Santacruz Superlight 29 Juli Furtado - Especifica para meninas

SURFAS

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Para meninas, senhoras :D

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SANTA CRUZ -- After nearly 17 years of living a mostly quiet Santa Cruz life, former Olympic mountain biker Juli Furtado has spearheaded the creation of the largest line of women's mountain bikes on the market to debut nationally next month as "the Juliana."

A new division of local high-end mountain bike manufacturer Santa Cruz Bicycles, the Juliana line will be marketed as a complete bike for the more casual to serious rider -- although with a price tag starting at about $1,500, "casual" might be considered relative.

The bikes are generally smaller framed with women-specific saddles, a shorter handlebar span and smaller grips. There is no pink bike, but the colors and overall aesthetic are decidedly more feminine, Furtado said.

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"I wanted it feminine but not silly," Furtado said. "I want women to walk into a store and buy a beautiful bike."

In the new Westside headquarters of Santa Cruz Bicycles, which was busy this last month with workers plastering the walls with giant black and white photographs of racers in midair, dirt flying, Furtado rolled out a shiny persimmon bicycle, the signature color. The branding includes a crown logo, which reflects the former racer's moniker, "Queen of Dirt."

The Juliana line projects a less techie, less competitive vibe. Other graphics on the frame include a lotus, a flame and a wolf, representing the essential feel of riding through the woods.

"I want women to feel beautiful, powerful
and alive," Furtado said.

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Furtado, 45, inducted in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Bicycling Hall of Fame in 2005, was the youngest member of the U.S. National ski team before switching to mountain biking. She won the U.S. National Road Championship in 1989 and went on to win several world championship competitions and participate in the Atlanta Olympics. She retired from the sport in 1997 after being diagnosed with lupus.

For the company, which weathered some tough times in the economic downturn, it's a great time to diversify, according to Jon Forsberg, chief financial officer, The company does not report sales figures, but Forsberg said "things have been going quite well," since recovering from a sales dive in 2008.

"Today, Santa Cruz is able to focus attention on diversifying our product line," Forsberg said. "And, that's where Juli's vision helped channel energy into evolving the Juliana concept."

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It's difficult to pinpoint the numbers of women mountain bikers. While there has been considerable growth in cycling in the past few decades in the U.S., rates of road cycling among women went down nationally in the last decade, according to a transportation study published in 2010, "Bicycling renaissance in North America? An update and re-appraisal of cycling trends and policies." Market reports for mountain biking, however, are largely anecdotal. Furtado points to multiplying racers and riding groups for women. All major manufacturers have introduced women's models in recent years.

"Participation is growing," Forsberg said. "Just looking around the local trails and races it's awesome to see the apparent increase in female mountain bikers "... By applying much of what we already know about our current line of bikes into bikes designed more specifically for women is only going to improve their experience."

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The line is an expansion of a women's frame that the company launched in 1999 and named the Juliana Santa Cruz. That bike, which garners more than a million dollars in sales annually and was named "Best Women's Mountain Bike of 2011" by Bicycling Magazine, has been renamed "The Origin" in the newly expanded line.

Furtado, who lives on the Westside of Santa Cruz with her 5-year-old son Wyatt, said she worked out the overall look and feel of the bike line during long solo rides in the Santa Cruz trails. She worked closely with Joe Graney, the company's director of engineering and quality, company designers and a local group of casual and competitive women riders who helped choose colors, logos and typeface.

Although the branding is new, Forsberg said he doesn't see the line as a shift for the company.

"We've always appealed to mountain biking fanatics," he said. "There's also a heck of a lot of discerning riders out there who appreciate our products, yet simply don't get enough time to ride them as much they'd like. A 'casual' rider in one sense, but they fundamentally understand the difference between a $500 bike and $2,000 bike, and make informed choices driven by a desire for quality and performance." The line, he said, "will also include some kick-ass race-ready bikes for the decidedly un-casual, too."

Furtado said she felt the time was right to step back into the public stage. She wants to avoid sentimentality, but, being a mother has simply changed her, she said. She wanted her son to be proud of her.

"I think I knew deep down that I was not exploring an opportunity on a business side because of my reluctance to be in the light," she said. Motherhood, "gives you a long-term view. I did well in school. I did well on the U.S. ski team and in mountain biking." She thought that even though the Juliana was successful, it could be more successful. "I wanted something more to be proud of rather than just things in the past. Even when was in a race, I didn't want to rest on my laurels."
 

SURFAS

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ATENÇÃO: não é apenas uma Superlight 29" tamanho S, é uma bicicleta desenvolvida para mulher, com geometria própria e tamanhos próprios!!
 

SURFAS

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Aqui fica as novidades

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Written by Kristin Butcher

The Santa Cruz Juliana, a lightweight single pivot design available in smaller sizes and designed with women in mind, was originally introduced in 1999. Named for legendary pro-racer turned Santa Cruz Bicycles’ renaissance woman and design-maven Juli Furtado, the bike was one of the first women-specific models on the market and came along when the only answer to many small riders’ sizing issues was slamming the seat post and swapping to a shorty stem.

