This summer saw the launch of Juliana Bicycles, an exciting and extensive range of high-quality female specific MTBs from the sister company to legendary mountain bike producers Santa Cruz.
The bikes have been carefully designed to suit female riders, from compact handle bars and female specific saddles to smaller sizes for shorter riders. Developed under the watchful eye and expert input of pro-MTB racing legend Juli Furtado, from whom the range gets its name, prices range from £1,799 for the Nevis Segundo to £5,499 for a top of the range Furtado Primeiro.
Nicknamed ‘The Queen,’ Juli won the first ever mountain biking World Championships, raced cross country and downhill, and competed in the Atlanta Olympics.
Illness meant retirement from racing, and a new career with Santa Cruz, where she helped create the first female specific mountain bike, the ‘Juliana’. Juliana Bicycles is the evolution of that bike.
“I proposed the Juliana range to Santa Cruz almost two years ago – and they said okay. So this has been my main focus for over 18 months.
The Juliana had been around a fair while, and in the meantime pretty much every company had developed a women’s line, so I knew the market was there. We decided to offer the largest range of high-end women’s mountain bikes. I designed the look and feel of the bike. Where I wanted the range to go, who I wanted it to appeal to, all the names – that came from me.
These bikes are for everyone!
For women who have never mountain biked before, who’ve been afraid of it. I don’t care if she never gets off the flat pedals or never gets off the fire road – I want her to have fun in the woods.
Initially I wanted to focus on women who have lives outside of cycling but really enjoy it. I want them to be able to get on a bike that looks different, feels comfortable and, because it’s made by Santa Cruz, has the best technology.
I wanted the women to feel like a queen. I was nicknamed The Queen when I used to race, and that’s where the crown badge on the frame comes from. I wanted the range to have three criteria;
I wanted it to be the most comfortable, it would perform the best and it would be the most beautiful. Those criteria I wanted on every single bike.
We have such a wide breadth of technology, there is so much you could do with the bikes. Me, I’m mellow so I don’t really do technical trails. It’s more about going out, getting exercise and being in the woods. For someone else, it could be totally different.
Also I also know nothing about technology, and I think a lot of women don’t care about technology. That’s something else I want to get across – you don’t have to be tech savvy to go ride your bike.”
The Juliana range is now available to order through Santa Cruz dealers. There are also a range of demo days in the pipeline, and we will keep you updated as the info comes through.
