You’ll have to excuse the overdose of Santa Cruz Bicycles posts these past few days. It’s merely coincidence that they just launched a new Tallboy around the same time this bike was scheduled to be published…

The Santa Cruz Stigmata wasn’t always a flashy carbon race bike with clearance for 43mm tires and disc brakes. It began as a made in the USA aluminum machine back in 2007 with a very traditional cyclocross racing geometry and posts for canti brakes. While I loved the modern reincarnation of the Stiggy, I still absolutely love seeing its aluminum predecessor in the flesh. Especially one that’s so tastefully built.

There’s nothing super flashy or tricked out about this build. The owner found the frame, NOS online for a deal and built it with mostly used parts but some fancy DT Swiss 350 to H+Son wheels. Ultegra became the platform it’d be built upon and Paul Mini Motos would provide the stopping power. It’s still a new build, so he’s working on the fit, hence the “top hat” spacers, but other than that, this bike is dialed!

Oh and I love the green! It matches the mountains of Los Angeles right now.