ENDURO/AM BIKE - women's reviews of Santa Cruz Bronson / Juliana Furtado Primiero?

[Su_B]

I'm looking for a "big" bike to ride some rougher/steeper trails and maybe try my first enduro (once they start becoming more common in Oz). I'm struggling to find reviews by women of the Bronson: http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en/bronson-carbon (if you haven't seen it, it's a super sweet rig!!!) :love:

I'm wondering how it compares with Santa Cruz's womens bike - Juliana Furtado Primiero http://www.julianabicycles.com/). They're both around 12.5 kg so I've got no issues with weight. I'm aware the Bronson has 150mm travel while Juliana has 125mm, and Juliana's front forks are 130mm vs Bronson's 150mm. I can't get over how much the Bronson offers in a lightweight package! It's essentially a big bike that can climb hills. Ridiculous.

If you're a chick who's been lucky enough to ride any of these (or anything similar, like a Yeti SB66), please post a review!

 

[safire]

Hi Su,

I have to say I'm a bit underwhelmed with the Juliana range. This range is very XC - trail focused and doesn't look to be as well specced as the equivalent "mens" versions and they are not exactly cheap! Most girls who ride bigger bikes for AM stuff are on bikes such as Yeti SB66, Rocky Mountain Altitude, Trek Remedy or Slash, Spesh Enduros, Commencal Meta, Giant Reign etc. I'd take a bronson over the juliana primiero in a second. Its just better suited to AM riding than the primiero. I ride a carbon enduro and use it as a do-everything kind of bike now and its great - its about 13kg and thats light enough to ride up hills and all day. I'm happy to take a bit of a weight/efficiency penalty on the ups for the extra fun I get on the downs and like to do reasonable sized jumps and drops too. Previously I had a specialized safire that was comparable to the juliana primiero and it was a bit underdone for the riding I wanted to do and I was riding it at its limit a bit too often and slowly killing it. My riding has definitely stepped up since I have been on the enduro.

I really don't see a lot in the description of the juliana bikes that convince me that they have done much to make them women-specific apart from crank length and grip size. Most decent 'mens' bikes vary these components with the size of the frame also and its easy to swap to a womens seat. Other manufacturers womens ranges have things like slightly lighter tubing/framesets, lighter suspension tunes and geometry that is optimised for women (usually shorter top tube). Not saying that the juliana bikes don't have this also, just not included in their site and the info available is a bit limited and a bit dumbed down.

If you want to step up your riding and get onto more difficult and steep trails then go for a bike that is meant for it, even if you don't have the skills to make the most of it yet. A lot of bike stores will try and sell you something with less travel / lower spec. Don't listen to them, get what you want and you will develop the skills to make the most of the bike over time. Any of the big manufacturers AM offerings will be great. Just need to choose the one that best fits you, your preference and budget.

Hope that helps

 

[Su_B]

Hi Su,

I have to say I'm a bit underwhelmed with the Juliana range. This range is very XC - trail focused and doesn't look to be as well specced as the equivalent "mens" versions and they are not exactly cheap! Most girls who ride bigger bikes for AM stuff are on bikes such as Yeti SB66, Rocky Mountain Altitude, Trek Remedy or Slash, Spesh Enduros, Commencal Meta, Giant Reign etc. I'd take a bronson over the juliana primiero in a second. Its just better suited to AM riding than the primiero. I ride a carbon enduro and use it as a do-everything kind of bike now and its great - its about 13kg and thats light enough to ride up hills and all day. I'm happy to take a bit of a weight/efficiency penalty on the ups for the extra fun I get on the downs and like to do reasonable sized jumps and drops too. Previously I had a specialized safire that was comparable to the juliana primiero and it was a bit underdone for the riding I wanted to do and I was riding it at its limit a bit too often and slowly killing it. My riding has definitely stepped up since I have been on the enduro.

I really don't see a lot in the description of the juliana bikes that convince me that they have done much to make them women-specific apart from crank length and grip size. Most decent 'mens' bikes vary these components with the size of the frame also and its easy to swap to a womens seat. Other manufacturers womens ranges have things like slightly lighter tubing/framesets, lighter suspension tunes and geometry that is optimised for women (usually shorter top tube). Not saying that the juliana bikes don't have this also, just not included in their site and the info available is a bit limited and a bit dumbed down.

If you want to step up your riding and get onto more difficult and steep trails then go for a bike that is meant for it, even if you don't have the skills to make the most of it yet. A lot of bike stores will try and sell you something with less travel / lower spec. Don't listen to them, get what you want and you will develop the skills to make the most of the bike over time. Any of the big manufacturers AM offerings will be great. Just need to choose the one that best fits you, your preference and budget.

