In next issue’s Big Ride you can take a look at the Salisbury Plain countryside that photographer Russell Burton calls home. For now, gaze upon the Santa Cruz Stigmata gravel bike he’s been riding there
Santa Cruz Stigmata
RUSSELL BURTON
I’ve been riding the previous Santa Cruz Stigmata model for about four years – it’s a regular pick when I want to put in a mile mix that includes roads, the rutted tank tracks of my local Salisbury Plain and some cheeky singletrack cut-throughs. Launching with 700c wheels at a time when many were moving to 650c for all-road bikes might not have been mainstream but I’ve never felt the bike suffered for it. It’s smooth on the road and while it might feel a little too seat-of-the-pants over the rockier, rooty stuff for some, that compromise has never bothered me.
Tyre clearance, in areas of tenaciously sticky clay, has been an issue and that’s the immediate benefit of the new model. The geometry has been tweaked slightly to accommodate the revised wheel size and the construction of the carbon has been changed in order to improve comfort. Together with the 650c wheel option, better clearance and larger tyres it all points to a bike re-specified with smoother handling over the rougher stuff in mind.
First rides bear out that inital impression. On trails and unmade roads, the ride is smoother and the grip better, it inspires more confidence and feels less like riding a road bike in the rough and more like being on a cross-country mountain bike.
The off-road ease of riding is enhanced by the gear system and its huge range. The SRAM AXS with mountain-bike rear mech and cassette has a 10-50 tooth range. It allows you to get up anything, yet has enough left once you hit the road again. A born roadie might argue that the jump between some of the gears is too big but on a bike you want to take anywhere it doesn’t feel like an issue.
The SRAM wireless gear change is crisp and clean - arguably the best I’ve ever used. The lightest dab of the buttons located on each brake lever is enough for the fastest of transitions. An app allows you to nominate between left and right buttons depending on your preference. Some advice here: don’t overthink it. A week of swapping between the two meant too much time having to remember which was which. Go with what first feels natural, set it and forget about it.
There had to be some trade off for changing to a 650c wheel set-up and that is, no surprise here, road riding. It is more comfortable over longer distances but it is slower. Riding on my own, as I usually do, that hasn’t been a problem and for a relaxed touring pace it wouldn’t be an issue - an easy compromise for the bike’s confident versatility on any surface you’re likely to come across. However, in a group of big-wheel bikes pushing for home, I have had to work harder.
This is a top-of-the-range model and out of the box it feels like there’s little to change, but experience says that a few-hundred kilometres under the wheels usually throws up something – we’ll soon see.