Juliana and Santa Cruz Release Redesigned Furtado and 5010 Trail Bikes

Ask anyone who’s ridden one what they think of the new Furtado and 5010 from Juliana and Santa Cruz and the reaction is “Fun!” These bikes are fun. Fun to ride, fun to wheelie, fun to jump, fun to whip through berms. And, who doesn’t like fun! No one that I want to know!

So, how did they do it? How did Juliana and Santa Cruz pack so much into one bike? Well, I’ll tell you!

First, let’s talk about Juliana and Santa Cruz and their relationship with one another. Santa Cruz and Juliana are, essentially, brother and sister. Juliana is a company focused on women riders and Santa Cruz is designed for everyone else. Juliana bikes will come with women’s specific touchpoints, saddles, and grips, to account for the real physical differences between riders. Juliana bike will also feature smaller frame size offerings than their Santa Cruz siblings. Other than that, the bikes are generally the same. Same component spec, same frame materials, same frame geometries (other than the size offerings)!

Let’s also talk about Juliana Furtado. THE Juli Furtado. The badass namesake of this badass bike! Juliana Furtado joined the US Olympic Ski Team at age 15, the youngest racer to do so! When the years of competitive skiing caught up to her knees, Juli switched her focus to cycling where she won the US National Road Championship in HER FIRST-YEAR COMPETING! The next year, Juli became the very first UCI World XC Mountain Bike Champion, again in her first year competing. In her 6 years competing in MTB racing, Juli set a Guinness Record of most consecutive major race wins, a record that took the person who broke her record over two decades of racing to break! Turns out, during those years of racing domination, Juli was suffering from undiagnosed Lupus, which ultimately forced her retirement from competition. After her racing career was over, Juliana went on to start the MTB component company that we now know as Jualiana making smaller diameter handlebars and grips, stems, seats, and eventually bikes. So, yeah, Juliana Furtado is a badass. Check out her episode of The Adventure Stache Podcast with Payson McElveen for a good dive into who Juli Furtado is.

Ok, back to the bikes. How did Juliana and Santa Cruz end up with these amazing, playful bikes?

The most striking feature is the Lower Link VPP design. Furtado and 5010 follow in the footsteps of the rest of the Trail offerings from Juliana and Santa Cruz by moving to this linkage. This design improves small bump compliance and pedaling efficiency all while keeping the bike nice and stable, due to the low placement. There’s even clearance for a coil shock for riders who prefer a little more rad!

The High/Low flipchip gives riders the ability to adjust the geometry to suit their wants and needs. The High setting puts the bike in a great all-around riding position for all-day riding. Drop the chip into the Low setting and you set the bike up for hard-charging attacking and descending.

Furtado and 5010 follow the trend in trail MTBs, all MTBs, really, in that they are longer in the top tube and the headtube is slacker than previous versions, making them even more stable, especially when heading downhill.

130mm of travel out back paired with a 140mm fork provide plenty of squish!

Not all sizes are created equal, and 5010/Furtado respects this! So much so that the chainstay length is custom-tailored for each frame size. This keeps the handling of each size dialed perfectly to the rest of the bike. The drive side chainstay is covered with a sound-reducing chainslap protector as well!

This whole package rolls on 27.5″ wheels for super flickable maneuverability.

As was mentioned earlier, the only differences between the Juliana Furtado and the Santa Cruz 5010 are the touchpoints and size range. Furtado features smaller diameter grips and a women’s specific saddle. Furtado is available in sizes Xtra Small, Small, and Medium while 5010 is available in XS through XL. The frames are otherwise the same and both are offered in the same spec levels.

This abundance of fun makes these bikes the perfect bike for riders who want a trail bike that delivers a super maneuverable machine to take out and HAVE FUN! Check out the all-new Juliana Furtado and Santa Cruz 5010 soon at your local ERIK’S Location and at shopERIKS.com.