Deep Loam #4 - The Bronson

One Bike. Ride Anything.

Ride up, rip down, smash some turns and head out for an all-day mile muncher. The Bronson will quite literally, do everything you want it to do unless of course you’d prefer to put on some lycra and head out on a b-road for 100 miles!

Having said that, due to the current global situation, I have been testing my own Bronson out as a “road bike” for the past few weeks and it’s performed pretty well! Albeit with a tyre change from my usual Maxxis Shorty upfront. A cut spike mud tyre is kind of draggy on the flat tarmac roads around my house!

The 5010’s bigger brother (and the 5010 for that matter) has been around since the beginning of Santa Cruz’ jump into the 650b (27.5”) wheel size and have been evolving ever since. I can remember when the Bronson & 5010 were launched, and a barrage of haters emerged with comments like “it’ll never catch on.” “What’s the point?” “26 can’t be beaten.” “27.5 is a stupid idea!”. How wrong they were.

We’re now on the 3rd generation of Bronson and still rocking the 150mm “mid-travel do it all” trail machine, but it’s now followed suit with the Nomad (and others in the Santa Cruz range) to the amazing lower link driven rear shock, developed on the V10.

The Bronson was already a super capable machine, with enough travel to get you out of the s%*t and not too much that it felt like “too much bike” on most rides, but Santa Cruz’ latest lower link design adds more feeling and better results to the back end. Smaller bump suppleness, plusher all-round travel and endless amounts of it.

It feels like a short travel downhill rig that you can let off the brakes through rock gardens & rougher trails and let it dance around underneath you at full speed, digging in to the grippy sections and carrying you down the trail with a huge grin on your face.

And then, with less travel than the Nomad, climbing back up or riding along flatter Singletrack sections, it feels responsive, agile and fun. Sure, the shorter travel models like the 5010 or the Tallboy climb better and feel more snappy than the Bronson on a flatter, more “XC” type trails, but it’s the perfect balance of being able to rip down a gnarly section of secret off-piste and the agility back up and along that makes the Bronson a true all round mountain bike.

The closest thing to that “one bike to do it all” title!

This can also be said about the Hightower, the Bronson’s bigger wheeled brother.

If you prefer the speed and feel of a 29” wheel, then everything I’ve just explained about the Bronson above can be said for the Hightower and you should check that out too. I personally prefer the feel and the way smaller, 27.5”, wheels ride and it’s all about which bike suits your riding and how it makes you feel when out on the trail.

150mm rear travel, 160mm fork, 650b wheel size and adjustable geo of the Bronson is the perfect combination of numbers & stats for 99% of my riding in here in the UK. Everything from local loops (road riding now included), trail centres, natural epics in Scotland/Wales/The Lakes etc, even to uplift days at places like Bike Park Wales are all perfect locations on the Bronson.

The other 1% of my riding is attempting to ride my Jackal at skate parks or dirt jumps, usually ending in hospital visits.

 Geo & Adjustability

The Bronson’s 650b chassis can be altered into 2 different modes (Hi/Lo) depending on what you’re riding or how you want the bike to feel which adds to it’s appeal as a the true all rounder. Switching it is easy and is taken care of via a chip in the rear shock mount.

Hi setting is a good choice for the majority of rides like trail centres and all day epics with a 65.4 degree head angle, 75.3 degree seat angle and 10mm BB drop. This feels like a bike you can pedal all day long, on any trail and drop into any descent with confidence to go flat out.

Lo setting slackens the head angle to 65.1, seat angle to 75 , drops the BB to 14mm and reduces the reach and standover. This combination of angles creates a much more aggro bike that will handle more gnarly riding like uplift days and off-piste steeps.

The flip chip will also adjust the geometry of the Bronson if you decide to run it with the 650+ wheel setup. Turning it into low when running a wheel/tyre combo of up to 2.8” will achieve the same BB height when running standard 2.5” tyres in the Hi setting.

 Alloy, C & CC Options

As with most Santa Cruz models, the Bronson is available in all three frame materials; Alloy, Carbon C and Carbon CC.

 You pick it, we'll build it.

There are many different options and build kits available in all 3 frame options depending budget, preference and style. All of the above come with the amazing lifetime warranty on both the frame and bearings. This is not something all other brands offer and Santa Cruz lead the way in after sales care to their customers which is awesome.