Two bikes that can’t really be compared. So… we shouldn’t compare them then.

The Specialized Demo 7 and Santa Cruz Blur LT seem quite different, and they are, but they actually exist together at opposing extremes of a market that has changed again and again and has been sold under many names.

This’ll be the first of a Martin’s website series on “Trail Bikes”: dual suspension mountain bikes that’re versatile enough to escape “XC” or “DH” classification. These bikes have recently benefited from incredible developments technologically and somehow, are still confused in a labyrinth of marketing jargon. In this series we’ll discuss what we’ve been throwing a leg over and seek out the best bikes for a variety of trail-riding applications. Though we’ve already been distracted by what’s new for the ‘08 season, we’re gonna start off this series with what has already defined what trail bikes are for us at Martin’s Swiss Cycle.

Over the last several years, the off-road cats at Martin’s Swiss Cycle have been riding a short variety of Specialized and Santa Cruz brand trail bikes, with FSR or VPP patented pivot systems, Rock Shox and Fox suspension components, and a majority of what has shined from within the growing SRAM catalog in Chicago.

This story features two bikes that bookend the entire series. One isn’t an XC bike and the other isn’t a DH bike. We can make this simple: they both shine as the finest in their respective market-category.

The Demo 7 offers non-DH-racers the opportunity to pedal a wickedly able gravity-machine without the life-commitment of financing a real DH racing bike. Now, such claims’ve been boasted many a time by greasy-haired-salesmen who preach the virtues of “Free-Riding”. The difference with the Demo 7 is that you won’t be left riding downhill on a “bike” that’s twelve pounds over-weight and has the handling characteristics of a beer-and-cigarette-ash-soaked frat-house chesterfield.

There are several features that make the Demo 7 step-up against other big trail bikes. Namely, instead of being built up from a shorter travel chassis, the Demo 7 is built down from a proven DH platform. Because the foundation of it’s design is only middle-heavy and features top-drawer pedaling prowess, this horse is just versatile enough for “trail bike” status. Agility is also a word that comes to one’s lips when discussing the Demo 7. Let it be clear though; we’re discussing this bike keeping in mind that it is a big-travel-bike with DH as a priority, of course.

The Demo 8 and Demo 7 bikes have worked wonders for the Specialized DH “program” thanks largely to a double-seat-stay that brings increased lateral stiffness to the rear end of the frame. The second seat-stay comes with more pork, but pedaling efficiency brought by the bike’s Horst-Link-FSR pivot system counters the extra weight rather nicely. The weight of the frame (shock position) is also centered closer to the ground compared to Specialized’s older DH models. These Demos handle really well right outta the box!

Now here’s a theme that’s gonna come back a few times in our trail bike series: new suspension platforms by leading suspension component companies. Another trail-bike defining feature of the Demo 7 is it’s Rock Shox Totem fork (Marzocchi for ‘08). Stiffer, single-crown long-travel forks have allowed leading frame builders to boast big trail bikes that do more than just gravity-descending. Trading in your DH bike for a Demo 7 does little to harm your descents, but largely increases your ability to pedal through tight and technical sections: i.e. ascending log ride, to sharp turn around elevated tree platform, to carved-out tree-stump descent! The Demo 7’s wheel base is only 20mm shorter than the Demo 8’s, but the extra maneuverability of a single-crown fork can go a long way.

Setting up our Demo 7:

Some mild cheating occurred while setting up our Demo 7. Thanks to our good friends at Specialized Canada, we got our hands on an early sample of the bike (in the test-bike-colour) that was assembly-line-status. In other words: the frame wasn’t made of cardboard or plastic… We immediately made some slight adjustments to shed just a little weight. The stock Totem was swapped out for a Totem 2Step-Air.

We also tossed the stock chain and cassette in exchange for 9-speed Dura-Ace. Ya, that’s right. …Oh, uhm, and Thomson’s 1.5″ Elite stem and Elite seat post went on there. And the tires, ya, they came off too; we swapped them for kevlar Kenda Nevegals. (DH tires are recommended though…) The complete bike with pedals came down to 38 lbs from 42 lbs stock (Demo 7 I stock weight). The stock bike sold for 3500 cad in 2007.

On to the Blur LT:

Right-o. Through the course of this series, we’ll hopefully lay out some of the defining features of what makes a “trail bike”. We can certainly say that both XC-racing bikes and DH-racing bikes share opposing limitations versatility-wise due to weight and geometry. We can then hypothesize that the “trail bike” should be able to break boundaries on both sides of the spectrum, while keeping limitations to a minimum. When riding trails, especially unknown trails, one would hope that their horse could handle unexpected variations in terrain. For us mortals, the human body can be a very limiting tool; we wouldn’t want our bike to be the worse of two evils, right?

The Santa Cruz Blur LT is a bike that breaks rules. At a lay-person’s glance, it doesn’t seem much different from a Blur XC, but it very much is. It’s defining features include: a pleasantly steep head angle that eats up the descents without impeding the climb back up, a beefed up tube set that puts the meet only where it’s needed, and a brilliant pivot system that seems more generous with travel than it’s specification, has lateral stiffness aplenty and fantastic pedaling efficiency. Ladies and gentlemen: the infamous and very real VPP pivot system!

The Blur LT climbs as well as some of the better XC bikes on the market; thanks largely to the pedaling efficiency brought by it’s VPP system. In the descents it does arguably as well as the Demo 7; with excellent handling characteristics courtesy of it’s descent-ready geometry, it’s laterally-stiff rear section, and!: weight that rings in a full ten pounds under the Demo 7, as tested in this article.

OK, that’s enough. Talk is cheap and really, if you got out for a ride today; you’re a better person than the bumb who sat around preaching about “products” in a “marketplace”.

This brings us to the wrap up: the BLT and the White Wale. How do these two bikes compare? They don’t really. The discussion of them being part of a bicycle family called “trail bikes” does absolutely nothing for neither the audience, nor for the author of this article. Uhmm …well, that doesn’t mean this was all for nothing though; despite the fact that the Demo 7 and the Blur LT are different with respect to the direction in which their strengths leans, we can draw some very important similarities between the two in the name of defining what makes an excellent trail bike:

Both bikes have:

- Brilliant structural foundation as a starting point: frame design and manufacturing that is industry-leading.

- Properly patented and proven pivot systems that ultimately broaden the ride-ability of the bike well outside of the market it’s sold in.

- Aesthetics, weights, and component specifications that stand above competing brands for the price.

Check out the new models at their respective home pages:
The New, Redesigned ‘08 Blur LT Here
The New ‘08 Demo 7 I (one) Here

and the bike specs as seen in this article: