Santa Cruz has updated its rowdy 5010 trail bike, moving it to a mullet setup, adding storage, and tweaking the geometry.
With the best trail bikes predominantly opting for 29er wheels, it was only a matter of time before the 5010 graduated from the front and rear 27.5in wheel setup. Following the lead of the recently released Santa Cruz Nomad, the 5010 is the last bike in Santa Cruz's range to ditch the 27.5 wheels, moving to a mullet setup.
Santa Cruz says this move doesn't mean the sacrifice of the playful character, something that we really liked about the previous Santa Cruz 5010 Gen 4. Santa Cruz has tweaked the geometry with the goal of maintaining the lively feel and handling of the previous bike while accommodating the 29er front wheel. Despite the new wheel configuration, travel has stayed the same with 140mm upfront and 130mm at the rear.
Santa Cruz says that the kinematics have been tweaked to enhance rear wheel ground tracking for better grip and bump absorption by reducing the anti-squat. The leverage ratio is also slightly different but has the same progressive ramp-up as the old bike to give more support during big impacts.
The 5010 also gets Santa Cruz's Glove Box downtube storage with the Tool Wallet and Tube Purse, perfect for storing your trail essentials ready for when you need them.
The frame will come in C and CC carbon frame options and sizes between XS and XXL. The press release also mentions an alloy frame, although those models aren't currently on the website. All Santa Cruz frames and pivot bearings have a lifetime warranty, as do the Reserve carbon rims if you spec them.
There are eight builds available; two budget alloy models (prices TBC), four C-grade frameset builds (starting at $5299 / £5299), and two premium CC versions (starting at $8,799 / £8,199).
