The original Santa Cruz Tallboy was the bike that put the lead in the 29er pencil. Tallboy 'the third' is being born into a far more competitive, densely populated trail 29er category where it’s impossible for it to be as outstanding. It also joins the Santa Cruz line up on the heels of the slightly slacker, but still very XC capable, 135mm travel Hightower. That meant it took a while to find the true strengths of the Tallboy and you might be as surprised as we were when you find out what they are.
- Santa Cruz gives the Tallboy a trail bike makeover
- Are 27.5+ bikes faster than 29ers?
- Best 29er trail bikes
Santa Cruz hasn’t lost sight of what it wants from the Tallboy, though, and the ‘trail not race’ intent couldn’t have been more clearly communicated in its launch video. In it, Santa Cruz DH legend Greg Minnaar misses the start of the Cape Epic XC race and then deliberately takes a highly technical, maximum fun trail to the finish, rather than the official race route.
That’s why, while some 100 to 120mm travel race focused bikes with a Race Face Next SL and XX1 build would be rolling out at around 10kg, our sample just scraped under 12kg. The reason is the frame is built tough not feather light at 2.7kg (6lb) for a large.
ADVERTISEMENT
The build kit also includes 2.3in Maxxis Minion DHF front tyre, Fox 34 fork, 780mm handlebar, and a stealth routed RockShox Reverb dropper post. In other words, it’s fully equipped to tackle a bouldery black run or survive anything you’re likely to meet on even the lairiest trail ride.
The super low slung, extended seat tube frame shape also puts the centre of gravity very low as well as making sizing up for a long reach easy (L is 450mm, XL is 475mm). Add a super durable threaded (not press fit) bottom bracket, grease injected DIY adjustable suspension bearings and moulded frame protection panels, and Tallboy is a bike built to last.
Pressing the big button
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
via BikeRadar All the latest from BikeRadar.com http://ift.tt/2bvAhda
No comments:
Post a Comment