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Interview: Santa Cruz Stigmata Product Manager Geoff Casey answers the tough questions

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Santa Cruz Stigmata

Last week, Santa Cruz officially launched the worst best kept secret in the industry – the all new carbon Stigmata cyclocross bike. Featuring a press fit bottom bracket, internal routing, and no suspension, the only thing recognizable about it as a Santa Cruz is the loud color scheme.

To learn a little bit more about the development of the frame, I walked the two blocks from my house to the factory showroom to chat with Geoff Casey. Known as the Design Manager around these parts, his responsibilities include distilling the fruity flavors of a tropical inspired mixed drink into new frame colorways, and an assortment of other graphical and design duties. He’s also an avid road and cyclocross racer, and was the co-product manager of the Stigmata project.

Head past the break for an in depth interview on the new bike…

Special thanks to Geoff for taking the time to walk us through the bike and North American Marketing Manager, Don Palermini, for arranging everything.

Santa Cruz Stigmata Front Derailleur Mount

One of the unique features of the Stigmata is its square tubesets, which look awesome, but require a proprietary front derailleur mount – which is included with each frame.

Santa Cruz Stigmata Tire Clearance

For those of you interested in tire clearance, on the left is a Stigmata with stock 33mm tires, and on the right is Geoff’s personal bike with 41mm monsters.

Santa Cruz Stigmata weight

And it just wouldn’t be BikeRumor if we didn’t put a bike on a scale. For your viewing pleasure, here’s the top of the line Stiggy (SRAM Red, Enve Wheels, 160mm rotors, the works), which retails for $8,599. Claimed weight on the website is 16.35 lbs or 7.42 kg , but this 52 came in a touch lighter.

If you’re interested in taking one of these bikes for a rip and you’re local to the facotry, the bikes are now available through the Santa Cruz Factory Demo Program.

santacruzbicycles.com

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Pancakes
Pancakes
9 years ago

Answers, not Answer’s

liljoe
liljoe
9 years ago

Who the hell let all of these d*mn “editors” out of their office? And waffles are way better.

Tyler Benedict
Admin
9 years ago

Fixed, thanks.

esc8engn
esc8engn
9 years ago

that is one sexy beast. i don’t feel i’m fast enough to justify owning the orange one though. if you rock something that audacious, you’d better bring it.

John Capistrano
John Capistrano
9 years ago

PRESS FIT?!?!?!?! NOOOOOOOOOO SANTA CRUZ!!!! YOU WERE ONE OF THE LAST HOLDOUTS!!!!!!!

dan
dan
9 years ago

Very cool to see some more info come out about this bike. I actually have an orange 60cm on order with the rival group. It will be here at the beginning of next week.

I’m not the fastest but the orange will make it easier for drivers to see me.

The molded in crown race is slick for sure.

Myke
Myke
9 years ago

Yawn…. And it is $8.5k! Come on SC!

GN
GN
9 years ago

From the FAQ on SC’s site, its still not clear what 142 hubs will work with this bike. SC seems you use 142×12 240’s with Shimano 11 speed cassette body’s, but they also warn about other hubs and 11-spd cassette’s will hit the frame. Seems like most 142 hubs come with 10spd cassette body’s. Will anything else work?

Scott B
Scott B
9 years ago

Everyone keeps moaning about the $8.5k Top level price. It includes $3000 Enve wheels, what were you expecting?

Jeb
Jeb
9 years ago

I have two geared Ridley cross race bikes both with 60mm BB drop and a Third singlspeed aluminum cyclocross bike with a 68mm BB. I switch between bikes during the race day and it takes about 7 seconds to get used to the different to the different BB heights. I also use one of the Ridleys as my dirt road race bike and guess what, it works just fine for that even with the “high” BB. People get way too wrapped up in the numbers.

Whitekitten
Whitekitten
9 years ago

SC, please make an “C” budget carbon version featuring:

1. Fender eyelets on fork frame and fork. Just because it’s a “no holds barred race machine” doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea to cleanly integrate 4 threaded eyelets into the frame. Eyelets aren’t going to stop a racer from buying one, and it adds a huge amount of versatility for SC fans who regularly ride in the wet.

