[krd123]

I bought a BLT frame last weekend and had it built up with the components from my Spec Enduro. Two rides so far and I can't believe the difference. The BLT is vastly superior to the Enduro. With the Enduro I had done everything possible to make it climb better. I changed out the fork for a Talas, had Push do the shock to give it a stable platform and a few other changes as well. Even employing all of the trickery possible steep climbs were a no go. The front end would get light and unruly and I would end up walking.

Not the case at all with the BLT. All I have to do to climb a steep hill is scoot up on the nose of the saddle. No more having to wind down the fork at every up hill. Even better is no more forgetting to extend the fork coming back down.

I am riding much faster and clearing stuff that had me walking on the Enduro. And, the BLT descends as well as it climbs. What a great frame.

Sorry no pictures. Can't seem to get them to load.

 

[OddjobGT]

I ordered mine about two weeks ago and can't wait to get it. This will be my first full suspension and I'm sure it will be amazing.

How long did it take to get yours after you ordered it?

 

[mtnbikej]

I ordered mine about two weeks ago and can't wait to get it. This will be my first full suspension and I'm sure it will be amazing.

How long did it take to get yours after you ordered it?

I got my wife's about 2 weeks ago. Ordered it 5 weeks before that. Which in SC time is really pretty quick. Especially because she wanted a particular color. Had she been more flexible on color, she may have had it a little sooner.

mtnbikej

 

[jimboronimo]

Got mine about 2 months ago now - migrated from an Orange hardtail to the BLT with all the bits - RP3, FloatXTT... Goes like stink off a stick over bumps (large and small), flies off drops / jumps and feels stable all the way. Climbs like a demon too (only limiting factor is my legs). I love it - it's like moving forward 10 years. Going out 3/4 times a week now and loving it. Did 30ks up, down and over at full speed last night. Ace.:thumbsup:

 

[OddjobGT]

Well I picked mine up after work yesterday:

Orange BLT
Float RP23
F140RLC
Juicy 7s
X.9 Rear
XT Front
X.9 Shifters
XT Hubs laced to Rhynolites
RF Deus Cranks

Damn, this bike is amazing. I knew it was going to be an improvement over my hardtail, but I wasn't ready for it to be so good. I can't wait to go riding again today. Maybe it was my excitement, but I was riding faster down and up hills.

Amazing. I took a big chance on this bike and wasn't able to test ride the BLT before I bought it, but it fits me perfectly.

 

[Sundowners]

I'm curious on what year your enduro is. I have an 05 Expert Enduro and I absolutely love it. It climbs like a Monkey on steroids. I also have a Blur LT but It is a size medium and way too small for me. I got the blur from Ebay and it was posted as a large.... A whole other story. So I really can compare the two. My buddy has the same Enduro as I and he also has a S-works Stumpy with the brain. He has consistently made it up hills on his 34 lb Enduro that he can't on his 26 lb stumpy. He is an awesome rider, being a school teacher he gets to ride every day in the Summer. I'm very jealous.

I'm not trying to prove you wrong or anything, I believe that different bikes work better for different people, and I'm just curious on what Enduro Frame that you had.

B

 

[monolink]

I'm curious on what year your enduro is. I have an 05 Expert Enduro and I absolutely love it. It climbs like a Monkey on steroids. I also have a Blur LT but It is a size medium and way too small for me. I got the blur from Ebay and it was posted as a large.... A whole other story. So I really can compare the two. My buddy has the same Enduro as I and he also has a S-works Stumpy with the brain. He has consistently made it up hills on his 34 lb Enduro that he can't on his 26 lb stumpy. He is an awesome rider, being a school teacher he gets to ride every day in the Summer. I'm very jealous.

I'm not trying to prove you wrong or anything, I believe that different bikes work better for different people, and I'm just curious on what Enduro Frame that you had.

B

What is your height, please ? I am 182 cm (5'11'' and a hair) and I am on BLT Large and all the time I think I could be on Medium.

 

[jimboronimo]

This is probably not very helpful, because I'm 6'4" and so I ride extra large everything.

