AM Santa Cruz 5010 Carbon

shanno89

Likes Dirt
After buying myself a Giant Talon a couple of years ago for the purpose of riding down to the shops and just for general fitness, I soon discovered the abundance of XC and a couple of more steeper tracks through the shrub around the town. While the Talon served me well, I soon felt I wanted something more substantial.

Enter my new love …..

(RED = upgraded parts)

Frame – Santa Cruz 5010 C (small)
Rear shock - Fox Float CTD Evolution
Fork - Rockshox Sektor Gold RL 130mm
Handlebars - Easton Haven Carbon Low Riser 711mm
Stem - Raceface Ride
Headset - Cane Creek 40 series
Grips - ESI Chunky Green Grips
Saddle - Specialized Phenom Expert
Seatpost – Rockshox Reverb Stealth
Brakes - Shimano XTR M988 Trail w/- XT Icetech rotors and Goodridge braided hoses
Cranks - Sram S1000 1x10 w/- Raceface 32t NW
Chain - Shimano SLX HG75
Pedals – Nukeproof Electron
Rear derailleur - Shimano XT M786 GS Shadow Plus w/- OneUp Components RADCage
Shifter - Shimano SLX M670
Cassette - Shimano XT M771 10sp 11-36 w/- OneUp Components 42t + 16t sprockets
Front hub - Hope Pro2 Evo 15x100
Rear hub - Hope Pro2 Evo 142 x 12
Rims - Stan's NoTubes ZTR ArchEX
Tyres - Maxxis High Roller II - 27.5x2.3, TR EXO
Total weight – 12.87kg with pedals


Currently:
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The Beginning:

I'm heading to NZ in Feb/March to ride Rotorua, Queenstown and partake in the Motatapu XC race. Not looking at winning but doing it to take in the awesome scenery. Anyway enough of the writing, here are the pictures!
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moorey

call me Mia
Looks very nice, cobs. Love the Solo's. Interesting that you went carbon frame and lower spec. Obviously a budgetary choice, planning to upgrade the spec over time? The Sektors may be the one thing that hold you back...but maybe not.

They are a lot like a refined nickel with carbon option, simpler linkage and bigger wheels. The bloke who bought mine turned it into a tweener.

image.jpg
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Refined nickel? Guess that is one way of looking at it! Ride very differently though. HA a bit steep for me which is why I went Bronsoning.
 

moorey

call me Mia
Refined nickel? Guess that is one way of looking at it! Ride very differently though. HA a bit steep for me which is why I went Bronsoning.
Linkage driven single pivot (one less Component to linkage on Solo?, haven't looked closely), similar angles, same travel. Not saying same, but when both 27.5, they aren't worlds apart. It's not like it's a bad thing, loved my nickel.
 

shanno89

Likes Dirt
Thanks fellas.

moorey
Looks very nice, cobs. Love the Solo's. Interesting that you went carbon frame and lower spec. Obviously a budgetary choice, planning to upgrade the spec over time? The Sektors may be the one thing that hold you back...but maybe not.

They are a lot like a refined nickel with carbon option, simpler linkage and bigger wheels. The bloke who bought mine turned it into a tweener.
I went the Carbon frame because I wanted the extra stiffness that you supposably gain over an alloy frame, however I couldnt justify the extra $1300 for a small weight saving. In saying that, you do get the Pike fork and the 1x10 setup, but I'm not quite fit enough for that yet.

Some of the upgrades I'm looking at doing down the track are: CC DBInline shock and maybe Pike fork but the Sektors seem pretty good for now.

The Bronson has the same Virtual Pivot point of the Solo but with more travel (150mm vs 125mm) and has a slacker head angle (67 vs 69 of the Solo). Bascially its a more beefier bike.
 

shanno89

Likes Dirt
I swapped over my saddle today to a Specialized Phenom Expert as the orginal WTB saddle was way too narrow and uncomfortable.
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While I was at it, I also swapped my grips from the Santa Cruz Palmdale lockons to the ESI Chunky grips. I had these on my previous and loved them. Very comfy and light (60gms). Went with green to match the labelling.
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From this, you can probably see that I need to trim my dropper post cable a bit :whistle:
 

shanno89

Likes Dirt
To all who may be interested,
I am currently in Rotorua. This place is epic!!
Will post pictures next week ;)
That is all.
 

shanno89

Likes Dirt
It's been a while between posts but I can say that its been a busy couple of months.

It all started off when I went to NZ for 2 weeks in the middle of February. I spent 5 days riding the Whakarewarewa Forest in Rotorua with a mate, which I can say is bloody awesome!! I highly recommend it to anyone if they get the chance.
Some of my favourite trails include Tokorangi - amazing views from one of the highest points in the park and a great combination of clear forest trail, switchbacks and then it finishes inside the forest = soo much fun! I also met Hannah Barnes (Pro XC/Enduro rider) up there during one of her photo shoots. Another crazy fun trail was Mad If You Don't - this was was really tight and technical with some pretty cool jumps though it.

Start of Tokorangi
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Entrance to the MTB Park
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After the 5 days in Rotorua, it was time to pack up and fly down to Queenstown in preparation for Motatapu 2015. We arrived a few days before the race to have a look around town but didn't do any of the big trails down Ben Lomond/Skyline (that's for next time!). We only did a couple of easy rides around the lake - stunning views everywhere!

Along came the big day - it was race day! However the MTB gods weren't real happy as it turned out, with it raining all night and day and the chilly temp of 7C. The usually dry and dusty farm tracks were boggy and super sticky with all the creek crossings now much higher. It was going to be a long day!
Not long after the race started, my mate had mechanical issues. Mud had gotten into his chain and had seized a few of the links together therefore it kept jumping out of gear all the time, so we had to stop and fix it.
By this time we were now at the back of the pack. Since everyone else had gone through, the track was now boggy as and super steep in areas, which meant a lot of pushing!! I think the legs were more sore from pushing the bike up the hills rather than the actual riding.

Profile of the Motatapu track
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We finally made it to the finish line where we were rewarded with an ice cold beer, which made it all worthwhile!

The Aftermarth
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shanno89

Likes Dirt
Bike Update

Bike Update
Decided to change to a 1x10 setup.
I removed the 2 front chainrings and replaced with a Raceface 32t Narrow/Wide ring. I changed the cassette over to an XT one as well as adding a OneUp Components 42t sprocket and the additional 16t cog to reduce the jump when switching between gears. I also added the RAD cage from OneUp to help improve the shifting performance now that I have such a large sprocket. I feel that with the addition of the 42t, it makes up for that fact there is now only 1 ring on the front.

Goodies from OneUp Components
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42t and RAD cage installed
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1x10 setup with Raceface 32t NW ring
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How it stands now
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