SANTA CRUZ 5010 CARBON R £3,899

Santa Cruz’s lower-grade ‘Carbon’ bikes promise similar strength and stiffness and identical looks to their premium ‘Carbon C’ models, but for a lot less money and not much more weight. They’ve still been expensive compared to equivalent bikes from mainstream brands, but maybe not any more – with its full-carbon frame and smart speccing, the latest 5010 looks much more competitively priced. Is it still a cut above in performance terms though?