EVOLUTION OF THE
SANTA CRUZ V10
Words by Paul Aston IntroductionThe V10 is Santa Cruz's flagship racing weapon, and a staple of World Cup downhill history up to this day. After seventeen years and seven iterations, the storied chassis has numerous World Cup race wins under its belt and four World Championships, thanks to Minnaar in 2012 and 2013, Peaty in 2009 and Bryceland as a junior in 2008. Along with an incalculable palmares worldwide, the V10 has been between the legs of a mass of legendary pinners: Crawford Carrick Anderson, Greg Minnaar, Steve Peat and Josh Bryceland. More recently, Luca Shaw and Loris Vergier have taken the latest V10 to the forefront of the race circuit, with lots of time left in their careers to achieve much more.
An Icon is Born:
The original V10 caused an absolute storm when it was first released in 2002. In a collaboration between Intense and Santa Cruz, the original virtual pivot patent was licensed from Outland, coined Virtual Pivot Point (VPP), and bikes were launched that would change the industry. Intense launched their M3 with a ridiculous – at the time – 9.5" / 241mm of travel, while Santa Cruz went for the full 10" / 255mm travel, receiving the historic V10 moniker.
Not only was the all-new suspension system crazy at the time, but it also had progressive geometry, a
V10 Mk1, 2002-2004 Details
Designer: Neal Saiki
Frame material: 6000 series aluminum
Wheelsize: 26"
Fork travel: 150 - 200 mm
Rear wheel travel: 255mm
Head angle: 67°
Wheelbase (Large): 1199mm
Fun fact: Rob Roskopp broke his collarbone testing one.
floating brake arm, and probably weighed an imperial and metric shit-tonne.
You think the industry is pushing new standards on us all the time? Well, looking back at the original V10 it's a bit easier to understand: the original V10 has a tiny little 1-1/8th head tube, a custom-sized Hadley 140 x 15mm rear hubs, and 26" wheels. The geometry looks dated as well, but back then it was cutting edge: 67° head angle, 15.7″ / 399mm BB height (albeit with 40% of the 255mm travel recommended as sag), a 47.2″ / 1199mm wheelbase (Large), and 17.5″ / 445mm chainstays.
Notable pinners upon the bike in this era were Crawford Carrick Anderson, and
Radek Burkat, our very own Pinkbike founder.
Charge of the Race Brigade:
2005 saw the second mark of the V10 land with a much sleeker silhouette. Peaty joined in 2006 and the Syndicate was born - arguably the most important step in the V10's history and possibly a turning point in the entire Santa Cruz tale.
The geometry was updated slightly, most importantly losing an inch off the bottom bracket height and the wheelbase. Recommended fork travel back then was 160-200mm but can you imagine running 160mm at the helm of your downhill rig?
V10 Mk2, 2005-2007 Details
Designers: Joe Graney and Dave Allen
Frame material: 6000 series aluminum, monocoque front triangle
Wheelsize: 26"
Fork travel: 160 - 200mm
Rear wheel travel: 255mm
Head angle: 67°
Wheelbase (Large): 1176mm
Fun fact: The chainstay was longer than the reach.
The formative years of the Syndicate included legends like Nathan Rennie, Jamie Goldman, and John Waddell alongside Steve Peat.
The Gold Years:
To the untrained eye, the Mk2 and Mk3 bikes were very similar, and this step probably saw the least change between any versions. Kinematics were updated, a more modern 25-30% sag was suggested and the travel was reduced by 1mm to 254mm.
The three-piece alloy upper link became a one-piece carbon affair, marking the start of a transition to the black stuff. The bottom bracket got lower again, the head angle was now a serious 66.5º and the rear hub was an 'industry standard' 150mm x 12mm.
2008 saw Greg Minnaar being welcomed to the Syndicate and immediately winning the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup overall. A young Rat was now on board too, and he won the UCI Junior
V10 Mk3, 2007-2010 Details
Designer: Dave Allen
Frame material: 6000 series aluminum, monocoque front triangle, carbon linkage
Wheelsize: 26"
Fork travel: 180 - 200mm
Rear wheel travel: 254mm
Head angle: 66.5°
Wheelbase (Large): 1184mm
Fun facts: Made at Sapa in Portland Oregon. The monocoque front triangle is responsible for Dave Allen's missing hair. Longer reach front triangles were welded up for Peaty at the factory in Santa Cruz.