However, I can climb pretty much any hill going on the BLT (less than 29lbs), and the best thing is, I can go down the other side really fast too...:drumroll:

 

[Sundowners]

What is your height, please ? I am 182 cm (5'11'' and a hair) and I am on BLT Large and all the time I think I could be on Medium.

I'm kinda weird on sizing. I am 6'2" but I can not straighten my left arm due to a motocycle injury. So stretched out, my left arm comes up 2" shorter than my Right. I do have long legs. I can ride a large or X-large. My Enduro is a Large and I think it fits me perfectly. My Spec Tarmac road bike is a XL with a shorter stem. I'm waiting for my XL Epic to come in the mail. I'll have to change to a shorter stem but it should be fine.

I got my Blur off of Ebay and it was the worst ebay experience I've ever had. I was told it was a Large. After putting a 140mm stem on it, it still felt cramped so I started to take some measurements and found out it was a Med frame. I never felt stable on it and with that long stem, Down hills were just plain scary. Not fun at all.

Do you feel too streched out on your large BLT? My Buddy is 5'10" or 5'11 and he rides a Large Stumpy, Enduro, and Tarmac. His first bike was a med Trek Fuel and he thought it felt too small. He went to Large and never looked back.

I know that a lot of bikes I talked about are Specialized and not a BLT but I hope that it helps out some with your sizing question.

B

 

[monolink]

I do not feel stretched, but I have 10 cm stem and straight seatpost, so having 11 cm stem and offset seatpost I think I could have ridden M. But actually, I like L especially going down. My problem is that when I have M size I consider having L and when I buy L the other way round. It is the drawback of being somewhere in the middle between L and M.

 

[Sundowners]

I do not feel stretched, but I have 10 cm stem and straight seatpost, so having 11 cm stem and offset seatpost I think I could have ridden M. But actually, I like L especially going down. My problem is that when I have M size I consider having L and when I buy L the other way round. It is the drawback of being somewhere in the middle between L and M.

I think you made the right choice with the Large. :thumbsup:

 

[jut8]

yeah

I am the guy Sundowners is talking about (and the guy he is jealous of for having the summers off ) ) I am 5' 10.5" and i love the larges that i have been riding. My first bike experience like he said, i had a medium, it did fit ok......but once i rode the large, i just loved it, it was much more comfortable, i felt like i had more room for adjustments if i needed them, it keeps the front end down on the ground better when i climb, and it just kicks butt on the downhills. While the medium was a "tad" more nimble, the large seems to track much better, and i can really rail stuff with alot more confidence than on the medium.

I am also curious what year Enduro frame they guy that started the post had, as you can tell i am sort of a specialized fanatic, lol, and the 05 and newer frames are so different from the 04 and older ones, it would be nice to know which one his is talking about. :thumbsup:

 

[dustinp43]

I love my BLT sooo much!

At my local trail I can make every climb and still do every drop (6 feet max so far). I've heard a lot of other people complaining about the BLT on the santa cruz formum but I think it is amazing and I've never regretting buying mine. I'm onto summer #2 with it riding 3-4 times a week and haven't had any issues at all. And its not like I go easy either, I really push it and so far its taken all the punishment I have dished out!

 

[jimboronimo]

Not the case at all with the BLT. All I have to do to climb a steep hill is scoot up on the nose of the saddle. No more having to wind down the fork at every up hill. Even better is no more forgetting to extend the fork coming back down.

I am riding much faster and clearing stuff that had me walking on the Enduro. And, the BLT descends as well as it climbs. What a great frame.
[/QUOTE]

Just a quick note re the fork. Managed to get a free upgrade to the Fox Float XTT (from the Float RLC) from the bike dealer. I wasn't sure whether I was happy to sacrifice the lockout etc for the extra "trail tune" until I went out with a mate with a "normal" Float. Check the bob that DOESN'T happen with the XTT !!

So nice not to have to adjust anything once you're up and running (apart from the rear shock - love the "Propedal OFF" setting for fast and furious bumps...)

Did 48km trail last night on the BLT - big fun.:thumbsup: