Santa Cruz bikes are simply notorious, arguably the most famous mountain bike specific brand today. But how did Santa Cruz develop such fame and desire? Santa Cruz have made bold moves and aren’t afraid to stir the pot and push peoples pre-conceived ideas. One of the first brands to offer a lifetime warranty on carbon frames at a time when other manufacturers were only just developing their first carbon designs. This and many other radical advancements have put the brand at the forefront of mountain bike design, proven with an over flowing trophy cabinet.
History
Founded in 1993 in a single car garage in California Santa Cruz released it’s first bike. An aluminium single pivot, the ‘Tazmon’. The bike defined what Santa Cruz was all about, ‘simply advanced’. Fast forward to 2002 and their first Virtual Pivot Point (VPP) bike is released, the 'Blur'. The great performance of the VPP linkage has been a significant part of the success of the brand and desire that is associated with Santa Cruz bikes today. 'Intense' even purchased the rights to use the linkage design on some of their bikes in an effort to replicate some of the performance and speed Santa Cruz bikes can generate. Still in use today, the original VPP design has been modified and refined over the years but the bones of this great design remain the same.
An easy way to come to grips with the quality of bikes made by Santa Cruz is looking into their race history. The ‘Syndicate’ is the most successful downhill race team of all time. Nathan Rennie started things off with a bang and since the team has been home to Steve Peat, Josh Bryceland, Greg Minnar and many more talented riders. The future is looking bright with young up and coming riders Loris Vergier and Luca Shaw already a consistent podium threat on the world cup circuit. It's a racing history Ferrari would be proud to call their own.
Linkage Design – VPP
VPP (Virtual Pivot Point) is based around one simple principle, two short links rotating in opposite directions. However, nobody has the same understanding of the design as the engineers from Santa Cruz. With their wealth of experience they can control how the suspension performs to suit different riding disciplines, geometries, wheel sizes etc. to achieve their desired feel.
The technologies used in Santa Cruz bikes, including the linkage design, is first tried and tested by their elite Syndicate team riders before making it onto the production line. Using these riders to fine tune and precisely execute new ideas enables Santa Cruz to make some of the best bikes on the market.
Santa Cruz Service
As riders themselves the team at Santa Cruz understand the immense pride and joy a mountain bikers bike gives them. So much so that they offer a lifetime limited warranty on their frames to original owners. Taking it a step further, as an original owner of a Santa Cruz bike you never have to worry about buying bearings for your Santa Cruz bike. We'll provide these to you free of charge so that VPP linkage is always running smoothly and maximising performance. As far as warranty and after sale support we haven't come across a brand so dedicated to their riders I mean... free bearings when they wear out?! It's next level.
Bikes
The modern fleet of Santa Cruz bikes combine all the aspects of what mountain biking is today under Santa Cruz’s own ethos, ‘Simply Advanced’. With an un-assuming ‘simple’ look that incorporates the best of modern mountain bike technologies Santa Cruz bikes have a striking appearance. Still assembled in America today these bikes are built with a sense of pride only a rider owned brand can achieve.
Santa Cruz Bicycles - About Us from Santa Cruz Bicycles on Vimeo.
Santa Cruz have just released a stunning range of new colours and a new 5010 for 2021. With bikes being harder to get a hold of than ever if you're dreaming of a new Santa Cruz talk to us today and we will confirm availability of these hot bikes.
