If in doubt, take a Bronson out. That's long been one of Santa Cruz's sayings when looking for a new bike - the Bronson is one of those bikes that sits in the trail bike travel sweet spot, at 150mm rear travel, there aren't a lot of situations where the Bronson doesn't make sense. It's no surprise then that it's one of their best selling bikes, and loved by many.
The beauty of the Bronson is that its travel and geometry numbers make it a super versatile bike, lending it to all sorts of scenarios. Long legged trail bike? Sure. Jibby park bike? Equally valid. That's how we find ourselves here today - Joe and Marvin each built black Bronsons, but coming from different ends of the spectrum, Marvin's bike is all about going big in the bike park and set up pretty stiff. Joe built his as more of a light duty general trail bike. What we can say though is that they both look awesome.
Marv's Big Air Build
Marvin spends a lot of time at the dirt jumps and in the bike park - he likes to get big air and enjoys a playful bike, so the mixed wheel setup suits him well. Marv's build emphasises reliability and simplicity where possible - he bought a C S bike and swapped out most of the parts to suit his riding style, only leaving the drivetrain.
Let's start by looking at his custom 'decals' - Marvin fully RideWrapped the frame to keep it looking fresh, but added his own personal touch, outlining the Santa Cruz logo over the RideWrap with silver sharpie, for that custom look. The sticker on the head tube is from Marv's side-project
STRAY - check it out.Â
For Suspension, Marv went for stiff but supple - so a
Fox 38 Factory up front keeps things tracking true and soaking up the bumps. Out back is a Fox DHX coil shock; super versatile in terms of damping, while reliable and plush, the DHX should be a solid option for riding the bike park.
Drivetrain is a mash-up of SRAM's workhorse GX Eagle drivetrain, which we've found to be a good combination of reliable and affordable. Here Marvin has a GX Eagle crank, chain and cassette, but an XO1 derailleur. XO1 derailleurs tend to be a little stronger and have a longer service life than GX Eagle, so make a lot of sense for a bike focussed on keeping things simple and reliable.
The brakes on Marvin's ride are Hayes Dominions paired with SRAM's HS2 rotors. The Dominions deliver huge power and have a really light lever feel, which a lot of people like. The 2.0mm thick
HS2 rotors manage heat well and give increased power thanks to their additional mass, and have been a popular choice recently.
Keeping things rolling are a set of custom built hoops that Marv laced himself, running
Race Face Vault hubs, with their high engagement and burly build. The rims are
DT Swiss EX511 on the front and FR541 on the rear - they're about the strongest aluminum rims that money can buy, and still fairly affordable, yet somehow Marvin has managed to put a few dents and flat spots in them.
Finally the finishing kit is comprised of a bar and stem from Title MTB components - high quality aluminum components designed in BC, to withstand big freeride moves, by Brett Rheeder. Rounding out the build, the dropper post is an old faithful
OneUp Components V2 dropper.
Joe's All-Around Build
Joe's build is a little less geared toward big air and more as an all-around trail bike build that's still capable of a few park laps here and there, but a little lighter and easier to pedal. It's still burly, and definitely has some niche but sensible component choices.
If we're going to compare and contrast, we could start at the frame. Joe is riding an XL Bronson frame, because he's a lanky boy. Opting for slightly more subtle styling than Marv, he left the decal situation as stock, and skipped the RideWrap, since he usually takes pretty good care of his bikes.
For suspension, Joe has gone a slightly different route;Â opting for a
Rockhox Lyrik Ultimate up front. Once the big fork in the lineup and now one-upped by the Zeb, the Lyrik is still a solid all-mountain performer, with less of a weight penalty, but can still hold its own in the rough stuff. Keeping the rear wheel glued to the ground is a Marzocchi Bomber CR coil shock. super basic with just a single compression and rebound dial, the Bomber CR is essentially a rebranded Fox Van RC shock - one of legendary reliability and tuning potential. What it lacks in external adjustments, it makes up for in the knowledge base and potential for custom damper tunes, with that classic coil plushness.
Let's talk drivetrain - we know SRAM's XX1 drivetrain is reliable and shifts amazingly, but Joe has gone the extra mile, or not, and is sticking with the same 11 speed XX1Â shifter and derailleur he's run on multiple bikes now. Joe says he likes it because it has as much range as he needs, and thanks to the smaller cassette and shorter cage, it has a lot more ground clearance than a 12-speed system, something that's particularly helpful on a mixed wheel setup. Speaking of cassette, Joe is running a Garbaruk 10-46t cassette, because there aren't many brands producing cassettes with such a range, and the transitions are smoother than the steps on a Shimano XT cassette. For cranks he's running
Race Face Turbines, because somehow they managed to hit the cheap, light, strong trifecta.
Next up we've got brakes. Joe is running Hope's Tech4 V4 brakes, because he's Bri'ish of course. Well, that and they're very powerful with excellent modulation and great build quality. The V4 is Hope's big enduro and DH brake, with bigger pistons than the E4 brakes Sam is running on his
Tallboy build. Paired with Hope's floating rotors; with the brake track separated from the rest of the rotor they're designed to manage heat without warping, as well as dissipating heat through the aluminum spider.
For wheels, Joe is running a similar setup to Marvin, with DT Swiss aluminum EX511 front and FR541 rear rims on a DT Swiss 350 rear hub, and an I9 Hydra on the front, custom laced with silver spokes and silver front hub. Rolling on
Continental Kryptotal tires, they're the tire of choice for many of us now since they combine excellent grip, puncture protection, and have a much longer life span than Maxxis tires.
To finish things up, we should probably talk about his colour scheme. Clearly Joe is a man of taste, that's why he's opted for a black/green/silver colour scheme, keeping things low key stylish. For finishing kit he's running a silver
Burgtec stem, spacers, and handlebars, Burgtec Penthouse pedals, and green ODI grips to match his fork and water bottle.Â
