Santa Cruz 650B V10 - Mont Sainte Anne World Cup
The 650B wheeled V10 is a bit like a rumbling volcano in that pretty much everyone knew that it was going to happen, but not many knew exactly when. There were murmurs of it breaking cover in South Africa earlier in the season, and then some intel that Fort William would see the curtain pulled back, but it seems as though either Santa Cruz or their World Cup racers weren't ready to introduce the new machine until this weekend's Canadian World Cup round on the legendary Mont Sainte Anne track. What's that? Getting a bit tired of all these "new" bikes with slightly larger wheels? I hear you, but Santa Cruz making the switch, and the fact that they're one of the last major players to debut a 650B downhill bike, is a quite the omen when you consider that the 26" wheeled V10, in all of its different incarnations, is the winningest downhill race bike ever built. It should come as no surprise that the 650B version closely mirrors the lines of the 26" machine - why would Santa Cruz make a wholesale change in design when it's obvious that the bike is already a proven performer?
And what about the bike's geometry? It would have had to be altered in order to compensate for the larger diameter wheels, with more bottom bracket drop built into the frame and tweaks to the head angle and trail figures (via the 650B specific FOX 40 Float RC2). Again, Santa Cruz hasn't confirmed or denied anything in terms of geometry, but it's safe to say that there have been some updates.
The new bike was always going to use the VPP suspension layout, but we've got word from the pits that Santa Cruz has made some subtle changes to the leverage ratio. Comparing the old and new bikes side by side does seem to support this, with the new version's shock looking like it's sitting on a slightly different angle within the frame, and the upper link sporting a moderately different shape. There's no word on what Santa Cruz might be aiming to accomplish with these changes. There doesn't appear to be any updates to the bike's swingarm, and a close look at the amount of tire clearance out back hints that it may even be the same unit as found on the 26" bike given that there appears to actually be less clearance.
Stay tuned to Pinkbike for more information on the new 650B V10
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 Greg Minnaar's 650B V10 in Mont Sainte Anne, Quebec. The bigger wheels are obvious, but what other changes have Santa Cruz implemented? |
The bigger wheels are only part of the story, however, as we suspect that there are some changes to the bike that are far less obvious. Santa Cruz wouldn't comment, of course, but I don't think it's too out of line to assume that although the frame looks nearly identical to the previous model, it likely sports a revised carbon layup that either makes it a) lighter, b) stronger or c) both. This is 100% speculation on my part, but if Santa Cruz invested in new and expensive molds for the 650B frame, they have also likely applied what they've learned about carbon fiber since they debuted the first V10c. There are slight differences in the bike's top tube and seat mast area as well, with the new bike featuring a straighter but lower top tube and a more angular shape at the seat mast, differences that can be seen in the rough overlay of the old and new bikes pictured to the right. Small differences, no doubt, but indicative of tweaks to its carbon layup.
And what about the bike's geometry? It would have had to be altered in order to compensate for the larger diameter wheels, with more bottom bracket drop built into the frame and tweaks to the head angle and trail figures (via the 650B specific FOX 40 Float RC2). Again, Santa Cruz hasn't confirmed or denied anything in terms of geometry, but it's safe to say that there have been some updates.
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| Josh Bryceland's bike is fitted with FOX's prototype DH shock that has come from the company's Racing Applications Development Program, and word is that the four-way adjustable damper also employs a twin-tube layout. |
The new bike was always going to use the VPP suspension layout, but we've got word from the pits that Santa Cruz has made some subtle changes to the leverage ratio. Comparing the old and new bikes side by side does seem to support this, with the new version's shock looking like it's sitting on a slightly different angle within the frame, and the upper link sporting a moderately different shape. There's no word on what Santa Cruz might be aiming to accomplish with these changes. There doesn't appear to be any updates to the bike's swingarm, and a close look at the amount of tire clearance out back hints that it may even be the same unit as found on the 26" bike given that there appears to actually be less clearance.
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The link integration on the Demo, the internal routing, the seatstay/dropout/postmount section, the way they've done the concentric pivot.
The V-10 is so dated with it's ugly upper link mounted to the toptube, crap routing (still), IS mount etc.
I have heard from a very reliable source that Giant were comparing times with their DH riders down the same course on 26" and 27.5". The Glory will be released next week - guess what the wheel size will be?
@treymotleyDH - just go on pinkbike or youtube, any thread of comments, everyone argues like crazy, you get someone who sounds really informed and knowledgeable on a subject and then straight away is shot down by someone else who convincingly knows otherwise, fact is both people are normally right in one way or another, nothing is black and white and then there's personal preference involved to... on a grander scale, its why there will always be wars, discrimination & class difference, it all comes down to pinkbike and youtube users! hehe
I really like it.
Last year in BC I spent a day each on a V10, Aurum, 951 and a Demo and for me the V10 was the most difficult one for me to feel at home with so it would be great to be able to do that again on 650b versions of the four and see if anything has changed my opinion, which was by the way Aurum > 951 > Demo > V10. Has anyone at Dirt got any plans for a 650b DH bike comparison test?
Simply put, this season is awesome with a different rider every round! There are lots of lads there in take the win form all on different rigs, and until now, different wheel sizes.
That said, if Loic wins, are we all going to want Lapierres?
If Troy wins will we say it's the new Demo?
If Arron wins will we say, "Well of course, it's Arron Gwin"?
If Rat wins will we all want V10's? --- (Most of us do any)
If Peaty wins will the internet explode?
If Gee, was it Gee or the GT?
All great riders (including those not mentioned) and great bikes. The races are nearly impossible to guess anymore, but the arm chair consideration is fun.
Possible to overshoot just about any tranny, even in Whistler.
But there's always crabapple 3#...
2015 bikes should have 23.4, 24.5, 25.5 toptubes for s, m , l, respectively..if not longer ala mondraker/canyon.
I dunno... ask them about the Nomad...