What Is the Santa Cruz Tallboy and Who Is It For?
The Tallboy is Santa Cruz's short-travel trail bike with 140/130mm of front/rear suspension travel and 29" wheels.
It's made for the rider who wants to do quick rips up to the trailhead after work, big back-country pedals and long hours in the saddle. Tallboy is light and efficient enough to climb well, but still plenty capable down the hill. It's a perfect balance of speed and capability.
No More VPP?
While Santa Cruz is famous for their VPP suspension design, this 6th generation Santa Cruz Tallboy was changed to a four-bar design to save weight, improve suspension kinematics and increase the seat post insertion depth to allow longer droppers. VPP is a great system that works super well on their longer travel bikes. But, the more simple and lighter four-bar layout makes a lot of sense on a shorter travel bike that would benefit less from VPP.
The new four-bar layout on the Tallboy has lower anti-squat and anti-rise, which still provide a lot of traction, while keeping the bike light and playful like a 140/130mm bike should be.
The Geometry - Let's Crunch Some Numbers
| XS | S | M | L | XL | XXL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reach (Hi/Lo) | 410/407 | 435/432 | 455/452 | 475/472 | 495/492 | 520/517 |
| Stack (Hi/Lo) | 601/603 | 610/612 | 624/626 | 633/635 | 646/649 | 660/662 |
| Head Tube Angle (Hi/Lo) | 65.1°/64.8° | 65.1°/64.8° | 65.1°/64.8° | 65.1°/64.8° | 65.1°/64.8° | 65.1°/64.8° |
| Head Tube Length | 90 | 100 | 115 | 125 | 140 | 155 |
| Rear Center (Hi/Lo) | 435/435.5 | 435/435.5 | 435/435.5 | 438/438.5 | 440/440.5 | 444/444.5 |
| Front Center (Hi/Lo) | 721/721 | 750/750 | 777/776 | 801/801 | 827/827 | 858/858 |
| BB Height (Hi/Lo) | 336/333 | 336/333 | 336/333 | 336/333 | 336/333 | 336/333 |
| BB Drop (Hi/Lo) | 36/39 | 36/39 | 36/39 | 36/39 | 36/39 | 36/39 |
| Wheelbase (Hi/Lo) | 1156/1156 | 1185/1186 | 1212/1212 | 1239/1239 | 1267/1267 | 1302/1303 |
| Top Tube Length (Hi/Lo) | 542/542 | 569/570 | 596/596 | 616/616 | 637/638 | 666/666 |
| Seat Tube Length (Hi/Lo) | 360/370 | 380/380 | 400/400 | 420/430 | 450/450 | 500/500 |
| Seat Tube Angle (Hi/Lo) | 77.6°/77.3° | 77.6°/77.3° | 77.3°/77° | 77.4°/77.2° | 77.5°/77.3° | 77.5°/77.3° |
| Seat Tube Angle at Saddle Height (Hi/Lo) | 77.4/77.1 at 640 | 77/76.8 at 680 | 76.5/76.3 at 730 | 76.5/76.3 at 780 | 76.5/76.3 at 830 | 76.5/76.3 at 870 |
| Standover Height (Hi/Lo) | 699/695 | 703/699 | 718/714 | 728/725 | 742/739 | 758/755 |
Sizing
Sizing can always vary due to preference and body proportions, of course. When it comes to preference, if you want a more stable bike, the larger frame will do that while the shorter frame will be more nimble with its shorter wheelbase.
Here's a general size guide based on height.
X-Small: 410mm reach for riders 142-154cm tall
Small: 435mm reach for riders 154-165cm tall
Medium: 455mm reach for riders 165-175cm tall
Large: 475mm reach for riders 175-185cm tall
X-Large: 495mm reach for riders 185-193cm tall
XX-Large: 520mm reach for riders 193-200cm tall
How Does the Tallboy Compare to the Blur or Bronson?
| Blur | Tallboy | Bronson | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheel Size | 29" | 29" | 29/27.5" |
| Travel Front/Rear | 120mm | 140/130mm | 160/150mm |
| Weight | 12.06kg (GX AXS Race Reserve | 13.47kg (XT Di2) | 15.06kg (GX AXS) |
| Intended Purpose | Focused on pedalling efficiency for XC racing, adventure racing/riding and even bikepacking. | Short-travel trail bike for big days in the saddle on epic trails where you really need efficiency but still want capability. | All-around core trail e-bike that's good for both flowy blue trails and the more technical trails with an emphasis on handling. |
What specs and colours of Santa Cruz Tallboy are available?
Tallboy CC Deore - CC Carbon frame, Rockshox Pike & Deluxe Select+, Shimano Deore 12speed, SRAM DB8 brakes.
Tallboy CC 90 - CC Carbon frame, Rockshox Pike & Deluxe Select+, SRAM 90 T-Type, DB8 brakes
Tallboy CC GX AXS - CC Carbon frame, Rockshox Pike Select+, Deluxe Select+, SRAM GX AXS, SRAM Motive Bronze brakes
Tallboy CC XT Di2 - CC Carbon frame, Rockshox Pike Ultimate, Deluxe Ultimate, Shimano XT Di2, SRAM Motive Silver.
Tallboy CC X0 AXS Reserve - CC Carbon frame, Rockshox Pike Ultimate, Deluxe Ultimate, SRAM X0 T-Type, Motive Silver brakes
What is the warranty on a Santa Cruz Tallboy?
Santa Cruz frames come with a lifetime warranty for the original owner. They also offer free replacement pivot bearings to the original owner for as long as they own the bike. Their Reserve Carbon wheels have a lifetime warranty on the rim for damage done while riding. Bosch components have a two-year manufacturer's warranty.
Visit the shop in Christchurch or order your Tallboy online. We ship NZ-wide!
Built Right. All bikes are first properly built by us and test ridden at our Christchurch shop before being carefully re-boxed to ship to you. We can have the wheels setup tubeless and suspension setup, so you're all ready to go out of the box.
We can ship across NZ. We can't ship bikes to RD addresses, but we can often ship to the the nearest depot. Contact us if you're address is RD and we'll figure it out.
