Santa Cruz Bikes

Santa Cruz Syndicate's Minnaar 2nd In Sea Otter Downhill

Monterey, California

Sunny skies and a warm weekend greeted racers for the annual Sea Otter Classic held this weekend. Having just flown in from the first world cup in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, many of the downhillers waited for bikes to arrive and adjusted to jet lag to prepare for the physical pedaling downhill course, and the fun dual slalom.

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Minnaar Wins Hometown World Cup Downhill, Peaty In 3rd!

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Greg Minnaar, Spirit of the Syndicate, takes the win in Pietermaritzburg, Peaty in 3rd!!

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Introducing the all-new carbon fiber Blur LT

Santa Cruz, California

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Syndicate Team In Pre-Season Testing (Video)

Santa Cruz, California

The 09 DH Season's almost upon us, check out these two videos from LitterMag as the Syndicate team get the first runs in on their new machines.

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Syndicate's Bryceland Takes His First Pro Win!

Mount St Anne, Canada

Santa Cruz Syndicate's Josh Bryceland (SRAM/RockShox) has just won his first race as a pro at the Innerleithen Winter Series in Scotland. He recaps his weekend for us here:

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Hail To The Chief; Santa Cruz Introduce Full Carbon Blur XC!

California, USA

The inauguration of a fresh president in the USA seems like an auspicious time to take the wraps off Santa Cruz Bicycles' most closely guarded secret since, well, ever. Ladies and gentlemen, departing Trek riding Texan Republicans and incoming Illinois hoop shooting Democrats, please lend a hand for the arrival of the totally new and completely awesome, carbon fiber Blur XC!

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Here's our new bike. We call it the Driver 8

California, USA

It has 8 inches of next-generation VPP rear wheel travel. It also has enough room to raise or lower the seat through a 7-inch range. It's got a 1.5" head tube, an 83mm wide bb with ISCG05 mounts and 150mm rear spacing with a Maxle thru-axle. So, just what kind of bike is it supposed to be?

We designed the Driver 8 to be a general duty, daily driver gravity hauler. It is a super tough, super versatile bike that is ideal for a life at Whistler. It's a damn good long travel high speed trail bike (Wait, is that freeriding, or all-mountain high speed trail riding? What about low speed, sphincter pinching gnarl? Does it speak with a Canadian accent? Man, this gets confusing...)

• 8" of next-generatoin VPP travel
• Mud flap shock cover.
• 12mm Maxle rear thru-axle
• 83mm bottom bracket with ISCG 05 mounts
• 7 inches of up and down seat adjustability
• Carbon fiber upper link with 4 radial contact sealed bearings
• Easy service grease ports

Anyway, it's a kickass park bike, more lively and poppable and jumpable than the V-10. And it is also a very handy downhill race bike, probably a better race choice for most riders who aren't World Cup pros on most courses that aren't World Cup courses. But it can still plow through big rocks and huge drops with the best of them. 8 inches of travel is still a whole lot of cushion for the pushin'...

When the seat is slammed all the way down (7 inches of up and down adjustability, remember?), it is in a similar fore/aft location to the seat on a V-10, but can be run even lower. However, due to the angle of the seat mast, when the seat is raised up as far as it will go, the pedaling position is about the same as that of the Nomad, which is a pretty good location to kick at the cranks and point a bike uphill.

With regard to that "general duty, daily driver" comment, we've gone heavy duty with the VPP links. The upper link is carbon fiber, insanely strong, and pivots on four beefy radial contact sealed cartridge bearings. The lower link gets grease ports for easy service, huge 15mm pivot axles with the same trick locking collet head feature as the Blur LT, Nomad and new Blur XC, and it swings on EIGHT angular contact bearings. All bearing sets, top and bottom, are encased in a further set of lip seals and labyrinth washers to further combat the ingress of dirt. The bike comes with its own grease gun, and you won't need a personal mechanic to deal with any of that.

You can call it a freeride bike, if you're into that. You can call it a park bike. You can call it a downhill bike. It can do all that, and more. We're sticking to our guns. We call it the Driver 8.

