#SANTA CRUZ VINTAGE MTB RIDE FREE#

He has a particular focus on mountain bikes, but spends plenty of time on gravel bikes, too. Tom Marvin is a technical editor at and MBUK magazine. However, the TwistLoc is not as intuitive as a lever-based lockout, such as ScottвЂ™s TwinLock or OrbeaвЂ™s Squidlock, even if it is tidier вЂ“ I found I needed to twist it quite far around the bar to lock the shock, and itвЂ™s not the lightest thing out there either. It gives a pretty solid lockout, which transforms the bike into almost a hardtail, which I like.

#SANTA CRUZ VINTAGE MTB RIDE FREE#

The suspension is free to move under load, so I did find myself reaching for the two-position lockout on smooth tarmac or gravel climbs because the suspension can rob a little bit of zip. On rougher climbs, jabbing at the pedals or standing on them to sprint, results in sharp accelerations, no doubt thanks in some part to the incredibly skinny-treaded Aspen tyres. On bumpy traverses, the geometry positions you nicely over the cranks, giving your legs every chance to lay down power, while the rear wheel happily eats up the undulations as you go. Santa CruzвЂ™s Reserve 28 wheels feel great on the trail and give the tyres plenty of volume. This changes with bike size too, so the small has a correspondingly shorter rear centre than the XL вЂ“ good for maintaining front to rear length ratios. The bottom bracket sits at 330mm from the ground, while the rear centre is 435mm. The reach is an impressive 470mm in a large and is matched with a 470mm seat tube. The head angle on my size large sits at a reasonably slack for XC 68 degrees and the effective seat-tube angle measures 76 degrees вЂ“ moderately steep for a shorter travel bike. The geometry is contemporary and, much like the Specialized Epic, its numbers donвЂ™t look too far away from what we would have seen on a trail bike not so long ago. The ultimate guide to rear suspension systems.The matt paint looks great but holds on to dirt, so if you like your bikes to look showroom clean all the time itвЂ™ll take some committed cleaning. Two colours are available: black paint, which saves a few grams of weight, and this вЂSockeye SalвЂ™ colour here. ThereвЂ™s a small chainguide to keep everything secure and both the down tube and chainstays get rubberised protection. Chainstay protection keeps the bike rolling quietly through the rough.

Santa cruz vintage mtb ride