Santa Cruz has released a new version of its Stigmata gravel bike. The new bike seems to borrow some of the knowledge from the American brand's mountain bikes, and is touted as a higher-performance, adventure-focused machine that aims to expand gravel riding to a wider range of riders.

As Santa Cruz learned when he tested gravel bikes, gravel is now a spectrum, and the Stigmata claims to be a bike that can stand up to any occasion, whether you are an MTB rider who prefers drop bars or a roadie who wants to ride noisily

The new Stigmata is a "new bike.

The new machine can also be equipped with a suspension fork and features higher performance geometry. It also features a frame storage compartment, external brake hose routing for easy maintenance, and five different build options.

The new bike made a slightly different appearance earlier this year at the Unbound Gravel 200, when Keegan Swenson won the event riding a different version of the new Stigmata. At the time, we speculated that the American might be riding the new Stigmata, but our suspicions were confirmed.

Santa Cruz says the new Stigmata is intended to appeal to riders who want to push things in rougher, rougher, perhaps MTB-specific terrain, and to riders who are more performance-oriented, participating in races.

The brand claims to have adopted a "suspension compensated" geometry, with a "Brick Red" colored carbon frame that can be equipped with a RockShox Rudy Ultimate XPLR (40mm) suspension fork (like the one on the YT Szepter we rode last year) The "Brick Red" color carbon frame can be fitted with a RockShox Rudy Ultimate XPLR (40mm suspension fork) (like the one on our YT Szepter last year) or a carbon fiber Santa Cruz rigid fork.

The front end geometry is based around a longer head tube and slack head tube angle (69.5 degrees), combined with a 70mm stem. The bike is also compatible with a dropper post and uses a 27.2mm size RockShox Reverb AXS XPLR.

All models are equipped with 700c wheels, with reserve carbon fiber wheels on the top two specs; 45mm size Maxxis Rambler tires are standard, but with a healthy maximum tire clearance of 50mm.

There appear to be several design choices to make life with the bike more stress-free. A threaded bottom bracket shell, standard bars and stem, external brake hose routing, and SRAM universal derailleur hangers are standard.

There are three bottle cage mounts, hidden fender mounts, and a storage "glove box" compartment on the downtube.

All factory build kit options are equipped with SRAM components and a choice of 1x or 2x (double) chainsets. The Force AXS 1X RSV (reserve carbon wheels) is the noisiest of the bunch and the only option that comes with a RockShox Rudy Ultimate fork and RockShox Reverb AXS XPLR dropper seatpost.

Prices start at £2,499 for the Stigmata frame and go up to £6,999 for the AXS 1X RSV suspension equipped option. The full range of models can be seen in the table below.

For more information see www.santacruzbicycles.com