Downhill World Championships and gave Santa Cruz their first taste of gold. The following year saw one of the most iconic race wins in history, with Steve Peat finally won that dammed gold medal in Canberra, 2009. This was a race that he was never expected to win, with a smooth pedal BMX-like track where racers were doing everything they could for speed: riding trail and enduro bikes, slick tires, cutting off parts of their pedals to save weight and not wearing knee pads for the final. Peaty just rode the big-rig in full knee and shin pads to take the win.
Black Beauty:
The Mk4 used an all carbon fiber front triangle which produced a svelte and sleek racing machine. This bike was a sight to behold, and one of the first modern DH bikes to have a reliable carbon structure.
The Mk4 also made a huge bound in terms of geometry: the head angle could be set a full 3.5º slacker than its predecessor at a now-normal 63º, the bottom bracket could also be lowered to 14", there was an XL size added and the bike could now be run with 216mm or 254mm travel.
Despite the revolution that had taken place with the bike, the 2011 season was very quiet for the Syndicate with Minnaar bagging wins in La Bresse and Fort William in 2011, a solid achievement but not what was expected from the powerhouse team.
V10 Mk4, 2011-2012 Details
Designer: Nick Anderson
Frame material: Carbon front and aluminum rear triangles
Wheelsize: 26"
Fork travel: 200mm
Rear wheel travel: 216 - 254mm
Head angle: 63 - 67°
Wheelbase (Large): 1184 - 1217mm
Fun facts: One of the first production carbon DH bikes. Partnered with Enve to make prototype carbon swingarms for the 2010 race season. The tooling was machined at the Santa Cruz factory and Enve molded the swingarms.
2012 was also fairly quiet, except when Minnaar took victory on home soil in Pietermaritzburg in March, but then added another chunk of gold to the V10 vault when he won another World Championship in Leogang.
Makeover Time:
I don't think many will argue when I say that some of the early incarnations of the V10 verged heavily on the side of the beast rather than beauty. The 2013 model was a complete carbon-fiber affair and Santa Cruz really used this material to their advantage to create a sleek bike that had a form that flowed almost seamlessly whichever way you looked at it. It was almost organic in nature, where the original was clearly a human-made monster.
Nothing much had changed from the Mk4, just a sleeker silhouette and attention to details cared for.
2013 saw the Syndicate back to a full charge, with Minnaar taking another World Championship gold and another home victory, along with the World Cup Series overall. 2014 saw Minnaar continue at the top of his game, and the talented Bryceland finally
V10 Mk5, 2013-2014 Details
Designer: Nick Anderson
Frame material: Carbon
Wheelsize: 26"
Fork travel: 200mm
Rear wheel travel: 216 - 254mm
Head angle: 64 - 65°
Wheelbase (Large): 1196 - 1222mm
Fun facts: Josh Bryceland was the last person on 26-inch wheels to win a DH world cup with this bike at Leogang in 2014. Same front end as Mk4 but lighter lay-up and a production carbon swingarm. Probably the lightest production DH bike ever made. Better tires, bigger wheels, better shocks and forks have all increased speed and added weight and strength since then.
come into his element. Josh took to the podium multiple times, managing a 3rd, two 2nd places and two 1st places at the UCI World Cup and took home the overall series win. Many of us remember what happened next on that fateful day in Hafjell. Clearly up on time with a flow nobody else took to that track, Josh headed for a World Championship win. Pressing the full send button over the last bridge jump saw a huge flat landing and a blown-off foot that was barely attached to his leg as he crossed the finish line 0.47 seconds from the win – this unfortunate day marked the pinnacle of his career and ultimately the start of his retreat from downhill racing.
Wheelie Bigger:
Bryceland was the last man to win a World Cup on 26" wheels, but the big wheel ball had started rolling and Santa Cruz had to jump on the bandwagon. The Mk6 came with 27.5" wheels and the adjustable travel option was removed, with it being set at 216mm.
