Our kind of camo
SANTA CRUZ BRONSON
Price: £8,599.00
From:
santacruzbikes.co.uk
Tested
by: Benji
As one of the most high-profile and desired mountain bike brands of the modern era, Santa Cruz doesn’t need an introduction does it? Nor does the Santa Cruz Bronson. Well, maybe the Bronson does need a (re)introduction. The latest Bronson is a massively different beast to the Bronson Mk1 from way back when.
Sure, it’s still a 150mm travel trail bike but these days it’s rocking a mullet ’do. Not only that, it’s grown a couple of inches (at least) in the reach department and the head angle is pretty much a whole three degrees(!) slacker. To paraphrase the majestic Three Degrees themselves, ‘when will I see a 27.5in wheel trail bike again?’. Not quite as catchy a question as their 1974 tune admittedly. If even the classic 27.5in Bronson is no more, it pretty much sounds (confirms) the death knell for pure 27.5in wheel bikes as regular trail bikes.
The Bike
Despite a whole bunch of frame degrees and wheel millimetres changing, the Bronson persists. It persists as a mountain bike that’s described as a do-it-all machine. It used to be the safe bet a few years ago. If you wanted a Santa Cruz, get a Bronson, it’ll be ’right. These days I reckon a whole swathe of folk have hopped on to the big wheel wagon and are zipping around on either a Santa Cruz Tallboy or else are enjoying the stable velocity of the Hightower range.