Santa Cruz Bicycles was founded by skateboarding legend and MTB fanatic, Rob Roskopp. Rob was frustrated at what he regarded as “a bunch of suits” dictating what mountain biking was, so he rented a workshop the size of a one-car garage and forged his own path making his own bicycles, the first bike was the Tazmon—a dual-suspension bike that rattled established sensibilities in 1994. At the time, mountain bikes typically came in two flavors—either road bike-esque cross country hardtails, or motorcycle-like downhill sleds. Santa Cruz sought to split the difference with a bike that had elements of both.

Since then, Santa Cruz has gone on to create category-leading downhill, cross country, and electric bikes, but the company is best known for models that combine the same pedalibility and descending prowess the OG Tazmon brought to the table.