Danny MacAskill riding his Santa Cruz 5010 on the Isle of Skye
Santa Cruz Bicycles has been around for nearly 30 years and started out like most revolutionary companies, in a single car garage in California. Today, Santa Cruz is a multi-million-dollar company with one of the strongest brand identities and most loyal fanbase in the world. But how did this small-time dream become something that now dominates the mountain bike industry?
This week’s article will take you through the evolution of Santa Cruz Bicycles and how they changed the mountain bike world.
History of Santa Cruz Bicycles
Starting way back at the beginning, Santa Cruz Bicycles was founded in 1993 by Rob Roskopp, Mike Marquez and Rich Novak. Roskopp had spent many years as a professional skateboarder and Novak's Santa Cruz Skateboards company had put out a special "Roskopp" model before the two met. Roskopp and Novak then went into partnership together to begin the Santa Cruz Bicycles empire.
Rob Roskopp skateboarding in the 80s
The pair then soon decided to add another partner to mix; Mike Marquez. He played a key part in the creation of the first models of the Santa Cruz bikes, as he was familiar with the creation of bicycle suspension. Back in those days, full-suspension bikes were far from the norm, where all-terrain, do-it-all bikes were considered taboo. But for the founders of Santa Cruz, doing something out of the ordinary was what it was all about and together with the renowned designer, Tom Morris, the trio came up with the unique design for the Santa Cruz bike.
Only one year after the company was founded, the first bike was created, and it was named Tazmon. They managed to use the single-pivot technology to create the 80mm travel mountain bike which was the first of its kind on the market. It was followed a year later by the 100mm (3.9”) travel Heckler, a model that was discontinued for the 2016 model year and relaunched in 2020 as an e-bike.
Santa Cruz Tazmon (1994-1997)
Original Santa Cruz Heckler
In 1999, the company acquired the patents for their Virtual Pivot Point (aka "VPP") from Outland Bikes, which was a key moment for the company moving forward. As the business continued to expand and new models were being created, the trio decided to move premises in 2013, from 104 Bronson Street to 2841 Mission Street, to allow for more space for the ever-growing business.
On July 3, 2015, Santa Cruz Bicycles was sold to Pon Holdings, a family-owned Dutch conglomerate with a bicycle division including brands such as Cervélo, Focus and Royal Dutch Gazelle. This corporate decision did not hinder the company’s performance in any way. In fact, it has managed to make great sales owing to the enormous introduction of high-end bikes. One garage, one passion and a founder that was a skate-board legend; that’s the story of Santa Cruz Bicycles in a nutshell.
A Manifestation
Not a Manifesto
Santa Cruz bicycles was founded on one objective and that was to make mountain bikes that were “Simply Advanced”.
The pioneering technology used to create all Santa Cruz bikes means that they are designed to last and allows the owners to ride their bikes more. The company offers lifetime rider support, as they have been focusing on building “Quality Bikes since 1994”.
Every model is built to custom specifications by skilled bike fans who understand and appreciate the Santa Cruz products. Their obsession for quality translates to making better experiences for riders.
“We believe bikes are a force for good, so we foster responsible attitudes toward trails, our business operations, our employees and the people who ride our bikes.”
No Missed Rides
Rider Support
Santa Cruz Bicycles dedicated themselves to the mantra of building quality bikes from drawing board to assembly room. They are so confident in their products that they offer a lifetime warranty on all frames and Reserve wheels.
“Bikes should have a tough life – ridden often, ridden hard. We do the hard work designing and building them, so it’s easy for riders (or their local bike shop mechanics) to keep our bikes running better, for longer, with less expense and fewer missed rides.”
Simply Advanced
The engineering team really drives the direction of the whole company. They decide what's being built, when it's being built and why everyone else needs to just shut up and trust them! With the CEO being the former head of engineering at the company, the same obsessive attention to ride quality now gets applied everywhere in the business.