2. Pressfit headset interface so that I press in a King headset and not worry about buying new headset bearings after every wet season.

3. Threaded BB. Until now, SC was punk rock for not capitulating to current trends and sticking with the threaded BB. Seeing that the threaded BB was nearly universally applauded by riders and press for its reliability and user serviceability, why would they change it? I’m not buying the “stiffer interface” BS. SC has proven that they are carbon wizards, and they can figure this one out. Is SC concerned that a threaded BB won’t be compatible with every CX crankset on the market? Who cares? Be the change.

Help me help you help us all.

XOXO

Thesteve4761
Thesteve4761
9 years ago

@gn, that’s a question for the hub guys! It’s pretty clear though, you need 142 spacing AND an11speed road free hub body. Quickly thinking, DT, Mavic, American Classic and more are all compatible with the correct parts.

Mike D
Mike D
9 years ago

I have to second Whitekitten.. nailed it. A few fender eyelets won’t kill that ‘top tier racer’ by any means… I’m also looking at you Salsa Warbird, Focus, etc. It will make a person like myself A LOT more likely to pick one up if I know I can make it more versatile than just “race day elite racing uber machine oh mah godz”. Because, really? There’s such a huge market for that kind of race day-only cross bike here in the states?

AND a lack of threaded BB. C’mon now SC… there’s a reason this model went bye-bye last time. Making silly choices like ditching the threaded BB in favor of a pressfit *when you are known for your threaded BB frames* only helps to sink this battleship again. Starting at $3500 for what exactly? Why would a consumer choose this over other bikes?

BMW
BMW
9 years ago

SC going to pressfit….d*mn it I thought this day would never come! Hoping at least. I own a few PF bikes, love them, and with proper install or with an expensive wheels bb upgrade, all creaking and issues are gone. That being said, I have had a secret love affair with SC for a long time, and the strong hold of threaded bb bikes is/was the reason. This leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Oh, and those b*tching about the price..umm it’s a 16lbs race ready rocket. Price seems pretty spot on.

BMW
BMW
9 years ago

Oh, forgot to mention, if you want a CX race bike with fender/rack mounts, turn to Raleigh.

S. Molnar
S. Molnar
9 years ago

“Stigmata”? That has to be the most brilliantly inane name for a product since the much-lamented and very short-lived Reebok Incubus women’s sneaker.

DorkDisk
DorkDisk
9 years ago

A Holy Cross Stigmata?

Too much for this atheist

rileymartin
rileymartin
9 years ago

not until really paying attention to this website have I heard the term “luddite”…. it is amazing to me that sooooo many people are against the latest and greatest. especially when you are in the bike biz…..the expectation is that everything will change all the time and that will never stop…..so man up and embrace the change of technology…otherwise we’d all be riding some turdpoop department store bike……I chuckled hearing him use the term in the video…good one…..great looking bike. you had better be fast or willing to fake it to make it fast on that orange bike……that orange makes me think-yummy, scrumptious…..and always dig the stealthy black look too…one word for both of them-BADASS!!!!

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
9 years ago

If you’re concerned about the press-fit BB, buy a Praxxis threaded insert or one of the many others on the market (CK, Wheels Manufacturing, and etc). I love and have bikes with threaded BB’s, but I have to admit it looks like for whatever reason, threaded BB’s are on the endangered species list.

Given how easy it is to put threaded inserts for fenders in CF bikes, I do wonder why all CX and gravel racing bikes don’t come with them.

Larry
Larry
9 years ago

Love seeing interviews like this from the designers.

Dr. Sartorious
Dr. Sartorious
9 years ago

@ Scott B

What are you thinking? Every bike’s MSRP should be the manufacturer’s FOB price. Why do they get to make a profit? Cycling is a kumbaya industry, where owners and employees all get together, smoke pot, and make the world a better place one rider at a time. It’s pretty selfish of them to put their corporate greed ahead of the world’s best interests.

