EVOLUTION OF THE

SANTA CRUZ V10

Words by Paul Aston

Introduction

An Icon is Born :



The original V10 caused an absolute storm when it was first released in 2002. In a collaboration between Intense and Santa Cruz, the original virtual pivot patent was licensed from Outland, coined Virtual Pivot Point (VPP), and bikes were launched that would change the industry. Intense launched their M3 with a ridiculous – at the time – 9.5" / 241mm of travel, while Santa Cruz went for the full 10" / 255mm travel, receiving the historic V10 moniker.



Not only was the all-new suspension system crazy at the time, but it also had progressive geometry, a



V10 Mk1, 2002-2004 Details



Designer: Neal Saiki

Frame material: 6000 series aluminum

Wheelsize: 26"

Fork travel: 150 - 200 mm

Rear wheel travel: 255mm

Head angle: 67°

Wheelbase (Large): 1199mm

Fun fact: Rob Roskopp broke his collarbone testing one.





Charge of the Race Brigade :



2005 saw the second mark of the V10 land with a much sleeker silhouette. Peaty joined in 2006 and the Syndicate was born - arguably the most important step in the V10's history and possibly a turning point in the entire Santa Cruz tale.



The geometry was updated slightly, most importantly losing an inch off the bottom bracket height and the wheelbase. Recommended fork travel back then was 160-200mm but can you imagine running 160mm at the helm of your downhill rig?





V10 Mk2, 2005-2007 Details



Designers: Joe Graney and Dave Allen

Frame material: 6000 series aluminum, monocoque front triangle

Wheelsize: 26"

Fork travel: 160 - 200mm

Rear wheel travel: 255mm

Head angle: 67°

Wheelbase (Large): 1176mm

Fun fact: The chainstay was longer than the reach.





The Gold Years :



To the untrained eye, the Mk2 and Mk3 bikes were very similar, and this step probably saw the least change between any versions. Kinematics were updated, a more modern 25-30% sag was suggested and the travel was reduced by 1mm to 254mm.



The three-piece alloy upper link became a one-piece carbon affair, marking the start of a transition to the black stuff. The bottom bracket got lower again, the head angle was now a serious 66.5º and the rear hub was an 'industry standard' 150mm x 12mm.



2008 saw Greg Minnaar being welcomed to the Syndicate and immediately winning the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup overall. A young Rat was now on board too, and he won the UCI Junior





V10 Mk3, 2007-2010 Details



Designer: Dave Allen

Frame material: 6000 series aluminum, monocoque front triangle, carbon linkage

Wheelsize: 26"

Fork travel: 180 - 200mm

Rear wheel travel: 254mm

Head angle: 66.5°

Wheelbase (Large): 1184mm

Fun facts: Made at Sapa in Portland Oregon. The monocoque front triangle is responsible for Dave Allen's missing hair. Longer reach front triangles were welded up for Peaty at the factory in Santa Cruz.





Black Beauty :



The Mk4 used an all carbon fiber front triangle which produced a svelte and sleek racing machine. This bike was a sight to behold, and one of the first modern DH bikes to have a reliable carbon structure.



The Mk4 also made a huge bound in terms of geometry: the head angle could be set a full 3.5º slacker than its predecessor at a now-normal 63º, the bottom bracket could also be lowered to 14", there was an XL size added and the bike could now be run with 216mm or 254mm travel.



Despite the revolution that had taken place with the bike, the 2011 season was very quiet for the Syndicate with Minnaar bagging wins in La Bresse and Fort William in 2011, a solid achievement but not what was expected from the powerhouse team.

V10 Mk4, 2011-2012 Details



Designer: Nick Anderson

Frame material: Carbon front and aluminum rear triangles

Wheelsize: 26"

Fork travel: 200mm

Rear wheel travel: 216 - 254mm

Head angle: 63 - 67°

Wheelbase (Large): 1184 - 1217mm

Fun facts: One of the first production carbon DH bikes. Partnered with Enve to make prototype carbon swingarms for the 2010 race season. The tooling was machined at the Santa Cruz factory and Enve molded the swingarms.





Makeover Time :



I don't think many will argue when I say that some of the early incarnations of the V10 verged heavily on the side of the beast rather than beauty. The 2013 model was a complete carbon-fiber affair and Santa Cruz really used this material to their advantage to create a sleek bike that had a form that flowed almost seamlessly whichever way you looked at it. It was almost organic in nature, where the original was clearly a human-made monster.



Nothing much had changed from the Mk4, just a sleeker silhouette and attention to details cared for.



2013 saw the Syndicate back to a full charge, with Minnaar taking another World Championship gold and another home victory, along with the World Cup Series overall. 2014 saw Minnaar continue at the top of his game, and the talented Bryceland finally

V10 Mk5, 2013-2014 Details



Designer: Nick Anderson

Frame material: Carbon

Wheelsize: 26"

Fork travel: 200mm

Rear wheel travel: 216 - 254mm

Head angle: 64 - 65°

Wheelbase (Large): 1196 - 1222mm

Fun facts: Josh Bryceland was the last person on 26-inch wheels to win a DH world cup with this bike at Leogang in 2014. Same front end as Mk4 but lighter lay-up and a production carbon swingarm. Probably the lightest production DH bike ever made. Better tires, bigger wheels, better shocks and forks have all increased speed and added weight and strength since then.





Wheelie Bigger :



Bryceland was the last man to win a World Cup on 26" wheels, but the big wheel ball had started rolling and Santa Cruz had to jump on the bandwagon. The Mk6 came with 27.5" wheels and the adjustable travel option was removed, with it being set at 216mm.



