Santa Cruz Carbon V10 - a detailed look

I brought tester Mike Wallace along with me to ride the Carbon V10 because:

A: He's an engineer and this was an engineer's summit.

B: His personal ride is an aluminum V10

C: He was buying the beer.

Here's his in depth analysis of Santa Cruz's most recent adventure in carbon...

There's no doubt Santa Cruz has a winner.

Let's hope the durability is as good as they say. I loved the lap I had on one!

Anyone else miss that trick little carbon fender?

Interesting comment: Cam, who is 6[HTML_REMOVED]#8217; tall, found the medium V10 a little short from pedals to bars but the large would likely have been a little big.

what is the suggestion for someone who is 6' (as there are many of us!)?? Would it be to run a 55mm or 60mm stem? Or to get a large and run an extremely short stem?

It definitely looks stealthy and unique but i dont see this frame lasting. I think santacruz is gonna have alot of crash replacements for the folks that do buy these frames. I dont trust carbon one bit. Carbon should stay on roadbikes and XC bikes thats it.

Interesting comment: Cam, who is 6' tall, found the medium V10 a little short from pedals to bars but the large would likely have been a little big.

what is the suggestion for someone who is 6' (as there are many of us!)?? Would it be to run a 55mm or 60mm stem? Or to get a large and run an extremely short stem?

Mike is also 6' (maybe a hair under) and he found the M just fine - and that's coming off a Lg aluminum V10. I'd say under 6'2" you are better off with the medium - but I didn't swing a leg over a large.

I'd like to know about the rims/wheels. what was it like to ride carbon rims, and do they seem like they'll hold up to some abuse?

It definitely looks stealthy and unique but i dont see this frame lasting. I think santacruz is gonna have alot of crash replacements for the folks that do buy these frames. I dont trust carbon one bit. Carbon should stay on roadbikes and XC bikes thats it.

what empirical evidence do you have to support this claim? if anything, i believe carbon will prove to be more durable than coke can aluminum frames.

It definitely looks stealthy and unique but i dont see this frame lasting. I think santacruz is gonna have alot of crash replacements for the folks that do buy these frames. I dont trust carbon one bit. Carbon should stay on roadbikes and XC bikes thats it.

I think you're going to be disappointed then….carbon is the real deal, and in my opinion is only going to become more prevalent. this isn't the first generation of carbon stuff that was fragile, it's super strong and highly engineered. Do you honestly think SC would be willing to put there whole reputation on the line if it wasn't going to hold up? To believe in it enough to fully move to carbon on the v10 and drop alloy altogether is a huge statement about how durable they believe it is.

I'm glad that the large is as large as it is. I'm 6 4 and it can be difficult when a company's size large isn't as large as I am.

I for one welcome or new carbon overlords.

If carbon fibre can handle the loads on airplanes and formula one cars, then it will probably be able to handle a dh bike. It's just taken a while for the bike companies to adopt and adapt the techniques, but I think now you'll see many more manufacturers start using it, and then the prices will come down. Especially as metal prices keep climbing.

One thing aircraft and F1 cars don't have to contend with is rock hits and crashes. Well if a plane or F1 crash they're usualy toast but they go awful fast. But here's what I'll say about that, my carbon fibre alpine ski poles have held up well and they get cut and gouged by steel edges and they are the diameter of a large pencil. My Blur LTC has numerous scratches and chunks gone from rock hits. Seems fine to me. I wouldn't be concerned at all but hey if it makes you nervous, stay away. But it's not like aluminum or steel never fails either.

But here's what I'll say about that, my carbon fibre alpine ski poles have held up well and they get cut and gouged by steel edges and they are the diameter of a large pencil. My Blur LTC has numerous scratches and chunks gone from rock hits. Seems fine to me. I wouldn't be concerned at all but hey if it makes you nervous, stay away. But it's not like aluminum or steel never fails either.

That's the most reasonable answer I've heard on the subject of carbon.

Question to the testers: You repeatedly mentioned the effects of having 2-3" negative travel in the rear, but doesn't an 8" travel bike with 25% sag have 2" negative travel? I've always heard that the V10 compensated for it's extra travel by making it entirely negative (2" extra travel = 2" extra sag, = 4" negative travel). I've always wondered about that, as this would give the bike a 10.6" bb height at sag, as compared to 11.5" on a '10 Demo 8 @ 25%. Does this mean the V10 has never been intended to have 4" negative travel, or was this only the case in earlier versions?