2008 Santa Cruz Bikes

With the bicycle industry trade shows in Europe and the USA right around the corner, manufacturers are taking the wraps off their 2008 models. The folks at Santa Cruz bikes gave Dirt Rag the skinny on the latest and greatest from the NorCal purveyor of pedal power.

The Stigmata is an all-new cyclocross offering from Santa Cruz. The Stigmata’s frame, which features Easton’s new EA6X tubing, tips the scales at 1300grams (for a 54cm frame, with powdercoat). Santa Cruz tells us that the race-oriented design has a low BB, tight geometry, and tons of tire clearance (and neither rack nor fender braze-ons). Planned availability is October 2007.

The Chameleon, SC’s rock solid aluminum alloy hardtail that is built tough enough to handle the loads of 160mm forks, gets a new hydroformed top tube for 2008. The 2008 Chameleon also sports an ultra-light eccentric BB and vertical dropouts, for easy wheel removal and disc brake use, in either singlespeed or geared mode. The frame features a replaceable derailleur hanger that SC developed originally for the Heckler. Santa Cruz is expecting to deliver the Chameleon by the end of September.

Santa Cruz has made some tweaks on their downhill-racing V-10 platform, including a redesign of the aluminum frame sections and a carbon fiber upper link, which shaves almost two pounds and offers lower standover, compared to last year’s model. Santa Cruz says that the suspension has been revised to sit higher in its travel for a livelier ride, resulting in a lighter, tighter package with 254mm of rear wheel travel and razor sharp handling. Look for the new V-10 to hit the streets by the end of November.