Santa Cruz Blurs + 5th Element Air

Just emailed SC with some questions, mainly when they should be availible with the 5th element
shocks, and how much it would be to upgrade. Got an answer within 30 minutes, sweet.

Apparently the blurs have gone wild again. ETA, if ordered now? JUNE! Holy smokes. Looks like I
might order now just to get my foot in the door. Hell, if I find a bike I like better, the bike shop
will have NO problem finding somebody to buy (and if the backlog is that long, I bet I could sell it
on ebay at a profit! HA!)

Jon Bond

 

Jonathan Bond <[email protected]> wrote:

>Just emailed SC with some questions, mainly when they should be availible with the 5th element
>shocks, and how much it would be to upgrade. Got an answer within 30 minutes, sweet.

What did they say? I read something in one of the bike rags that the 5th element wouldn't work well
with the Blur VPP design. True or false? --dt

 

Doug Taylor wrote:
> Jonathan Bond <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>Just emailed SC with some questions, mainly when they should be availible with the 5th element
>>shocks, and how much it would be to upgrade. Got an answer within 30 minutes, sweet.
>
>
> What did they say? I read something in one of the bike rags that the 5th element wouldn't work
> well with the Blur VPP design. True or false? --dt

They didn't say anything about performance, but they did say it would be availible with them. He
said I could order one now, with the 5th element upgrade (110 bux), and it would ship as soon as
they got the shocks in.

I might just keep it with the fox AVA, it rode pretty nice with that. I'm getting a chance to ride a
medium one as soon as the trails are open. Its a bit small, but it will let me feel the suspension
action, since I know the large frame fits me already. That plus my ride on a rm element SC will
probably be the deciding factor. I am thinking of ordering one now tho, and if worst comes to worst,
like I said above, just sell it off. Make a few hundred bucks while I'm at it

Jon Bond

 

"Jonathan Bond" <[email protected]> wrote in message >
> They didn't say anything about performance, but they did say it would be availible with them. He
> said I could order one now, with the 5th element upgrade (110 bux), and it would ship as soon as
> they got the shocks in.
>
> I might just keep it with the fox AVA, it rode pretty nice with that. I'm getting a chance to ride
> a medium one as soon as the trails are open. Its a bit small, but it will let me feel the
> suspension action, since I know the large frame fits me already. That plus my ride on a rm element
> SC will probably be the deciding factor. I am thinking of ordering one now tho, and if worst comes
> to worst, like I said above, just sell it off. Make a few hundred bucks while I'm at it

Found the article I was referring to, in Ask the Geek section of April issue of now sold out and
defunct Mountain Bike. FWIW:

"...the Progressive shock typically requires more sag than a conventional shock. And, unless a bike
is specifically designed around the greater amount of sag, you'll screw up the geometry a bit from
the stock set up, relaxing the the head and set angles and lowering the bottom bracket. I haven't
been pleased with the handling on bikes I've retrofitted with the Progressive shock, even though the
performance of the shock itself is quite good. And the kids at Progressive are reluctant to send
stiffer springs to allow for less sag."

Maybe clarify this with Santa Cruz before ordering; perhaps they now supply a stiffer spring.

I'm thinking of an eventual upgrade to Progressive on my Superlight, as I've heard they work well on
single pivot designs. I doubt I'd be able to detect the geometry change, if any, given that I'm not
exactly a Princess and the Pea type rider.

 

Doug Taylor wrote:
> "Jonathan Bond" <[email protected]> wrote in message >
>
>>They didn't say anything about performance, but they did say it would be availible with them. He
>>said I could order one now, with the 5th element upgrade (110 bux), and it would ship as soon as
>>they got the shocks in.
>>
>>I might just keep it with the fox AVA, it rode pretty nice with that. I'm getting a chance to ride
>>a medium one as soon as the trails are open. Its a bit small, but it will let me feel the
>>suspension action, since I know the large frame fits me already. That plus my ride on a rm element
>>SC will probably be the deciding factor. I am thinking of ordering one now tho, and if worst comes
>>to worst, like I said above, just sell it off. Make a few hundred bucks while I'm at it
>
>
> Found the article I was referring to, in Ask the Geek section of April issue of now sold out and
> defunct Mountain Bike. FWIW:
>
> "...the Progressive shock typically requires more sag than a conventional shock. And, unless a
> bike is specifically designed around the greater amount of sag, you'll screw up the geometry a bit
> from the stock set up, relaxing the the head and set angles and lowering the bottom bracket. I
> haven't been pleased with the handling on bikes I've retrofitted with the Progressive shock, even
> though the performance of the shock itself is quite good. And the kids at Progressive are
> reluctant to send stiffer springs to allow for less sag."
>
> Maybe clarify this with Santa Cruz before ordering; perhaps they now supply a stiffer spring.
>
> I'm thinking of an eventual upgrade to Progressive on my Superlight, as I've heard they work well
> on single pivot designs. I doubt I'd be able to detect the geometry change, if any, given that I'm
> not exactly a Princess and the Pea type rider.

The fifth element *air* shocks are the XC shocks, so the stiffer spring would be..... more air

Jon Bond

 

Jonathan Bond <[email protected]> wrote:

>The fifth element *air* shocks are the XC shocks, so the stiffer spring would be..... more air

Doh! Well, solves THAT problem, eh? --dt