Best Cross-Country Bikes: Head To Head Comparison
Santa Cruz's Blur Trail and Yeti's ASR offer near-flawless rides on the singletrack. We’ve reviewed their subtle differences and help you decide which ride is best for you.
Santa Cruz Blur Trail
As close to trail as an XC bike gets, the Blur Trail is the perfect fitness bike for enduro riders and play bike for the drop-bar crowd.
How’s It Ride?
The Blur's geo delivers the quickness, agility, and liveliness that many XC racers still want from bikes in the category. At the same time, the 120mm front and 115mm rear travel lets the bike take on larger features of modern tracks and opens up routes for weekend rides. We'll stay clear of calling it a "downcountry bike" though. Blur behaves much more like a ride perfectly tuned for uphill traction and flat-out climbing, with downhill capability added as a bonus.
How Ours Is Equipped
Ours is a stock build from Santa Cruz with SRAM's X0 Eagle Transmission drivetrain and Reserve XC28 carbon wheels. We ran the Fox Float Factory 34 Step-Cast fork and shock for a lightweight setup that takes more punishment than we can dish out in a single test ride. The Maxxis Rekon Race tires provided proper grip for our semi-dry times in Bellingham.
Yeti ASR
After a brief hiatus, Yeti brought back its pure XC bike, the ASR, and it's a blast to ride. While very similar to the Blur in purpose and ride quality, there are a few geo and component differences between the two that might sway you one way or the other.
How’s It Ride?
ASR is Yeti's lightest-weight bike (duh) and uses a flex-stay suspension similar to Blur's Superlight™ design to hit those weight numbers. The bike can fly up the hills and accelerate like a dream when you get on the pedals. But its slightly slacker headtube and longer chainstays tone down the ride dynamics just enough compared to the Blur, making ASR a less energy-intensive ride as a daily driver.
How Ours Is Equipped
Another feature that might have you leaning toward the ASR as a complete ready-to-ship MTB is the RockShox suspension setup. Not only are the fork and shock super tuneable but they're also linked to SRAM's TwistLoc grip, so you can select your lockout setting without taking your hands off the bar. And when we're hauling ass over a heart-racing course, this makes transitioning between trail sections wonderfully seamless.
Watch Our Full Review
Blur Trail and ASR are both highly exciting and competitive longer-travel cross-country bikes, and there is no wrong choice. And to be honest, we're splitting hairs when comparing the two. It may come down to minute differences in ride feel and components leading to your final choice. Peep our review video to learn a bit more about these rides before you buy.
