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Santa Cruz Blur. Short travel FS 29er that looks like Tallboy's faster little brother. How does it ride? Is there an appreciable difference in CC riding vs your generic 140-160mm Trail bike?
I'm looking for a bikepacking rig to log serious Backcountry miles on this fall, thinking a short-travel slack-ish 29er could make for easier, longer rides than my Transition Patrol. Thoughts?
I don't own one, but have ridden a Blur on my local trails a few times. It is a great bike for its intended purpose. Compared to your 140 to 160mm trail bike, it is lighter, pedals better, and accelerates more quickly. It is also not as relaxed going downhill at speed. You will notice all of those differences, for sure. It's a pretty modern endurance-oriented XC bike, IMO.
I think it would be a good bikepacking rig. There is some space in the front triangle if a custom framebag is on the radar. I expect an new version of the Blur to come out next year, but that's pure speculation.
The Blur was on my new bike short list, along with the Tallboy, the Trance 29, the SB100, and the new Hei Hei. Finally decided on the Hei Hei. As much as I appreciate the get-up-and-go of a 100mm bike, the Hei Hei is just more fun to ride on a daily basis and suits my riding better with a little extra travel (120mm). If I already had a 150-160mm bike, the Blur would be more appealing. But the Hei Hei has been perfect so far, and I look forward to many big days on it in the backcountry.
Really difficult to go wrong these days on the new bike front...