Syndicate Thanks Nathan Rennie for Five Great Years!

Santa Cruz HQ

The Santa Cruz Syndicate would like to announce the departure of Nathan Rennie from the squad as he looks to competing in 2009 with a new team (to be announced soon), and express our gratitude for the five years he raced for us from 2004 through 2008. His three year contract with Santa Cruz was up and he has explored other options moving forward in his career and has chosen to race for another team. His big presence and sense of humor will be sorely missed as well as his powerhouse performances on the racetrack. We wish him well on his new team and will continue to be proud of him and his efforts.

Through the five years on the Syndicate Rennie has been the foundation of the squad. He brought so much laughter and story telling to the group along with many crazy beard configurations and horrifying haircuts for our entertainment. I don't know how Josh Bryceland will be able to fill in, he barely has a whisker! Seriously though, Rennie climbed the podium 40 times in the five years for us, was twice Australian National Champion and earned a bronze medal at the 2006 World Championships and helped the Syndicate earn the #1 UCI Downhill Team Championship in 2008 while wearing the Syndicate colors.

Rob Roskopp remarks about Rennie, "An incredible rider, comedian, good friend and all around great man.... Rennie will be greatly missed. We wish him all the best moving forward"

Steve Peat says, "I would like to thank Nathan for all the fun times we have had together over the last three years I've been on the Syndicate. He was the King Pin when I joined the Syndicate and I learned lots from him. He always has the best stories and is always good fun to hang out with. I can't wait until "Renoir's Memoir's" hits the newsstands. He is an asset to any bike company and a great friend to me. All the best with your new ride, mate!"

"I have known Nathan two years now but only properly since I have been on the Syndicate with him. He is a great teammate on and off the track and he had me in stitches all year long. I know Nathan will fit right on to any team with his personality and I wish him all the best in the future. It was a pleasure doing business with ya Renoir!" says Josh Bryceland.

Greg Minnaar congratulates Nathan on his new ride and says, "I have always looked up to Nathan as one of the best downhillers in the world, so to finally be able to see the "Beast" manhandle that V10 in person definitely amped me up every time we rode. Good luck bud, I hope this new change brings a fresh spark to your racing."

In conclusion Nathan has this to say, "I just want to thank everyone involved with the Santa Cruz Syndicate including everyone back in Santa Cruz. All I can say is that I'm a little lost for words. For some time now I have needed some change in my life, on and off the bike. I feel a change for me is for the best in all aspects. I am looking forward to getting back to my best and having the right outlook to better myself, and the new people around me.

I have so many people to thank so of course, in true Rennie fashion I would like to thank the gift that we can all agree on which is the creation of the "wheel". Myself and the wheel have a love hate relationship, but it always seems to keep turning. I'm going to keep this short and sweet because it's not like I'm losing any friends with my choice to change, it's only giving myself a chance to shine like the kind of red Ozzy kid I am. I look forward to seeing you all at the races same as any year. Keep it real, from your mate Nathan. Lots a love."

I'll have to cut the apron strings and let my boy move on, but Nathan will always be a family member to all of us on the Syndicate and at Santa Cruz Bicycles. Thanks for the memories Nathan!!

World Downhill Champ Takes Up Hard Enduro Challenge

Africa

South Africa's Greg Minnaar, the 2008 World Downhill Mountain Bike Champion, decided after he had successfully completed his campaign for the World Championship that he needed another challenge to keep his adrenalin flowing in the build up to the end of year "silly season", so he opted to take up the challenge of entering and completing the arduous Roof of Africa Rally, Africa's toughest off road motorcycle race.