Hope that helps

Thanks heaps safire. I like what you're saying. I think the Bronson looks better anyhow as a bike and on paper. I was curious whether I was missing something about Julianas.

I'm really hoping to get a "big bike" to push harder/bigger before I get too old, uncoordinated and wussy. I like the idea of the enduro bike becoming the "everything" bike. It sounds fun!

 

[foxpuppet]

Safire did you ever try a stumpy evo? Ever wish for an evo Safire? My wife is about to pick up a 2012 Safire comp but isn't really up to the phase of racing AM events yet? I've wondered if fitting a 140mm fork to a Safire might be worth a shot down the track if she decides to give it a go. She demo'd the bike earlier in the year and loved it to bits.... Now post baby she wants back into the off-road arena.

 

[safire]

Safire did you ever try a stumpy evo? Ever wish for an evo Safire? My wife is about to pick up a 2012 Safire comp but isn't really up to the phase of racing AM events yet? I've wondered if fitting a 140mm fork to a Safire might be worth a shot down the track if she decides to give it a go. She demo'd the bike earlier in the year and loved it to bits.... Now post baby she wants back into the off-road arena.

I didn't get the chance to try a stumpy evo as there weren't any in the country at the time. It was on my list though and would have like to give it a go. I got a great deal on the enduro as it was old stock that was being dumped and grabbed it without looking too much at other bikes as I wouldn't have gotten as much for my $$ elsewhere. I did have a 140mm fork on my safire but found it was hard to get the most out of it seeing the bike had a 120mm rear end. To get the suspension feeling balanced I always seemed to have the fork a little firmer than I wanted and the shock a little softer. I was basically bottoming out the rear a little too frequently and not using full travel on the front. Don't get me wrong, the safire was great I just wanted a little more travel and slacker geometry for the riding I wanted to do. A safire evo with the same travel and head angle as the stumpy evo would have been great. I would have bought one of those for sure.

 

[mint355]

I'm looking for a "big" bike to ride some rougher/steeper trails and maybe try my first enduro (once they start becoming more common in Oz). I'm struggling to find reviews by women of the Bronson: http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en/bronson-carbon (if you haven't seen it, it's a super sweet rig!!!) :love:

I'm wondering how it compares with Santa Cruz's womens bike - Juliana Furtado Primiero http://www.julianabicycles.com/). They're both around 12.5 kg so I've got no issues with weight. I'm aware the Bronson has 150mm travel while Juliana has 125mm, and Juliana's front forks are 130mm vs Bronson's 150mm. I can't get over how much the Bronson offers in a lightweight package! It's essentially a big bike that can climb hills. Ridiculous.

If you're a chick who's been lucky enough to ride any of these (or anything similar, like a Yeti SB66), please post a review!

Thats because the Juliana your taking about is more like a Santa Cruz Solo(5010). they don't sell a SC Bronson equivalent Juliana. i believe Anka Martins, Juliana Furtado has custom parts from a bronson to get 150mm travel check it out.

http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/feat...-150mm-travel-Juliana-Furtado,64866/sspomer,2

my wife rides a Santa Cruz Blur TRc and she loves that thing, She does like riding my Bronsonc though… i hope this helps abit Cheers

 

[Su_B]

Thats because the Juliana your taking about is more like a Santa Cruz Solo(5010). they don't sell a SC Bronson equivalent Juliana. i believe Anka Martins, Juliana Furtado has custom parts from a bronson to get 150mm travel check it out.

http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/feat...-150mm-travel-Juliana-Furtado,64866/sspomer,2

my wife rides a Santa Cruz Blur TRc and she loves that thing, She does like riding my Bronsonc though… i hope this helps abit Cheers

Thanks for this info. I was wondering how the enduro women ride Julianas if they're generally marketed as XC bikes.

I demo-ed a Yeti SB-66 yesterday and realise how different (and awesome) AM bikes are compared with XC bikes. I think I'm going to have to get one. The Switch platform is incredible. The bike was stiffer pedalling up hills than my dual suspension Trek Fuel EX9 (2008). The big difference was descending. It was ridiculously fun and "BIG" flying down rocky sections and off drops I would usually pick my way around.

If only Santa Cruz could spare a Bronson for a demo. I'm told SC are so busy pumping them out to meet orders they don't have enough for demos. Yeti has won my vote with Rosara Joseph (who kicks butt on the SB-66C) and 26" wheels.

 

[mittagongben]

Have you had a look at the Banshee spitfire or rune, I'll have some on display at the Thredbo Cannonball event next month. They can be run as 26 or 650b.