Santa Cruz Bronson
It’s been 12 months since I last reviewed a Santa Cruz bike—that was the Tallboy LTc. At the time I spoke of how Santa Cruz didn’t rush into new trends just for the sake of it. It took them until 2009 to jump aboard the 29er train with the 100mm travel Tallboy. While they were pretty late to the big-wheel game, the bike itself was an instant hit and probably one of the best sorted 29ers that we’d seen at that point.
They only started to use 142x12 thru-axles on their frames in the last year or so, while some competing brands have been using them for four to five years. You won’t find a press-fit bottom bracket or a direct-mount front derailleur on a Santa Cruz either. It seems they prefer to sit back and fully assess the market before taking the plunge with anything that’s new, and they’ll only change if there’s a clear advantage to be gained. They aren’t the sort of company that rushes into making new stuff for the sake of it; especially if it makes your existing parts redundant.
With this seemingly safe and conservative background in mind, the April 1st launch of the Bronson could well have been an elaborate hoax. Rather than taking their usual ‘sit back and observe approach’, Santa Cruz unleashed a full-carbon mountain bike that was designed around the ‘new kid on the block’ 27.5 wheel size. While market is now being inundated with 27.5 offerings, as almost every manufacturer scrambles to release bikes with ‘tweener’ wheels, back in April 2013 there was only a handful of carbon 27.5 bikes on the market (Cube, Rocky Mountain and Scott). So what happened to the softly-softly sit back and wait approach?
Initially the Bronson was going to be the 26-inch replacement for the Blur LT—their longstanding 140mm travel trail bike. They wanted to give it more travel and more current geometry; longer top tube, slacker head angle and a slightly lower bottom bracket. The early Bronson prototypes all had 26-inch wheels with 150mm of travel.
This prototyping phase was happening well before 27.5 had become the mainstream entity that it currently is. In 2012 there weren’t many production 27.5 bikes and riders who were keen to try the tweener wheels did so by mounting them to a 26-inch bike. By chance, the Santa Cruz Blur TR with its low bottom bracket and ample tyre clearance was one of the most popular candidates for 27.5 conversion. While the chief engineer at Santa Cruz, Joe Graney, has previously expressed some fairly negative views about 27.5 wheels, the popularity of the Blur TR conversion obviously garnered his attention. Santa Cruz was also receiving a constant flow of e-mail with fans asking them to create a dedicated 27.5 model.
Change of Heart
So even though all was going well with the development of the 26-inch Bronson, they decided to take a step back and reassess. New prototypes or ‘mules’ were welded up and they went through a few renditions until they were happy with the 27.5 version. At this point they hit the trail with both 26 and 27.5-inch variants, hoping that one would be noticeably better—at least that would make the decision clear and decisive. As it happens, both bikes were really good.
Santa Cruz was then left to make the call as to which way to go, as it wasn’t viable to make 26 and 27.5 options when they are so close in size and similar in their handling characteristics. Their take on 27.5 is that it gives you a little piece of the stability and roll over ability that people like with 29ers but without losing the playful and flickable feel of a 26-inch bike. They felt that there wasn’t any obvious compromise with the 27.5 wheels when compared to 26.
Looking at where the market is heading now, it seems that Santa Cruz made the right decision by putting their money on the 27.5 inch wheels. They could have released a brilliant 150mm travel bike with 26-inch wheels and it probably would have been dead in the water from a sales perspective. Everyone is curious about the 27.5 wheels and they’d have been crazy to ignore the customer demands that they’ve been fielding in recent years.
While issues of wheel size seem to be the focal point of attention, there’s a lot more to making a good bike than slapping on an appropriately trendy wheel size. The goal when designing the Bronson was to create a thoroughly up to date 150mm trail bike drawing upon everything that they’ve learnt after 20 years in the business.
Compared to their previous offerings, the Bronson gets a slacker 67-degree head angle (the Blur LT was closer to 68-degrees) and a steeper 73-degree seat angle (most of their older designs have been 71-degrees). Measuring 439mm, the chainstays are 7mm longer than the outgoing Blur LT and 3mm shorter than the 160mm travel Nomad, so no massive changes there. However the total wheelbase has grown substantially; our large sized Bronson has a 1,167mm wheelbase—that’s around 20mm longer than a Nomad, 40mm longer than a Blur LT and 25mm longer than their Tallboy LT 29er. This combined with the moderately low 346mm bottom bracket means the Bronson clearly ticks the boxes as being long, low and slack. The long front-centre also results in a fairly long top tube; this allows you to run a nice short stem without feeling cramped—another feature that’s expected of a modern trail or all-mountain bike.
