Was the unbound winner riding a prototype Santa Cruz frame and fork?
Keegan Swenson's Santa Cruz bike(Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Keegan Swenson stepped-up from his second-place finish of 2022 to claim victory in the Garmin Unbound Gravel presented by Craft race this year. Swenson outsprinted the seven-rider-leading group at the finish to take the win from Petr Vakoc and Lachlan Morton.
The weather closed in during the later stages of the 200-mile race in the Flint Hills of Kansas and Swenson explained his sprint finish tactics to Cyclingnews at the finish.
"Everyone seemed like they were going pretty well. There were attacks in the last few miles. The finish chute was quite hectic, so I figured I would go a little bit long."
Swenson is a Santa Cruz athlete and uses the brand's Stigmata gravel bike for drop bar racing. The bike was kitted out with a mix-and-match Sram drivetrain and brakes, Reserve wheels fitted with Maxxis tyres as well as a Zipp handlebar stem and Prologo saddle.
The bike was caked with mud and dust at the finish and there were a few little tweaks and additions included to help get the bike through the testing 200-mile event unscathed.
Swenson's frame and fork itself look a little bit different to a stock Stigmata frame and could be a prototype or custom frame for the rider or perhaps a sign that there is a new Stigmata frame and fork in the works from the American brand. As well as the frame differences the red colour the frame is painted appears to be custom and isn't offered as an on option on the Santa Cruz website.
Something that's already being discussed is whether Swenson raced on a prototype or custom Stigmata or even a brand-new Santa Cruz gravel bike.
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The front end of the bike is where the differences from a stock Stigmata are most noticeable. The fork legs appear to be wider than the stock fork and the crown also appears to be a slightly different shape.
The headtube and junction between the top and down tubes also appear to have different profiles. Swenson rides a small frame size which highlights the differences more clearly.
This head tube and fork look a little bit different to a stock Santa Cruz Stigmata frame, notice the very short headtube (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
This shot highlights the different-looking fork crown and headtube junction area most clearly, could this be custom geo or a prototype frame?
Equipment-wise, Swenson used a pretty standard setup with a Zipp alloy handlebar stem, with a fairly narrow bar and shifters turned in. There didn't look to be too much extra padding on the handlebars to accommodate the puppy paw's position after aero bars were not allowed in this year's race.
Swenson used a small top tube mounted frame bag for spares and or food and ran his fork stack pretty much slammed, with a 10mm handlebar spacer on top of the stem. Slightly out of shot are the Sram Red AXS shift and brake levers.
Swenson taped a stick underneath his top tube to help with mud clearing if the need arose out on the course. Some spares were also taped to the seatpost for easy access. (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Multiple riders taped sticks or tools to their bikes to use a mud-clearing tool in case the bikes became too clogged with tacky mud. Swenson appears to have used matching red tape to attach a piece of wood underneath his top tube to race with.
A top tube name sticker and metal bottle cages (we assume to prevent bottles from jumping out on the rough stuff) were also fitted. Notably, under the down tube bottle cage there appears to be a port for in-frame storage, which definitely isn't there on the current Stigmata.
An interesting mix of Sram XX Eagle MTB series and Red One AXS road components was used. (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
Swenson's drivetrain setup is very interesting it appears a mix of 12-speed T-Type Sram XX Eagle MTB series and Red One AXS road components were used.
Swenson's bike was fitted with a Sram Red 1 AXS power meter crankset with an aero 1x chainring. Chainrings for this chainset are available in 36-50T sizes in two tooth increments. A small chain keeper device is also fitted, but it's difficult to make out the brand through the mud.
At the rear, a Sram XX Eagle MTB series rear derailleur was fitted to the bike. Capable of accommodating a 52t max sprocket size at the rear and using the new Sram UDH Hangerless Interface, Full Mount attachment method. Perhaps this is part of the reason for a new frame design. The pedals appear to be Shimano SPD units.
A Sram XX Eagle MTB series rear derailleur was used (Image credit: SnowyMountain Photography)
The silver derailleur arm on the XX rear derailleur shows it is the standard version (if you can call this very expensive mech 'standard'), not the SL version which uses carbon fibre cage material.
The wheels are from Reserve, whilst the tyres are Maxxis Rambler models, in an almost all-American bike build. Reserve Fillmore tubeless valves appear to be fitted to the wheels.
Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
