Santa Cruz

Things to know about Santa Cruz

A look into the future wouldn’t have suspected Santa Cruz’s founder Rob Roskopp on 27,5 inch wheels or even 29ers. Originally, he was successful on much smaller wheels - in the 1980s he was known as a successful professional skateboarder. Maybe it was due to his skateboarding experience that he wanted to get bikes away from paved roads and make them ready for fun-sports, because shortly after founding Santa Cruz, he presented one of the first bikes with dual suspension. Dual, because in addition to the suspended fork it also had a frame shock. Today it would simply be a fully suspended bike, but back then it was unheard of.

That first mountain bike with full suspension was soon followed by other mountain bikes, and the company quickly outgrew the garage in Santa Cruz where it had been founded in 1994. Today, Santa Cruz makes a nice choice of o MTBs that are still assembled in California, but today the company owns a large, modern production site. There is a wide range of models and configurations, top priority is always each bike’s high quality and durability, always true to the motto

No missed rides.

Santa Cruz Syndicate

Many more mountain bike models followed and soon the first team riders rode the Californian bikes at events and races. Team riders such as downhill legend Greg Minnaar, Steve Peat, Luca Shaw and many others have made sure that Santa Cruz MTBs are represented on the podium in recent years, Santa Cruz affectionately calls them the "Santa Cruz Syndicate". The experiences and impressions of the team riders always go back directly to Santa Cruz’s development department, that way the downhill and enduro bikes, such as V10, Megatower or Hightower work perfectly not only from a technical point of view but also from what it feels like to sit in the saddle.

Santa Cruz fully suspended mountain bikes

Santa Cruz always focuses on current trends when developing new bikes, often the Californians pioneer when it comes to introducing new technologies and fresh approaches. They were some of the first to use carbon as a frame material and by now are absolute specialists in this field. Nevertheless, you can still find aluminum bikes in Santa Cruz's portfolio. From legendary, downhill bikes with lots of travel, like V10, via the trail bike icons Megatower and Hightower, to the touring/race bike Blur, there is plenty of choice and the perfect MTB for every purpose. When it comes to tire sizes, Santa Cruz offers different set-ups for its full-suspension mountain bikes. Depending on which bike you ride and what you plan to do with it, the high-quality MTB enduros, trail bikes and DH bikes can roll on 27.5 inch or 29 inch wheelsets, some fit both tire sizes or will work with a mixed setup, too.

Santa Cruz hardtail mountain bikes

Santa Cruz loves its fully-suspended bikes, but that does not mean that the hardtails are not worth having a look at here!

HIghball, for example, is a carbon hardtail that will is lots of fun if you enjoy going fast or like to put on miles. Its efficiency is excellent, it runs "snappy" and yet comfortable. If you're planning to buy an endurance hardtail, Highball should definitely be on your list of favorites!

If you're looking for a hardtail that doesn't give a damn about rules, you should definitely check out Santa Cruz’s Chameleon. You can ride 29ers on this one or mount 27.5 or even choose a mullet setup, when it comes to tires, Chameleon is not picky. In the choice of gear setups and other equipment you also have a free hand, few bikes "of the rack" allow you so much freedom of choice to set up and use the bike according to your wishes and ideas.

Find Santa Cruz mountain bikes online

Recently, Santa Cruz has left the beaten track and tried their hand at something other than mountain bikes. With Stigmata, the company has released their first gravel bike, lately even E-MTBs made by Santa Cruz have been spotted. In our Santa Cruz brand store you will find different mountain bikes, fully suspended AMs and trail bikes or enduros, at good prices. But are they really “the world’s best bikes”? If you want to know, there is only one way to find out: treat yourself to one and hit the slope! And don’t forget to let us know whether it’s the world’s best bike or not!