Bronson or 5010?

d8mok

Hi,

Hoping for a bit of advice regarding which bike would be best for me. Looking for either a bronson or 5010 carbon. I have a hardtail cannondale for proper xc stuff and going on canal paths etc. this bike would purely be for trail centres , Peak District riding and a bit of jumping/drops. 90 % of its life would be at trail centres though which makes me swing towards a 5010. But the bronson seems to have such a huge following as is further away travel wise from my hard tail.

I had a orange five before which has now gone so looking for its replacement. I'll be going for pikes, x01, reverb , xt brakes, etc so hopefully a light build on either bike. The 5010 I'd have a pike but reduced to 140mm.

Cheers

lawman

Of the two I'd definitely say the 5010. The Bronson seems to sell mainly on hype, I didn't think it was that good when I rode it, yet I was blown away the 5010, it was just nimble and fun to ride that it really did win me over. For 90% of riding in the UK, trail centre or not you don't need much more than 120-130mm travel, 140mm max and I found the Bronson just sucked a little too much life out of the trail for me. Maybe it was the hype that built it up too much for me, but I just didn't gel with it and I'd be very disappointed if'd bought one.

I did love the 5010 though, I had to go for an XL in order to get enough reach, but aside from that I genuinely couldn't fault it.

lostboysaint

First and most obvious question is why limit it to that brand when there are so many decent options out there? As Lawman says (and I concur with) the Bronson is a very ordinary bike that is way overhyped, the 5010 is very good indeed. However there are many excellent alternatives from other brands. Why not seek more opinion, get some rides and make up your mind with a more educated view than just "I want a Santa Cruz so which one will it be?"

d8mok

Thanks for comments. I'm open to other suggestions for sure . I've looked at a few bikes and had narrowed it down to bronson. The only reason why 5010 was thrown in as the guy at the shop said it may suit me better.

I'm away at the moment but when I'm back im hoping to demo both.

My orange was 140mm at the rear and 150mm at the front which seemed ok for what I do.

lawman

My orange

This explains a great many thing...

In all seriousness though, nice as Santa Cruz bikes are and as good as some of them can be, there are loads of great, short travel bikes out there that deserve a lot more attention. The transition Scout is a great ride, Mondraker's Foxy is an absolute missile and the Yeti SB5c is also meant to be very, very good.

paul.skibum

As a Bronson owner, I can honestly say I would have a 5010 in the UK. I live in Whistler and I think here the Bronson makes a little more sense as an xc ride here tends to be a little more burly than a nice pedal in the UK - the easy trails I ride here compare to most Welsh trail centres I have ridden, the black trails have little comparison in the UK in my experience. That said, if I had my time again I would consider the 5010 for Whistler too - a little lighter and livelier. It was a newer bike when I got my Bronson and I couldn't get the same deal on it and was set on the bigger travel at the time.

The Bronson (despite everyone's apparent dislike of their rides on it) is a very enjoyable bike to ride. I find it rewards me more if I push it a little - it doesn't enjoy hesitation or controlled speed, everything opens up and reacts better with a bit of pace which can make for an interesting head vs heart moment approaching gnarlier trails.

I find it good up as well as down, tech climbs are easy enough to tackle although as with any slacker angled bike you have to work it over some things. As above it rewards a bit of effort and dropping the compression damping down and giving it a bit of a heave and chuck assists when climbing.

I love my Bronson, but I would definitely look at the 5010 in the UK and would probably look at other bikes as well (I bought SC because I love the brand and could get a staff discount that made it comparable to lesser boutique brands).

rockmonkeysc

Of those two bikes I would definitely go for the 5010, I rode one and it's excellent. The only reason I didn't buy one is the sizing is no good for me.
Personally I would wait for the 2016 bikes and go for a carbon Transition Scout. Not officially announced yet as a 2016 model but a very poorly kept secret. The aluminium Scout is brilliant and a carbon one should be even better.

d8mok

Some good comments. Sounds like a 5010 might be a better bet.

I fancied a Santa Cruz as I've never owned one in 20 years of riding so it's a box ticked too. I don't doubt there are some good other bikes out there too but they just don't grab my attention like a Sc, intense , yeti etc.

rockmonkeysc

Try one first. Top tubes are a bit short for a lot of people .

BloggingFit

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19663348#p19663348]RockmonkeySC[/url] wrote:

Of those two bikes I would definitely go for the 5010, I rode one and it's excellent. The only reason I didn't buy one is the sizing is no good for me.
Personally I would wait for the 2016 bikes and go for a carbon Transition Scout. Not officially announced yet as a 2016 model but a very poorly kept secret. The aluminium Scout is brilliant and a carbon one should be even better.

+1 for the Carbon Scout next year and I'm a fan of Santa Cruz. I don't think there would be anything much better out there in it's range of travel and would be very high on my list of bike to own. A 150mm bike is a bit too much bike for most UK riding unless you're fortunate enough to have a few bikes to choose from and ride. If you are determined to go for more than 120mm travel then the Bird Aeris which can switch between 140mm and 150mm travel is a good value option.

paul.skibum

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19663480#p19663480]RockmonkeySC[/url] wrote:

Try one first.

Definitely worthwhile as they have a good demo fleet in UK. I bought a medium Bronson as I was over max height for the small but think I could have gone small and potentially benefitted.

Transition are worth a look - great looking bikes, boutique name, similar pricing.

I was standing at the start of a Toonie race in Whistler the other day and the Santa Cruz name was very much in evidence - a lot of 5010's, a few Bronson's, a Tall Boy, couple of Nomads and a Highball - didn't make my bike feel very special! Only one Transition Patrol though and very nice it looked too.

rockmonkeysc

Only problem with Transition is they sold out of the Scout and Patrol for 2015 ages ago.
Pyga are also worth checking out.

d8mok

Went with a bronson in the end.

5010 is nice but think I'd miss the travel.


Spec is m9000 xtr , pikes, reverb, crossmax xl, hope e4' .

paul.skibum

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19670717#p19670717]d8mok[/url] wrote:

Went with a bronson in the end.

5010 is nice but think I'd miss the travel.


Spec is m9000 xtr , pikes, reverb, crossmax xl, hope e4' .

Nice. I don't think you will be disappointed. Pics on the your bikes page please!

poah

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19663348#p19663348]RockmonkeySC[/url] wrote:

Personally I would wait for the 2016 bikes and go for a carbon Transition Scout. Not officially announced yet as a 2016 model but a very poorly kept secret. The aluminium Scout is brilliant and a carbon one should be even better.

this, I hate agreeing with spunkymonkey