Sept. 8, 2009

Canberra, Australia

Finally in the record books, Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Steve Peat (SRAM/RockShox), makes history as he bags the big one winning the UCI Downhill World Championships in Canberra, Australia. Syndicate’s Greg Minnaar finishes a mere .05 behind Peat in the closest margin in World Championship history, and Mick Hannah takes the last medal just .69 behind Peat.

I’ve just finished dropping off the rental van and riding my bike home from Avis in Temecula, which concludes the last ground logistics from the Syndicate’s World Champs trip. I can now start on this press release and I just thought I’d write it from my point of view. There will be plenty of releases with the standard interviews, so I’ll give you my take on the lead up to the World Champs and how we got there.

Riding home today across the meadow with the wind blowing through the tall grass reminded me of how we started the season on safari in South Africa which resembled the open meadow I just rode across. The season was wide open then and full of promise, and now we are writing the final chapters to the 2009 downhill race season with most of the promise realized.

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Tallboy on the Horizon

from Santa Cruz Bicycles: “We’ve been hinting about a 29″ bike on our blog for a while, and now that we’re getting the thing closer to finalized, we’re ready to show a little more skin. So to speak. We have photos that are absolutely how the bike will look in final trim, and we’ve got geometry charts, and we’ve got some final prototype mules that we’ve been kicking around. The basic nuts and bolts of the Tallboy have been getting massaged into place for over a year now, and the big wheel beast has taken shape into something we’re really happy with:”

Carbon fiber frame - This’ll be our third carbon fiber bike, and the more time we spend working with the material, the more we are able to push into new definitions of stiffness and strength. Following in line with what we were able to achieve with the carbon Blur XC and LT models, we’re kicking around Tallboy frames that weigh right about 5 pounds (with shock) and are so insanely flex-free and fun handling that they blow all our earlier assumptions about big wheels and chassis flex right out of the water. Tapered head tubes, massive but super light chainstays and rear triangles, absolutely rock solid frames, and they’re still around 2 pounds lighter than most of the similarly targeted competition. Super stiff, super strong, super snappy.

VPP suspension - The Tallboy will have 100mm of travel. The lower link features the same 15mm aluminum pivot axles, titanium hardware, angular contact bearings, grease ports, durability and ease of maintenance as found on our Blur LT. There’s also a carbon fiber upper link, with the same trick hardware and angular contact bearings on the big axle. Clean, neutral pedaling without bob or feedback, and plush bump eating suspension performance across the board.

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source: news santa cruz bicycles

Introducing the all-new carbon fiber Blur LT: -140mm travel (proven geometry, and the high performance, low maintenance assurance of VPP2 suspension) -5.6 pound frame and shock weight (1 pound lighter than existing LT, almost as light as the old XC) -The stiffest chassis we have ever built, bar none. -The strongest frame we have ever built, in every test we threw at it. Grease ports! Metal chain slap thingie Full carbon goodness, and a direct mount front derailleur Replaceable derailleur hanger, integrated chainstay protector It’s just like the Blur LT that everyone loves. Except it’s lighter, stiffer, way stronger, faster, and more responsive, and stronger. Did we already say strong? Yes, but it is worth mentioning again. You could build a lightweight trail flyer out of it, or you could build it to the hilt and never ever have to ask if the frame can handle whatever travel fork you want to put on it, or if there are rider weight limits, or if it is burly enough to handle a 6′ drop to flat, or any of those niggling little concerns that people are always asking about with carbon fiber bikes. We’ve got one catch all answer to any “is it tough enough?” question. Hell yes. Tapered (1 1/8″ semi integrated upper race, 1.5″ lower race) head tube Low profile cable stops, included routing for adjustable seatposts This isn’t some long travel lightweight XC experiment. Think of the Blur LTc as a hairy chested all-mountain ass kicker. In a hockey mask. Holding a chainsaw. In-molded carbon fiber brake mount Carbon fiber upper link, angular contact bearings top to bottom $2399 US MSRP, Carbon fiber frame with Rock Shox Monarch shock 5.6 pound medium frame with Monarch shock. Available early June, 2009 To read about what’s inside this bike, please click here Click here for the Blur LT Carbon main page

source: santacruz bicycles

Greg Minnaar, Spirit of the Syndicate, takes the win in Pietermaritzburg, Peaty in 3rd!!

