Juliana

Strega Carbon C S Complete Mountain Bike - 2018

Strega is the Italian word for witch, and we're not sure if the folks at Juliana picked the name or designed the frame first. Either way, the bike lives up to its namesake; you're in for a wicked good time as you get aggressive with the Strega Carbon C S Complete Mountain Bike's slack angles and efficient yet plush VPP suspension design. The Strega packs all the features you'd want in a hard-hitting enduro bike and gives you all the speed you'll need to keep from getting burned at the stake—err, off the line.

The big-hit Strega is easily the rowdiest, most capable women-specific enduro sled we've come across. The incredibly slack head tube angle is adjustable with a simple re-position of the flip-chip on the linkage, so you can customize the ride from a higher, trail-taming 65-degrees, to a DH-worthy 64.5 degrees. The DH setting also drops the bottom bracket and elongates the wheelbase, offering plenty of composition at speed yet staying agile enough to take anywhere. Regardless of setting, the steep 74.5-degree seat tube angle allows this bike to pedal well up sheer terrain. You can really get your weight forward, encouraging you to attempt the sharpest uphill switchbacks without resulting in extreme body-English while your power is right over the pedals.

The Strega's VPP suspension design takes cues from the Santa Cruz V10 and Nomad with its lower link location. Nestled in the lower link is the RockShox Super Deluxe R shock, with nearly 7in of suspension, positioned in a way to keep the bikes center of gravity as low as possible. No detail goes unnoticed with the Juliana team, and the shock has its own fender shielding it from errant trail debris.

The shock location also creates the most progressive VPP platform in the Juliana line-up, providing a consistent linear feel throughout the shock stroke and a quality of travel that can make some DH bikes green with envy. New eye-to-eye lengths afford the use of the metric shock standard, gaining increased bushing overlap for a smoother stroke that encourages descending with reckless abandon and still allows room for a full-size water bottle to sit inside the downtube. The shock also receives a custom tune for lighter—yet no less heavy-hitting—riders.

SRAM's GX drivetrain matches the value focus on offer from the Strega Carbon C frame, with a super wide-range cassette capable of taming any gradient climb while offering enough top-end to never run out of gears. A 170mm RockShox Lyric RC fork guides the bike with its 35mm stanchions and simply refuses to deflect off of its line. The over-sized party continues upstairs with the Race Face's 35mm Aeffect R bars and stem.

The Strega Carbon C uses Juliana's second-tier carbon, which boasts similar construction to the higher grade CC carbon but uses a different grade carbon material that adds a tiny bit of weight to save big on cash. The carbon construction is identical to the CC frames, with unidirectional carbon plies wrapping between tubes, allowing the frame to absorb impacts more effectively. An inner bladder applies outward pressure against the mold while the carbon is curing to reduce resin pooling and virtually eliminate imperfections. This results in a frame that looks as good as it rides, and Julina banks on that perfection with a lifetime frame and bearings warranty.