Competitive Cyclist

SANTA CRUZ CHAMELEON

Chameleons are expert adapters. They aren’t the biggest, strongest, fastest, or even poisonous. Just regular little lizards that figure out how to thrive in a wide variety of environments. Something humans are great at as well. As cyclists, we’re rarely creating the world we ride in -- we're just passing through. This is why the Santa Cruz Chameleon is so valuable. It can be adapted to the situation. And once adapted, it fits right in.

You might be asking, "How does a hardtail do all this?" The short answer is great design from the people at Santa Cruz. The long answer is seen in all the details. The front end is designed for a fork with 100 to 160mm of travel. Look at the bottom bracket shell. Look big? It’s designed for eccentric bottom bracket assemblies, and one comes installed. That isn't to custom-tune the center of gravity or adjust the cranks so they can better clear logs, but adapt to single-speed rear wheels -- and the frame can be retro-fitted with single-speed dropouts as well.

Look further. The frame's geometry can work with forks that have as little as 100mm clearance and as much as 160mm, with 120-140mm being ideal. At the 100mm end, you have a seat angle a good bit steeper than the 72-degrees that is listed on the spec sheet and a lower bottom bracket height. The change in specs gives a forward-leaning, aggressive cross-country geometry. The massive tubes in the rear triangle, part of a 6066 aluminum frameset, mean plenty of stiffness for great transfer of power from the pedals to the wheels, and the large diameter works double for you, allowing for ultra-thin tubing walls which result in a bike that is not only stiff, but light. Since the frame accepts tires up to 2.7", choice of tires can also help make the frame into whatever you want it to be. Put a 160mm travel fork in and the bike gets taller and more laid-back, adding to high-speed stability. The sky's the limit when it comes to rotor selection as well -- the Chameleon can accept any rotor up to a 203mm.

When hanging parts on the Chameleon, the bike takes on the qualities of the parts, not vice-versa. The resulting bike always looks and acts appropriate for the intended use. This frame can run the gamut, from a single speed bike to a freeride brute, and can be likewise have the parts build and characteristics of a cross-country, all-mountain, or even a dirt jump bike.

The Santa Cruz Chameleon is powder coated in your choice of Black, Lime, Liquid Blue, Red, White, or Yellow. It has a 1-1/8” head tube, and a 30.9mm seat tube. The bottom bracket shell is 68mm wide, and it uses a 34.9mm dual-pull front derailleur. The dropouts are replaceable, and the ever-convenient bottle opener. There are water bottle braze-ons on both the top and underside of the down tube. The frame weight is 4.25lbs (1.931kg). It has a two year warranty against manufacturing defects.

US Santa Cruz dealers are prohibited from shipping Santa Cruz bicycles outside of the United States.

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2010 Santa Cruz Chameleon Pricing