This commitment to craft is apparent when you get up close to a Santa Cruz bike. They’re free of redundant details and the form is purely functional, unadorned with flourishes of egomaniacal designers. Discipline is required to simplify a bike rather than add ‘signature’ bulges and swoops that serve no real purpose.
Carbon
As you have probably gathered, Santa Cruz Bikes isn't the type of company who likes to ‘follow the crowd’. Yes, their bikes are made of carbon, but they aren’t using this because it looks cool and everyone else is doing it. They pioneer advanced materials and production methods to build the most durable and high-performance bicycles, because this way it ensures that riders can just enjoy riding their bike.
“Our experience with carbon production allows us to build bikes that are so reliable that we can provide an anxiety-reducing lifetime warranty to accompany them.”
The company design, test and prototype carbon technology in Santa Cruz, California. Their carbon lab gives the company the capacity to research carbon layups that can be applied to our production frames, as well as test new manufacturing processes and techniques.
“Our frames are manufactured in our own carbon frame factory. We founded this manufacturing facility ourselves because we wanted to be able to manage how our designs were produced, to ensure quality control standards.”
VPP Suspension
Santa Cruz have been using VPP suspension since 2001, when they simultaneously launched the 255mm-travel V10 downhill bike and the 115mm-travel cross-country Blur, both using the virtual pivot point system. By moving the linkages, pivot points and shock position, they were able to strike the right balance between pedalling efficiency and all-out bump chomping prowess.
“It’s a bombproof suspension design. Short, counter-rotating links connect the front and rear triangles to create an extremely robust chassis.”
Caring for the Environment
The 2020 wildfires around Santa Cruz County destroyed the homes of many of the company’s friends and colleagues. This really hit home for the company and the founders do their utmost to try and protect the environment, as well as make sure they keep their environmental footprint to a minimum. Therefore, the Santa Cruz Bicycles’ factory in California is solar powered, all the packaging that comes into the building is reused or recycled and 96.4% of the beer they drink comes from within 15 miles.
Many homes were destroyed by wild fires in Santa Cruz County
They also design their own bike boxes that smartly package bikes in a way that just uses cardboard and avoids plastic and foam. As well as this, they encourage all employees to bike, walk or carpool to work and those that do receive credits which can be used for the food truck or purchasing bike parts.
Paydirt
Santa Cruz Bicycles are helping riders of the world make their communities stronger
“PayDirt is our commitment to increasing access to trails by supporting the work of the people who make it happen”
Santa Cruz pledged to donate $1 million over the next three years towards trail projects, local organizations, events and programs that are geared towards creating and strengthening opportunities for people to get out on the trails.
Reserve Wheels
Santa Cruz founded Reserve in 2014, with one simple motivation; to make the most dependable and highest strength-to-weight composite wheels on the market and back it with a lifetime guarantee.
Lab Tested. Race Proven. Lifetime Support.
Reserve first launched carbon rims in 2017, when a lifetime guarantee was unheard of. The brand then leapt from an unknown start-up to one of the most highly rated carbon wheel makers in the market.
Following a wave of positive responses, Reserve swiftly moved into the gravel industry. Fully ridged off road bikes demand a sophisticated carbon rim layup in order to retain control and comfort. Not only does durability, weight and strength matter, but so does ride quality. This led to the Reserve gravel range being born at the North American Handmade Bike Show in 2019.
Versatile carbon wheelsets
After this, it was only a matter of time before Santa Cruz moved onto their next challenge – aerodynamics. The company then collaborated with their friends at Cervélo and took Reserve into a new dimension in 2020, with the launch of a complete line of road and gravel wheelsets that balance aerodynamics, weight and durability to meet the needs of the modern rider.
“Engineering, racing, and service is our mantra. The next chapter of Reserve is just beginning.”
And there you have it. A brief behind the scenes look into a company that started in the back of a garage in California and ended up as a multinational bike company that now rules the mountain biking world. We hope you enjoyed getting to know Santa Cruz.
