Set it up with a light air shock and 10-speed drivetrain for all-day trail riding, or go the route of wide bars, chain guide (the frame has ISCG 05 tabs) and coil-sprung suspension to create a mini gravity rig. Riders can give the Butcher its own character. We rode it, progressed as riders on it and generally put it back in the garage with big smiles on our faces.Įquipment: We were balling on a budget, but the chassis serves many makers The Butcher is a prime candidate for a 160 to 170mm travel-adjust fork, should you want to ride it both up- and downhill aggressively.ĭespite our criticisms – of unsupported mid-stroke shock performance and slight tail wag – we were pretty darn happy whenever we threw a leg over our Butcher test bike. We actually preferred the longer travel and slacker angle, despite the fact it made things relatively vague on climbs. We tried the Butcher with RockShox’s 150mm Revelation, which produces a 67.5-degree head angle, and 170mm Lyrik, which kicks it out to 66.4 degrees. The geometry is pretty slack, depending on fork length, making it a stable bike when things get steep. The way the stays taper to the rear dropout makes the Butcher a good candidate for a rear through-axle – it could use the additional stiffness We found that way the chain- and seatstays taper to the rear dropout makes them a good candidate for a through axle: Matt Pacocha We detected some flex, in the form of a wag-like feeling under hard cornering, which we put down to the proximity and narrow stance of the chain- and seatstays. While we agree with Santa Cruz that bikes like the new Blur TRc are better suited to the convenience of open dropouts, we feel that the Butcher would benefit from a through-axle to improve rear end stiffness. The beefy tapered head tube doesn’t noticeably flex and offers a good foundation for larger all-mountain forks like RockShox’s Lyrik or Fox’s 36. This trait makes the chassis ripe for Fox’s new 2012 Adaptive Logic technology, where the rider can choose between a climbing platform similar to the 2011 shock’s level ‘3’ and an ‘open’ setting that can range between the current ‘0’, ‘1’ or ‘2’ levels of compression damping.Īt the end of the stroke, we were hard pressed to get any sort of harsh bottom-out, even when hitting 4-5ft drops while running moderate air pressure (30 percent sag) and ‘ringing the bell’, as evidenced by our travel O-ring being pushed to the very end of the shock shaft.įrame: Stiff from the front to all the way back… well, almost all the wayįrame stiffness is really good from the front and through the pivot and elevated chainstays until you get to the very ends of the dropouts. This meant we were left wanting, especially in hard cornering at moderate to fast speeds. When riding with the shock ‘open’ we found there wasn’t much to push off in the mid-stroke. We did, however, take to riding it with the RP23’s ProPedal turned on in the ‘1’ position (the lowest level of low-speed compression damping), due to some mid-stroke wallow.
When the trail turns down, the Butcher performs almost as well - it’s definitely among the best single-pivots we’ve ridden.
#FOX FLOAT RP23 AIR PRESSURE CHART UPGRADE#
Our test model came with a Fox Float RP23 shock upgrade the Float R comes standard Our test model came with a fox float rp23 shock upgrade the float r comes standard: Matt Pacocha The Santa Cruz was slower up hills though, due to its 30lb-plus weight. Combined with the ProPedal platform on the Fox Float RP23 (which is a US$115 upgrade, see equipment section) shock, this gives the Butcher’s suspension better climbing characteristics than a World Cup cross-country bike we were testing concurrently. Paired with the high main pivot location - which means the suspension reacts to pedaling inputs, especially in the little ring - this slight softness off the top makes the rear wheel dig in when climbing, resulting in excellent traction. For one, the shock rate curve provided by the linkage-activated single-pivot rear end mirrors that of Santa Cruz’s pricier VPP bikes – slightly falling off the top, providing a plush feel and ample ‘negative travel’, with a flatter mid-stroke and slight ramp up at the end for bottom-out resistance. Believe it or not, this bike climbs really well. Despite being a short bike, that’s not super-light, we came away impressed with the ride characteristics of the Butcher.