April 12, 2009
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Hometown boy delivers the goods to adoring fans and familiy on this Easter Sunday in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa at the opening round of the UCI World Cup by winning the downhill today.  His convincing form and preparation prevailed on this pedalling fitness course showing that he has done his homework over the winter.  Teamate Dr. Steve Peat shows he has done a stint or two in the classroom as he follows Greg for third just behind Mick Hannah.

The spirit of the event for the Syndicate has to be the energy that the town, fans and family showed for Greg. His entire family was thrilled to see him in his element and witness a world cup first hand, including his 86 year-old grandmother.  His close friends also organized a fan club charity opportunity which the proceeds from selling membership fan packs and the GM Fan Club VIP auction will go to the Mnsayana School in Umkomaas Valley (the same school seen in Clay Porter’s movie which Steve and Greg visited last year).  Thousands of dollars were raised to benefit the kids at at the school.

Racing in his hometown brought a new element to racing for Greg.  He literally lives less than a mile from the race track and this was quite a unique experience for him.  He could just ride his bike to practice, so it was a funny feeling.  Trying to soak in the support and staying focused on the race was the task at hand.  He stayed in the Syndicate “Cat” house (long story there, but think lots of cat décor), and being in a normal race routine with Steve, Josh, and the rock star mechanics helped calm nerves (think a mechanics night out at Frankie Banana’s and signing female body parts).

Steve and Greg worked together on their practice sessions and the qualifier on Friday went well with Greg in second to Mick Hannah, and Steve fourth to Kovarik’s third.  Wee Josh’s legs didn’t quite have the power of the big guns yet and finished the qualifier in 44th.
Race day practice started early as the fan club arrived at the Syndicate pit to organize for their trek to the long, long pedalling section to cheer for Greg with their chain saws and Vuvuzelas (that’s Zulu for loud horn, or beer bong depending on the application).   In all, about 300 GM fan club members were in attendance wearing their Minnaar replica Alpinestars jerseys to cheer Greg down the hill.   After race day practice Greg said to Steve, “Now I know how you must feel racing at Fort William!”

The final ramped up with Bryceland improving on his qualifier time to finish 39th.  Deep in the thick of things, Cameron Cole took the hotseat for a stint until being unseated by a great run put together by Sam Hill.  Hill held the hotseat until Steve “Old School” had a smoking good run. Rumored to be “40  years old”, Steve just had to wait 6 minutes in the hotseat to see the amazing run delivered by the brilliant performance of Greg.  You could hear the roar coming down the hill and the finish line was mental with fans cheering as loud as possible as Greg smashed across the line.  Waiting another 3 minutes to first place qualifier Mick Hannah arrived was nerve wracking but Mick came across the line in second, which clenched two podium spots for the Syndicate.

The experience we have had here in Africa has been amazing.  Really, you must pinch yourself and say, “We are racing in Africa”!  It’s not just another race, it was so African in so many ways, from the slow or non existent internet access (hence the late report), Zulu people, and big 5 animals, we got to experience Africa in all it’s uniqueness.  We are looking forward to racing here again next year.

Thanks to the SYNDICATE Sponsors:
Santa Cruz Bicycles
SRAM
RockShox
Truvativ
Avid
DT Swiss
WTB
Crankbrothers
Lizard  Skins
Clif Bar
Troy Lee Designs
Chris King
Five Ten

source: Kathy Sessler

Santa Cruz Bicycles has recently announced an exciting brand new model, the Carbon Blur XC. This bike has been in pure stealth mode…until now.

To read the forum discussion about this new bike, go here: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=484769

(official press release below, originally posted on 1/20/09 @ 2:15pm PST)

Hail To The Chief

The inauguration of a fresh president here in the USA seems like an
auspicious time to take the wraps off Santa Cruz Bicycles’ most closely
guarded secret since, well, ever. Ladies and gentlemen, departing Trek
riding Texan Republicans and incoming Illinois hoop shooting Democrats,
please lend a hand for the arrival of the totally new and completely
awesome, carbon fiber Blur XC!

