Mt. Bike question

[dvs cycles]

Saw this today and liked what I saw.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=/tech/2009/news/01-21
The last mt. bike I had was 20 years ago before suspension of any kind.
Have heard the Santa Cruz name a lot but don't know anything about them.
Quality? Made where? Piece of crap? What do you have to share? :beer:

[gdw]

It's most likely a very good race bike made overseas. Blurs are popular and perform very well. The suspension design is very efficient and Santa Cruz seems to have tweaked it slightly to improve performance. The problems with earlier models, short bearing life and squeaking, seem to have been addressed with the angular contact bearings and grease ports. Santa Cruz offers a lifetime free replacement policy on the bearing as well. The list price on the new carbon frame is very competitive.

[Mikej]

Roskopp and Meekster run it...

[DonH]

I rode a 1st generation Blur a few years ago. I LOVED the way the VPP rear suspension soaked up the bumps, but can't comment either way on quality or
durability. The bb seemed a bit low. My pedals were hitting a lot of roots and rocks that Im used going over on other bikes.
The new carbon model looks nice. They also changed the geometry slightly over the current XC version.

[avalonracing]

I recently spent some time on my friend's Trek Top Fuel (their $5K+ top of the line full suspension XC bike) It was light, handled well and was quite plush. It makes you want to hit stuff because you can't believe how little you feel it. I also believe that it can make you faster by being less fatiguing. But I also didn't feel quite myself on it. Part of MTBing for me is picking the right line and feeling the trail. That said I bought a new hard tail MTB this week.

[xjoex]

I have a turner flux I built up in November and really like it.

The stumpjumpers look good too.
-Joe

[uno-speedo]

I had a rental bike when I visited Colorado and I opted for the Blur. Great riding bike!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/2708594047_d6e6c6afb9_o.jpg