Santa Cruz Stigmata Force-1x AXS RSV | Gravel Bike of the Year contender

Santa Cruz says the new Stigmata blurs the lines between a drop-bar singletrack bike and a race-winning gravel steed.

This represents a change of tack compared to previous generations of the Stigmata, which all gave a nod towards cyclocross rather than pure gravel riding (the original Stigmata was indeed a cyclocross bike).

That means the Stigmata now gets mountain-bike inspired progressive geometry (as found on Santa Cruz’s wealth of MTB models). It also means builds that favour both lightweight racing and rougher off-road challenges.

My test bike’s off-road focus, complete with a gravel suspension fork and dropper post, makes it feel at home on trails and quick on wide-open gravel.

Santa Cruz Stigmata Force-1x AXS RSV frameset

The Stigmata’s carbon frame, now in its fourth generation, eschews some of the features you’ll find on rival gravel bikes.

Notably, there’s no complex internal routing as you’ll find on the Canyon Grail, Merida Silex, and Orbea Terra I tested in this Bike of the Year category, for example.

It also cuts down on extraneous fixtures and fittings – there are only three sets of bottle bosses (two on the inside of the triangle, and one set on the underside of the down tube).

There aren’t any bento box mounts on the top tube either, but (thankfully) provision for mudguards or fenders is included.

The Stigmata also gets a down tube storage box, like those on the Orbea and Canyon. On the Stigmata, it’s called the Glovebox and offers similarly generous storage for tools, a C02 inflator and a pump, all contained within a storage bag.

At the rear dropout is a Universal Derailleur Hanger design, meaning you could fit a mountain bike SRAM T-Type rear derailleur for a mullet build.

The bottom bracket is a threaded BSA (68mm) standard and tyre clearance is 50mm with a 1x drivetrain, and 45mm in 2x.

Santa Cruz Stigmata Force-1x AXS RSV geometry

The Stigmata’s geometry combines a relaxed 69.5-degree head angle with a steep 74-degree seat tube angle, in a size XL.

This combines with a long reach of 435mm and a 612mm stack.

The Santa Cruz shows similar mountain-bike inspired geometry to the GT Grade (603mm stack, 425mm reach) and Merida Silex (626mm stack, 426mm reach). It was designed around the use of a shorter stem (here, a 70mm unit).

With a 1,108mm wheelbase, yet a short 423mm rear-centre, the Stigmata is designed to centre your weight over the bike, intended to aid stability in the rough.

Santa Cruz Stigmata Force-1x AXS RSV specification

The Stigmata is available in a range of builds (thanks to the brand’s online bike builder) – for example, you can have a build with a lightweight carbon fork, fixed seatpost and a 2x drivetrain. Or you can opt (as I have) for a spec list for more rugged riding, with a suspension fork and dropper post, combined with a 1x groupset.

My test bike is the highest 1x specification available. For a shade under £7,000, it features a SRAM Force AXS XPLR wireless groupset, with a 40-tooth chainring matched to a 10-44 tooth cassette.

RockShox’s premium Rudy Ultimate XPLR suspension fork, with 40mm of travel, is matched by the brand’s wireless Reverb XPLR dropper post at the rear.

The high-grade build continues with the wheelset, which comes from Santa Cruz’s sister brand Reserve, in the form of its 25/GR model. This employs a stiff hooked carbon rim that's only 18mm deep, but with a broad 25mm internal width.

These are built onto DT Swiss’ renowned 350 hubs, making for a lightweight set of gravel wheels at 1,360g a pair. These are fitted with Maxxis’ Rambler tyres in a broad 45c width, set up tubeless on the assembly line.

The cockpit comes from Zipp, with its alloy SL-70 XPLR bar. This gravel-specific drop bar features a short 70mm reach and shallow 110mm drop.

The flare is only 5 degrees on the drops, but it’s combined with an 11-degree outsweep, making the drops 6cm wider than the hoods.

It’s a smart design that gives you the flare often favoured for gravel riding, but keeps the levers in a relatively upright position (compared to the extreme angles that can come from higher flared bars).

The bar is fixed in place with a short 70mm Zipp Service Course stem.

Though £6,999 / $7,699 is expensive in almost anyone’s book, I think the Stigmata represents reasonable value versus similarly specced rivals. Specialized’s Diverge STR Pro (with its Future Shock suspension system), built with Force AXS and Roval’s CL carbon, costs £8,000 / $8,500.

