Comments on: Interbike 2009: Ride Report- Santa Cruz Tall Boy

By: eturk

eturk — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:27:05 +0000

I am a Jet9 owner who is considering moving to carbon and have boiled it down to either the Tall Boy or the Fly. I see pros and cons in each but both are just too much alike at the same time.

What I really don’t understand about the fly is why have the offset fox fork + steeper angle in the first place? To clarify, why not just design the frame head tub where you need it and then any fork would work? This isn’t a question about fox, rather the design break in angle decision employed on the Fly. This is a new development. Any thoughts?

Second – the suspension between the two seems very much the same minus that the Fly has a link in the rear axle. Any additional thoughts on that?

I am thinking that in terms of which is racer they are about the same (or could be) but which is more for epic (and I mean big epic, multi-day, which I do)? One might think the tall boy but I am not certain yet.

By: georgia

georgia — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:42:37 +0000

I’m in the same boat about the Pivot Mach 429 and the TB as the SunDevilracer. I would love to hear any comparisons

By: JamTrill

JamTrill — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:18:49 +0000

@ SunDevilracer: Have you considered the Fisher Superfly 100? I recently went to the Trek/Fisher Demo Days that stopped in my area and the handful of guys that rode the Superfly 100 couldn’t stop talking about how awesome the bike was. At around $5.5G’s, it’s certainly not cheap. It appears Fisher’s race team has done quite well racing on it this year.

By: SunDevilracer

SunDevilracer — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:25:30 +0000

Hey GT, I was wondering if you have ever had a chance to ride the Pivot Mach 429 ( i haven’t found a review on your site)? And if so, could you compare that to your ride on the Tallboy. I find myself among the numerous unfortunate Niner owners that had to have their Jet 9 recalled (mine cracked at the headtube reinforcement) and are left stranded. I am considering switching to either the Tallboy or 429. The lack of demo availability for both is troubling me so I am looking for as much rider experience input as possible. I am looking for a race bike that could be at home on xc courses and out on 60+ rides/24hour races. I really liked my Jet 9, but I have serious doubts about Niner now.

Thanks

By: Newton

Newton — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:48:31 +0000

Thanks again Guitar Ted. After considering your thoughts, I see no good reason to tinker with the angles the bike was designed for. My concern was making sure to have enough cush for the occasional downhill drop, but then again…that’s part of what you get with a 29 inch wheel…more travel feel with less actual travel.

I really appreciate you input and can’t wait to put the rig together.

Best,
Newton