The new MX Santa Cruz 5010 is designed to be more playful than ever before

Aoife Glass

The playful Santa Cruz 5010 gets a mixed wheel size, storage, and updates to make it more joyful than ever on the trail

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Just like its siblings the Nomad and the Hightower, the Santa Cruz 5010 has had an update and refresh. Santa Cruz says this turns what has always been a playful, capable and fun trail bike into…well, an even more playful, capable and fun trail bike, and, it hopes, amongst the best mountain bikes out there.

Need to know:

  • Available in C and CC carbon frames
  • Mixed wheel size
  • XS to XXL frame sizes
  • 130mm rear travel, 140mm front travel
  • Updated leverage curve
  • On-board ‘Glovebox’ frame storage
  • Sag window
  • Size-specific chainstays and seat tube angle for uniform feel across sizes

 

If you’ve been keeping an eye on the range refreshes that Santa Cruz have been making over the last year, such as with the Nomad and Hightower, a lot of what’s changed on the 5010 won’t be a massive surprise since they’re in line with the overall philosophy. So, for example, the 5010 now gets on board storage in the form of the Glovebox, which includes Tool Wallet and Tube Purse storage bags, so you can stow essentials in the downtube and not have to worry about them rattling while you ride the trail.

Geometry, frame and wheelsize updates

Santa Cruz have gone all-in on the mixed wheel size approach to bikes since the 5010 now also boasts an MX set up, with a 29er wheel up front for traction and 27.5 at the back for agility.

In the last major update of the 5010, the shock was moved into a lower position on the bike. While this was great in performance terms, there was one niggle – the shaft of the shock was obscured by the frame around it, making sag set up a little tricky. Santa Cruz have fixed this with the current update by adding a ‘sag window’, which is essentially a cut out area that you can peek through to see where your sag is sitting. Handy!

Frame changes for this update are size-specific chainstays and seat tube angle to ensure a uniform feel and performance across the whole size range. Since these play a large part in how a bike handles, it makes sense to ensure as much as possible that the sizes at either end, where compromise is often felt most keenly, give riders the same fun, playful ride that the mid-sizes, which is where design focus usually sits, benefit from.

Santa Cruz 5010 MY23 geometry chart

Suspension curve updates

If you’ve got the opportunity to refine suspension, why not take it – and Santa Cruz has. The 5010 may be a relatively short travel bike but that’s never let it – or its riders – stop it from riding terrain that’s a whole lot bigger than the numbers suggest it would feel a home on.

Santa Cruz have reduced anti-squat over the previous generation of 5010 to give better ground tracking qualities, sensitivity, and reduce the effects of pedal kick, then also a very straight, progressive leverage curve to provide support, bottom out resistance and playfulness. The result should be a bike that offers playful traction on trails with surprising levels of support when hitting bigger features and jumps.

Vero Sandler rides the Santa Cruz 5010 MY23

Other features that are handy to know about include the fact it has Boost 148 spacing, post-mount brakes with 180mm rotors, a threaded bottom bracket, the very handy Santa Cruz Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH) and IS headset.

Santa Cruz 5010 price and range

The Santa Cruz 5010 will be available in various builds, starting from the R kit which features a carbon C frame and comes in at $5,299 / £5,299 all the way up to the range topping X01 AXS RSV build on a carbon CC frame with wireless groupset and carbon wheels at a shiny $10,649 / £9,499.

There’s also a frame-only option for anyone looking to build up, price at $4,099 / £3,599.

Santa Cruz 5010 frame only

  • Price: $4,099 / £3,599

Santa Cruz 5010 C R

  • Price: $5,299 / £5,299
  • Frame: 5010 Carbon C
  • Suspension: Fox Float DPS performance, Rockshox Pike Base
  • Groupset: SRAM NX Eagle
  • Wheels: RaceFace AR 30 / SRAM MTH / Maxxis DHRII 2.4MG EXO/Minion DHRII 2.4MT EXO

Santa Cruz 5010 C S

  • Price: $6,799 / £6,399
  • Frame: 5010 carbon C
  • Suspension: RockShox Super Deluxe Select+, RockShox Pike Select+
  • Groupset: SRAM GX Eagle
  • Wheels: RaceFace AR 30/DT Swiss 370, Maxxis DHRII 2.4MG EXO/Minion DHRII 2.4MT EXO

Santa Cruz 5010 C GX AXS

  • Price: $8,399 / £7,699
  • Frame: 5010 carbon C
  • Suspension: Rockshox SuperDeluxe Select+, Rockshox PikeSelect+, 140mm,29
  • Groupset: SRAM GX AXSEagle
  • Wheels: RaceFace ARC 30/Industry Nine 1/1, Maxxis DHRII 2.4MG EXO/Minion DHRII 2.4MT EXO

Santa Cruz 5010 C GX AXS RSV

  • Price: $9,699 / £8,199
  • Frame: 5010 carbon C
  • Suspension: Rockshox SuperDeluxe Select+, Rockshox PikeSelect+
  • Groupset: SRAM GX AXSEagle
  • Wheels: Reserve 30 HD/Industry Nine 1/1, Maxxis DHRII 2.4MG EXO/Minion DHRII 2.4MT EXO

Santa Cruz 5010 CC X01

  • Price: $8,799 / £8,199
  • Frame: 5010 carbon CC
  • Suspension: Rockshox SuperDeluxe Ultimate, Rockshox PikeUltimate
  • Groupset: SRAM XO1 Eagle
  • Wheels: RaceFace ARC 30/Industry Nine 1/1, Maxxis DHRII 2.4MG EXO/Minion DHRII 2.4MT EXO

Santa Cruz 5010 CC X01 AXS

  • Price: $10,649 / £9,499
  • Frame: 5010 carbon CC
  • Suspension: Rockshox SuperDeluxe Ultimate, Rockshox Pike Ultimate
  • Groupset: SRAM XO1 AXS Eagle
  • Wheels: Reserve 30 HD/Industry Nine 1/1, Maxxis DHRII 2.4MG EXO/Minion DHRII 2.4MT EXO