Cannondale’s Topstone Carbon 1 RLE, with Force AXS and carbon wheels, is £8,000 ($7,850), while Trek’s Checkpoint SLR 7 with Force AXS comes in at £8,900 ($8,699.99).

Only Giant’s Revolt X Advanced Pro 0 brings comparable value at £6,499 / $7,500 with Force AXS XPLR, Fox 32 Float TC fork and carbon wheels.

However, the Santa Cruz gets the premium wireless RockShox XPLR Reverb dropper compared to Giant’s Post Moderne dropper.

Santa Cruz Stigmata Force-1x AXS RSV ride impressions

The Stigmata Force-1x AXS RSV is a brilliant companion for gravel riding.

The suspension, generous-volume tyres and the dropper post combine to take the sting out of vibration-inducing rough surfaces.

That said, when I locked out the fork and fully extended the dropper post, I could feel the Stigmata has a seriously stiff chassis – to the extent where I’m not sure I’d like it quite as much as I do without the addition of suspension.

It’s compounded by the Reserve wheels, which previous testing has exposed as very stiff.

At lower speeds, you can feel all that rigidity, but get the Stigmata up to a quick pace and it all comes together rather marvellously.

In this spec, the big-volume tyres, fork and post combine to soften the edges that the sharp, stiff and very quick Stigmata chassis clearly has.

The handling, informed by the progressive geometry, is sublime. On faster gravel roads, it’s swift. The compliance brought by the suspended elements helps you maintain a rapid pace, but when you hit more technical dirt, the Stigmata takes it all in its stride.

Like its similarly MTB-inspired rival, the GT Grade, it makes most sense when the going gets tough.

The bike’s steering responses are quick, yet very stable, and I was more than happy throwing the Stigmata into downhill singletrack trails, on which lesser bikes would have come undone.

It's not quite the gravity-focused drop-bar performance I’ve had from Nukeproof’s Digger RS, but I felt confident enough with the Stigmata to take on trails where on other gravel bikes I’d have searched for an alternative route.

The Force AXS drivetrain is impressive – the shifts are fast and accurate, and the chain is unmoved by drops, jumps and the repetitive chatter of rocky sections and traversing exposed roots.

Using the twin-shift triggers to activate the wireless Reverb dropper becomes second nature quite quickly. I like that dropping the saddle a centimetre or so when riding singletrack makes it act like a pseudo suspension seatpost, effectively taking the edge off the back wheel slamming into edges, roots, holes and rocky obstacles.

The cockpit is well shaped and the use of a short stem with that slackened head angle is what keeps the steering lively.

I'm not much of a fan of the WTB Silverado saddle, but saddle experiences are so subjective. In this case, I tend to use shorter saddle designs, so when I revert back to a more traditional design, it almost feels the nose is in the way – especially on gravel.

The 45mm-wide Maxxis Rambler tyres are excellent for the stodgy, sticky and sometimes slimy conditions of early spring in the UK. The knobs at the perimeter of the tread bite with real tenacity in loose, damp corners and they offer ample grip when climbing off-road on damp surfaces.

As an all-round off-road option for changeable conditions, there’s very little that can match the Rambler’s capabilities.

It’s something of a relief when brands specify a tyre that’s good for three or four seasons, rather than the usual dry-conditions tyre for the very best of days.

Of course, we don’t get as much dry running in the UK as much of continental Europe or the US, so it’s horses for courses to a large degree, but Santa Cruz definitely deserves plenty of praise here for offering a sensible choice.

The obvious downside of chunkier gravel tyres means the Stigmata doesn’t feel as rapid as some of its skinnier-tyred rivals on tarmac or princess gravel, but this is an unavoidable issue (and one most should be prepared to accept).

Santa Cruz Stigmata Force-1x AXS RSV bottom line

The ride quality of this fully equipped Stigmata is hard to fault.

The suspension, dropper post and big tyres mark it out as a pure off-road gravel bike. Yet the heart of the bike is formed of a stiff, solid, frame matched to stiff, lightweight wheels – both things that a racer’s checklist may hold.

While I’m not sure this specification will appeal to racers (though it does appeal to me), I’m glad the latest-generation Stigmata has embraced gravel in its geometry and tyre clearance, rather than keeping a foot firmly in the world of cyclocross, as its predecessors did.