[Closed] Santa Cruz Stigmata

I have no doubt it is a fine bike and I ride SC MTBs so I appreciate the design and look of their products (always get secondhand tho). However I cannot help but think it is poor value for money when I just bought a Space Chicken with SRAM Force for £1500, and they want £3500 for one with Rival. It is also not a bike I have seen featured in any gravel bike reviews or articles so seems a bit off the radar in that particular world.

If you can afford it, go for it.

But as above I can't really see the justification for spending that much when there are so many similar bikes for so much less. I have a SC hightower so no SC hating here, but i think there is a lot more difference in MTBs in terms of geometry and suspension design than in rigid road or gravel bikes.

Looks nice though...

have 2 bikes, sell them both to buy one that does it all, realise that one bike doesn't do it all, sell bike and buy 2 bikes

One of the main reasons to buy SC instead of similarly priced carbon luxury from another brand is their excellent warranty. Other brands are also good in this respect (Trek, Giant and Scott to name a few) but others have a poor rep (Yeti, Evil although that’s improving now)

Note I said brands, not manufacturers- I suspect the majority of carbon frames are made in a few far-east factories by the same workforce.

Edit- second-hand kind of negates the warranty benefit though!

If you're anywhere near the Surrey Hills then i'm pretty sure Howard has a demo at Pedal & Spoke, probably a medium ish size at a guess as he rides it.

It's a nice looking bike - have you seen it in the flesh? That sort of money it needs to really be ringing your bell, as said above there's functionally very little in it compared to far cheaper bikes.

Mason Bokeh is a very smart looking gravel bike at a similar price - maybe worth a look? Aluminium frame though.

I use a Mk2 Stigmata for road and gravel duties, with a wheelset for each. The attractions of the Santa Cruz were a) their good customer service reputation, b) they have a broad range of sizes, their XL is a good bit bigger in stack and reach than many other brands, and c) it's just a bit special, it has the X factor, I don't have that nagging wish I'd got something different.

In hindsight I'd also say that that the mk 2 geometry is perfect for mixed use. Mk 3 geo from memory has steeper SA, slacker HA and bigger clearances which I'm sure make it more capable on technical offroad, but perhaps at the cost of a dull ride on road?

The other bike I've seen which I think would serve great double duties and certainly looks the part is the 2020 Ridley Kanzo Speed (Belgian blue).

I do like the Ibis Hakka MX, not ridden one but looks nice in flesh when saw one at Core

There is a review of one in Cyclist OffRoad #02 magazine.

I have a Stigmata in mustard yellow. It is a very comfortable and dependable bike. It is an expensive bike, even though I negotiated a discount and went for the Rival 1x build. The wheels let it down somewhat as I've found it difficult to mount tyres tubelessly on the asymmetric rims but performance wise, they just keep rolling along.

I've covered quite a distance on it so far on varied terrain, from smooth gravel tracks to eroded and gullied mountain descents.

It's probably the best bike I've owned and I will buy a set of road wheels in the future. I did a comparison test with my road bike using power pedals and for a given power over a set distance it was only marginally slower. My wife was so jealous that she went out and bought a Juliana Quincy! It is a lovely bike to own and brings me much joy.

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I came close to buying one, but in the the end decided the complete bikes were too expensive. I was looking at the Sram AXS build, but went for an OPEN W.i.d.e with same drivetrain and Hunt carbon wheels for the same price (frame was approx £650 more than the stigmata). My local SC dealer says the builds are all imported from the US so that’s why they are a bit more pricy. I think if you did a custom build you could come in a lot less.

Yeah mine was a frameset only.

The Mk2 is currently reduced to £1.5k on the Stif website.

Thanks for the feedback all.

I'm in East London so a drive round to Surrey Hills could definitely work, thanks for the tip.

Specky yours looks great, size 56?

Robowns, yes, it's a 56. I'm 6 ft tall so was between sizes. Went for the smaller because I wanted something more chuckable.

Bought mine earlier this year making the switch from true CX to Gravel, beautiful frameset, I built mine up with wheels from JRA, fantastic.

Very happy with mine but most other says it’s bloody hideous lol. Marmite and all tbat...