Santa Cruz Tall Boy 29″er FS: Update
July 23rd, 2009 by Guitar TedSome new information has surfaced via the Santa Cruz blog, “104bronson” and here is the latest on this technologicaly advanced rig set to hit the dirt late in 2009.
Here’s some of the text from the latest blog posting….
“Carbon fiber frame – This’ll be our third carbon fiber bike, and the more time we spend working with the material, the more we are able to push into new definitions of stiffness and strength. Following in line with what we were able to achieve with the carbon Blur XC and LT models, we’re kicking around Tallboy frames that weigh right about 5 pounds (with shock) and are so insanely flex-free and fun handling that they blow all our earlier assumptions about big wheels and chassis flex right out of the water. Tapered head tubes, massive but super light chainstays and rear triangles, absolutely rock solid frames, and they’re still around 2 pounds lighter than most of the similarly targeted competition. Super stiff, super strong, super snappy.
VPP suspension – The Tallboy will have 100mm of travel. The lower link features the same 15mm aluminum pivot axles, titanium hardware, angular contact bearings, grease ports, durability and ease of maintenance as found on our Blur LT. There’s also a carbon fiber upper link, with the same trick hardware and angular contact bearings on the big axle. Clean, neutral pedaling without bob or feedback, and plush bump eating suspension performance across the board.
Dialed geometry – Big wheels work well for a lot of people, but are a godsend for the big and tall set. As such, we’re sizing the Tallboy all the way up to XXL – which comes with an appropriately Andre the Giant approved 25.9″ top tube and 45.6″ wheelbase. All Tallboys otherwise feature the same short and stiff 17.5″ chainstays and sweet handling characteristics. They’re designed to excel in the “fun to race, really fun to rip singletrack, go for a big huge ride and come home with a sore face from grinning all day long” spectrum of riding.
Amazing weight claims and stiffness claims for a nearly four inch travel rig. It will be interesting to see how users will eventually kit these out, but if the claims are true, we fully expect to see rigs down near the 22.5-23.5 pound range. Price? As they say, if you have to ask………
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This is awesome news!
Gotta love that Illini Orange!
I was scrambling to get the SF100 deposit together – now I might need to demo the competition…at least, GF is no longer the only game in town.
Good times for carbon riders.
So tasty. Carbon doesn’t usually get my bike lust going but when it’s done right… damn. Fingers crossed it rides as well as it looks.
Pfffft! No small!???? So why not…
SC believe that someone needs to have more than 4″ they should stick to 26ers same for the height under 5′7″. Yet there is a mouthwatering Superfly 100 small so go for it.
Same angles for everyone, that’s good. Same BB height for everyone, that’s denying the relevance of proportions. How am is an XXL rider going to use the same cranklength as the M rider, and be just as comfortable? Oh well…which company ever does try to make bikes really conceptualy better? A century ago, they were understanding things now intensionally forgotten. Imagine, a proportionate bike might be a dollar more expensive to make!
I always say that the best engineers are from Russia. One can’t expect to see any major bike producer haing their eyes wide open. Same for 5″ travel Blur 29er. They will not do it because they have problems with their DH racers trashing 26″ wheels. A very good exuse.
Imagine a S rider and XXL from Specilized riding both 175mm cranks.
Statler & Waldorf are at it again…
You guys want bikes to be totally custom built anyway, so stop harassing manufacturers of standard bikes
I assume the measurements are based on a 100mm fork. If it accepts 120 forks (e.g., Blur XC carbon ), you big guys could use a 120 through axle fork and get another .5″ or so of ground clearance while adding travel and stiffness. That would be my setup for New England rock gardens anyway.
My only issue is that I once again find myself between SC sizes. The medium ETT of 23″ is at least .5″ short of all other 29er FS bikes I’ve seen.
If guys use 120mm fork on the front, just like on Pivot 429, we need 5″ option – not substitute- so that eveyone could choose between 3,4,5 and 6″ 29ers from SC, perhaps someday 7″. Why most big companies roll only one 29ers or maximum two which consist of one SS Alu and one HT also alu? 4″ Carbon is a progress, but why they release only one 29er? Sort od David Turner policy?
Let’s start a pool. What will the *real* weight be when production frames arrive?
I’m digging the XXL sizing! Finally, another major manufacturer stepping up to the plate.
I am not an expert, but doesnt a sloped top tube allow a smaller rider to ride a bigger frame?