I did end up buying a Santa Cruz Bronson. I was on the fence between this bike and a Tallboy LT. Ultimately, I decided that 650B wheels were big enough for someone my size at 5'9 tall and 175 lbs.
This is my first mountain bike but I have rode street bikes and dirt bikes off and on for 10 years. I live in the city now and I sold my dirt bike, which was seeing zero use, to fund this purchase. Since I plan on keeping this bike for 5 years, I wanted a carbon frame. Unfortunately, I had to cheap out on the components to keep the bike under budget. I ended up with a carbon Bronson with the lowest spec. I added a stealth dropper post to the bike.
I've had a chance to get out on about 6 or 7 rides now and I absolutely love the bike. I live Edmonton and it's definitely more bike than necessary for around here. I'll be moving back to Vancouver next year so that's not an issue. Around here, the trails are mostly contained in a river valley. They follow the valley with lots of short, steep ups and downs.
I'm amazed at how confidence inspiring the bike is. Coming from a dirt bike background, I felt at home on the bike right away and have been hitting some smaller jumps and berms and it feels great. Climbing is pretty good too. My fitness level is rapidly increasing so it's getting easier and easier.
I'm finding that, around here, I keep the forks and shock set in trail mode almost all of the time. I've used descend and it pedals great as long as I'm sitting. Overall, it just seems to work better for me in trail mode. I still find it plenty plush.
Overall, I'm very happy with the purchase. I'm going to ride it as is all season long and then looking at upgrading to an X1 drive train over the winter.
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This is my first mountain bike but I have rode street bikes and dirt bikes off and on for 10 years. I live in the city now and I sold my dirt bike, which was seeing zero use, to fund this purchase. Since I plan on keeping this bike for 5 years, I wanted a carbon frame. Unfortunately, I had to cheap out on the components to keep the bike under budget. I ended up with a carbon Bronson with the lowest spec. I added a stealth dropper post to the bike.
I've had a chance to get out on about 6 or 7 rides now and I absolutely love the bike. I live Edmonton and it's definitely more bike than necessary for around here. I'll be moving back to Vancouver next year so that's not an issue. Around here, the trails are mostly contained in a river valley. They follow the valley with lots of short, steep ups and downs.
I'm amazed at how confidence inspiring the bike is. Coming from a dirt bike background, I felt at home on the bike right away and have been hitting some smaller jumps and berms and it feels great. Climbing is pretty good too. My fitness level is rapidly increasing so it's getting easier and easier.
I'm finding that, around here, I keep the forks and shock set in trail mode almost all of the time. I've used descend and it pedals great as long as I'm sitting. Overall, it just seems to work better for me in trail mode. I still find it plenty plush.
Overall, I'm very happy with the purchase. I'm going to ride it as is all season long and then looking at upgrading to an X1 drive train over the winter.