The frame was beefed up and the tube profiles were much bigger all around, which is the direction the wheels also quickly went in. The Syndicate rode the 27.5" bike in '15 and '16 but the following off-season saw some major changes. Greg Minnaar and his mechanic had been pushing for those few seasons to get bigger frames for the tall South African. It was

V10 Mk6, 2015 - 2018 Details



Designer: Nick Anderson

Frame material: Carbon C or CC

Wheelsize: 27.5"

Fork travel: 200mm

Rear wheel travel: 216mm

Head angle: 63.5°

Wheelbase (Large): 1220mm

Fun facts: Josh Bryceland finished 2014 season on this bike and won the Overall the World Cup title. He also broke his ankle overshooting a jump at the 2014 World Championships.





Mk7 Stunner :



2019. The seventh edition of the V10 popped up in Fort William during 2018. An all-new bike dedicated to 29" wheels. We weren't really sure of any numbers, but it looked the part, even if some people didn't like the curved underbelly of the bike.



Recently, we were treated to the full details of the V10 that aims to be the best yet. With a total of six frame sizes across 27.5" and 29" versions, separate molds and layups for the wheel sizes respectively, and changing chainstay lengths to give a better balance for each size. The sizing is also the widest to date and should be able to accommodate nearly all sizes of rider, with 410mm to 492mm of reach. The details have also been accounted for, with integrated fork bumpers, downtube protection

V10 Mk7 2019+ Details



Designers: Nick Anderson and Jack Russell

Frame material: Carbon

Wheelsize: 27.5 and 29"

Fork travel: 200mm

Rear wheel travel: 215mm

Head angle: 63.3°

Wheelbase (Large 29"): 1289mm

Fun facts: 2017 prototype was the first 29" DH bike raced at a World Cup. This project wasn't actually that fun. The bike was mostly designed over the Christmas break by Jack and Nick almost exactly a year ago in order to have it ready for the 2018 WC season.







The 27.5" version of the Mk7



2019 sees the Mk7 in full production, and we're eager to see how Santa Cruz, and the Syndicate, continue to develop and take titles with this legendary platform.

The V10 is Santa Cruz's flagship racing weapon, and a staple of World Cup downhill history up to this day. After seventeen years and seven iterations, the storied chassis has numerous World Cup race wins under its belt and four World Championships, thanks to Minnaar in 2012 and 2013, Peaty in 2009 and Bryceland as a junior in 2008. Along with an incalculable palmares worldwide, the V10 has been between the legs of a mass of legendary pinners: Crawford Carrick Anderson, Greg Minnaar, Steve Peat and Josh Bryceland. More recently, Luca Shaw and Loris Vergier have taken the latest V10 to the forefront of the race circuit, with lots of time left in their careers to achieve much more.floating brake arm, and probably weighed an imperial and metric shit-tonne.You think the industry is pushing new standards on us all the time? Well, looking back at the original V10 it's a bit easier to understand: the original V10 has a tiny little 1-1/8th head tube, a custom-sized Hadley 140 x 15mm rear hubs, and 26" wheels. The geometry looks dated as well, but back then it was cutting edge: 67° head angle, 15.7″ / 399mm BB height (albeit with 40% of the 255mm travel recommended as sag), a 47.2″ / 1199mm wheelbase (Large), and 17.5″ / 445mm chainstays.Notable pinners upon the bike in this era were Crawford Carrick Anderson, and Radek Burkat , our very own Pinkbike founder.The formative years of the Syndicate included legends like Nathan Rennie, Jamie Goldman, and John Waddell alongside Steve Peat.Downhill World Championships and gave Santa Cruz their first taste of gold. The following year saw one of the most iconic race wins in history, with Steve Peat finally won that dammed gold medal in Canberra, 2009. This was a race that he was never expected to win, with a smooth pedal BMX-like track where racers were doing everything they could for speed: riding trail and enduro bikes, slick tires, cutting off parts of their pedals to save weight and not wearing knee pads for the final. Peaty just rode the big-rig in full knee and shin pads to take the win.2012 was also fairly quiet, except when Minnaar took victory on home soil in Pietermaritzburg in March, but then added another chunk of gold to the V10 vault when he won another World Championship in Leogang.come into his element. Josh took to the podium multiple times, managing a 3rd, two 2nd places and two 1st places at the UCI World Cup and took home the overall series win. Many of us remember what happened next on that fateful day in Hafjell. Clearly up on time with a flow nobody else took to that track, Josh headed for a World Championship win. Pressing the full send button over the last bridge jump saw a huge flat landing and a blown-off foot that was barely attached to his leg as he crossed the finish line 0.47 seconds from the win – this unfortunate day marked the pinnacle of his career and ultimately the start of his retreat from downhill racing.around this time that we finally had 29er trail bikes that handled well, instead of bikes that had been squashed to hit the magical number on geometry charts. With that faff over and done with, and much stronger wheels and tires available, the Syndicate set about a secret mission to bring a real big-rig to the start line in Lourdes, 2017.A winter of confidence-building testing with swingarm mules added to existing front triangles ensued. The team, now consisting of Minnaar, Vergier, and Shaw was ready for battle. A few carbon swingarms landed just in time for Lourdes, and the pits were mostly s***ing themselves when the freshly-formed team qualified 1st, 3rd and 6th. Rain adjusted the true course of that race, but enough had been done to cause mass-panic for other teams as the scramble started to bodge big-wheelers together ready for Fort William five weeks later.for rocks and shuttle truck damage, an integrated shock mudguard and ribbed chainstay protector.Minnaar put himself out of contention to prove the new V10 after breaking his arm, but Luca Shaw and Loris Vergier stepped up to the task. The Qualifying King, Luca, never sealed any deals, but teammate Vergier managed to give the prototype its maiden win in Vallnord.