Santa Cruz Bicycles Stigmata Carbon CC Force AXS Reserve 650b Bike

A lot has changed in the time since Santa Cruz resurrected its Stigmata in carbon back in 2015. At its launch, riders loved its amazing versatility across seldom maintained gravel roads, mid-week road hammerfests, mellow singletrack, and of course, cyclocross. During that time, the only disc brake standards that really existed came from the mountain bike world as evidence of its front 15mm thru-axle and post-mount disc brakes. Since that time, disc brake road bikes have come into their own and gravel riding and racing is one of the most popular cycling disciplines, evolving with its own standards and components. When the time came for a redesign, the firm evaluated the frameset and added some important new features and details to keep the Stiggy on top of the category. With its Stigmata Carbon CC Force AXS Reserve Complete Bike, you not only get SRAM's all-new electronic Force AXS 1 drivetrain and powerful hydraulic brakes with single chainring simplicity and confident chain retention, but you also receive its Reserve carbon hoops that further smooth the ride and lighten the load. All of the new Stigmata frames sport Santa Cruz's top-shelf CC carbon lay-up, which delivers robust strength and stiffness alongside lightweight efficiency. The significantly revised carbon layup borrows knowledge gained from the mountain-going hardtail, the Highball, and knowledge gained when building Danny MacAskill's trials bike, to produce a ride yielding more compliance helping to smooth out the ride. Up front, the new Stigmata CC Fork uses the same high-end carbon for uncompromising stiffness and strength when you need it most and substitutes the old 15mm thru-axle for a more road and gravel appropriate 12mm one which also helps improve the ride quality. It receives some modern geometry tweaks that place it solidly in contention with the herd of high-end all-road and gravel bike options, with a 71. 5-degree head angle, 74-degree seat angle (based on a 54cm model), and lower bott...