I kid of course. I just shake my head every time I read a thread in which someone scoffs at the price of a bike. It’s everything to with how light their wallet is and nothing to with the Economics 101 class they missed in high school. However, these nitwits don’t bat an eye when they pay $100,000 for their M5s, and roll up to the trailhead on a SS Motobecane they bought on Craigslist for $100, telling everyone that they like to “keep it real and ol’ skool,” maligning anyone who pays more than they paid for a bike.

JD
JD
9 years ago

Dam it would actually buy if it wasn’t for the pressfitbb!

Robert
Robert
9 years ago

Nothing wrong with Press Fit. It’s versatile. Good to see tire clearance with the 40mm WTBs. Tire clearance is easy to engineer into these carbon bikes; no reason not to make it generous!

Ya dood
Ya dood
9 years ago

Ya…you have like one magazine cry about press fit and it becomes the resounding war cry. Most manufacturers have worked out tolerance issues that plagued initial pf frames so there should be little to cry about anymore.

Dolan Halbrook
Dolan Halbrook
9 years ago

I’ll add on the chorus for fender mounts. Other manufacturers have managed to hide them quite well. Hell, i’d be OK with leaving them off the dropouts (fender tabs are easy enough to get from PDW and VO) if there were at least something to attach them to at the back of the fork crown and the seatstay bridge. It would make the bike so much more versatile as a winter trainer when the cross season ends for those of us who live in places where it actually rains.

@BMW, fender mounts and rack mounts are not the same thing.

nick
nick
9 years ago

Thanks for the video interview BR, nice to hear from the creators themselves.

Loki
Loki
9 years ago

In the spirit of sharing, some fender hacks that have been useful:

No mounting hole on fork – use an expansion plug in the bottom of the steerer tube, drill a hole through the fender, mount from the bottom using the appropriate number of spacers.

No mounting hole on chain stay bridge – use a long bracket from the screw holding the cable guide or holding the cover (internal routing) under the BB.

No mounts on seat stay bridge – reflector brackets that come with every bike, plastic so won’t scratch, can’t really over tighten, will work from seat stay or seat tube.

At drop outs – as mentioned already, PDW and VO fender stay mounts as well as Tanaka. SKS make a neat qr version.

Sheldon Fender bolts, canti cyclocross hangers (front and rear), crown darumas and the plastic worm screw brackets for older lights and cycle computers can also be helpful.

AbelF
AbelF
9 years ago

I am totallt buying this. Wait a minute, it comes with a PF BB? No thanks then. I will embrace the latest and greatest. I refuse to embrace the latest and crappiest.

Luddite Bike Mechanic
Luddite Bike Mechanic
9 years ago

@Ya dood

The reason that a lot of people do not like PressFit is because of the many problems a large percentage of people experience with them, not what they read about them.

Max
Max
9 years ago

Love the colors, the concept – and the fact that the geometry is 90% similar to that of my Cervélo S3, size 56. Love it so much in fact that it makes me blind to minor flaws (and all bikes, like most of us, have them).

Last but not least, for a roadie who was looking for an alternative to charge “off roads” but doesn´t really feel good on MTBs, it couldn´t have been reborn at a better time.

Bottom line for me: good bye Cervélo, welcome Stigmata.

Rico
Rico
9 years ago

Press fit sux. But what’s up santa cruz? You should make a legit road frame (with rim brake mounts) for road racing and sponsor an American team like SmartStop or something. I’d love to see that!

Chad
Chad
9 years ago

PF30/BB30 give PF86 a bad name.

The shorter and wider press fit shells don’t have all the creaking issues we all have with the PF/BB30 shells.

I was very cautious at first, having had a creaky BB30 myself, but the newer ones are pretty great. Better tire clearance too.

Sevo
Sevo
9 years ago

am I the only one that has Ministrey’s song “Stigmata” playing in my head as I read this?

Snydley Whiplash
Snydley Whiplash
9 years ago

For those with Press Fit Phobia: http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/enduro-launches-torqtite-press-fit-bottom-brackets-43740/

Be sure to check the shell tolerances if you go this route to save yourself a lot of grief because even with a new bike they are all over the map. Correct as needed.

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