Juliana introduces some massive changes to the Furtado, but promises to keep it fun and agile

Juliana’s much-loved Furtado, just like the 5010 from sister company, Santa Cruz, of which it shares the same frame, was due an overhaul.

In fact, Juliana has completely changed the shape of the Juliana, bringing it more into line with the silhouettes shared by its Joplin, Strega, Maverick and Rubion models.

At its core though, Juliana wanted to retain that fun and playful feel the bike was famed for. So, just how did it do it?

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2020 Juliana Furtado suspension changes

The Furtado is, according to Juliana, built to be “agile and playful” with a new suspension layout for “a more responsive feel and better cornering”.

This, in part, helps to explain why Juliana is sticking with the smaller, arguably more playful 650b wheels for the latest Furtado.

But before you get too excited, just be mindful that there are currently no alloy options available.

As it stands, the Furtado is available in the brand's ‘C’ carbon or its more expensive ‘CC’ carbon. In essence, the frames are more or less the same, but the ‘CC’ option offers the same strength and stiffness at a lower weight.

Rear travel remains 130mm, but the new Furtado is designed around a longer stroke, 140mm travel fork up front.

The way in which this travel is delivered has, quite evidently, changed too, with the shock now sitting down low in the belly of the bike, where it penetrates the seat tube and is driven by the lower, rather than the upper, of the two VPP (Virtual Pivot Point) links.

Juliana has tweaked the leverage curve too, making it more progressive as well as more straightforward to set up.

It claims these changes mean that the Furtado can work with either an air shock (of which it’s supplied with across all models) or a coil shock.

Due to the new shock location and it’s proximity to the rear wheel, Juliana has included a neat little bolt-on fender to protect the shock from flying trail debris and mud that could be flung from the rear tyre.

2020 Juliana Furtado geometry updates and changes

Juliana didn’t just stop there though, and decided to go back to the drawing board with the geometry too.

While the brand pitches this as an ultra-versatile, super-agile machine, it's still stretched the frame out and slackened the head angle for improved stability at speed, and reach has crept up on all sizes.

The previous Furtado sported a reach of 437mm on the medium frame. That’s now been bumped up to 447mm on the latest medium version.

The head angle has been raked out a little more too, and now sits at 65.4 degrees in the low setting. That’s compared to 66.2 degrees on its predecessor.

Thankfully, it's steepened the seat angle significantly for a more efficient pedalling position (when seated).

While the old Furtado offered a reasonable 74.9-degree seat angle, the new Furtado’s is considerably steeper at 76.8 degrees.

Due to there being no build option that includes plumper 2.6in tyres as standard (the 2018 Furtado was offered with either plus-sized 2.6in tyres or skinnier 2.3in tyres), the bottom bracket is now a little higher (because it’s just offered with 2.4in tyres) and in the low setting sits at a ground-hugging 334mm.

Size-specific chainstay lengths

One of the most interesting figures on the new Furtado is the chainstay length, or, more accurately due to the fact that the chainstay is attached to a link rather than the bottom bracket shell, the rear centre figure (the distance from the centre of the bottom bracket axle to the centre of the rear wheel axle).

As the frames increase in size, the rear centre grows in length.

Juliana says this has been done to ensure each rider, no matter what size, is as well balanced on the bike and between the wheels as possible.

It’s something a number of other brands currently do, although they tend to be smaller manufacturers, so it’s great to see a powerhouse such as Juliana/Santa Cruz roll out something like this.

Adjustable geometry

Juliana and Santa Cruz bikes are known for offering some form of geometry adjustment, and you’ll not be disappointed to hear that the 5010 is no different.

Thanks to a flip chip that sits at the rear shock mount, you can quite easily switch between the Furtado’s high and low setting.

This alters the bottom bracket height by 4mm, the seat angle by 0.4 degrees and the head angle by 0.3 degrees. Changing it doesn’t take long but can be a little fiddly due to the position of the shock within the seat tube tunnel.

2020 Juliana Furtado frame details

Hanging off the back of the new rear triangle is SRAM’s new Universal Derailleur Hanger (UDH). This is designed to rotate backwards on impact, which could save your derailleur and some serious cash.

SRAM also says its design allows it to work with all major derailleur brands, so even if you did want to stray from the original Furtado build, you won't need to find a new hanger to make things work.

While the Furtado is only offered in three sizes (extra small through to medium), if you are a little taller, there’s a size large or extra-large available if you’re happy to switch brands and jump on the Santa Cruz 5010 instead.

Aside from the bars and saddle (the Furtado comes with 780mm bars while the 5010 features 800mm bars – nothing a hacksaw can’t remedy, though - and uses a different saddle too), the Furtado is essentially identical in almost every way to the 5010.

2020 Juliana Furtado models and pricing

The 2020 Juliana Furtado is available in four models and a frame-only option, the most affordable is the Furtado C R that costs £4,099 / $4,000 / €4,399 (DE, FR) / AU$7,599.

The most expensive Furtado CC X01 RSV retails for £7,599 / $10,799 / €8,399 (DE, FR) / AU$14,199.

2020 Juliana Furtado C R

• Frame: Carbon C 27.5in, 130mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float Performance DPS
• Fork: Fox Rhythm 34, 140mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM NX 12-speed
• Wheels: WTB ST i30 rims on SRAM MTH hubs
• Price: £4,099 / $4,099

2020 Juliana Furtado C S

• Frame: Carbon C 27.5in, 130mm travel
• Shock: RockShox Super Deluxe Select
• Fork: Fox 34 Float Performance, 140mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM GX 12-speed
• Wheels: RaceFace AR 30 rims on DT Swiss 370 hubs
• Price: £4,999 / $4,999

2020 Juliana Furtado C XT

• Frame: Carbon C 27.5in, 130mm travel
• Shock: RockShox Super Deluxe Select
• Fork: RockShox Pike Select , 140mm travel
• Drivetrain: Shimano XT 12-speed
• Wheels: RaceFace ARC 30 rims on DT Swiss 350 hubs
• Price: £5,999 / $5,999

2020 Juliana Furtado CC X01

• Frame: Carbon CC 27.5in, 130mm travel
• Shock: RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate
• Fork: RockShox Pike Ultimate, 140mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM X01 12-speed
• Wheels: RaceFace ARC 30 rims on DT Swiss 350 hubs
• Price: £6,499 / $6,899

2020 Juliana Furtado CC X01 RSV

• Frame: Carbon CC 27.5in, 130mm travel
• Shock: RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate
• Fork: RockShox Pike Ultimate, 140mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM X01 12-speed
• Wheels: Reserve 30 carbon rims on DT Swiss 350 hubs
• Price: £7,599 / $8,099

2020 Juliana Furtado CC frame only

• Frame: Carbon CC 27.5in, 130mm travel
• Shock: RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate
• Price: £3,299 / $3,299