Home Page

Cart, contains 0 items

When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures.
Expert Help
Earn Rewards
  • Just In
  • Learn

Santa Cruz Bicycles
Chameleon R Complete Mountain Bike - 2016

Be the first to review

Out of Stock

Don't worry though, we have a lot more Hardtail in stock than that.

Shop Similar Products

Protean.

Santa Cruz hasn't tampered much with its 2016 line of mountain bikes, keeping geometries, materials, and suspension largely the same. Despite that willingness to let a successful stable of machines continue to succeed, Santa Cruz did find a few places to improve on the Chameleon R Complete Mountain Bike for the new model year. By adding the option for stealth dropper routing and spearing the rear wheel with a Komodo-sized 12x142mm axle, Santa Cruz has increased the already monstrous capabilities of everyone's favorite flexible trail-head lizard.


The frame's protean front and rear ends return unaltered, though. The rear dropouts can be swapped for a singlespeed setup, making for one hell of a gritty lizard that's guaranteed to net mad gnar points on any 100-mile endurance race. If you're more into abusing the trail without abusing your own personal self, though, the dropouts on the Chameleon R build come prepped to take advantage of the full range of its Shimano SLX cassette. This flexibility also extends to the front end, where the Chameleon can fade from shades of short-travel XC to the distinctive hue of a six-inch enduro fork. The R build comes spec'd with a 130mm RockShox Sektor RL Gold, which splits the difference between the frame's min/max spread of 100mm to 150mm.


Unlike with its saurian namesake, the Chameleon R's changes are more than just skin-deep. The singlespeed-to-cassette switch speaks for itself, but changing forks also alters the bike's geometry. With a 100mm fork, the seat angle gets steeper and the bottom bracket height drops for a forward-leaning, aggressive XC geometry that puts power above all else while virtually banishing wheel flop. As travel approaches 150mm, the bike gets taller and the head tube slacks out for stability at speed that holds lines like, well, like a chameleon clinging to a stick with its little tail coiled up. Only not as cute.


Without a solid platform, all that mutability is just a pointless gimmick. The 6066 aluminum tubing — inflated to increase diameter and stiffness in key power transfer areas — proves that the Chameleon isn't just a pretty paint job that can perform neat parlor tricks. The larger diameter of the tubes also increases structural integrity, even with thinner walls. The Chameleon's weight savings and stiffness prove that there's still a place in XC racing for alloy frames, and the tapered head tube nets all the steering precision and responsiveness-under-torque that we've come to expect from Santa Cruz.


The build kits Santa Cruz is throwing at its stable represent the biggest change for the new model year. The Chameleon R's spec sheet is no exception to this rule, but it does see less change than many of the California-based manufacturer's other models. The changes worth noting include a Shimano Deore crankset and front derailleur, both of which replace SRAM models, establishing a nice symmetry with the rest of the Shimano drivetrain. The rest of the Chameleon R build kit remains virtually unchanged for 2016 — welcome news for anyone who, like us, enjoyed the previous model's willingness to sample jumps and park furniture in a decidedly non-XC manner.


Manufacturer Warranty
lifetime on frame
Recommended Use
cross-country
Pedals
not included
Tire Size
[front] 27.5 x 2.23 in, [rear] 27.5 x 2.25 in
Tires
[front] Maxxis Minion DHR2 TR, [rear] Maxxis Ardent
Rear Axle
12x142mm
Front Axle
15x100mm
Hubs
SRAM MTH 716/746
Wheelset
[rims] WTB STi23 TCS
Seatpost
Race Face Ride
Saddle
WTB Volt Race
Stem Length
70 mm
Stem
Race Face Ride
Grips
Santa Cruz Palmdale Lock-On
Handlebar Width
760 mm
Handlebar
Race Face Ride
Rotors
180 mm Shimano RT66
Brake Type
hydraulic disc
Brakeset
Shimano Deore M615
Chain
KMC X01.93
Cassette
11 - 36 t Shimano SLX HG81
Crank Arm Length
175 mm
Bottom Bracket
BSA threaded
Crankset
22 / 36 t Shimano Deore M617
ISCG Tabs
yes, ISCG 05
Rear Derailleur
Shimano XT M786 RD GS Shadow+
Front Derailleur
Shimano Deore M618
Shifters
Shimano SLX M670
Headset
Cane Creek 10
Front Travel
130 mm
Fork
RockShox Sektor Gold RL
Frame Material
6066 aluminum

What do you think about this product?

View

Selecting an option will reload the available reviews on the page

Sorry, we don’t currently have any of those types of reviews for this product.