and outstandingly surefooted trail bike thatll rip a grinning hole in your ride expectations up, down or sideways.