Today, Netherlands-based PON Holdings, the parent company of Santa Cruz and Juliana bikes, made official what many of us have suspected for a while now: the Juliana brand is being folded into Santa Cruz. The women’s-specific brand, established in 2013, was created “to deliver the best mountain bikes to female riders around the world, and create a network that would inspire women to join us on two wheels.”
The Juliana website has been updated with a message reading, in part, “Juliana’s goal was to create a space for women to be seen, heard, and recognized. We don’t think it’s absolutely mission accomplished, but we believe that now is the time to bring our sister brand into the same tent, and solidify that space for the future.”
The statement says Juliana bicycles will no longer be produced, though warranties will still be honored.
The Juliana brand has been quiet for nearly a year
In August, Singletracks noticed that the Juliana Instagram account hadn’t posted anything since late 2025. At the time, Santa Cruz had just introduced the updated Blur cross-country bike, but there wasn’t a corresponding update to the Juliana Wilder. Typically, the two brands announced new bikes at the same time, with Juliana launching a women’s version of the latest Santa Cruz bike.
Today’s news comes the same day that another PON brand, Cannondale, announced it would close its US offices in Connecticut and consolidate operations in Europe going forward. PON has pared down its bike brand offerings over the years, shelving the storied GT bike brand in 2024.
A groundbreaking mission
Santa Cruz claims to have produced the world’s first women’s-specific mountain bike, the Juliana, in 1999. The model was named for Juli Furtado, the women’s winner in the first-ever Mountain Bike World Championship held in 1990. In 2013, Santa Cruz spun off the Juliana brand and added more bike models to the lineup.
Juliana is not the only bike brand to claim a “first” in women’s cycling. Liv Cycling, founded by Bonnie Tu in 2008, is said to be “the world’s first and only comprehensive bike brand dedicated exclusively to women.” However, Liv didn’t add its first mountain bike, the Obsess hardtail mountain bike, until around 2014.
The Juliana brand marketed four main bike models, ranging from the cross-country Wilder to the enduro Roubion. Juliana bike models differed from their Santa Cruz counterparts with modified contact points and suspension tuning. This was a welcome improvement over an approach known as “shrink it and pink it,” which sought to make men’s bikes more appealing to women. That said, Juliana also offered smaller sizes and fun colors that weren’t available from Santa Cruz.
The Juliana brand was a pioneer and will be missed by many riders. We’ll certainly be watching to see how “the Juliana spirit” is carried on by Santa Cruz going forward.
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