My Latest: Superlight

[fuz]

My Santa Cruz Superlight I purchased last fall. Full x.9 and other goodies. It was my first entry into the full suspension world, and I love it. I still ride my rigid mt. bike, though now it is a fixie, as seen somewhere here http://www.flickr.com/photos/josephssmoseph/

[K-Man]

Cool, how's it ride?

[Hand/of/Midas]

nice build

[S. cerevisiae]

Lookie at 'dem itty-bitty wheels:D

Ride good?

[fuz]

the easiest way to describe the ride is like this:
it was the first bike, with gears and suspension that didn't instantly make me want my rigid singlespeed back. maybe that's a little cliche, but it's the honest truth. I had rode a few other full squishers(a khs, a trek, and an ellsworth) and i never liked the feel. with the superlight, i felt instantly at home. the cockpit is roomy yet race-like enough for my taste. i chose a wide salsa bar with 17* or so of sweep, which i wouldn't trade for anything else (I use a fu2bar on my ss and love it) and that really helped make me feel at home on the bike. the fork has the motion control, and the shock is the rp23, but i find myself not locking the bike out most of the time. even on climbs, i feel like i was better off leaving them open, and taking straighter lines that i would have on my rigid ss. on technical climbs, i would take this bike(which is about 27#) of my ss(which is about 21#) any day of the week.
the nevegals on this bike are my first experience with tubeless, and i have had no issues as of yet. i will likely switch over my other bike some time in the summer.
the greatest part of the superlight would have to be descending. with a rigid singlespeed, i was always holding back and not really enjoying the downhill experience. with this bike i have felt like the joy has come back into the downhills. i haven't had any experience with any bike with more than 4 in of travel, but the superlight feels like it has an inch or so more than the 4 it has. i remember the old sid fork i had on an older ss bike, and that thing went through it's travel on mild downhills. the reba is a whole new world compared to that old fork.
to wrap it all up, i'd say this was the best bike for the buck, and i wouldn't give it up. (i also wouldn't give up my ss for the shorter, local trails, but that's another story)
joseph

[K-Man]

Fuz,

Thanks for the ride report. Well done!

[phlatlander]

Nice SC, fuz. I'm resurrecting my 99 Superlight soon and will throw a thread/pics up in here w/all my other projects if I ever get around to them. The rigid SS harpies are stealing my soul, so I want to ward them off with plenty of spring & shiftyness. ;)

Enjoy that thing.

[fuz]

phlatlander,
it seems around here, any one who's owned a superlight, still does. i still see a few of the older ones around the wors circuit as well on the local trails.
i look forward to the pics

[ItsAaronWV]

Nice looking rig! I like the white finish. Something about white bikes! After my paint starts to look shoddy, maybe I'll have my frame powdercoated...but then there's the weight thing. Hah.

[Rock Star]

Awesome bike! When I finally get a full suspension, the SuperLight will be at the top of my list of bikes to check out. All the mags have raved about and so have owners who reviewed them online.

[longhaultruker2]

love that bike,fuz!thanks for the ride report,it wuz well written...er...typed:)