Compare-O First Look: Santa Cruz 5010 Carbon
This article is part of the Mtbr’s Enduro Compare-O. See all the stories in this special section here–https://reviews.mtbr.com/category/enduro-compare-o-2014
You may be asking yourself, what the hell is a 5010 C? Well, it’s not a tax form, a Major League Baseball rule, or even a road in rural Alabama. It’s the second name given to a steed you likely remember as the Santa Cruz Solo Carbon.
Turns out that sometime after the bike’s launch in early 2013, another bike maker, who shall remain nameless, got its panties in a bunch over use of said name. So Santa Cruz, not wanting to embroil itself in unnecessary copyright controversy, relented and changed the bike’s name to 5010.
Why 5010? Well beside the fact that the number bears a distinct resemblance to the word Solo, according to the Santa Cruz website, one of the bike maker’s product managers is a big fan of “NGC 5010, a lenticular galaxy located about 140 millions light years away.” And “why go solo when you can go intergalactic.”
That line of text is followed by a video embed of the classic Beastie Boys song, “Intergalactic,” whose lyrics include the line, “From the Hudson River out to the Nile; I run the marathon ’til the very last mile.” And this nod to great distances serves as an appropriate introduction for a bike that’s designed with the all-day adventurer in mind.
Spec Highlights
With its 5-pound VPP frame, 68-degree head angle, and top-shelf parts spec that includes a SRAM XX1 drivetrain, and lightweight ENVE AM carbon wheels, the 5010 C looks to be a seriously capable climber. Our size Large tester tipped the scales at 25.68 pounds.
Of course, with 125mm rear and 130mm front suspension, a comparatively lower bottom bracket, and shortened chainstays, this 27.5-inch bike is built to slay the downhills, too. At least that’s the line of thinking heading into our test session. Whether it delivers remains to be seen.
The 5010 is built around Santa Cruz’s well-regarded Virtual Pivot Point suspension design, which uses chain tension to minimize rear-end bobbing. Suspension is provided via a Fox Float CTD 125mm shock and Fox 32 Float CTD 130mm fork, which helps keep weight down but may get overwhelmed on rowdier trails.
Without even having thrown a leg over our test rig, thumbs up to SRAM’s utilitarian XX1 drivetrain, which has proven itself to be lightweight, reliable and just plain smart. Plus we love how it cleans up what are becoming increasingly cluttered cockpits. However, we’re not big fans of the 34t chainring choice on this bike. That will be too much gear for a lot of people. Give us a 30t or even a 28t, so we can spin up steep climbs and not be blown when it comes time for the fun part.
Wheel choice is the top-of-food-chain ENVE carbon AM model, which goes a long way to explaining this bike’s weight — and the wallet-stinging $9575 price tag. Maxxis High Roller II 2.3″ tubeless ready tires aren’t the fastest flat-terrain rollers, but those big lugs should offer plenty of grip when downhill testing begins.
No comprises when it comes to braking. Our test rig is spec’d with Shimano’s superb XTR stoppers and 180mm front/160mm rear Ice Tech rotors.
A RockShox Reverb Stealth dropper post assures that we’ll be able to get the WTB Volt SLT Ti saddle out of the way when the time comes.
2014 Santa Cruz 5010 Carbon Key Specs
- Weight: 25.68 lbs.(size large)
- Wheel size: 27.5 inches
- Frame Material: Carbon
- Travel/Suspension: Rear: Fox Float CTD 125mm; Front: Fox 32 Float CTD 130mm
- Drivetrain: SRAM XX1 1×11; 34t chainring, 10-42 cassette
- Brakes: Shimano XTR with 180mm front 160mm rear Ice Tech rotors
- Seatpost: RockShox Reverb Stealth
- Wheelset/Tires: ENVE AM carbon; Maxxis High Roller II 2.3″ Tubeless-Ready EXO
- Bars/Stem: Easton Carbon Havoc 750mm; Thomson 70mm
- Bottom bracket type: 73mm threaded
- Head tube angle: 68
- Seat tube angle: 73 degrees
- Chainstay length: 17.1 inches
- Bottom bracket height: 13.2 inches
- Bike MRSP: $9575
- Frame MSRP: $2899 with Fox CTD Factory shock
For more information visit www.santacruzbicycles.com.
Read our Bottom Line Evaluation of the Santa Cruz 5010 Carbon here.
This story is part of Mtbr’s 2014 Enduro Compare-O. Check out our intro story here for all the ground rules and goings ons.
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