Some 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.

NewsBlastTallBoyTop

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.

NewsBlastTallBoyGeo

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………

Stay Tuned!