Juliana

Furtado Carbon R Complete Mountain Bike - 2016

The 2016 Juliana Furtado Carbon R Complete Mountain Bike delivers trail shredding speed, bombproof durability, and components specifically chosen to suit smaller riders. There are a few reasons that women the world over choose the Furtado. First, 27.5in wheels are the sweet spot between the rolling speed of 29ers and the responsiveness of 26ers. Second, 125mm of rear wheel travel lands right between short-travel race rockets and more aggressive, gravity-oriented machines. Third, the perfectly neutral geometry will climb, descend, and handle with the best of them.

The head angle sits at 68 degrees, which is slack enough for high-speed stability but aggressive enough for responsive climbing. At 17.1 inches, the chainstays are long enough to provide plenty of climbing grip, but short enough to keep the Furtado carving turns with ease. And finally, the light, stiff carbon fiber chassis is ready for just about anything.

Juliana’s industry-leading carbon fiber construction makes its way into the Furtado Carbon S, although this version uses a slightly lower grade of carbon fiber than the higher end Carbon CC frame. This requires more material to achieve the same strength, so it’s about a pound heavier for a medium frame, but in every other aspect, it’s held to the same astoundingly high standards as Juliana’s Carbon CC level frames. The end result is that you get a frame that’s every bit as stiff and strong, with a much more palatable price tag.

Both the front and rear triangles are constructed as a whole, rather than bonding them together from sub-assemblies. In addition to saving weight, this ensures that the Furtado is as strong as possible because the fibers wrap uninterrupted through the tube junctions instead of terminating in artificial stress points, which happens with other construction methods. If you were to cut it in half, you'd find that the inside of the tubes have the same perfectly smooth finish as the outside. That's a result of construction techniques that maximize the compaction of the layers. The benefit is that the frame is lighter because any excess epoxy is squeezed from the lay-up prior to curing. The strength and stiffness are further enhanced with the mechanic-friendly, oversized 15mm collet-style hardware and a 12 x 142mm thru-axle out back.

The Furtado Carbon R build starts off with a RockShox Sektor Gold RL 130mm Solo Air fork, which perfectly balances out the Fox Float CTD Evolution rear shock. The 2x10 drivetrain consists of a mix of SRAM and Shimano components, with 22 and 34t chainrings up front and an 11-36t cassette in the rear to provide ample gearing for a wide variety of terrain. For the cockpit, Juliana supplies a custom handlebar, grips, and a women-specific saddle paired to keep the controls in check. The Furtado Carbon R rolls on set of 27.5in WTB STi23 rims laced to SRAM hubs, and the whole operation rests on Maxxis tubeless-ready tires.