The frame was beefed up and the tube profiles were much bigger all around, which is the direction the wheels also quickly went in. The Syndicate rode the 27.5" bike in '15 and '16 but the following off-season saw some major changes. Greg Minnaar and his mechanic had been pushing for those few seasons to get bigger frames for the tall South African. It was
V10 Mk6, 2015 - 2018 Details
Designer: Nick Anderson
Frame material: Carbon C or CC
Wheelsize: 27.5"
Fork travel: 200mm
Rear wheel travel: 216mm
Head angle: 63.5°
Wheelbase (Large): 1220mm
Fun facts: Josh Bryceland finished 2014 season on this bike and won the Overall the World Cup title. He also broke his ankle overshooting a jump at the 2014 World Championships.
around this time that we finally had 29er trail bikes that handled well, instead of bikes that had been squashed to hit the magical number on geometry charts. With that faff over and done with, and much stronger wheels and tires available, the Syndicate set about a secret mission to bring a real big-rig to the start line in Lourdes, 2017.
A winter of confidence-building testing with swingarm mules added to existing front triangles ensued. The team, now consisting of Minnaar, Vergier, and Shaw was ready for battle. A few carbon swingarms landed just in time for Lourdes, and the pits were mostly s***ing themselves when the freshly-formed team qualified 1st, 3rd and 6th. Rain adjusted the true course of that race, but enough had been done to cause mass-panic for other teams as the scramble started to bodge big-wheelers together ready for Fort William five weeks later.
Mk7 Stunner:
2019. The seventh edition of the V10 popped up in Fort William during 2018. An all-new bike dedicated to 29" wheels. We weren't really sure of any numbers, but it looked the part, even if some people didn't like the curved underbelly of the bike.
Recently, we were treated to the full details of the V10 that aims to be the best yet. With a total of six frame sizes across 27.5" and 29" versions, separate molds and layups for the wheel sizes respectively, and changing chainstay lengths to give a better balance for each size. The sizing is also the widest to date and should be able to accommodate nearly all sizes of rider, with 410mm to 492mm of reach. The details have also been accounted for, with integrated fork bumpers, downtube protection
V10 Mk7 2019+ Details
Designers: Nick Anderson and Jack Russell
Frame material: Carbon
Wheelsize: 27.5 and 29"
Fork travel: 200mm
Rear wheel travel: 215mm
Head angle: 63.3°
Wheelbase (Large 29"): 1289mm
Fun facts: 2017 prototype was the first 29" DH bike raced at a World Cup. This project wasn't actually that fun. The bike was mostly designed over the Christmas break by Jack and Nick almost exactly a year ago in order to have it ready for the 2018 WC season.
for rocks and shuttle truck damage, an integrated shock mudguard and ribbed chainstay protector.
Minnaar put himself out of contention to prove the new V10 after breaking his arm, but Luca Shaw and Loris Vergier stepped up to the task. The Qualifying King, Luca, never sealed any deals, but teammate Vergier managed to give the prototype its maiden win in Vallnord.
2019 sees the Mk7 in full production, and we're eager to see how Santa Cruz, and the Syndicate, continue to develop and take titles with this legendary platform.
Except the rear end would constantly crack went through like 3 of em before they were out of stock and i was SOL.
warranty was poop.
Ha ha.
Still bitter about that .
ep1.pinkbike.org/p4pb70220/p4pb70220.jpg
First of all, I find it disappointing that you only mention Johnny Waddell as a footnote on the initial Syndicate team, but you do mention Crawford Carrick-Anderson and... Radek Burkat, because he is a founder of Pinkbike??? I know you're a Brit and I love Crawford, and although he raced World Cups he was mostly known in the UK scene, but not worldwide and not on a V10, since he rode for Giant UK most of his life, so rather ATX-DH's and DH-Team's for him. And how the hell is Radek Burkat relevant for the V10.1, because I have no clue?
