All the marketing hype in the world won't make a poorly designed bike handle well. Likewise, all the 3-D modeling software and metalworking technology in the world won't amount to much unless the people directing it are serious about building truly great bicycles.

Call them misguided, but at Santa Cruz Bicycles they believe that to build a good bike, you have to first really love riding bikes. That's an asset they have in spades. Their engineers are mighty good at working Pro/E, but they are riders first and foremost. Their builders can rail dirt better than most. Their painter can catch more air than you can. Their sales office is filled with bikes that get ridden every day. From the people packing bikes into boxes to the owner of the company, their main obsession and their common bond is riding.