Santa Cruz 5010 – All New For 2019

While the Bronson is dramatically different, the 130mm travel 5010, and its Juliana stablemate, the Furtado, don’t look that different in silhouette from what went before. However, a whole lot has changed from the previous two iterations.

While not changing travel for next year, the whole bike has been beefed up and stiffened up. The swingarm now has two upright supports to properly box in the rear triangle, along with a much wider, stiffer (threaded) BB area. There’s no longer a facility for front mechs, this bike is one-by only. As with the Bronson, the bike is longer (+15mm reach), the head angle is 0.5° slacker (to 66.2° on the slacker setting) and the seat angle steepens a touch to 65°. There is a ‘flip chip’ that alters head angle slightly (by 0.3°) but its main job is to lower the BB height if you’re running bigger tyres – and it’ll take tyres up to 2.8in, though Santa Cruz will be speccing (optional) 2.6in tyres for a less dramatic plus tyre experience. (’27 Plump’ it is calling the 2.6 size – something we refer to here as ‘British Plus’.

 

In order to show that it’s not just a cross country bike, the 5010 comes with a Fox piggyback shock on all but the bottom spec. Travel remains at 130mm. Frame sizes will be offered in XS to XL sizes, with XS to Medium in the Juliana Furtado model.

The lower link pocket has been widened, thanks to a lack of front mech provision. There’s space for a bottle cage, with a second under the downtube. Weight for the CC frame with Fox DPX2 shock is a round 2.5kg on the nose.

 

And even though the Juliana Furtado is the same price and geometry as the 5010, it bears a quick look – especially as it has a great colour. With the only differences being a lighter shock tune and saddle/grips, we’d recommend looking at the Furtado too, especially if you’re a lighter or smaller rider.

 

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