Juliana Furtado Primeiro - Review

The focus and attention directed at Juliana Bicycles of late may be rallied around the recent launch of the Roubion, a 150mm trail bike intended to be an all-mountain, competition crushing enduro weapon, but before the Roubion there was the Furtado Primeiro, a 125mm AM/XC ride and the original queen of the Juliana court. We've had the Furtado out on the trails for some time now and it bears worthy of delivering a report.

Before we get into the details of the bicycle though, let’s rewind for a second and talk about just what the premise of Juliana Bicycles is. In 1999, the cycling industry’s most successful female competitor, Juliana Furtado, with the assistance of Santa Cruz Bicycles, launched the first Juliana Bicycle. In those days, Juli was a dominating force, competing and winning in road, XC, and downhill disciplines at a national and international level. It was fitting that she should have a bike in her namesake, since she put many titles under her belt during the 90s and was a near unstoppable force until a diagnosis of lupus led her to an early retirement. Fast forward to 2013, when Juliana Bicycles was re-launched as a fully-fledged women’s mountain bike brand, with Juli now at the helm of their very interesting and eclectic ambassador program and very much in touch with the direction and voice of the brand.








Furtado Primeiro Highlights

The $5999 Furtado Primeiro was launched as the star of the new Juliana family of bikes. Boasting carbon front and rear triangles, 125mm of Fox Float TD rear travel and a 130mm Fox 32 Float fork up front, the Furtado was designed to be efficient at pedaling yet provide its passenger with a plush enough ride to maneuver comfortably over more technical terrain as well. The frame used for the Furtado is the same as the Santa Cruz 5010, and an interesting side fact to know is that the Furtado was in fact launched before the 5010. So, are the boys riding girls bikes or the girls riding boys bikes? The answer is neither. Juliana’s intention is to deliver the best riding experience possible for women by incorporating women's specific elements into the spec of the bike. Design wise, the brand chose to use the proven geometries and engineering from their friends over at Santa Cruz. The VPP suspension system has had resounding success over the years and so it makes sense to harness that technology, but when it comes down to defining details and choosing finishing kits, Juliana has employed a whole family of women riders and female staff to take care of those decisions.

Apart from being generously spec'd with some pretty fancy parts including a RockShox Reverb Stealth dropper post and Shimano XT brakes and drivetrain, the Furtado has been outfitted for the ladies with a Juliana Primeiro women's specific saddle, a 680mm tapered flat bar - that means the diameter of the ends of the bar are much narrower than that of a regular bar in an effort to make it easier for little hands to hang on to - plus a specifically designed compact grip system which fits the tapered bars. The Juliana has its own look as well, with a flash looking logo on the down tube and a colorway that stands out from the crowd without being obnoxious about it.

Specifications Price $5999 Travel 125mm Rear Shock Fox Float CTD Fork Fox 32 Float FIT CTD 130mm Headset Cane Creek 40 Cassette 11-36 Shimano 10 speed M771 Crankarms Shimano XT 22/32/42 Rear Derailleur Shimano XT Front Derailleur Shimano XT Shifter Pods Shimano XT Handlebar Juliana compact Stem Easton EA70 Grips Juliana Mountain lock-on Brakes Shimano XT Hubs DT Swiss 350 Rim WTB Frequency Team i23 TCS Tires Maxxis High Roller II 2.3 Seat Juliana Primiero Seatpost RockShox Reverb Stealth Compare to other All Mountain/Enduro/XC

---

Climbing

Juliana claims that the Furtado should climb with the efficiency of an XC bike, although the fact that it weighs in at 27.81 lbs (M) may make you question this statement – but they are quite right. The Furtado absolutely loves going up hills. Be it undulating, rolling singletrack or steep long fire roads, the Juliana's ride kept the mind from going to deep, dark and horrible places with its pedaling efficiency and geometry. We took it up a lot of technical rooty and rocky climbs and the tracking was extremely reliable and kept us on our bike and very satisfied. The Fox Float rear shock worked well and even in the open position there was minimal bob. The Fox Float 130mm fork also came with CTD settings (Climb, Trail, Descend) and by the end of our testing we generally just left it in open as it didn’t seem too detrimental in leeching energy away from us during climbing. Our main gripe with the Furtado with regards to climbing was the triple-ring equipped Shimano Deore XT drivetrain, which, with the gear range available on double and single ring set ups these days, seemed like absolute overkill. We rarely if ever used our big ring except on road commutes and the granny gear only got the occasional turn when things got ridiculously steep. If anything, its removal would be a win in the weight saving department.