The large is recommended for riders from 177cm through to 185cm yet it has a relatively short 470mm seat tube length. This means there’s plenty of room for a dropper post and it also adds flexibility to their sizing—the short seat tube and comparatively low top tube will allow shorter riders to opt for a larger frame if they desire a longer cockpit.
The modern geometry is complemented by a host of modern fittings. It’s got ISCG mounts for a chain guide, runs a 142x12 thru-axle and it has cable routing in place for both regular dropper posts as well as ‘stealth’ style internal routing. All the gear and brake lines are routed externally with full length outer casing—not the absolute height of fashion but it makes life so much easier when it comes to maintaining your bike. Likewise, the traditional threaded bottom bracket makes servicing easier than with the press-fit variety.
And while we’re on the topic of maintenance, the VPP system is entirely serviceable with allen key tools. It even has grease nipples on the lower link so it can be lubed with a small grease gun. Both the upper and lower links are secured by locking collets and the pivot shafts can be removed without having to remove the cranks. Santa Cruz has full service instructions available on their website. The VPP has been refined over many years and it’s now a pretty bombproof system. My only complaint is that the lower link does hang down quite low beneath the bottom bracket and it copped a decent amount of rock damage during the review. None of this was anything more than superficial but it does seem to be vulnerable if you ride in a rocky environment.
Unlike the vast majority of its competitors, the Bronson fits a drink bottle within the frame (our large frame had ample space for a large bottle). Most of my rides tend to be less than two hours in length and it’s nice to head out without a hydration pack. There’s even an extra mount under the down tube if you want to carry an extra bottle.
Last year when we reviewed the Tallboy LT, we were thoroughly impressed by the quality of their carbon construction. It had a 2,550g frame (painted finish), which is extremely light for a longer travel 29er. The Bronson is equally impressive and our matte black frame came in at 2,507g including the Fox Float CTD shock. This sort of weight would be good for a shorter travel XC/trail bike but the Bronson has been designed to handle a lot more abuse than that.
You won’t find any radical or complex shapes in the frame tubes. All the tube profiles and junctions are smooth, rounded and even. Retaining nice simple forms makes it easier for them to achieve optimal compaction of the carbon when the frame is moulded. In my books the simple flowing form looks attractive too—it’s a form follows function kind of bike, not a fashion statement. Look inside the frame and you’ll find the tubes are smoothly finished with no ragged edges of carbon or leftover bits from the moulding process. Santa Cruz has a reputation for producing great carbon frames and the Bronson clearly reflects this.
The VPP suspension is the final piece of the puzzle. Santa Cruz has been using this short-link four-bar system for many years, and in this time it has evolved quite a bit. First generation VPP bikes pedalled solidly but also suffered with noticeable amounts of pedal feedback (this feels like someone is tugging back on the chain as you pedal over lumpy ground). This annoyance was all but eliminated with the second generation VPP models but the pedalling efficiency dropped off a little. The most recent VPP bikes (like the Tallboy LT for example) have struck a very palatable balance between offering great pedalling efficiency and minimising feedback through the drivechain. The Bronson clearly benefits from this evolutionary process, but more on that later…
Pay to Play
A Bronson carbon frame like the one we reviewed will set you back around $3,450. Yep, that’s expensive but it’s comparable with the full-carbon offerings from most other ‘boutique’ brands. Santa Cruz offers the Bronson with a range of build options and prices start from approximately $6,965 (Shimano SLX running gear) through to $10,000-plus for a fully blinged out SRAM XX1 kit with Enve carbon wheels. You can also save around $1,200 by opting for an alloy Bronson; it’s around 600g heavier but shares the same suspension and frame geometry.
Our Bronson was built with a random assortment of high-end Shimano running gear, Avid brakes and a 150mm travel RockShox Revelation fork. With the stock Santa Cruz supplied WTB Frequency wheels, the test bike weighed in at 12.3kg including pedals. Later on in the review I swapped for an XX1 drivechain with a new Pike fork and some lighter wheels; this took the complete weight down to 11.6kg including pedals. However you look at it, the Bronson Carbon is respectably light for a 150mm travel all-mountain bike.
You’d expect a bike like this to hold its own on the descents, but the real surprise comes with how well this bike climbs. There’s no need to touch the CTD dial on the rear shock as it pedals effectively when left in the fully open ‘descent’ mode. In or out of the saddle the rear end movement is minimal, unless you encounter a bump where you discover that the suspension still retains enough compliance to kick into action as required. When the suspension was moving, I couldn’t detect any disruptive pedal kickback.
