[kbell]

I'm considering a Blur LT. I know I can get polished but haven't seen a polished LT. Anyone have any pics of one? I did a search without any usefull results.

Also, I typically ride a 24" Effective Top Tube bike. The L and the XL BLT are 23.5" and 24.5" ETT.

I'm 6'0" tall with a 34.6" inseam.

I've had 2 custom bikes built. Both had 72.5 degree seat tube angles. One had a 24" Ett and the other had 24.25" I ran 120mm stems on both.

I have had bikes with 24.3 ETTs and ran 120mm stems.

Advise?

Pictures?

 

[Boogie Man]

I'm pretty similar in size. 6' tall with a 33.5 inseam, and I'm on a large BLT. I'm riding with a 110mm stem, and a standard seatpost, and it fits pretty well... If I were going to change anything, I'd go with a low riser bar instead of the 1.5" riser bar that I have on there now. I think you'd be fine on a large. You could always get a setback seatpost if it's too cramped.

 

[kbell]

Yeah, the one I rode today was a Large and had a straight post. I switched the post to a setback and it helped a lot. This bike had a 100mm stem on it. I think I'll go back over tommorow and ride it with a 110 or 120 mm stem and see how it feels.

I looked at Santa Cruz's website and figured the front and center by deducting the chainstay length from the wheelbase. Not sure how accurate this method is but it ended up being identical to my custom rig. The reason this is so important to me is that I owned one of the frist original Blurs that Colorado Cyclist sold. It was a Large size frame but only had a 23.2 or 23.3" toptube. Anyway, I was constantly going over the bars on that bike on the steep downhills. I have since found out that longer TT and front and center help with this. Basically if the front axle and bars are too close to my feet, I'm goin' over the bars.

Soooo, I'm a little nervous about the short TT length more than anything even though I know the SA and HA come into play here as well as the head tube length which puts it pretty close to what I think will work. I just hate to buy a bike only to find out that it's too little as much as I hate to buy the XL and find out it rides like a freight train for someone my size. That's the bad thing about a parking lot test and not being able to ride both sizes in the woods.

Oh well I'll just go with my gut and see what happens.......

 

[Boogie Man]

You shouldn't have any problems with going OTB on the BLT at all... the slack head tube angle will take care of that, especially if you go with one of the newer 140mm Fox forks (I've got a Vanilla 130). I've never felt as confident on steep stuff as I do on my BLT. The issue that I'm having with the riser bars is that the front end wanders a little on really steep climbs because my riding position is too upright.

 

[fat_weasel]

I'm 6'5" and I ride an XL Heckler. I've also ridden an XL BLT, and found them to be pretty similarly sized. I love my Heckler (20.5" ST, 25" eff TT) and was pretty comfortable on the BLT too, which makes me think that the XL would be too big for somebody your size.

 

[kbell]

I'm 6'5" and I ride an XL Heckler. I've also ridden an XL BLT, and found them to be pretty similarly sized. I love my Heckler (20.5" ST, 25" eff TT) and was pretty comfortable on the BLT too, which makes me think that the XL would be too big for somebody your size.

I had a Large Heckler at one point and it felt close to right even though the ETT was pretty much the same as the Blur. I know it had a longer headtube which does effect how and where the TT is measured. Anyway, I had considered the XL but knew 25" TT would be too much. That's a pretty big gap between L and XL. I'll give it another ride today with a longer stem and see how it goes.

 

[benja55]

Try Woodside bikes...

I'm considering a Blur LT. I know I can get polished but haven't seen a polished LT. Anyone have any pics of one? I did a search without any usefull results.

I think I saw one at Woodside Bike Shop. They stock a good number of SC frames and often have polished stuff around. Maybe it was one of the shop guys bikes? Not sure. But it was gorgeous, IMHO.

But I'm a sucker for natural finishes when it comes to frames. Paint chips and never looks as good as it does that first day out of the box. Anodizing is nice too, but with a polished frame you can always get it back to bling.

The Woodside guys tipped me off to SimiChrome polish goop. Good stuff works really well with just a tiny dab.