Descending

This is the area where we really put this little bike to the test. On our initial rides we kept the Furtado to some of the tamer trails in the Whistler Valley until we got our suspension just so, but once things were feeling balanced and forgiving we really got into the swing of putting the Furtado through its paces.

The terrain around Whistler bubbles with roots and rocks and there are multitudes of tight corners laced with punchy climbs followed by flowing rooty descents. Here, the Furtado excelled and tracked like a silent hovercraft over the choppy mess below us. The RockShox Reverb seat post came in handy, although combined with the Shimano XT brakes and shifters on the handlebar, things were fairly cluttered and between the three different levers on the bar we couldn’t get them into an order where the getting to the Reverb didn’t require us to have to half lift our hand off the bars in order to reach it.



Although the Furtado had been working beautifully over the rolling fun trails we used to get acquainted with the bike, we hadn’t felt terribly assured in pointing it towards steeper terrain, and so in an effort to inspire confidence we removed the narrow 680mm bar and replaced it with a 750mm one that also wasn’t tapered. We would also liked to have put a shorter stem that that of the 60mm one on the front to aid in steering capability, but with the cockpit being on the smaller side for us we ended up leaving it on. Nevertheless, the additional width on the new handlebar allowed us to steer much more confidently into technical descents and to more evenly distribute our weight over the front of the bike. Suddenly we weren’t just piloting a climbing machine with a capable pogo stick strapped to the front of it, we were riding a trail bike, and a very enjoyable one at that. Although 130mm of travel in the front is not often seen on bicycles in this area, it really only slowed us down marginally.

The Furtado surprised us time and time again, eating up terrain we thought much more suited to a longer travel offering. On long, steep descents however, it became a little challenging to make sure the bike was going to stay true to the line we had picked and not pinball us off into the scrub. With some stiffer stanchions or a bit more travel this may not have been the case. Despite our challenges up front, the rear of the bike never complained and was more than happy to suck up the trail below. It was during these longer, rougher descents that we were often left dropping our chain which was a little frustrating. The Shimano XT brakes performed just fine, we had lots of control navigating into steeper features and they never felt too grabby. Eventually, riding the Furtado became like a game, and to see just what the little trail whippet could manage we raced it in a local enduro, we took it through the most technical day of the BC Bike Race in Squamish, and we packed it in the car for road trips afar. Like the friend that insists on riding features that are way above their ability level, the bike stubbornly rode scary, nasty, steep and unsuitable terrain and demonstrated far more aplomb than we ever foresaw to give it credit for.



Component Check - The Lady Bits

• Juliana Segundo Saddle: We don’t doubt the difficulty in choosing a saddle to spec for a women's bike and we can’t see everyone being happy, but for us, we actually really liked the Segundo for its medium to firm feel and its shape which wasn’t on the big and bulky side.

• Juliana Flat 680mm Bars: Unfortunately, we were not a huge fan of these bars for us they were just too narrow and hindered confidence over the front of the bike. We are glad to see that the 2015 models are coming with a wider 720mm bar.

• Juliana single sided lock-on Compact Grip : Juliana tapers their bars at the end so that smaller hands have an easier time hanging on to the compact grip system they use. We weren’t against the tapering and we could see how the choice would be a great bonus for women with smaller hands, but we don't fall into that category. We are glad to see that the 2015 models are coming with standard grips.



Pinkbike's take:


Since writing this article Juliana Bicycles has announced their 2015 range of bikes which includes multiple build options for the Furtado and two different levels of carbon fiber frames. To find out more information visit www.julianabicycles.com

Posted In:
Reviews and Tech Reviews Trail Bikes Juliana Juliana Furtado