The carbon V-10 and M-16 are scary similar. Focus is a brand that is pushing hard with e-MTB models, which have been outselling its regular MTBs for a few years now. CURRENT REGION: UNITED STATESCHANGE REGION, This Santa Cruz website uses cookies for example to improve and analyze the website, for social media and to ensure that you see relevant ads. Who bought Santa Cruz bikes? maybe? tricycles and power assisted cycles but does not include Motorcycles.For bicycle parts, see List of bicycle part manufacturing companies.. When I ask how many bikes they ship each year, he’s quick to reply, “Performance, quality and service are what matter, not how many we make!” As I walk through stickered-up offices and past the Swobo warehouse (now part of Santa Cruz), it’s clear that it’s riding bikes that motivates the team to add the touches that make the brand so successful. He drives an Audi RS4 to and from a house he’s equipped with a battery of solar panels. 2005: Rob signs legendary rider Steve Peat to join his muscle team, the Santa Cruz Syndicate. Call Us. 2009: Santa Cruz embrace the second wave of carbon technology to produce a carbon Blur XC. When Santa Cruz Bicycles launched in 1994, they did so not with a hardtail, as was the norm, but with an early full-suspension bike. Four months later they release the Blur LT Carbon, a 140mm trail bike. 1999: Rob sees the limitations of single-pivot designs and his designer advises him to seek out the VPP platform. That and the podium places of the Santa Cruz Syndicate team riders Steve Peat, Josh Bryceland and Greg Minnaar, not to mention Cedric Gracia, who’s also been on Santa Cruz bikes for the past year. Stocking Ebike batteries, controllers, Bafang Motors, hydraulic ebike brakes, suspension forks for fat ebikes Contact Us. Voted Nanaimo's Best Bike Shop 4 Years in row! Our team of riders hunting Enduro World Series races across the globe, from Aspen to Madeira. Santa Cruz Bicycles was bought by Pon Holdings in 2015. Our 5 own­ers all work full time for the com­pa­ny. “For the most part, yes,” he says, “because we’re not the first people to the [carbon] party. You've been subscribed to our newsletter. A professional skateboarder throughout the late ’80s, Rob’s affinity with the burgeoning sport of mountain biking at that time would result in the creation of Santa Cruz Bicycles. Turbo Levo Comp vs Santa Cruz Heckler vs Orbea Wild vs RM Instinct Power Play ... (It’s his 70s yo father who owns it and it’s not where he can check it out). 1983: School never gets a look-in. SC skateboards were good in the 70's and early 80's but were left behing like many other skateboard companies, I used to own a couple of them and really liked them but loved my Alva and Smith boards. This simple truth drives us to be—and do—better. ... surfboards, clothing, posters, stickers, banners, etc since 1978. Many of our dealers carry a selection of demo bikes. Focus Bikes 2021 | Focus Premium UK Stockist Founded in 1993 by World Cyclocross Champion Mike Kluge to pour his racing experience into true product development. The Tazmon was Santa Cruz’s first frame, an unconventional full-susser based around a single-pivot design. They ooze ‘underground bike scene’. Does Santa Cruz have no respect for ther own bikes? This is useful in estimating the financial strength and credit risk of the company. The company initially focused on producing bicycle frames and custom stems. Santa Cruz'n Life in the eclectic sea side town of Santa Cruz, California ... My husband bikes over this bridge everyday to work. The Tazmon did just that and was followed a year later by the Heckler, a 4in-travel design that boosted sales three-fold, no doubt helped by its pivotal role in the groundbreaking freeride film Kranked. 1998: Santa Cruz launch the Bullit, their first dedicated freeride bike, which uses a single-pivot suspension design. Rob gets into mountain biking on his GT Karakoram. It is a Dutch conglomerate that owns several bike brands, such as Focus, Cervélo, and Gazelle. Arrowsmith Bikes. We have a service door, Please wait there for a technician to invite you inside. Compare how recession-proof Santa Cruz Bicycles is relative to the industry overall. 1993: Working part-time at Santa Cruz Skateboards, Rob leaves night school to start Santa Cruz Bicycles along with co-founder Rich Novak. So what’s his secret? Santa Cruz owns Intense? Our eBikes have fully integrated electronics and premium drive systems from Bosch, Brose, Shimano and TranzX. From seasoned pros and weekend warriors, to kids and commuters—if you ride, we’re for you. ARE YOU BROWSING THE CORRECT REGION? Rob is thickset, which, along with his shaved head, gives him the look of an East End bouncer rather than the boss of an innovative bike company. 1984-90: Rob’s a skateboarder with his own pro model deck that’s made by Santa Cruz Skateboards. 