Long story short, fell in love with downhill mountain biking early 2024. First bought a trek marlin 5, then bought this used Santa Cruz Bronson C with an upgraded fork. I was early in it and I think it was a negligent buy. The dropped and rear shock have never been serviced and are in dyer need. All in I paid $2,400 for the used Santa Cruz, and a refresh to get me through the summer. It does well at my local bike park (Highland Mountain Bike Park). I’ve rented some bikes there just to see if there’s a difference in the geometry and I loved how the Rocky Mountains felt, although I chose a large and felt it wasn’t quite what I wanted. I like the feel of my medium Santa Cruz. That being said it needs a full rebuild and I’m not sure I should dump more money into a bike this old. Came across this sale today at my local bike shop for a 2025 GT Fury. They have medium and large ready to go for just under $2500. Should I pull the trigger? I think I could sell the Bronson to recoup some money but I guess my fear is, well I’m not sure. I’m on the fence with GT going out of business but curious what people would do in my position. Should I keep the Santa Cruz for a year and work up my skills? Or switch to the GT, sell the Santa Cruz and hopefully have a bike I know is functioning properly. I do feel like the Santa Cruz and the work it needs on the rear shock is hindering myself in learning and getting better. I was simply waiting for this week to bring it in for a winter rebuilt until I saw the GT sale.
by tuckerd67
7 Comments
Try out a DW Link bike – IBIS or Pivot. I owned three Santa Cruz bikes but once I tried a pivot I have never gone back, never will.
Why not just get an enduro like a Nomad? You’ll only be able to use the DH bike at the bike park and no where else
I think you should keep the Bronson if you like how it fits. A 40lb downhill bike is a very niche type of bike and probably way more bike than you need. Bronsons are great bikes and built to last a long time with maintenance. If it had a clapped-out frame and needed a bunch of work then maybe it would make sense to replace, but I think it is absolutely worth doing shock and dropper maintenance on the Bronson. Depending on how much work and parts the shock and dropper need, it might be cheaper to just buy a new shock and dropper. Years ago I wouldn’t have said that, but you can find shocks and droppers for super cheap right now.
Frame choice aside.
Contis.
Always Contis.
Normally I’d advise against putting money into older bikes, but that’s a pretty nice spec Santa Cruz Bronson, it’s a really nice bike that deserves to be kept going. It’s more of a big trail bike though, not really a downhill/enduro bike, so maybe you do want to pass it on to another owner and get something more to your needs.
I’ve ridden a lot of Bronsons, I ride a 2024 model, and they are among my favourite bikes, that older (2016?) bike should be a real machine in full working order, but a downhill bike or anything close it is not.
I wouldnt grab the discounted GTs as they go out of business. Tempting as it may be.
That Santa Cruz is sick. I would honestly go for the rebuild considering it won’t sell for anything right now (seriously, used bikes cant sell when new bikes are 50% off)
If you wanted a cheap bike I would stick with the standard YT Jeffsy/Capra for the prices they’re at right now. Or a Marin/Giant if you want to buy from a bike shop. (Norco also has some sick sales.)
Spend the money on a shock rebuild and new bearings for the SC, that’ll have it good for the next few seasons. If you buy the DH bike, it’ll need servicing eventually too, and if you sell the SC, then you don’t have a bike you can ride at non lift access.