Description
The new Santa Cruz Tallboy has us stoked for high alpine trail missions, after-work hot laps, and everything in between. Version 5 of this genre-blending blending bike is designed to make us reconsider the limits of what we thought a cross-country bike could. Santa Cruz paired a 65. 5-degree headtube angle with a short-offset 130mm RockShox Pike Select+ to create a stable front end that craves techy descents full of rocks and roots. Make no mistake, the new Tallboy also climbs like a pro with its relatively steep seat-tube angle and 120mm of responsive Fox Performance Elite-supported VPP travel. Updates to the anti-squat and leverage curves ensure more of our pedal power goes into moving forward, and provide unreal traction on the steepest terrain. The new Tallboy also gets the Glovebox treatment, so now we can store our trail essentials and plenty of snacks inside the downtube and still have room for a full-size water bottle inside the front triangle. The premium Santa Cruz Carbon C GX Eagle AXS Reserve build utilizes the C carbon layup, which is ever so slightly heavier than the Carbon CC construction but comes in a bit cheaper to make room for SRAM’s GX Eagle AXS drivetrain and a set of Reserve carbon wheels. The 12-speed GX Eagle AXS shifter and derailleur offer smooth, rapid-fire shifting rivaling SRAM’s more expensive XX1 and X01 drivetrains, but in a low maintenance package. It is also fully cross-compatible with the rest of the Eagle range for pain-free repairs and upgrades. The 29er Reserve 30|SL carbon wheelset is laced up to Industry Nine 1/1 hubs to provide an unmatched ride feel along with excellent hub engagement, and it’s backed by a lifetime warranty just in case we get a little too sendy on the side hits. The RockShox Reverb Stealth dropper post lets us dial in our perfect saddle height for climbing yet still get the saddle out of the way quickly to take on the big slab roll ahead. Dare we say it, the new Santa Cruz Tallboy might be our favorite …
