Santa Cruz Stigmata Test at the Struggle Borderlands Gravel Epic

[@mflacke]

How and the F has the algorithm kept you from me for this long? I can see by the number of subs you have it's not only me. Your content is TOP Notch! You deserve 10 times the subs. I'll keep commenting, liking and sharing. Nice to meet you Guy Kesteven!

[@GuyKesTV]

Wow, thanks chief, that’s really kind of you. Please tell your mates if you think they’ll enjoy the content too. BTW out of interest how did you find me?

[@mflacke]

@@GuyKesTV Searching for Pirelli Scorpion reviews. Your review about the lack of dampening was unique and spot on. Thanks!

[@philtomlinson8220]

Agreed, don't understand why Guy doesn't have more sub's.

[@andrewcharlesworth2512]

Great video Guy- looks like a brill event showing Yorkshire at its best. Nice bike but loved the way your chisel performed too - ideal Yorkshire gravel bike 😁

[@plain-bagel]

The course looks fantastic! I have my eye on the Stigmata. Looking forward to your video with the rigid fork!

[@davidnicholson6680]

Beautiful route and great video. Thanks for sharing!

[@GuyKesTV]

No worries. See you there later this year?

[@davidnicholson6680]

@@GuyKesTV unfortunately I live outside of Chicago. Come here and I'll show you around some proper Midwest gravel!

[@TheBikeRoom]

Oooh just the event I've been looking to enter, looks vast up there. The bike sounds awesome. Undecided on a gravel fork but riding at that event, I think I'd convince myself before the ride, just by watching this vid again. Great riding too.

[@struggleevents5897]

Great vid! The views look mega. Thanks for coming to Struggle Borderlands.

[@maxlloyd3740]

That looks a great event Guy! Lovely looking bike as well! Always fancied a Stigmata.

[@fuller1074]

Great to see my local tracks getting some love, I've always found them a bit rough on my 2017 Stigmata with max 38cs so spend most of my time riding here on a hardtail or my 120mm bike. So many route options though and looks like they picked some great tracks for this event.

[@GuyKesTV]

Yeah Stuey put together an awesome route. I thought I new the area pretty well but I was blown away at the ‘extra’ stuff. Jealous that’s your local, as it’s an hour and a bit drive for me

[@johnbruce949]

Nice vid Guy 👍🏼

[@Ecoroof1986]

Brilliant video. That section where mountain rescue were parked was amazing, you were defiantly going a lot quicker than I did. Amazing route and hopefully they put it on next year. Hardtail or Gravel bike again that's the question????

[@AOL0321]

Great video Guy! Have you tested the Ibis Hakka MX in the past? They are running a great sale on them now and I was just curious about your take on that bike?

[@stevestowe1110]

Fantastic review Guy and looks like an amazing event!!! Looking forward to more video of the Stigmata !!😊👍🏻👊🏻

[@GuyKesTV]

Hoping to get a rigid fork for it soon but currently none spare in US or UK 🙄

[@COYSMike]

You were flying down some of those descents, I was nervous! What is that bell please?

[@GuyKesTV]

Hey Mike, this is the bell www.upgradebikes.co.uk/Catalogue/Bells/Upgrade-Mini-Bell

[@COYSMike]

Thank you very much

[@ekrano]

That descent…. I’m looking at pulling the trigger on the new Kinesis GX Race for a mullet gravel build using SRAM AXS. I’d love a Stigmata, just to pricey.

[@GuyKesTV]

I’m hoping to get the GX Race on test soon 👍🏻

[@ekrano]

@@GuyKesTV Looking forward to that. I'm looking for something that I can use for commuting, gravel and bike packing, the holy grail.

[@clipsandstrapsjounal]

Highball with a really light xc focused build or that stigmata, that's the question...........

[@andrewcharlesworth2512]

I’d prefer a lightweight XC bike with 100mm travel on those long descents

[@clipsandstrapsjounal]

@@andrewcharlesworth2512 I have to say I agree, and I don't think that bike would give much speed up either over the course of the ride.

[@GuyKesTV]

Highball with a SID SL would be around 400g lighter than Stig and Rudy. There’s very little difference in tire drag either. The only potential issue with a Highball is you can’t run a ‘gravel’ chainring but you can pedal find at 50kmh with a 34 x 10

[@clipsandstrapsjounal]

@@GuyKesTV max chainring on a highball is 38 I think. Mated to a 10-52, 👌👌

[@GuyKesTV]

@@clipsandstrapsjounal sorry yes, you're dead right. That's rare on a hardtail, but ideal if you want some road speed ratios

[@MO-xi1kv]

Did you see many people on hardtails?

[@GuyKesTV]

Loads, XC mostly but some trail and bikepack style rigs too.

[@pss999]

Thanks for the info Guy. What size is this and how tall are you? Their site says I should be on a L but the M stats really seem to make more sense to me... the L has so much reach (even with a short stem)!

[@GuyKesTV]

I’m 180cm / 5’ 10” a large does feel long

[@pss999]

@@GuyKesTV Thank you! Okay, Medium it is then! I'm 179cm but all legs and arms with a relatively short torso and so generally don't get along with long reach bikes.

[@dave...8908]

Don’t all Reverbs feature an inch of bounce after a couple of rides? 😂

[@GuyKesTV]

All the cable MTB ones do yes 🤣 The wireless AXS one and these skinny gravel ones don’t though. They twist a lot instead!

[@IIISentorIII]

11:31 Crash 🤕

[@GuyKesTV]

Don’t worry he’s OK 👍🏻

[@IIISentorIII]

@@GuyKesTV glad he is ok 👍. From what i can see, the Santa Cruz Stigmata is a dream gravel-bike, and I would really wish I could test it. But here in Switzerland there are nowhere to be found so far. I spend all my Bike $ this April on a Specialized Carbon Comp and some upgrades for it. It did replace my old Scott Genius that i used so often that it had alloy fatigue and I also used that Bike to go to work every day for years ;) The Stumpy is a dream Bike and the Price was insane (in a good way) to say the least. The suspension is so damn good and the frame so light and stiff :) Still, that Santa Cruz Stigmata has something ;) Cheers

[@homerj1640]

I really wish they wouldn't plaster the logo on the side of the down tube. It looks so cheesy. The bottom or top of the down tube are good places for subtle logo's. Have you ever seen a car with the manufacturer logo plastered on the side? In my opinion that color as awful. I won't buy a bike without gloss paint either.

[@GuyKesTV]

@@homerj1640 they’ve changed the colours now but still the same big side logos I’m afraid

[@norcalchrismeister]

I like the new Gloss black sparkle color they offer for the Stig. Looks pretty bad ass to me.

[@homerj1640]

I'm just tired of black bikes. I'm going to take a Strava pic of the bike leaning on something most rides. I want to find the bike appealing and the color to pop. Black doesn't do it for me. But at least they got the sparkle. Now if they would just put the sparkle in red or blue and ditch the logo I'd want to take a picture of it.

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

What was the idea to name a bike like this? "Stigmata" is the plural of stigma, and stigma means sign of shame. What's wrong with this bike?