Since it would be tacky to try and stretch a metaphor about domestic and/or
global policy any further to somehow validate our new bike, we’ll cut
straight to the chase:

-105mm travel, next generation VPP suspension
-Super efficient bump absorption, incredible pedaling response, no lockouts
or platforms required
-Reliable, serviceable, stiff - next generation VPP links are core of the
most evolved suspension on the market
-Ultra-lightweight, incredibly strong carbon fiber frame (4.2 pounds, frame
and shock, size medium)
-That wasn’t a typo. It’s really light.
-How light? 22 pounds, 6 ounces for the XTRxc complete
-Damn, that’s light

We spent a huge amount of time and effort developing this bike, and are
confident that it sits right on the sharpest part of the cutting edge of
both performance and technology. You can read the whole developmental spiel.
Or you can just nod your head in agreement when we say that
this bike will change how you think about cross country performance.

So put your hands together folks. Out with the old, in with the new.

source: Mike Ferrentino, Santa Cruz Bicycles

Aug. 31, 2008
Canberra, Australia

Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Greg Minnaar and Nathan Rennie top the podium in Canberra, Australia to the cheers of thousands of enthusiastic Aussie fans and Minnaar regains his lead in the UCI World Cup Downhill Series.  It was an action packed day for the Syndicate as Minnaar, Peat and Rennie swept the semi-finals in number 1,2,3 positions, and the final was nearly the same but for a gust of wind blew Peat as he jumped into the finish stretch causing him to loose his speed and he placed 7th on this blustery, stormy day.

Recap:

The Syndicate arrived early to Australia to acclimate and spent two days in Sydney and four days training in the Blue Mountains, fitting in a surf session at Bondi Beach and a round a golf between training rides.   Arriving in Canberra it was quite a different experience and seemed a bit odd, and Mt. Stromlo seemed barren and eerie.

Mt. Stromlo Forest Park is an interesting place.  The bike park here has been very successful.  Carolyn McKinlay explains, “In Canberra we have the Canberra Off Road Cyclists club which is the biggest mountain biking club in Australia with about a thousand people in it.  About five years ago when we had a massive brush fire come through this area and it totally decimated everything as you can see.  It was like a moonscape.  We did have some riding tracks through here at the time so we put a proposal forward to the government that we could be able to turn it into a bike park.  After lots of negotiations we agreed and we came up with a thing where we could have road riding as well as equestrian and cross country running, as well.  So our club and the government have been working very closely, hand in hand, developing the park.  We’ve lots more plans for the park.  It’s been incredibly successful.”

Practice:

Rennie says, “ The weekend is going really well.   Practice has been great.  Obviously I’ve raced here before so I haven’t really had to concentrate too much on different lines and such. I’ve just been feeling good.  The crowds are all cheering and it’s only practice day.  The track is holding up really well.  It’s not really deteriorating that much.  Things are just running really smoothly.”

The track here is dry and dusty at the moment but I’m looking up at the clouds and it may rain.  The track starts off and goes through a top rock garden and just meanders down the hill through a series of drops and jumps and dusty turns and through some more jump sections It basically just hold the same sort of theme, left to right turns all the way down to the bottom where it then flattens out and you pedal to the finish.  The pedaling is going to be about 35 seconds worth. I think. And it’s at the very end of the course so it’s just burn time, absolute burn!  It will be punishment!”

Minnaar says, “ There’s not much of a hill, but they did a good job of building a downhill on what they’ve got.  There are flat bits down at the bottom so there is no way to avoid them, but to hit it straight through will be hard on the legs.   It’s hard in practice.  There’s a lot of pedaling and the air is really dry and dusty so it’s hard on the lungs.  I think tomorrow it’s going to be important to hammer the top and hammer the bottom.  It’s going to be hard and tiring, but it’s going to have the be done by just pedaling as fast as you can at the bottom.”

