Salad's Stigmata - What We Ride
The #whatweride series takes a look into the bikes, components and accessories that are used by Stif staff members, team riders and close affiliates.
We’re all keen riders and regardless of whether it’s racing, shredding laps for fun, heading out on big epic adventures, or pre-work power hours, we are constantly on the search for the optimum set up and performance from the best bikes, components and accessories.
Every product on our both our physical and digital shelves is meticulously handpicked for a reason. We only stock products we fully believe in and ultimately use ourselves on the trails. The #whatwerideseries is to show these products in application and explain why
#whatweride
Who's Adam?
We'd probably pause for a sec if you asked us who Adam is... He's affectionately known as 'Salad' round these parts. The man consumes more greenery than the average herd of elephants, to fuel his ludicriously epic rides.
Not one to take the shortest route to get anywhere, Salad will frequently roll into the office having 'taken a quick detour' on his commute having racked up 70k after a trip to the gym and still not broken a sweat.
Born and raised in the Lakes, Salad posseses an encyclopedic knowledge of every pass, bridleway and trail north of our Summerbridge HQ, both in the Lakes and the Yorkshire Dales and has ridden every one of them at mind-blowing speeds on just about every bike in our range, but it's his trusty workhorse, the Stigmata that we're having a closer look at today.
The Bike
Adam’s trusty Stigmata CC AKA the Swiss Army bike… Adam will pretty much use this bike to ride anything. It’s certainly seen some things… from been blasted round the Fred Whitton 180k hilly road route, then thrown down Nan Bield pass in his native Lakeland to the ‘long way home’ multi surface commutes to and from the Stif Summerbridge store, it’s definitely carrying some patina!
Some would say this bike is a little confused, running a compact Ultegra Road Groupset, negative 10 degree/120mm stem with 47mm ultra fat Terravail Cannonball tyres. However Adam believes this set up is key to the bike’s versatility when it comes to tackling a typical Yorkshire ‘gravel ride’.
‘Riding from home, it’s about 30k on the road before I hit the edge of the Dales, where the ride really begins. The 47mm Cannonballs are superb in having really low rotational weight, when combined with their very round tyre profile the contact patch on the road is quite small, also providing very little rolling resistance. Keeping the bike at speed is almost effortless, conserving energy for when we hit the offroad.’
Although the Stigmata can take up to 50mm tyres in a 650b set up Adam believes running the bike in 700c configuration improves the bikes ability to hold speed through the undulating road sections and inspires confidence when pushing the bike through technical offroad terrain, a similar principle to 29er MTBs.
‘As you can see in the photos, I’m at the limit of clearance with a 700c configuration and 47mm tyres with a front mech. Luckily a file tread doesn’t pick up to much debris and so far even on the sloppiest rides the rear stays have remained clear.’
The bike is set up with a super slammed front end, running a negative 10 stem. He’s not the most supple of guys but chose this set up to keep his frontal area to a minimum on the road but also gives him super precise handling off road, being able to really weight the front of the bike, eliminating the vague steering associated with the usual combination of a long head tube and high rise stem which can be a handful especially on seated climbs.
Comfort is the main characteristic of the Stigmata, previous incarnations of the Stig have been super-efficient in terms of power transfer, however this was at the sacrifice of comfort, which could result in the onset of early fatigue on long off-road rides. The current Stigmata has a refined carbon lay up through the rear stays allowing for a certain amount of flex to absorb high frequency trail chatter. As Adam says…
‘I had the previous Stigmata, which was a lot sharper in terms of handling and was a great road bike, taking it into the Dales was tiring and a constant fight for traction. Jumping on my new Stigmata for the first time had me checking the rear, thinking I had a flat. The flex is certainly noticeable especially when applying big power on a steep road climb, so it’s not the most efficient, but the level of comfort and traction from the rear over mixed terrain is unreal.’
He’s also opted to upgrade the Shimano Ultegra Calipers front and rear to Hope RX4 units, finding the Hope calipers provide a huge amount power, but more importantly so much more modulation and control. Allowing him to slow the wheel instantly without loosing traction, which was an issue with the standard calipers. When applying the pressure needed to slow the bike, the braking power of the Ultegra calipers would come in one hit and lock the wheel.
Running large volume tyres also means more rubber in contact with the ground, further enhancing traction under braking complimenting the bigger power of the RX4s perfectly.
Other little things Adam’s chose to use on an epic day in the hills is a 70cc One Up Pump with a EDC Tool and a Silca Mattone Boa Seat pack carrying a spare tube. Little details like a silver head badge, silver Thomson Elite seatpost and stem and silver Hope RX4 bore caps combined with the obligatory tan walls are a nostalgic nod to the early 90’s when he first found his love for off road riding as a kid, seems he’s never grown up!
Interested in a Stigmata or unsure if it is the best bike option for you? Give us a shout on the phone at either of our stores, or drop an email to sales@stifmtb.com or to any of our inhouse experts on the Santa Cruz Stigmata web page - we’ll work alongside you to figure out which model will best suit you and your riding needs.
Like these bike checks? We’ve got a wide variety of bikes in the pipeline so make sure to tune back in for more additions of the #whatweride series!