Santa Cruz Stigmata

After some thinking, I can’t justify replacing my FS MTB so now I’m thinking of getting rid of my Trek hardtail that I use for local stuff and my Specialized Roubaix and replacing them with a gravel bike and keeping my current FS for bigger trips.

Looking at a frame only as I can swap most things over from the Specialized Roubaix and then probably sell the frame and fork. The Stigmata looks ideal as I don’t need tons of fixings as I have zero interest in bike packing and I’m not willing to pay £4500 for an S Works diverge though I did like my old DSW Diverge.

Anyone got a Stigmata or can recommend something similar.

Mrs kilo has the female equivalent, which iirc is the same frame but with the option of smaller sizes. She really likes it and there’s been no issues with it. She bought it as a full build so running700x40 that came on it.

However she bought it as a second bike to her ibis Cx bike, mainly because she couldn’t get a demo nor a delivery date on the new ibis hakalugi (sp?) in a small size, and she still says the ibis is her favourite bike ever and prefers it to the Juliana and prefers the x2 at the front. Her ibis is an older version so very much Cx focused and can’t take a 40c tyre at the back. The newer ibis is more versatile so might be worth a look.

All the while Mrs kilo has been on expensive bikes I’ve been doing the same stuff on a PX xls and that’s been fine and considerably cheaper 🙂

Never considered the Ibis I’ll try to have a look at one. Yes, the Stigmata and the Juliana Quincy are the same apart from colour and decal name (actually prefer the Quincy colour)

Unfortunately, a bad customer experience once from PX has put me off owning one ever again.

I see the ibis Hakka has the trademark ibis fist cable hanger on the rear stay, which is a nice, if redundant, touch

Last year I almost bought a Stigmata but went for a Vitue Energie Evo instead. It’s a very similar frame (light, fast, no additionl bike-packing gubbins), although complete builds only. I’m really happy with it. Complete bike didn’t cost much more than Stiggy frame only.

I’m tempted to a Stigmata too. Looking at a Stigmata and the Open Wide (or maybe the Up, but the Wide looks a better option). Anyone got experience of either?

I have a 2017. The USP for me was that the biggest size was bigger than any of the other snazzy alternatives (esp. stack), and seems like it still is. E.g Aspero, Open up etc.

Another attraction was Santa Cruz’ good rep for customer service. I’ve only had to call upon that once, when they sent me a new metal chain suck protector after the old one fell off and was lost.

I think it’s great, I use it with different wheels on the road too. If anything happened to it I’d buy it again… though I might wait to see next year’s colours!

I had a 2020.

Great bike. Light (lighter than my Ti road bike), agile and well made, plus as others have mentioned, Santa Cruz have a good reputation for looking after their customers.

I don’t have a bad word to say about mine. I only ended up selling it fund our house refurbishment. The only downside which is purely subjective is that it is a little heavy looking around the headtube junction with the downtube where it is oversized compared to some more traditional looking headtubes, but that would really be nitpicking and I guess it adds vital strength. I am also not a big fan of dropped seat stays below the intersection of the top tube, but again I think that adds a little comfort.

I ran both 700c and 650b wheels and without a doubt I would stick to 700c. It felt sluggish on 650b wheels.

Now, the real question here is whether I would replace a hardtail with a gravel bike. The clear answer is no. Gravel bikes definitely have their place as road/off-road hybrids, but for pure off-roading a mountain bike wins every time.

@nickb – I’ve an Open Wi.De for sale in the classifieds if of any interest ? Medium – drop me a message if it is

I’ve looked at the OPEN but keep coming back to the Stigmata it’s just the colour holding me back, lilac 🤮 I’ve experienced Santa Cruz warranty a few years ago and have nothing but praise for them in that department. Would love to know what the 2023 colours will be.

As mentioned it’s to replace a hardtail and road bike, I’ll still have my Carbon Stumpjumper FSR for proper mountain biking.