1990: Rob quits pro skating in order to return to school to study business. Not bad for a man 47 years young. That is a pretty narrow range, which means there simply aren’t that many bikes … Rob loves to push the performance of suspension design and Santa Cruz continued with almost annual increases in suspension travel as Rob kept ahead of the curve. This versatile, bob-free platform opened the possibilities for Rob’s designers, and the Blur XC was born, bringing with it a new fresh wave of cross-country orientated interest. Even then the resulting Chameleon was designed to be a little different, with the ability to slot in a (then) long-travel fork or be converted to a singlespeed. As we grab a burger at a nearby grill, Rob fills me in on the other trails he’ll show me next time I visit. I’m also trying to catch my breath. Once we had time, we developed it further and received a patent in 2008 after waiting almost five years,” Rob explains. It’s funny, our first carbon prototype was made in 1995; we did a co-op deal with a local aerospace company, but the project never saw the light of day. By entering your details, you are agreeing to BikeRadar terms and conditions and privacy policy. Stop by our factory to checkout the entire range, demo a bike and ride the trails.. With both online channel and retail stores in San Luis Obispo, California shipping to all US states with free shipping over $75. Peat, Minnaar and Bryceland ride the Fort William World Cup on carbon V-10 bikes. ALMERE, the Netherlands (BRAIN) — Pon Holdings, a Dutch conglomerate that owns several bike brands including Cervélo, Focus and Gazelle, has purchased California-based Santa Cruz Bicycles. But what prompted Rob to get into the bike biz? It was called the Tazmon, a 3in-travel single-pivot design whose main girder-like swingarm looked decidedly Heath Robinson. 1982: Rob Roskopp, 19,  leaves his home in Ohio for Santa Cruz, California. Some high-end sales continue online and in brick-and-mortar stores. Only the base model came with the 500wh. But they don’t just expect the best bikes and technology; they expect the best support and service from the company. I laugh, admitting that much of what I saw this time around was his rear wheel kicking dust in my face. Santa Cruz also has an award-winning sister brand, Juliana, which makes mountain bikes for women. (Almere, 03.07.2015) With immediate effect, Pon Holdings acquires Santa Cruz Bicycles, the California-based market leader in high-end mountain bikes. I got Rich into it too, and one day he said, ‘What do you think about doing Santa Cruz bikes?’ I did some research, looked at the market and full-suspension made the most sense. The differences in ride may be subtle to most, however the longer I ride I find that those little details can make a good ride great. Our family of riders and mechanics pushing World Cup downhill to be a little weirder and a little wilder for more than a decade. We believe bikes have the power to change lives. We tested a lot of our competitors’ frames, at least the high-end carbon ones, and as a strength-to-weight ratio there’s nothing stronger right now,” he continues, giving me a peek at the rig they use to conduct 800lb shear tests on carbon seat tubes. With Santa Cruz owning a chunk of Intense and their bikes being "virtually" identical, seems that they are the same bikes with different paint jobs. Their product range currently includes 16 models that are sold in 70 countries under the brand names of Santa Cruz and Juliana. There’s history here: the same premises once housed a fish cannery before becoming Keith Bontrager’s workshop, and Santa Cruz still shares this space with a commercial bakery. “We had to make our test rig bigger because it wouldn’t break our frames,” he says, pointing out another machine that drops 75lb gym weights onto frames for impact assessment. In case you missed it over the weekend, Santa Cruz bikes was sold to Dutch company Pon Holdings, which also owns bike brands Focus, Cervelo, and others.In addition to bicycles, Pon Holdings also imports car brands like Volkswagen and Lamborghini into the Netherlands, specializing in logistics, marketing, distribution, and service for everything from vehicles to bikes, heavy equipment, and tires. Mountain Bikes, Hardtail, Full Suspension, Road, Gravel, cycling apparel, bike components, protection. Founded in Southern California and inspired by sunny weather and laid back cool, our bikes come in zesty colors and stylish graphics. For the US and Canada , head on over to the 'find a dealer' page and enter your zip code (or allow your browser to know your location) to find your closest retailer. When Rob pushed for an online bike builder feature to be included on Santa Cruz’s website in ’98, the company were alone in doing so, save for two car firms. Learn more about our approach to designing and building bikes. “Who wants to turn out junk? When I ask how easy it was to get Peaty onto his team, Rob replies: “It certainly took some time but I’d been wanting to do it for a while,” hinting at the same ambition that’s kept Santa Cruz ahead of the game. 1995: Santa Cruz follow up with the esteemed Heckler, a 4in-travel full-susser. I got back into riding around 1987 on a GT Karakoram, but 1989 was when I started riding a lot. With his versatile outlook, it’s hard to categorise Rob. So the bikes had to prove themselves. 