2024 Santa Cruz V10
Wheel Size:
- Sizes S–L: 29’’ front / 27.5’’ rear
- Size XL: 29’’ front & rear
Travel: 208 mm rear / 203 mm front
Geometry Highlights:
- Sizes offered: S, M, L, XL
- Headtube angle: 62.9° (adjustable)
- Reach: 474 mm (size Large, adjustable)
- Chainstay length: 456 mm (Size Large, +/- 5 mm via flip chip)
Frame Material: Carbon fiber
Price:
- Frame: $3,799
- Complete bikes: $6,799 – $8,699
Intro
The seventh-generation Santa Cruz V10 had been in the brand’s lineup since 2018, and while it wasn’t too far off modern DH bike norms in terms of geometry and so on, that’s a long time for any model of bike to stick around these days. Santa Cruz hasn’t been shy about the fact that a new V10 has been in the works for quite some time now, racing under their Syndicate team. Santa Cruz even put out a series of videos documenting their testing and development process along the way, and now the result of their efforts is here — the new eighth-generation V10.
The Frame
The basic layout of the new V10 hasn’t changed all that much from the prior-generation bike — there are some aesthetic differences, most notably the window in the seat mast where it meets the top tube, but the silhouette is readily identifiable as a V10. It’s still using a VPP suspension layout with the lower link driving the shock, and despite their current trendiness, Santa Cruz hasn’t gone for a high-pivot layout. That’s not to say that it wasn’t ever on the table — they made some prototypes with a high virtual pivot and idler but ultimately decided that, while the arrangement had certain benefits, at the end of the day it wasn’t faster than the conventional layouts they were testing alongside it, so they’ve moved forward without the idler pulley.
Santa Cruz has made big changes to the wheel size options and many other details, though. The prior-generation V10 was offered with 27.5’’ wheels only in size Small, your choice of an MX or 29er for the Medium and Large, and as a 29er only for the XL (all of which used dedicated frames and weren’t convertible back and forth). The new bike keeps a degree of size-specific wheel sizing but takes the choice out of it, with the Small, Medium, and Large frames getting mixed wheels and the XL remaining a 29er, only.
While it’s not intended to swap wheel sizes, there’s also a lot of adjustability built into the new V10. Santa Cruz’s typical flip chip at the rear shock mount is still here, though it’s been expanded to three positions, from two on the prior-generation V10 (and most of the rest of the Santa Cruz lineup). Another flip chip at the rear dropout can add or subtract five millimeters from the default chainstay length (with a sliding rear brake mount to keep everything aligned nicely), and an offset set of headset cups gives +/- 8 millimeters of reach adjustment, too.
Santa Cruz doesn’t publish any suspension kinematic data for the new V10, but they say that it’s changed significantly from the prior-generation bike. The total suspension travel is down a touch, to 208 mm (from 215 mm), but we don’t know much more for now.
The other frame details look well thought-out, but there aren’t any big surprises. The cable routing is internal (but not through the headset) with in-molded tubes to make routing easy. There’s a threaded bottom bracket shell with ISCG tabs, a big built-in fender to protect the shock from rear-wheel spray, ample rubber chainstay / seatstay guards, and additional protectors on the downtube, too. Bolt-on fork bumpers round out the built-in frame protection.
Fit & Geometry
The new V10 is offered in the same four sizes (Small, Medium, Large, and XL) as the prior-generation one, but they’ve gotten a bit longer and slacker than the gen-7 models — and the chainstay length in particular has grown substantially.
All four sizes have the same 62.9° headtube angle in the middle flip chip setting, with reach numbers ranging from 419 mm on the Small through 499 on the XL, with the Medium and Large coming in at 454 and 474 mm, respectively. All those numbers are stated in the middle of their adjustment range; the angle-adjusting flip chip changes them by a few millimeters and the headtube angle by a couple of tenths of a degree, and the offset headset cups offer a separate +/- 8 mm adjustment to the reach.
In addition to the chainstay length adjustability (which, again, offers +/- 5 mm settings from the default one), the V10 has size-specific chainstay lengths that start at an already-not-short 445 mm on the Small frame and grow by about 5 mm per frame size, up to 461 mm on the XL. That’s a whole lot of combinations to keep track of, so it’s probably easiest to just look at the full chart:
[We’re pretty sure the reach numbers for the XL frame in the low setting are a typo — they should be a couple of millimeters shorter than the mid setting. We’ve reached out to Santa Cruz for confirmation and will update when we hear back.]
The Builds
Santa Cruz is offering two builds for the new V10, both featuring Fox suspension and SRAM drivetrains and brakes. The less-expensive S DH build gets a GX drivetrain, Code Bronze Stealth brakes, and a Fox 40 Performance / Fox DHX2 Performance Elite suspension package; the X01 DH build upgrades the drivetrain to X01, the brakes to Code Silver Stealths, and the suspension to the Factory-tier versions. Both come with Reserve 30|HD AL wheels laced to Industry Nine 1/1 hubs.
Drivetrain: SRAM GX DH
Brakes: SRAM Code Bronze Stealth
Fork: Fox 40 Performance
Shock: Fox DHX2 Performance Elite
Wheels: Reserve 30|HD AL w/ Industry Nine 1/1 hubs
Drivetrain: SRAM X01 DH
Brakes: SRAM Code Silver Stealth
Fork: Fox 40 Factory
Shock: Fox DHX2 Factory
Wheels: Reserve 30|HD AL w/ Industry Nine 1/1 hubs
Some Questions / Things We’re Curious About
(1) Santa Cruz has clearly developed the V10 to be a DH race bike first and foremost, but they (rightly) note that DH bikes have a place for folks who just spend a lot of time in the bike park, too, and say that the V10 isn’t just a dedicated race bike. Does that feel like it’s the case?
(2) And how does the V10 stack up against some of the other very successful DH race bikes of recent years, such as the Commencal Supreme and the Trek Session?
Bottom Line (For Now)
The new Santa Cruz V10 just wrapped up a successful World Cup race season under the Syndicate, and now it’s available to the public. We’re quite curious to get on one and will just have to see if we can make that happen when the lifts start spinning again in the spring. Stay tuned for more to come.