Not-so-Retrospective: Santa Cruz Bronson

The Bronson name is one of the most recognizable in the industry, and since 2013 Santa Cruz has worked to solidify the Bronson line in the time capsule of mountain bike innovation. The esteemed Bronson is named after the location at which the brand was founded. The Seabright Cannery industrial complex on Bronson Street in Santa Cruz, California - an industrial space that was shared with the likes of Santa Cruz Skateboards, RockShox, a surfboard shaper, as well as many other craftspeople and creatives.

The Bronson is and always will be the choice of senders and rippers. Since it debuted in 2013 , the Bronson has been clear with its intentions: Do it all, and do it all well. This was the burgeoning popularity of the modern Enduro bike, something that could play on the descents and climb back up without costing you a book of energetic matches.

The original Bronson arrived kicking and screaming, with all the accouterment that one would expect from bikes at the time. Internally (or externally) routed dropper ports, a 1x specific configuration, a 67° head tube angle, 73° seat tube angle, and, of course, 650B wheels. This 150mm travel stallion was emphatically meant to follow in the direction that the industry trends were pointing, and it was met with praise from the average rider, reviewers, and pro athletes such as Greg Minnaar, Steve Peat, and Cédric Gracia.

The original Bronson also appeared in the 2014 Bible of Bikes for very good reason. It is always humorous to look back at the strong opinions Bike Mag shared about the direction the industry was headed—if only we knew then what we know now.

The OG Bronson saw production from 2013 until late 2015, when it received a little renovation for MY 2016. As we all expect, the longer, lower, slacker fairy paid a visit to the geometry of the Bronson, and with a wave of the wand, the Bronson head tube angle slouched down to 66 degrees, the chainstays shortened by 6mm, the reach (for size lg) grew to 445mm from 428mm.

Another blatant sign of the times was the adoption of the 148mm or “boost” rear spacing, which allowed for the rear end to be shortened, maintaining the playful and carefree characteristics of the Bronson that people had fallen in love with. The Bronson also received some slight tweaks to the linkage, due to frequent complaints that the back end could feel a touch “wallowey” and a desire to give the enduro sled some more small bump sensitivity and more traction on techy climbs.

The Bronson 2 was a smashing success and received an abundance of praise from editors here at Bike. From the inclusion in the Bible in 2014 and 2016 , as well as plenty of other stand-alone pieces, like this one , that played with an alternative meaning behind the name. I'm sure they had a lot of fun shooting it.

In 2018, the Bronson went under the knife , this time with some major reconstruction. Similar to what we saw happen with the Nomad, the Bronson shock dropped down to the lower link, paying respect to the V10, and providing an all-new, almost linear leverage curve.

This really set the intentions for the Bronson, as it was not quite the knuckle busting Nomad, and not as dainty as the nimble little 5010. It was always something unique and special, something that you could shred on Sunday and race on Monday , so to speak. A working person's enduro bike. This new lower-slung Bronson also came with a chip and not the tortilla kind. This chip could be flipped to adjust the geometry of the frame, as is now common on most bikes that have come out in the last 5 years. A high and low setting allowed riders to fine-tune the 3rd generation of the Bronson to fit their specific needs.

In the high setting, the size large had a reach of 459mm, a head tube of 65.4 degrees, and a seat tube angle of 75.3 degrees. Flip that chip to low, and the size large had a reach of 455mm, a head tube of 65.1 degrees, and a Seat tube angle of 75 degrees. Not a massive change, but enough to mean business on climbs, or throw down on the descents, depending on what the rider needed. No small detail, but the V3 Bronson also brought along an alloy option with all the features that make the carbon version such a favorite at a fraction of the price. With this revised geo, repositioned shock, and flip chip, the Bronson just keeps getting better and unsurprisingly earned another spot in the 2019 Bible .

The V3 Bronson remained until late 2021, when Santa Cruz gave the prizefighter another slight update for 2022, with a 29” front wheel, downtube storage, and of course, the V4 Bronson got longer and slacker to keep up with the trends. The size large now exhibited a 475/472mm (hi/lo) reach, 64.7°/64.5° (hi/lo) head tube angle, and 76.9°/76.5° (hi/lo) seat tube angle. While Bike was in a bit of a hiatus during the launch of the V4 Bronson, I got to spend some time on a V4 Bronson, along with the Megatower, and I can personally declare that the Bronson is still the fun-loving, do-it-all sibling of the longer travel, Nomad, and larger wheeled, Megatower. I couldn’t stop playing on the back wheel, slicing French lines, and hitting every funny little side hit I encountered.

The new suspension kinematic and roomier shock tunnel was very welcomed for sag-setting purposes. The right sag was crucial, but once I got it right, I could figuratively forget about the rear shock, and I never once touched the climb switch which is surprising for a bike that soaks up hits and is eager to hop around. I will repeat what I said above: the Bronson keeps getting better.

The Bronson has had an inspiring history, and Santa Cruz has continuously smacked the nail right on the head with each iteration of the Bronson. I will eat my hat if they miss the mark with the V5 whenever they decide to revisit the drawing board. Historically, the Santa Cruz models have been on a three-year development cycle, so who’s to say when we might be seeing the V5? All I know is that I’m excited to see the adjustments/revisions they decide to deploy for the next version.