Suspension/chassis

Santa Cruz say the new V10 bikes “benefit a longer reach to suit evolving rider preferences” and it’s great to see Santa Cruz have finally addressed the sizing of their bikes and now offer an improved/extended range in this respect. Our large size is recommended for 5’ 8” – 5’ 11” and our test riders were around this size. Still, the V10 is one of the smallest size large bikes on the market. Greg Minnaar at roughly 6′ 2″ riding a XXL V10CC backs this up, whereas Brycleand at over 6′ is an enigma with his choice of sizing.

However, and this is important, relative to other brands the Santa Cruz sizing is accurate where others are not, and spring ratings on rider weight are also correct too. Whilst the large is quite small they’re not trying to cover a wide range of rider sizes with limited frame size offerings.

In relation to older V10’s (with more travel remember) it’s definitely evolved in places other than reach. For example, even this L (although bear in mind wheel size changes) is 43mm longer, three and a half degrees slacker and roughly 25mm lower than Peaty’s 09 World Championship winning bike. Interestingly though it’s still not as slack or as low as his 05 Orange….whatever, the V10 has most certainly moved on.

Travel wise the V10 is more a V8 nowadays with 216mm travel and two geometry settings offering 64 head angle/360mm bottom bracket or 63.5/353mm bottom bracket which Santa Cruz say is for increased stability at higher speeds. Like the Trek Session we see the higher setting as a non-feature and would prefer a lower setting instead. The bike has 157mm rear wheel spacing and overall the bike is impressively constructed and offers proven reliability and this is not to be underestimated. It also sports the Fox 40 which is the best downhill fork.

There’s good progression to the suspension and even though the static bottom bracket is slightly higher than average the nature of the linkage means that with the recommended sag of 20-25mm on the shock means it’s not far off many other downhill bikes and is lower than previous versions which is good. We were still interested to see how this translated with the suspension design when entering sections under heavy braking as many of the lower bikes we’ve found have better poise.

Performance

At this point we decided to bring in a guest tester. Given the baggage we have with the V10 from riding most of the previous versions, and that we have not given it the full acclaim that many people seemed to expect, we thought a fresh perspective from Will Soffe of Bike Park Wales appropriate.

“The 2016 V10cc is the latest and greatest top-spec carbon version of the iconic downhill bike and arguably one of the most beautiful. A carefully planned mix of gloss white and red with matt black shadowing, the paint job sets off the swooping Californian carbon like a well-cut dress on a Hollywood actress.

On track, the V10cc encourages a skimming, drifting approach; ducking and weaving like a courser after a hare. Carve toward a turn and the bike feels wonderfully playful, encouraging flamboyant line-choice and pin-point corner entry. Flat turns can be taken Caterham 7 style as you shift your weight back and forth to find grip. Feedback is instant and detailed, letting you know where the grip is, how much and what it had for breakfast last Tuesday. “You’ve changed” I say, “The old V10 was a plough-bike!” This latest model has grown up and completed finishing school; a refined and sophisticated graduate of Lousa testing and lab analysis.

However when scything through chop, deep in the travel, the bike begins to feel rather more of a handful than my benchmark XL Trek Session. Add to this a tendency to wallow in its travel and the bike becomes one that has to be ridden tactically rather than smashed and railed. Laced with Fox 40 and X2 shock, a similarly suspended Session is less inspiring when dicking about, but more purposeful when you put your race face on.

Hit steep stuff and the V10 feels nimble but makes mountains out of molehills on rough corners, whereas the Session’s reassuring stability maintains momentum even through holes Jules Verne would be interested in. The Santa Cruz is noticeably noisy too; extra chainstay protection is needed.

As a piece of Californian exotica this bike is a work of art and one which is clearly capable of winning at the highest level in the right hands. But is it the whole package? Is she the stable, marrying type or just an exciting one-night stand? Whilst the V10 is feather-light and a great looker, with a superbly tuned carbon layup and fabulous handling on flat turns, as a race bike the suspension isn’t as predictable or confidence inspiring as some of its stablemates. Other bikes can outshine this one on steep, rough racetracks.”