Santa Cruz Tallboy Review: Version 5

Alright, this has been a long time coming, but today we finally have the Santa Cruz tall booy 5. Personally, I'm very excited about this one because this bike is consistently one of my favorite small bikes, so in the past the tall boys have always They were focused a little more on the downhill side of the spectrum, enough for Santa Cruz to call it the XC downhill bike, but this newer

version

has changed and is a little different, so we'll talk about the differences and see If it's the right bike for you, then the Santa Cruz Tallboy is Santa Cruz's newest

version

of its short-travel trail bike.

This is not an XC bike. It is not a down country bike. He doesn't even flirt with that kind of stuff. It's a trail bike through and through. That said, it rolls with 120mm of travel on the rear wheel and 130mm on the front, although Santa Cruz allows the use of a 140mm fork and also rolls on two 29-inch wheels, so this bike is designed to be a trail bike and is designed to cover a lot. of terrain and your butt on a wide variety of terrain, you'll ride the easy stuff, you'll ride the hard stuff, you'll ride up the mountain and you'll ride back down the mountain.

For example, Mr. Mark Scott just did something. stupid, atrocious and crazy ride aboard his

tallboy

Santa Cruz in Scotland and that was his bike of choice because it's made to cover a lot of ground and your butt, the tall booy is not the lightest or most agile of the trail bikes, There are definitely lighter 120s. On mm bikes, the tall booy weighs around 29-30 lbs depending on your build, so it's not the heaviest, it's definitely not the lightest, so the most notable changes to the Santa

tallboy

Cross of this version to the previous version is that it now has a glove compartment, you can store your tools in the down tube of your bike.

There are also some geometry and suspension revisions, so geometry-wise the head tube angle remains the same at 65 and 1 12°, but a couple of other things have changed. We have a 493mm reach which is a bit longer. We have a slightly steeper seat tube cuff of 76.8. The chainstays are now size specific and are 440mm on my size XL, but range from 431 to 444mm on the six. sizes that do all the math here, bringing our wheelbase to 1258mm long now, as far as geometry goes, it's a pretty good balance for a bike that's fast and agile but pretty stable and sure to ride. sits pretty well in that middle ground, so Santa's Cruz suspension for tall guys has also been updated, meaning there's now less anti-squat and less anti-lift, as well as less leverage and a little less progression and Santa Cruz did all that because it should give you better sensitivity to small hits and stuff. stands out on the road, but we'll talk about that today in just a minute.

My build is a bit custom, but started out as a high CS. Since then I've added a single handlebar on the stem and swapped out the wheels for the new zip 10 Z High Toops and have a Maxis diss sector at Recon Tire, although it looks like the latest build kit info on the Santa Cruz website shows this will come with a prognosticator front and rear instead of the tire combo I have so Talk about how it drives well so I spent quite a bit of time on the previous Santa Cruz Tallboy and now I've spent a month or two on this new one .

It's easily one of my favorite little bikes because it suits my taste. For a very good bike ride, it's pretty well balanced between uphill and downhill performance, but probably leans a little more towards DH than most other 120mm bikes. As for climbing performance, it's not the liveliest trail bike or Zippy, there are certainly faster climbers out there. but you'd be hard-pressed to find a more comfortable and controlled bike in this category. It provides much more traction than the others. I see the 120mm category divided into two different groups: you have the long-legged XC. bikes and then the trail bikes and the tall guy clearly falls into the ladder group it's not an When it comes to suspension fuel, the tallboy 5 falls on the active side of the spectrum and this new version feels similar to the previous one with a couple of differences in that the suspension has a little less anti-squat than the previous bike and that It means it will provide better traction through small trail vibrations and that's pretty evident on the trail, so even with a slim Recon on the rear wheel, the bike provided a really good level of traction that I spent the most time on. part of the time.