1996: Rob releases the Super 8, an 8in-travel downhill race bike. Rob passes a proprietorial eye over the fruits of his team’s hard labour. By ‘94, Rob’s vision of a bicycle brand had been realized with the three-inch travel Tazmon, marking the beginning of a 25-year journey that would create some of the sports most iconic bikes. Subscribe today and get the next 3 issues of your favourite cycling magazine for just £5! But that seems to be the way Rob likes it. He’s also happy to embrace the wave of carbon technology that’s sweeping the industry. Last year, they added two APP (Actual Pivot Point) bikes to complement their VPP and single-pivot offerings. I’m kind of over it now.” Still, Rob’s immersion in skating did supply him with the ability to keep his finger on the pulse of emerging trends. They’re both instant successes. Many people have refered to the Maestro suspension as the "poor-man's" VPP. “Around 1999, I started looking for a suspension platform with better performance than the single pivot. Determine whether Santa Cruz Bicycles grew or shrank during the last recession. I get the impression Rob has an almost inexhaustible reserve of energy for all things bike. ... And most e-bikes I can hear from 20 yards back as they pass. When I ask him if the more recent carbon Blur XC and Blur LT Carbon were well received by the public, he’s confident. He goes with $800 on him and the idea of attending school there. Instead Rob ends up being sponsored by Independent Trucks as a pro skater. Having started with the single pivot, Rob is keen to stress that this suspension platform will always be in the Santa Cruz line-up. Sign in to manage your newsletter preferences. But more than that, the bikes themselves are simply running low. We were impressed, but we were so busy developing VPP, APP got shelved for years. SHOP SANTA CRUZ EBIKES. Don't miss out on MBUK – get your next 3 issues for just £5, Get the next 3 issues of the UK's number one cycling magazine for just £5. He’s yawning – the price to be paid after a night out with Steve Peat – but his riding suggests he’s anything but tired. 17' 18' 19' & 2020! Nanaimo: (250) 758-6675 This article relates to pedal cycles. “We wanted to see how much difference the VPP shock rate would make by applying it to a single pivot. Located in Golden, Colorado. Santa Cruz Bicycles and its sister brand Juliana have been bought out by Dutch cycling giant Pon Holdings BV, which also owns Cervelo, Focus, BBB Cycling and other bike brands. 2010: Santa Cruz launch the APP platform, adding a swinglink to drive the shock on two new bikes: the 5in- and 6in-travel Nickel and Butcher. The bike industry was about 10 years behind in style,” he continues. Santa Cruz, for example, is still assembling bikes at its California factory to fulfill dealer orders, said Joe Graney, the brand's CEO. Interview: Rob Roskopp, owner of Santa Cruz Bicycles, Rob has seemingly boundless energy on his bike despite a heavy night before our ride, The bikes they make may be bling, but Santa Cruz work in humble surroundings, The company aren’t afraid to experiment with unusual designs and aesthetics, You don’t need a full-susser to ride these trails, but those are the bikes Rob loves to make, There are plenty of colour options you can pick via Santa Cruz’s website-based bike builder, Ten tips to stay motivated through winter, How to ride your first century, double century or longer ride in 2021, Interview: Jeff Steber, owner of Intense Cycles, Interview: Specialized founder Mike Sinyard. That’s why they chose Santa Cruz. I shudder to think of how many of his competitors’ high-end frames have been reduced to splintered objets d’art at the hands of Rob. ... Raleigh America still owns both brands and has their headquarters in Kent, Washington. Competitive Cyclist is your shop for everything bike. Hans Heim is our CEO , Tom Mor­gan is our pres­i­dent, Col­in Hugh­es leads our engi­neer­ing depart­ment, Roxy Lo is our design­er and Scot tries to stay out of the way. Casual tees, riding jerseys, and hats designed in-house. The Demo Tour is the perfect opportunity to try our bikes on your local trails. As we pass through the powder-coating shop, I’m greeted by two smiling tattooed guys who have death metal blaring from speakers. You may also recall that back in 2015, Santa Cruz was acquired by Pon Holdings – the Dutch super group that also owns Focus Bikes. Racing has always been a passion for Rob and the Syndicate’s evolution from an athlete launchpad to a streamlined World Cup winning mega team, bare witness to his competitive nature and love for downhill racing. The Syndicate remains to this day, one of Rob’s most treasured achievements and something which continues to showcase Santa Cruz on the world stage. 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