I don't know about that....they make 13 bikes and 3 ebikes. I recently bought a heavily discounted Santa Cruz and hey ho it's like a bicycle but nicer. I've had Norco, Transition, Kona and a couple of German brands before and the Santa Cruz just feels and looks much more premium, rides really well too.
As for the Yetis , i have looked at the sb140 and 150 but living up north where bikes get dirty the infinity link is a problem and are the reports for verious LBSs about rather flimsy rear triangles .. I will stick with what I know and works . Some massive savings at Stiff if anyones looking .. prices are about that same as a mid range Whyte ..
I always thought Santa Cruz full builds were there because they had to have them but that nobody really bought them as most were sold frame only and built.
I went frame only on my Hightower a few years ago. I’m not a dentist. The frame from sigma was cheaper than a privateer by way of a comparison.
Santa Cruz might be expensive but they still seem to be a fair chunk cheaper than the equivalent Orange and look a whole lot better too!
They lost quite a bit in the CRC crash. Looked like they offloaded build kits (remember those fox forks with odd decal kits) and never got the money back
The discounts on some year and a half old builds are incredible. Especially the 5010. Assume they have massive overstock (most sizes available) and almost no market like everyone else.
dc1988Full Member
I used to see them everywhere at my local trails just a few years ago, they were definitely the brand to have. Now everyone is riding ebikes, but none of them are Santa Cruz.
I take it you don’t ride in Surrey hills on a sunny Sunday morning 😉 there are loads of Santa Cruz e-bikes!
Santa Cruz might be expensive but they still seem to be a fair chunk cheaper than the equivalent Orange and look a whole lot better too!
Really? What are you comparing? Hightower C seems similar if not more expensive compared to the Stage 6 Evo.
Mentioned before that I used to like the look of Santa Cruz but they seem to make less effort now and the current head tube area looks terrible.
A thread about a change in CEO. Amazing. It's was a business with pressure from stakeholders, and... Still is.
Don't see much change happening.
Don't own a santa cruz, never have. Just a random "what now" will probably be "same as every other bike co"
But are they going to be sucked up into full commercialism now and cut their ties with niche
Lol.
Meh, I didn't know who was boss at SC before and I still don't care now. They've always been an 'aspirational' brand and that's not unique I guess.
I'd always assumed their need to keep on top of fashions (geometry and colours), maintain a solid race team presence for publicity and bait the transporter crowd (specifically by being pricey) was why they were priced higher.
There's nothing wrong with that but they've never offered an 'affordable' product (that's not their market) and their core products are MTBs, there's not much appetite for them outside of fat tyres. I think the market for aspirational bling MTBs is about to contract a bit.
So if I'd made myself a tidy sum already, and I could see the next few years will be challenging as CEO of an aspirational brand, I would be tempted to jack it in too.
Is that the shop at the bottom of the plenney? If so it’s a great shop. They have a great mechanic and go the extra mile for you. Dropped my Orange Alpine 6 in at the end of a days riding with a stiff bottom bracket - about 4.30 pm. They fixed it overnight - had to rethread the bb shell as a previous mechanic had cross threaded it and then installed a new bb. He went across town to borrow a bb threading tool from his mate at another shop. Was ready at 9.30 am the next day! Outstanding service at a reasonable €170 as I recall. Reasonable given the quality service + the “morzine tax”. Be a shame if it closes…
I'll go with ,weeksey has a sc by the end of the month.
Citing the deal was too good to turn down and the status chainstays were just too short bb too low and a one trick pony and just not what he needs right now:)
On the topic though.....if you listen to the downtime podcast done during covid he discusses this very topic. It was all preplanned although not what he wanted as such but he can't say he didn't know .
chestrockwell
Full MemberReally? What are you comparing? Hightower C seems similar if not more expensive compared to the Stage 6 Evo.
Is that comparable? I think Santa Cruz might have stopped making the alu hightower but it was £1500 less than the C, at RRP, and that's obviously the fairer comparison.
Well, I just pushed the button on a discounted Blur. Was the same price as I paid for an Orbea in 2019, a similar spec, and reportedly a couple of pounds lighter too. The favourable reports about customer service sealed the deal.
and that’s obviously the fairer comparison
The bike that doesn’t exist is the fairer comparison?
Anyway, I can’t imagine the metal bikes make any sense to Santa Cruz anymore, their Chinese Carbon bikes must be costing them less to fabricate than the metal ones these days… with people happy to pay more for them.
kelvin
Full MemberThe bike that doesn’t exist is the fairer comparison?
Can still be bought new so yeah. But even once it sells out, it shows exactly why comparing the carbon santa cruz and alu orange is unreasonable.
But if you prefer, we can just say that none of Orange's full susses compare directly to santa cruz's current range.
Is that the shop at the bottom of the plenney? <br /><br />
The one next door to the Tremplin hotel? That’s just a local shop. The SC shop (which isn’t a shop, it’s a showroom that sells a bit of merch) is elsewhere in town.
7 years into owning a 5010, absolutely love that bike, without doubt the funniest best built bike I’ve ever owned. Before that I had a Superlight for over 10 years, considering another 5010 just so I know I’m covered for a very long time
Next to all the other bike’s I’ve owned own, SC bikes are just much better engineered for the long haul, they stuck with threaded bb’s when all the other brands went pressfit, keep stocks of spares for many years, have the easiest bearings to replace on any bike I’ve worked on (and that includes oranges), free bearings for life and really solid customer support. They really are a pleasure to live with.
And sorry to upset the stereotype (which is hilarious considering the demographic of this place) , don’t work in IT / office / management
But if you prefer, we can just say that none of Orange’s full susses compare directly to santa cruz’s current range.
I was comparing the uk built aluminium Orange frame to the Far East carbon SC as the RRP's are similar. You wouldn't expect a UK built steel hard tail to cost the same as a Chinese one so why is that never extended to Orange? I guess the only other comparison would be other UK built full suss frames, which I imagine cost the same if not more?
Anyway, back to SC I imagine they'll just plug along as normal until a time they become less fashionable. They need to work on the aesthetics though as they used to be decent looking bikes.
An Orange Stage 6 will be waaaaay lighter than an aluminium SC.
Might even be lighter than the cheaper carbon one, but definitely comparable.
And the Orange is a thing of timeless beauty next to the that plastic tat 😉