This bike whether in the summer dust or a dangerous shoulder season slope and the traction provided by this bike has always been excellent, so while reducing the anti-squat may lead to pedaling a little more, Bob , the tall boy, feels very efficient for what it is designed for. Do it and it doesn't feel like you're wasting all your energy, as the tall boy's geometry also remains relatively similar to the previous version, but there are two updates that I ended up appreciating along the way first: Steeper seat tube angle, so as a tall lanky guy I appreciate a steep seat tube angle and this is aggravated a bit by the suspension upgrades because the tallboy now sits a bit higher in the travel so physically it does make the seat tube steeper and dynamically I guess. you don't sink as much into the ride, it will also help keep the seat tube a little steeper which helps keep your weight over the center of the bike, the size specific chain stays again add to this balance, they make that the toy is not only comfortable to ride but easy to control with its weight over the center and front of the bike, it can navigate narrow and winding sections, steep sections, technical sections and all that makes the tall booy an excellent climber technical that, with the traction and its It is quite difficult to overcome, so in general on the climbs I am very happy with the performance of the tall boys.

I think the small adjustments Santa Cruz has made have improved the climbing ability to some extent. I feel like there's more traction and I feel like you're in a better position on the bike. I really don't think they made it much faster, but again, I don't think that's the point of this bike, so as a downhill XC bike you'd expect it to be a very good bike. on The Descent and that's a promise the tall booy can keep, it's surprisingly confident, composed and capable for a small bike; In fact, it rides much more like a 140mm bike.

I have been able to ride all my big bike trails on the high booy. I'll be a little slower and more tentative, the balance it strikes between fast and agile and then capable and confident makes it fun on a wide variety of terrain, it makes black diamond terrain a little more challenging, although it's definitely up there. height of the task, but then make the most of the blue trails, whether they're full of jumps and drops or just high speed, the suspension upgrades on the Tallboy 5 again make small but important gains, so with the Refined leverage curve the bike doesn't push throughout the ride, there's a little more reserve left for when needed, which in my opinion adds a bit of capability to the new version.

I was able to ride some steep and rough trails without too much trouble, the rear end stayed very high. Well, if anything, it was the 34mm stenin fork that became the limiting factor. The Small Bump's performance is more like that of a 140mm bike. It's smooth and controlled through the noise again. The suspension works well to provide plenty of traction. I couldn't believe how well it gripped even on the small tires and for the biggest hits. I still think there is enough progression for a bike with 120mm of travel. It's not designed for massive hits, but it works well enough for most riders for the most part. terrain, but be prepared to use the leg suspension if you plan to take advantage of the tall boy's capabilities on the geometry side, the tall boy feels quite balanced, it's not a Shred Sled but it's not a small XC whip, it's suitable for anything from greens to blacks. diamonds on my mind above you're going into sketchy territory, the right Rider will do fine but us regular Joe's can struggle a bit, it really feels at home although on Blue Trails I found it fine on Steeps , but I preferred terrain with lower angles on this bike.

Recently, a real Canadian informed me that the Utah Trails facilitate high speeds and the tallboy is a great candidate for our style of trails. It is quite stable at speed since there are no big bumps. in your path, but on the other hand, it is not so long that it becomes difficult in the corners and twisty stakes, so in my opinion, the tall boy takes the corners and handles very well, instead, it does corners a little more like most other 140k bikes. of 120 bikes, but I appreciate stability and that kind of ride quality, so overall on the descents, I really liked the tall booy for the balance he struck between capable, confident and fast.

Lively and agile. I'm not a descender by any means. but I would still choose this as my XC bike because I prefer the ride quality of this bike much more than most XC bikes. I'm confident enough that it's not an excuse not to ride a trail I'd normally hike, but it makes cruising easier and things are really fun, so who is he for? I like the high booy as a middle ground for XC nerds and then gravity fans and that's crazy, but hear me out, the high booy offers a lot of handling and suspension characteristics that long-travel riders are going to like.

It's comfortable and controlled and for someone who normally rides a big Enduro bike it will feel like a rocket uphill although it's not so XY that it gets rugged and is only suitable for mowed terrain and that's why big riders they will like it. I like it now for XC riders, it still climbs well enough that you don't bother too much, but it adds a degree of capability on the descents that might make them enjoy the descents a little more, so the high booy brings these two. groups the gravity riders together they can actually enjoy a climb or two or some gentle terrain and then the XC riders can enjoy some of those descents that the gravity riders enjoy so I think it brings those two groups together into this nice middle ground, so To conclude this with an online bike

review

, the Tallboy 5 is the perfect middle ground for the XC crowd and the gravity crowd.

Thanks for staying, see you next time.