Santa Cruz being pretty prolific of late...

ashfanman

First the carbon Nomad, then two new bikes on a brand new suspension platform?

Nickel (125mm enduro/trail): http://www.singletrackworld.com/2010/04 ... uz-nickel/

Butcher (150mm AM): http://www.singletrackworld.com/2010/04 ... z-butcher/

Apparently APP bikes will work out considerably cheaper than those running VPP systems.

lawman

i was kinda hoping it would be a new blur 4x. bit disappointed tbh

ashfanman

I know - a lot of folks were holding out for a new 4X. I'm personally pretty pleased, as having tested a Blur LT recently I'm beginning to think that 120mm travel might be the sweet spot for me. The only problem is most of them are too steep for my liking, so a compromise with shorter travel but trail-friendly angles (and no Blur XC price tag!) could be tempting.

I don't really see the need for the Butcher, though. Unless they're dropping the Heckler?

lawman

i think they'd be silly to drop the heckler as it is such an iconic name dating back years. i still dont see why they arent making a new 4x, simply because they is such a huge demand for them, hence why the old bikes still fetch a not inconsiderate amount of money on fleabay. and from the sounds of it a blur 4x would be right up your street, short travel, slack angles

ashfanman

Yeah, but then the Butcher just comes across as a budget Heckler? Perhaps I'm missing something and it's totally different, but they both look to be in the same bracket to me.

The 4X does sound interesting, but it would probably be a bit too burly for my needs. Ideally I'd be looking for something around 26-27lbs (without buying any stupid light kit) - I'm guessing a 4X would probably be closer to 30lbs.

What I really want is for Evil to do a 120mm Sect (then again, doing a 140mm Sect would be a start!). Oh, and for the frame not to cost about £2,000...

Northwind

ashfanman wrote:

Yeah, but then the Butcher just comes across as a budget Heckler? Perhaps I'm missing something and it's totally different, but they both look to be in the same bracket to me.

Not sure what's budget about it? The heckler'll continue to appeal to the single pivot crowd, who want simplicity, less bits to service and, well, suspension that doesn't do anything clever at all. the butcher goes after people who want a bit less crude suspension. You don't see Orange dumping the Five just because they've started making linkage driven single pivots...

It's quite funny though, a mate of mine's been looking for his Dream Perfect Bike for the last year, he just gave up and settled (HAH) for a Mojo SL last week and along comes this thing which would probably suit him down to the ground.

ashfanman

Northwind wrote:

It's quite funny though, a mate of mine's been looking for his Dream Perfect Bike for the last year, he just gave up and settled (HAH) for a Mojo SL last week and along comes this thing which would probably suit him down to the ground.

Bloody hell. I dread to think what his Dream Perfect Bike would be if a Mojo SL is a compromise!

Is he not happy with it then? I was actually thinking of demoing a Mojo (apparently they're quite XC-ish for a 140mm bike) but can't find any XL demo bikes...

Northwind

He likes it, don't worry It's just not a perfect fit for what he wanted. Picky picky picky!

supersonic

So two new single pivot bikes.

GHill

Really like the look of the Nickel, but I'll wait for a test ride. I really don't mind single pivots but it'll be interesting to see how the ride differs from the Fuel Ex 8.