Inside Santa Cruz Industrial Design and Product Management With Jack Russell

Jack Russell is a trained engineer who has worked his way into the bike industry holding roles at both Kona and Santa Cruz. Jack’s passion for speed and engineering mean that he’s owned rally cars, currently owns a plane, and is passionate about making the best bikes on the planet. We sat down to find out about his background, along with chatting about his work at Santa Cruz in both industrial design and more recently as a product manager for their eBike range. This is a great insight into the thought that goes into the products that we get to ride. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Jack Russell. You can find the entire Santa Cruz range over at santacruzbicycles.com and give them a follow on Instagram where they are @santacruzbicycles. Supporting Partners Magura I’ve been using the Magura MT7 Pro brakes since late last year, and I recently posted that they were the best brakes I’ve ever used. A couple of people got in touch to as if that was really the case and my honest answer is yes they are. The power is insane, but it’s totally controllable, and they are the only brakes that I’ve been able to keep working just as well as when I first fitted them. What’s more, Magura have their #customizeyourbrake programme which allows you to get the brake set up perfectly for you, as you can change the brake lever, the pads, the discs and make some aesthetic changes too. You can check out the entire range of Magura brakes, and the #customizeyourbrake programme over at magura.com. Leatt Leatt is a protection company that genuinely cares about making our sport as safe as it can be. All their helmets are equipt with their patented 360 turbine technology which is designed to deform to help deal with rotational and low-velocity impacts. If you want to check out what Leatt have to offer, then you can see the entire range of their 360 turbine equipt helmets at leatt.com and get hold of them at your local bike shop or online. Santa Cruz To check out everything Santa Cruz, just head over to santacruzbicyles.com. Podcast Stuff Downtime EP Downtime EP issue 2 is now available at downtimepodcast.com/ep. EP takes inspiration from the guests and topics of the podcast. It expands on them, and takes them into a stunning print-only format. EP is the perfect companion for some quiet time away from the distractions of modern life. Beautiful to have and hold, and a timeless piece of mountain bike history.