Classified as a "hard enduro" and mentioned in the same hollowed breath as the Ertzberg Rodeo in Austria, Romaniacs in Romania, Last Man Standing in the USA, and Hell's Gate in the U.K., the Roof of Africa has been hosted by the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho, a land locked independent Kingdom positioned in the central east of South Africa, for the last forty one years. Originally started as a car rally, it did not take long for motorcycles to be included in the annual dash across the Maluti Mountains, which offer massive altitudes (over 3500 metres above sea level in some places), fantastic vistas, unpredictable weather patterns that often provide four seasons in a day, and of course more rocks, goat tracks and extreme rocky mountain passes than one can possibly imagine.
Today, the Roof of Africa is a dedicated motorcycle only rally, putting riders and machine up against some of the most strenuous and arduous riding over a distance of some 500km's, to be ridden over three days, with riders spending up to 13 hours in the saddle a day. The slow average overall speed is a very real indication of how tough the riding actually is.

Minnaar, having a prior to mountain biking history of racing motocross with some success, but having never taken on a off road motorcycle endurance challenge, decided to take on the toughest yet in his first attempt at this genre of extreme sports. But then again, you would expect nothing different from a competitor f this ilk.

With the generous help of Mr Price's RED , long term sponsor AlpineStars, and Yamaha Distributors SA, who provided Minnaar with a race prepped Yamaha WR 250 four stroke off road racer, Minnaar crossed the Lesotho border at Maseru on Wednesday 26th October 2008 with some trepidation as to what he had taken on but with little doubt as to his abilities to dig deep and take on the toughest that the organisers had to throw at them.

Minnaar completed Thursday's racing section, which consisted of a "Round the Houses" sprint race on the streets of Maseru, raced for spectator value, but also to determine starting positions for the 98km time trial which followed shortly after, which in turn determined starting positions for Friday's 200km racing section, in a very respectable 4th in class and in 18th overall. The time trial, traditionally a reasonably fast ride in the lowlands of Lesotho, was to put competitors into a spin, as the organisers had decided that this year it would be a fair representation of what riders could expect on Friday and Saturday's racing sections in the mountains. As a consequence, riders embarked on one of the toughest 98km rides that they had ever ridden, with some competitors taking up to 6 hours to complete the race, and coming in to the finish line after dark.

Said Minnaar after successfully completing the first days racing section:" That was far more extreme than I expected and I'm feeling exhausted after a mere 98 kms!!! If this is anything to go by, then tomorrow is going to sort the men from the boys, that's for sure! But I'm ready to take up the challenge – bring it on!!"

Friday and Saturdays racing sections had riders riding what has now been touted as the toughest Roof of Africa ever. New and previously unridden passes with names like, The Keyhole, Donkey Pass, Pressure Cooker, Lucky's and Horsesh*t Pass, completely upped the ante in terms of what Lesotho has to offer dirt bikers, and many good riders were caught out by the installed time bar because of the time it took them to ride these new sections.
Overall winner, New Zealander Chris Birch who recently finished third in the ultra tough Romaniacs in Austria, said after taking the winners flag in a total riding time of 15 hours,xx minutes for 500km's, that this was by far the toughest event he had ever competed in, but raved on about just how awesome the riding was and how fantastic the scenery is in Lesotho – so much so that he conceded that he had to stop his bike a number of times just to take in the breathtaking vistas.

Of the 287 riders that started the event only 89 finished, and Minnaar, showing the true grit and dogged determination of a champion, crossed the finish line after racing his Yamaha for 21 hours and 34 minutes in 19th position overall and in 5th in the 200cc class (for 200c two stroke and 250cc four stroke machines), beating many seasoned off road racers in the process.

"I am absolutely exhausted but exctatic at being able to finish the Roof. This is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. I never thought that a motorbike could even go up some of the things that the organisers made us ride, let alone race up there!!! I am very pleased that I can satisfy my sponsors by bringing it home. I would like to pay particular thanks to Yamaha for providing me with such an awesome bike, RED , Alpinestars and Oakley for all there help and support for the "Roof". I would like to also congratulate every competitor that finished the race. There is no doubt even taking up the challenge of racing the Roof requires commitment and fortitude, and finishing it is just mind blowing – what a great feeling of accomplishment." A muddied and exhausted Minnaar had to say at the finish line.

Will the World Downhill Mountain Bike Champ be back for next years event? Only time will tell.

A Day With Doug the Mechanic

Schladming, Austria

Alex Rankin follows Doug the Mechanic around for a day. (15mins long)