Bike of the Month Santa Cruz Tallboy

Charles — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:53:00 +0000

Passion recently had the pleasure of building up a Santa Cruz Tallboy 29r for one of our customers. Alan invested a lot time making sure he was getting the best possible bike for his intended riding, and what follows is his story:

Last year when I first started riding I was given an old rigid mountainbike. It didn’t take me but a little more than a month to figure out that this bike while it gave me the bug for commuting, just wasn’t going to cut it. It was very old and worn out. I wasn’t quite ready to put down a bunch of money on a high end bike yet though, and I’m glad I didn’t at that time, because I had no idea of what I really wanted or needed. I did however pick up a 20 year old Stumpy that would get me through the next year to make sure I was going to stick with this new hobby (if it can really be called that).

I remember in the Spring I was really starting to think about a new bike, something with full suspension, and disc brakes. At the time, I hadn’t even considered a carbon mountain bike. Looking around at the local shops I was admiring the newer Stumpy’s, and Giant’s, I had even been considering an online order of a cheap bike. Then came along Passion’s 2009 spring demo day. I don’t even remember what other bikes I rode except for the 08 Specialized Stumpy 29er. One ride was all it took to realize that my new bike was most definately going to be a 29er. Things that scared me to death on my old stumpy were easy as cake on this 29er (mind you, I was still a fairly new rider).

At this time I hadn’t even been considering a bike from SC, but all summer long, I observed and studied up more on bikes. I observed other riders on their bikes with differen suspension setups and such. Then I began to read about the differences between SC’s VPP and other setups. I went back and forth about what bike I really wanted to get at the end of the year. I really wanted a 29er, but I even considered the Mojo since everyone who owned them seem to really like them. My attention imediately turned to Santa Cruz as i began to hear rumors about a 29er coming from them. I know these guys are pretty arogant about their bikes, but they have pretty good reason to be. I pretty quickly became glued to the 104Bronson blog, looking everyday for updates. As more details began to emerge about the Tallboy there was no doubt what bike I was going to get at the end of the year. VPP is definately a good way to go, no doubt, but I really had no idea at this time, how great it really was. I think the carbon bug got more of me than it really should have at the time, but being carbon was a definate plus. The next dillema I went through was that the Stumpy 29er FSR was essentially a 5 inch bike but the Tallboy was really only a 4 inch. I pondered over this quite a bit. In the end I decided 4 inches was plenty, and putting the 120mm forks on the front kinda makes up for it. All that being said, the 29er FSR is a great bike but I think the Tallboy is going to kick it’s butt.

The Aftermath

I’ve had the Tallboy for a little over a month now. The first few weeks have showed me that I still have a lot of technique to develop, but at least now I have a bike now to develop it on. I was thinking during the first week that the old Stumpy hard tail might have been a better climber, but I don’t think that any more. The Tallboy is really happy spinning in the saddle or getting out of the saddle and mashing up climbs. For the first time ever, I have actually passed several people on the climb out of Demo, and that made me very happy. There have been many times when I expected to spin out on a steep technical, but instead left with a big grin after discovering how well the rear tracks with the ground. Today out at Fort Ord on a super steep sandy section I actually made it further up than a friend of mine who is far better at steep climbs than I am. I was very happy to see that happen.

Pointing the bike downhill is everything I ever dreamed of in a bike. Over these past 5 rides I have been pushing the down hill harder and harder and this guy just holds the line. From sharp switch backs where you might think you don’t have enough space to turn but instead you just point the front wheel and go, to high speed rocky terrain where the bike just floats where you need it to (the old bike used to choose the line, now I choose).

With the rain over the last week, I decided to go ahead and put the old bike back together and do some trainer miles in the garage. The first day, I had a really hard time because the geometry has you so far over the front that it seems downright uncomfortable now. I’m wondering how I ever even took this thing down technical stuff at all. I’m wanting to switch back to the old bike to keep from putting commuting miles on the new bike, but I just don’t know if I can stand sitting on the old thing for an hour at a time anymore.

I am very happy with the purchase of my new bike, and I couldn’t imaging purchasing it from another shop besides Passion.

"Bike of the Month Santa Cruz Tallboy" by Petey

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:54:21 +0000

Very well Done & congratulations.

"Bike of the Month Santa Cruz Tallboy" by Shinji

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 07:26:17 +0000

Sounds like it was very good experience. I congratulate the owner. He’s spent enough time before getting a new bike. I believe that is very important and indispensable process. I did gone through a bunch of different bikes before deciding my purchase at the Passion.

If you are looking to purchase a new bike, spend as much time as you need. You must make sure that you are picking the best bike for you.

Passion Trail Bikes, Belmont, CA - specialists in quality bike service and custom-built mountain bikes: Bike of the Month Santa Cruz Tallboy

Bike of the Month Santa Cruz Tallboy

"Bike of the Month Santa Cruz Tallboy" by Petey

"Bike of the Month Santa Cruz Tallboy" by Shinji