Bikes

The Stigmata blurs the lines between free-roading drop bar singletrack slicer and buckled down race-winning gravel machine. It’s designed for the rider lining up for The Big Event, escaping via the road less traveled or who can’t help themselves from finding the hardest way there. Whether your style is baggy or zipped up, the Stigmata is the fast and loose riding partner that’s always ready to rise to the occasion.

If ever there was a gravity riders’ XC bike, the Tallboy is it. The new 120mm Tallboy takes a leap further into what short-travel bikes really are capable of. With kick-ass lower-link VPP suspension, a streamlined design, the typical Santa Cruz refinement, and rather radical geometry, the Tallboy is back to being a genre-bending folk hero. Sure, 10mm more travel might only seem like one small step—but coupled with a lower link-driven VPP suspension design, this is one giant leap for the Tallboy. It’s the kind of bike that makes you sprint while going up, along, over, or down due to the maximum efficiency of the VPP design and responsive, lightweight chassis. But, because it shares the same engineering principles as our longest travel bikes, the progressive lower link-mounted shock feels equally at home doing cross-country as it does in extreme-country. Paired with a 130mm fork, the new Tallboy becomes ever more appealing to riders who like to open it up. And, the geometry, that's a big part of what's going on... Established theory suggests shorter travel bikes get ridden slower, therefore require steeper and more conservative geometries. In reality though, when was the last time you ever throttled back on a fun trail because you weren’t on a bigger bike? Knowing your answer, we mimicked our longer travel geometry to create a bike with a 65.5-degree head-angle, generous front center, and short-offset fork, something rarely seen on a bike of this ilk. And, the radical thinking doesn’t stop there. The Tallboy’s short-short 430mm chainstays have +/- 10mm of rear axle adjustment to ensure riders of all sizes and styles feel equally at home. Match that to a relatively low BB (335mm and 37.5mm drop), and you’ve got a combo that’s ready to haul into every pocket turn and launch out the other side. Build Highlights - RockShox Pike Ultimate 130mm fork - FOX Float Factory DPS Kashima rear shock - Santa Cruz Reserve 27 29 carbon rims - I9 Hydra hubs - Maxxis Minion tires - 12-speed SRAM XX1 AXS electronic drivetrain - RockShox Reverb Stealth dropper seatpost

Wide open, dawn to dusk. The Highball is our race-bred XC hardtail. When the trail (or the competition) calls for the direct drive efficiency that only a hardtail can offer, the Highball is the choice. It looks straightforward but that belies the high-tech features and design hidden within. This is a modern take on the simple machine that many still choose to put battery acid in their thighs and fire in their lungs in order to conquer something. Whether you’re chasing medals, personal demons, or just some riding buddies, this is a hardtail you’ll be happy to log long hours upon. Hard on the throttle, soft on the body Hardtails are about as subtle as bikes come, and in the case of the Highball, simplistic refinement belies engineering effort. We’ve learned from our road biking pals that a great deal of a hardtail’s compliance comes from the seatpost: the smaller the diameter, the softer the feel, and with more seat post exposed to daylight, more compliance is had— which is the reason the Highball features low slung top tube and the smaller, 27.2mm diameter post. But you need not be sitting to recognize the ‘soft’ feel of the Highball— the dropped seat stays are made of custom laminate, finely tuned here in Santa Cruz for vertical compliance— and they’re oriented to isolate the top tube from high speed trail chatter, reducing feedback to the, uh, engine. SRAM Eagle Transmission - stronger, better shifting, wirelessly The next generation SRAM Eagle Transmission specced on our CC-carbon models is a radically robust, fully integrated and interdependent wireless transmission. Built around the universal constant of the wheel axle itself, the Full Mount hangerless attachment creates a far stronger connection to the frame and the super strong derailleur provides unprecedented strength. Shifting under load is made possible due to a combination of X-SYNC technology and cassette mapping, creating seamless shifts even during your hardest power output. The new AXS Pods are extremely ergonomic and highly customizable, so shifting gears is light and intuitive. It's simply the most advanced transmission and nearly as tough as the mountain itself.

The Heckler is about expanding your own trail map - accessing previously unreachable trails, unlocking less-used trails, and doing so independently. The full carbon frame and interchangeable 504wh battery keep the weight down compared to bikes with larger batteries but it's fast and easy to put in a fresh battery for even bigger, longer days.