Concentrating on junior development in 1999, Sunrace picks up the sponsorship of a promising 16yrd old named Kathy Pruitt. With a few other talented riders and Santa Cruz Bicycles as a co-sponsor, the Sunrace / Santa Cruz Mountain bike team was born. The simple goals at the time were to support our riders, get some exposure for our (and our sponsors) products, and gain feedback for product development. Everyone involved was surprised and pleased to see the incredible results were ten fold. With Kathy winning the Jr. World Downhill Championship, tremendous exposure of the team in every cycling publication (as well as a multi-page exclusive interview in ESPN magazine), and invaluable feedback from the race course eventually leading to the development of our high end JuJu product line, everyone knew we had something good on our hands.

Needless to say the SunRace / Santa Cruz professional race team became one of the strongest and dominant teams on the nationwide and world cup race circuit. With the teams’ presence at countless events, we were also able to give back to the cycling community with racer support as well as tech services at the events. The good karma coupled with routine podium finishes brought massive exposure to the Sunrace name. Picking up the latest MTB magazine, watching a race on OLN (Outdoor Life Network), or buying the latest DH/Freeride video would almost promise seeing, reading, or hearing the Sunrace name.

Over the next 3 years, the potent six-rider team consisting of Kirk Molday, John Waddell, Aaron Peters, Jordie Lunn, Joel Panozzo, and Henry O’Donnell won an impressive collection of titles including the 2001 National NORBA Pro Men’s Cross Country Championship, two National Australian Downhill Championships, and two Junior Downhill Championship all with SunRace components handling the shifting duties of the Santa Cruz bikes.

With the obvious success of one of the fastest race teams in the United States, came further improvement and development of our product. This is clearly evident in our high end JuJu line you see today as well as the Downhill specific components that we offer. Whether you’re the next National NORBA Cross Country Champion or the next guy at the local bike shop, we hope you enjoy using our products as much as we enjoyed bringing them to you.