Johnny is worth more than a mention, though. He was on Derin Stockton Intense Tire Systems team together with fellow aussie Joel Panozzo, a team that was the first to race (and probably develop) the first iteration of the V10. He was an up and coming rider, had great result, got a Red Bull sponsorship, but unfortunately was taken out but that horrific crash in Mont Sainte Anne in 2004. Not only that he teleported himself into a coma and ended his DH racing career abruptly, but dude had to learn how to freaking walk again! Santa Cruz were luckily c̶o̶o̶l̶ human enough to fully support him while he was recovering (which also says a lot about their character as a company) and even offered him an XC spot on the initial Syndicate team. As far as I know, Johnny rode XC back in Australia to some success and is a great comeback story.
Long story short: Waddell and Panozzo are much more relevant to the V10 than good guy Crawford and the founder of this site.
Also, the first V10 was rather contemporary with the last incarnation of the M1, not the M3. The M3 became available for customers in 2005, but it was raced to World Champ stripes by Vanessa Quin in Les Gets 2004. So there's a good 2-3 year gap between the V10.1 and the M3.
Have a good day, cheers!
(Unless Jonny spawned Randy?!?!?)
I can't find any results from Waddel racing for Syndicate, I could only find that he was injured in MSA in 2003, the Syndicate formed in 2006 and I believe he was on the team but not competing? I don't know when CCA joined Santa Cruz, but if he joined in 2002 when the first V10 was made, he would have raced 11x WC/Champs on a V10. If Waddel also had the V10 from 2002, he would have raced four times, his fifth was the day he got injured, unfortunately.
Waddel and CCA raced against each other 8-times, Waddel was the victor of 5 of these, but the total race time showed only six seconds between them - basically equal.
CCA raced 38 World Cup and some Championships with three top tens.
Waddel raced 15, best results being 5x top tens with 2x 5th places.
Waddel's career cut short by a terrible injury, Anderson was deaf. - Overall, I would say they are equally legendary.
I mentioned Radek because it was funny to click the link to see Radek the giant riding such a tiny bike, it was one of the first pictures on PB and they actually had a small race team back then. Radek is also the dude that means you get to read all of this stuff for free!
Waddell was a top 20 guy at the time. He was known to everyone in racing then and now. He only lost relevance in racing due to that accident. At any rate, welcome to the sport, apparently....
youtu.be/lYAJEdLIVDQ?t=529
This was as close as possible to a factory squad, before the Syndicate was even an idea. CCA is awesome in his own respect, but a local sponsored rider who did World Cups too, not a factory rider by any chance. Johnny was seen as a big hope back then, validated by Red Bull, as I mentioned, but everything changed with that crash. So he definitely is worth mentioning in full light.
Maybe you don't like my comment, but I think that the passion for MTB and correct info is what we have or should have in common, so you shouldn't mind discussions on such details.
Otherwise, I respect what Radek did with Pinkbike, but he still shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as professional DH racers, probably more as a ”BTW, fun fact”. Or is the color commentator of the Chicago Bulls on the same level as Michael Jordan?
Anyway, thanks for the reply! I will look into a stash of mags to dig up some info about the SunRace/Santa Cruz team and the ITS team, because I am just a bit curious about them and I guess few remember them. Oh, BTW, you mentioned WC results, probably compared on Roots & Rain, but bear in mind that back then NORBA was important too and some racing was done on those shores.
Cheers!
So, show some respect, kids. Also, relax. We're talking about mountain bikes here.
Eh, no.
You've not made any corrections here. You've expressed a different opinion.
Sorry for my delayed response btw, I went for a ride after cashing my old age pension cheque and then got lost in Matlock reruns.
Did you read all the text?
And Stumpy is right about CCA. If you don't follow the British scene, you have no clue about him. This is an international site. These talks are good because we exchange information and learn things. For instance, I learned today that after riding for Giant in his younger years, CCA then switched to Santa Cruz and kept riding their bikes to this day, which is pretty awesome. So I guess it's all positive.
I think the current V10 with its bent down tube just looks a little broken.
I am not saying that I would not love to have one (well, that is if its better than the V10.5)
Under Mk6 2015-2018 you say:
"Fun facts: Josh Bryceland finished 2014 season on this bike and won the Overall the World Cup title. He also broke his ankle overshooting a jump at the 2014 World Championships."
