No one thinks “race bike” when I say Santa Cruz Stigmata, yet it’s probably the winningest pro gravel bike over the last bunch of years. It’s not light, but why might that not matter? KILLER livability No aero anything, forget about integrated shit, external seat post clamp (replaceable), and the fork is suspension corrected. Its glorious.
Putting out nearly 5w/kg for 180km earned Matej Mohorič third place at the UCI Gravel World Championships, but how does it compare to one of the most intense Lifetime Grand Prix races? We look at Mohorič's effort versus Simon Pellaud's race data from a punchy Sea Otter course to see which event was "harder," and also how their numbers compare to our own much more human abilities. Spoiler alert: it ain't even close.
Back in the real world, Alvin spent the last six months testing Santa Cruz's Stigmata and might have fallen in love with its off-road handling, but is the bike's geometry right for everyone? No, of course not, but Levy still tries to convince Josh that most gravel riders would have more fun (and be just as fast) on a slacker, longer bike like the Stiggy.
Finally, we review Wolf Tooth's new gravel-specific, one-sided DEL pedal that promises low weight, more support, and an adjustable Q-factor.
See the latest from the Velo Podcast <a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/tag/velo-podcast">here</a>.
Further reading:
<ul>
 <li><a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/gravel/gravel-gear/the-winning-bikes-of-big-sugar-gravel-2025-big-gears-wide-tires-and-lots-of-rain/">The Winning Bikes of Big Sugar Gravel 2025 Ran Big Gears and Even Bigger Tires</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/gravel/gravel-gear/review-wolf-tooth-alt-del-pedals-are-spd-compatible-user-serviceable-and-a-guilty-pleasure/">Review: Wolf Tooth’s DEL Single-Sided Gravel Pedal Doesn’t Make Sense, but Might Be My New Favorite</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/gravel/gravel-gear/spotted-new-roval-terra-aero-big-sugar/">Spotted: New Roval Terra Aero Gravel Wheels with Carbon Spokes Under Big Sugar Winners</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/gravel/gravel-racing/results-big-sugar-gravel-2025-beers-gomez-villafane/">Results: Matt Beers and Sofia Gomez Villafañe Power to Victory in Shortened Big Sugar Gravel 2025</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-training/power-analysis-uci-gravel-worlds-vs-worldtour-race-american-gravel/">Power Analysis: Is UCI Gravel Worlds Harder Than American Gravel?</a></li>
 <li><a href="https://velo.outsideonline.com/gravel/gravel-gear/review-santa-cruz-stigmata-4/">Review: 6 Months with the Santa Cruz Stigmata – More People Should Ride a Gravel Bike Like This</a></li>
</ul>
00:00 Intro11:20 Wolf Tooth DEL pedals23:15 UCI Gravel Worlds vs Life Time Grand Prix36:30 Big Sugar Gravel takeaways44:30 All about the Santa Cruz Stigmata53:45 Progressive geometry, where it works, and where it doesn’t1:12:00 Is downtube storage important?

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