The geometry also helps to make the Bronson a great climber. Thanks to the roomy cockpit, there’s plenty of room to move forward on the bike without feeling cramped. The steep 73-degree seat angle puts the saddle a bit further forward and this also assists with keeping the front end weighted on really steep climbs. It excels on technical climbs and your fitness will be the only limiting factor—if you’ve got the fitness, the Bronson will take you there!
Point it downhill and the advantages of the new-school geometry become clear. Some will undoubtedly attribute this bike’s stability to the wheel size but seriously people, look at the wheelbase length—it’s as long as a fully-fledged downhill bike! The wheelbase on a medium Santa Cruz V10 – a 254mm travel World Cup DH bike – is only 6mm longer than a large sized Bronson. This sort of wheelbase will give any bike stability, regardless of wheel size.
The long-low-slack nature of the Bronson encourages and rewards aggressive riding. It likes to be thrown around and the ample suspension travel lets you plough when the straightest line is fastest. When the terrain gets loose, the low centre of gravity and limo-like wheelbase allows you to drift and slide without soiling you chamois. Likewise in steep terrain the Bronson inspires great confidence. Obviously the trade-off comes in really slow and tight terrain, and in those situations the Bronson benefits from a bit of extra manhandling. The frame may be light but there’s no shortage of torsional stiffness. With two short links tying the one-piece rear triangle to the front end, it’s a very solid feeling bike that offers great directional control.
Hard-Hitting Bronson
The suspension tune provides a good match for the aggressive nature of the Bronson. It may come with a large air volume Float CTD but inside you’ll find a sizable volume reducing spacer. With this in place, the rear end is quite supportive and offers good bottom out resistance on hard hits. It also runs a medium compression tune, so there’s plenty in reserve for hard riding. When set with 25-30% sag, the Bronson would use all of its travel on bigger hits, but it’s not a wallowy limousine-like ride. The very first part of the suspension travel isn’t all that supple but it performs well once it’s resting at the sag point.
Of late I’ve spent a lot of time on a DW-Link suspension system, so I was interested to see how the VPP compared. Both systems pedal exceptionally well and the Bronson stands as one of the best pedalling VPP bikes that I’ve tried. The DW-Link (on my Pivot) offers more suppleness in the initial travel and better performance over square edge bumps. On the other hand, there’s more noticeable pedal kickback with the DW-Link and the Santa Cruz suspension seems more active when climbing. The Bronson is geared more towards handling the big hits where the Pivot’s travel is more linear and plush on the mid-sized impacts. Both are very advanced and well sorted systems, just in slightly different flavours.
As for the tweener wheels, well maybe they helped a little at low speed in steppy terrain but to me they don’t feel all that different to 26-inch wheels. As Joe Graney suggests, there’s also no obvious compromise when compared with 26-inch wheels, so there’s nothing for die-hard 26er fans to be afraid of. The 439mm chainstay measurement may appear on the long side to some, and it’s actually longer than some new-school 29ers, but the Bronson was never reluctant to manual or wheelie. For such a long and slack bike, it still retains good agility and is easy to toss about on the trail.
The Bronson is the epitome of a do-it-all trail bike. It would make an ultra-competitive gravity enduro bike, it’s light and efficient enough to be ridden in an XC/marathon event without being a burden at all and it’s a flat-out barrel of fun for regular trail riding. If you like to ride hard and really let it hang out, you’ll love the Bronson! It’s amazing how versatile a bike with 150mm of travel can be.
Thumbs Up
Long-low-slack epitomised in a trail bike
Excellent stiffness to weight ratio
Pedals like an XC bike
Thumbs Down
Initial travel lacks some suppleness
Lower link prone to rock strike
Boutique price tag
Specifications
Frame: Full Carbon Monocoque
Shock: Fox Float CTD 150mm Travel
Fork: RockShox Revelation RCT3 150mm
Headset: Cane Creek 110 Tapered
Handlebars: Enve DH cut to 740mm
Stem: Syntace MegaForce 70mm
Shifters: Shimano XTR
Front Derailleur: Shimano XTR
Rear Derailleur: Shimano XTR
Cassette: Shimano XTR, 11/36 10-speed
Chain: Shimano XTR
Cranks: RaceFace NEXT SL 24/34
Bottom Bracket: RaceFace
Pedals: Look S-Track
Brakes: Avid X.0 Trail
Wheels: WTB Frequency i23
Tyres: Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35
Saddle: Bontrager Evoke
Seatpost: KS Lev 150mm Dropper
Weight: 12.3kg including pedals (18-inch frame 2,507g)
Available Sizes: S, M, L (tested), XL
Price: Approximately $8,990 as tested (frame only $3,450)
Distributor Neezy Pty Ltd 0418 771 583 / www.santacruzbicycles.com