I think it was ment to be under Mk5.
Interesting article, good to see how tech progresses.
Ciekawe dokąd to będzie dalej zmierzało. Niemniej jednak zmiany są zrozumiałe - rama przeszła z Freeride'u na Downhill i to tu ma się przede wszystkim sprawdzić. Cóż. Odczucia ambiwalentne są
I then counted some Cannondale / Intense M1 / and GT’s under winners
Weirdly trying to find a definitive list of all WC winners is almost impossible
Except this, I loved that report. I would really like to see one about the evolution of the Rocky Mountain Slayer...
JP
He explained that it was funny to see the photo in the link.
"Otherwise, I respect what Radek did with Pinkbike, but he still shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as professional DH racers"
Exactly why shouldnt he be mentioned in the same breath? Says who? A ridiculous thing to say.
"but I think that the passion for MTB and correct info is what we have or should have in common"
Theres not really any incorrect info in the article?
Maybe you should use your passion and start writing articles for pinkbike? Instead of arguing about racers from nearly 20 years ago getting shout outs in articles.
Lets see you write your own unbiased article.
1. Whoever writes articles which are accessible to the public on the internet must take responsibility for what they write. It is not forbidden for the audience to criticize or to point out mistakes and authors should probably not be upset when this happens. As you may have noticed, Paul replied to my comment and we basically talked things out. It's what normal people do. I wrote my comment because I have read Paul's pieces throughout the years, I think he does a good job and I hold him to a high(er) journalistic standard. To me, knowing the history of MTB racing very well since the early 90's until now, this article is insufficiently researched and I still believe he could've done a better job regarding the early years of the V10, but we made this a bigger problem than it actually is.
2. It is not a ”different opinion”, like you state in a comment above, that the initial SunRace/Santa Cruz team respectively the ITS team were what they were. Those are historic FACTS, easy to prove by rankings, photos, articles and other media and not mentioning them is a mistake by omission. However, it IS a personal opinion that the founder of this site doesn't belong to the group of important individuals who rode said bike, other than an inner joke, which I understood after explained by Paul. No, I have no obsession about this what-so-ever, but I also don't consider that if Pinkbike is free and nice and we have accounts here we also owe the founders of this site virtual statues and eternal gratitude. In fact, I believe they don't think about us this way either. It is my opinion that WC racers are one and media people another and I stand by it. If you don't agree, no problem.
3. I am actually using my passion to document MTB and the racing scene since many years now, it just happens that I don't do it in English. Below you will find links to the only three articles I have published in English. They happen to be from the most recent World Championships and we did them in English to experiment with a broader audience. Please keep in mind that I have been volunteering as a World Cup journalist for our local scene since 2002 and I have always done it on my own expense and never had someone financing me in this regard. All the costs for the editorial work I have done have been covered by my own private pockets. Since you mentioned ”passion”... It has never crossed my mind to write for Pinkbike and I believe trying would be futile, since they already have a good staff who does an excellent job. I could do a piece about the V10.1 and the SC teams that I mentioned, after I finish my research on them, but it would be pretty useless, as I don't think there is a big enough audience for that a.k.a. no one would care and I won't do it just to prove a point in a comment here. Here are the links; bear in mind that English is not my native tongue, so there could be some mistakes here and there, as they were written in the media room at Lenzerheide on a rather tight schedule:
www.dirtbike.ro/mag/lenzerheide-mtb-worlds-2018-walking-on-sunshine-for-now
www.dirtbike.ro/mag/lenzerheide-mtb-worlds-2018-time-for-some-action
www.dirtbike.ro/mag/lenzerheide-mtb-worlds-2018-tasting-the-grand-finale
If you have any other questions and/or criticism, feel free to write to me. Cheers!
Neale1978: I know, you’re gonna make some juvenile, asinine comment about my comment. Spare yourself the embarrassment and just not do it (to other pinkbikians: Neal doesn’t like me and has trolled all of my posts for the last few days and throws a hissy for because I continue to humiliate him in addition to humiliating himself. Pay no mind.
"Monster-trucking over everything"
Those Santa Cruz pro deals are sweet eh?