SEMI FINAL:

After raining all night the riders took to the track for practice and thought the rain had improved the track.  With the sun breaking through the clouds the weather forecast said the rain would end at 10:00 am, but just the opposite happened at 11:20, 10 minutes before the men’s semi-final the rain started drenching the track and the riders.  It made the last pedaling section miserable as the guys slogged to the finish line.  It was a Syndicate sweep of the top three positions with Minnaar taking top honors and max qualifier points for his efforts trying to collect as many points as possible.  Peaty came second with a 2:47.96 just .32 behind Minnaar’s 2:27.64, and rounding out the top three was Rennie with a 2:49.48.

Rennie said, “I had a pretty cruisy run, I didn’t want to blow out too much.  I just wanted to have a good solid run.”  Peaty says, “The qualifying went pretty good.  The heavens opened up before we left the start gate and it was raining on the way down.  I kept to my dry tires even though it had rained quite a bit and I didn’t have any problem.  I put a good time down and with Greg first, me second and Rennie third, you couldn’t ask for much more from the Syndicate.”  Minnaar says his run didn’t start off very well and he found himself off near the tape in some soft mucky sections, but once he got back online he got back up to speed he said it killed his legs a bit.  He carried on to the finish and lost his speed at the bottom jump, then looked at the finish line and tried to get there as quick as he could pedaling in a massive gear which worked out for the fastest semi-final time.

DOWNHILL FINAL:

Here’s what the guys had to say about their final runs:

Peaty says, “I felt really good, had a good qualifier and felt strong for the finals.  I had a really good run all the way down and was felling pretty strong and pedaling hard at the last jump to jump it like normal but a big gust of wind just came and blew me off and I landed with a foot off, landed and slide sideways on the landing and just lost all my speed and came in a bag of s—t.”

Crowd favorite, Rennie says, “Yeah, it just feels great to do well.  The home crowd and everyone was cheering for so long.  I had a pretty good run, really, and that’s all I could’ve done coming down over the finish, then pedaling through the mud and the flat pedals was just torture.  I barely got over the last jump with maximum effort, so second is good, is great!  I’m pretty happy, of course I’m happy and I’m just glad.  It’s my best result this year.”

Minnaar was Magic today on this track winning both the semi-final and finals and taking over the series lead which was the goal coming into this event.  Minnaar says of his win, “I knew I made a lot of mistakes in the semi so I knew I could improve my time.  What I tried to do is just save my legs for the bottom and I had a clear line to the bottom and I just got hard on the legs and went as hard as I could for the win, clean and simple!”

The Syndicate is looking forward to the finals in Schladming, Austria and is thrilled to go into the final with the series lead.  Josh Bryceland broke his collarbone and will sit out the rest of the season but will be in Schladming to see his teammates finish at the series finale Sept. 13th.

Semi Final Results:

1)    GREG MINNAAR (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE)  2:47.64
2)    STEVE PEAT (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE)  2:47.96
3)    NATHAN RENNIE (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE)  2:49.48
4)    Fabien Barel  2:49.85
5)    Filip Polc  2:50.28
6)    Gee Atherton  2:50.83
7)    Sam Blenkinsop  2:51.17
8)    Sam Hill  2:52.18
9)    Dan Atherton  2:53.15
10)    Bryn Atkinson  2:53.69

Downhill Final Results:

1)    GREG MINNAAR (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE)  2:41.34
2)    NATHAN RENNIE (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE)  2:46.02
3)    Gee Atherton  2:47.00
4)    Fabien Barel  2:47.64
5)    Chris Kovarik  2:48.38
6)    Andrew Neethling 2:48.67
7)    STEVE PEAT (SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE)  2:48..78
8)    Jared Rando  2:49.19
9)    Bryn Atkinson  2:49.39
10)    Sam Blenkinsop  2:50.01

Thanks to the Syndicate sponsors.
Santa Cruz Bicycles
SRAM
RockShox
Truvativ
Avid
Maxxis
DT Swiss
WTB
Crankbrothers
Lizard  Skins
Clif Bar
Troy Lee Designs
Chris King
Five Ten

source: Kathy Sessler, Santa Cruz Syndicate Manager

source: Lindsey Voreis