Nearly 15 years after the Juliana’s debut, Juli Furtado is back. And this time, the queen of the dirt brought a whole line of bikes with her.

Santa Cruz Bicycles is spinning off Juliana as its own distinct brand, complete with four models of bikes and three wheel sizes that cover a wide swath of riding styles. The line utilizes Santa Cruz Bicycles’ proven VPP and single-pivot suspension designs, but in a departure from Santa Cruz’s “choose your adventure” style of selling frames and component kits separately, the Juliana models will be sold as complete bikes that range from entry(ish) to swanky(er).

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THE NEVIS

The Juliana line’s resident 29er hardtail is the Nevis, offering a lightweight aluminum frame, interchangeable dropouts for single-speed compatibility, and sizing selections that fit riders from around 4’8” to 5’9” in height. Riders who fall into the XS sizing category (from 4’8” to 5’1”) may be dismayed to see that the smallest Nevis comes with 26-inch wheels. Juliana accepts that 29-inch wheels aren’t necessarily the best choice on tiny bikes, so they don’t make any bones about not offering that combination. While that may upset some riders, I respect the value placed on ensuring each bike, in each size, offers the best ride possible. That said, I would have liked to have seen 27.5” wheels on the XS.

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THE ORIGIN
Next in the line is the bike that started it all—the Santa Cruz Juliana. Now renamed the Juliana Origin, this model still offers the combination of features that made this bike a classic, including the low-maintenance, single-pivot design, 100 millimeters of rear travel, and a lightweight aluminum frame. For the new line, the Origin has evolved to run 29-inch wheels in all but the XS size, which gets a pair of 26-inch shoes to avoid toe-overlap and an overly long wheelbase.

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THE JOPLIN
Now’s where the Juliana line gets exciting with the introduction of two (very) different Virtual Pivot Point bikes each available with a carbon-fiber option. The Joplin is a 29er 100-millimeter travel, full-suspension bike designed around Santa Cruz’s efficient and capable VPP suspension. Though I’ve only thrown a leg over a handful of 29er bikes, I was surprised at how quickly I felt as one with the bike. The Joplin climbed well and the larger wheels gobbled up all the ledgy rocks and bad line choices I could throw at it.

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THE FURTADO
With the final bike in the Juliana line, it seems that the Santa Cruz Bronson and Blur had a baby that is unlike anything Santa Cruz’s current lineup. Named after the matriarch of the Juliana line, the Furtado offers 125 millimeters of supple VPP suspension, trail-hungry geometry, and 27.5-inch wheels. There’s also a carbon-fiber frame option for those into high-zoot scoots. When I first threw a leg over this bike, I was convinced that 27.5-inch (a.k.a 650b) wheels were a marketing gimmick meant to extract more money from my already-light wallet. A few hours later, I was a convert.

Switching from one bike to another usually requires a bit of transition time for adapting to the feel of larger (or smaller) wheels, different suspension, slacker/steeper geometry, etc. Within the first mile on the Furtado, I felt like I’d been riding this bike all my life. It retained the nimbleness I’ve come to expect from my quiver of 26-inch-wheeled bikes, but gobbled up technical sections with the finesse I normally don’t achieve until midseason. The only downside I noticed was my pedals clipping a few more rocks than normal, presumably due to the lower bottom bracket. However, the low center of gravity and fit of the bike felt so perfect, it’s a sacrifice I’m happy to make. Many riders might find themselves priced out of the Furtado line which only offers two price points, $3,299 followed by $5,999 for a carbon-fiber frame and dropper-post equipped bling-machine.

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Juliana bikes come with shorter 170-millimeter cranks, narrow-diameter handlebars, women’s specific saddles, and very low stand-over heights (a convenient feature for anyone with a crotch). The most noticeable of all these features is the handlebar that isn’t just fit with thinner grips, but actually reduces in diameter at the handlebar ends. I’ve never considered my hands particularly dainty, so I was wary of the narrow gauge bar. After 20 years riding standard handlebars, at first I felt the way Andre the Giant must have felt when holding a can of beer. But after a few rides, I forgot about the handlebar altogether. Instead, what I noticed was that the ache I get where my thumb and forefinger wrap around the handlebar never materialized. I’d like a few more rides before I run out and switch all my bars, but there may be something to this smaller-diameter handlebar. So far, my less-than-dainty hands agree.

There was no mention of sit-bone measurements or incessant references to the differences between men’s and women’s proportions as bikes were rolled out and described during the press camp. Instead, the women-specific focus was on the contact points—our hands are generally smaller, our shoulders a bit narrower, we tend to be shorter, and our crotchal region is all girly and crap.

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There’s a simple beauty in Juliana’s approach. The bikes aren’t overworked. They aren’t given super short top-tubes and painted to look like doilies under the pretense of meeting women’s needs. Instead, the Juliana line is comprised of damn good bikes shifted down the size spectrum.

If you’re big enough to ride rollercoasters but under six feet tall, regardless of whether you were born with an innie or an outie, you’d be remiss not to throw a leg over one of these bikes just because they carry a woman’s name.

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