Juliana SL
What Mountain Bike
Santa Cruz has a heritage worthy of a high price tag and named after an area renowned for cool singletrack, so it's no surprise the Juliana is at home on technical trails. We're pleased to see it has retained its great looks and effective rear suspension design that's worked well for the last few years. Why change a good thing if it ain't broke? SUPER LIGHT Based on the Superlight frame with custom butted 6069 super light tubeset, the Juliana offers 100mm rear wheel travel, and with a slight change to the rear shock mount position for 2005 Santa Cruz was able to squeeze out a few more mm of travel than previous years models, and with slightly slacker head and seat angles the geometry allows for smaller frame sizes yet it's still responsive to ride. Frame sizes are S, M and L, the small's compact enough to make sure five-footed felines don't miss out on the action.
With a shorter top tube and classic Superlight bend there is masses of standover room, rider weight is smack bang central on the bike making it nice and neutral, and giving you confi dence to move around on the bike and weight the wheels according to terrain. You'll get a whole load of kick ass speed and power out of this baby and it'll go exactly where you stick it irrespective of the terrain. The Juliana climbs like a demon thanks to being well balanced and the rear suspension working highly effectively to overcome bobbing and maintaining traction, making the Juliana in its element on steep terrain. On the downs the Fox Float R shock and suspension system feel plush and react superbly to rocky sections and bigger drops alike.
The rear triangle design allows for large tyres to fi t with plenty of mud clearance too, the bottom bracket is slightly lower than the men's version and gives great stability and a low centre of gravity is fast through tight trail corners. CHOICE IS YOURS Unlike the other contenders in the test the Juliana is available with a choice of spec, the Trail is the cheaper priced model but if you want to splash out on higher spec then look to the Juliana SL Mountain at £1,899 with its LX/XT components and new Titec Hellcat women's bars and grips.
The Trail SL we tested comes with Manitou Skareb forks offering 100mm of highly adjustable travel, and as it's an air fork it's easy personal setup whatever weight you are. Rebound and compression adjustment is external for fast changes and there's the lock-out facility too for smooth terrain. Shimano Deore supplies the groupset, but that includes LX shifters and an XT rear mech. Shifting is reliable and the braking effi cient and smooth. Wheels are well specced and a decent weight as well with Shimano Deore hubs and Mavic XM117 disc rims for a good quality and resilient wheelset. There's no skimping on the fi nishing kit either, with a women specifi c WTB Speed She Comp saddle and with lightweight Easton stem, seat post and bars, no corners have been cut here. We should point out also that the last time we tested the Juliana SL it cost £1,059 for the frame only, making the full bike a bargain in anyone's eyes!
WMB Verdict
A winning frame with sensible spec and great value for money
Performance: 8
Value: 9