Santa Cruz Bicycles

5010 Complete R Mountain Bike - 2015

It's true: the Santa Cruz 5010 is inarguably one of the most all-around capable mountain bikes ever designed. It's also true: some versions of the thing are painfully expensive. Santa Cruz knows this, which is why they cook up some excellent deals in the form of a 5010 frameset with fairly-priced premium parts, like the 2015 Santa Cruz 5010 R Complete Mountain Bike.

So what makes the 5010 such a well-balanced machine? Many things, but here are the highlights: First, 27.5-inch wheels, the sweet spot between big-wheel 29ers and old-school 26ers. Second, 125mm of rear wheel travel, landing right between short-travel race rigs and big-hit trail-crushers. Third, perfectly neutral geometry that can climb, descend, and handle with the best of them. Fourth, in the case of the 5010 R Complete you see here, is the light, stiff aluminum chassis and all the wonderful things that you can do upon it with the excellent parts you'll find installed.

But frame first. We'll admit that the carbon version of the 5010 delivers the model's purest performance, but the alloy version here showcases the latest and greatest of Santa Cruz's expertise in the manipulation of aluminum, delivering a frame that's only slightly heavier than its fibrous friend. Butted and hydroformed tubes take optimized shapes that came to be as the result of countless test-riding hours and computer model simulation, resulting in, among other things, excellent standover height and a tapered head tube for steering precision. On the whole, handling and lateral stiffness are superb, and the chassis is still light enough to race but tough enough to take some drops. Were it not for the scales or the ring from the flick of your fingernail, you'd likely never notice that this here 5010 is born from metal.

Santa Cruz's famous VPP suspension platform is a big player in the 5010's game, too. It's a system that's widely beloved among experienced riders for its blend of pedaling efficiency and trail-erasing smoothness. VPP employs two aluminum counter-rotating links to achieve this balance. The upper link provides most of the rotation as the bike compresses towards the sag point, or about 15-20% of its travel. This yields a vertical wheel path, which you'll notice in the form of a firm feel during acceleration. As the bike compresses deeper into the suspension, however, the lower link activates, moving the axle path rearward. The rearward axle path enables the rear wheel to travel out of the way of impacts and technical terrain, increasing stability, particularly at speed. The ride remains smooth and controllable. You'll also find the same collet-style pivot hardware that's become standard for Santa Cruz's suspension bikes. This means that your pivots stay tight and are easily serviceable at home if ever necessary.

The 5010 R parts kit is where the money is saved, but that doesn't mean it's where the corners are cut. The company could easily have spec'd out a much cheaper machine, but it knows that the 5010 platform is going to encourage people to ride far and wide, so the build has to, too. Fox handles rear suspension duties with a CTD Evolution shock and its Climb, Trail, and Descend modes, while a 130mm RockShox Sector Gold RL fork does its thing up front. The Shimano SLX drivetrain is light, but tough and reliable, while the Deore M615 disc brake set will give you smooth, predictable stops every time. The Race Face Ride stem, bar, and seat post are tested to RF's rigorous durability standards while still being nearly as light as some carbon configurations. Some tubeless-ready Maxxis tires wrap around some bomb-proof WTB STi23 tubeless-ready rims, and WTB also tops off the package with a comfortable-all-day Volt Race saddle.

The 2015 5010 R Complete Mountain Bike comes in four sizes, from Small to X-Large, and in two colors: Satin black/white and Orange/lime green.