Juliana

Origin Segundo Complete Mountain Bike

When Santa Cruz first introduced the Juliana, it was not only their first stab at building a womens-specific mountain bike --it was also a tribute to surf city resident, coffee aficionado, and Mountain Bike Hall of Fame inductee Juli Furtado. That was almost fifteen years ago, and now SC is spinning Juliana into its own division, dedicated to providing women with bikes like this Origin Segundo complete mountain bike that Furtado would be proud to ride.

And, that shouldn't come as a surprise as Juli is leading the division, and was instrumental in developing each and every Juliana model. The Origin is an updated version of the classic 100mm travel Santa Cruz Juliana, but now Small and Medium models ride on 29in wheels, reserving 26in ones for the X-Small version. This one is furnished with the Segundo build, achieving the delicate balance of efficiency and low-weight without breaking the bank.

This is made possible through extensive use of Shimano Deore components, a RockShox Recon, and a hand-laced wheelset. You'll find the Origin Segundo equipped with Deore cranks, rear and front derailleurs, shifters and cassette. The wheels consist of a Shimano M525 rear hub and Sram 716 front hub laced to WTB ST i19 rims with DT Swiss spokes. While these components contribute to the Origin's impressive mix of value and performance the biggest contributing factor is its alloy, single-pivot frame.

The Origin offers performance that can rival bikes costing twice as much -- with the reliability to keep it out of the shop and on the trail. The light yet strong, hydroformed aluminum front and rear triangles are shaped and butted to place more material where it's needed. This ensures strength and stiffness for confident descending.

But that strength isn't going to hamper your climb to the top. Because of the hydroforming. any excess weight is eliminated to keep the Origin feathery. With big, 29in wheels, stiffness is paramount, that's why you'll find that the rear triangle has an asymmetric shape. This prevents flex and ensures suspension motion is directed to the rear shock and not into flexing the frame, which would cause it to dog trot around switchbacks or across rock gardens.

The Origin relies on Santa Cruz's proven suspension pivot location. It's placed slightly above and forward of the middle chainring, to offer responsive pedaling when seated. One drawback of single pivot designs has always been out-of-the-saddle sprinting, because the suspension will compress under rider loads -- losing energy to moving parts. Luckily, shock technology has mitigated that drawback. The FOX FLOAT CTD on this Origin has three distinct damping settings, and one of them is designed to counter those stand-up pedaling forces.

Aside from the Origin's women-specific geometry, it also gets a Juliana Segundo saddle along with a narrower and compact grip/bar combination that's optimized for smaller hands. The Juliana Origin Segundo Complete Mountain Bike comes in sizes X-Small through Medium and two colors; Persimmon or Pearl White.