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Santa Cruz Bicycles
Highball Carbon S Complete Mountain Bike 29in - 2015

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Display your engine.

The wave of high-travel, 27.5-inch enduro sleds washing over the industry during the past several years definitely makes a statement, but for many riders, that statement takes the form of an excuse to go slow. If you often find yourself lamenting watts lost to a marshmallow rear end or dodging around the downhill specialists while they dawdle up a climb, then the Santa Cruz Highball Carbon S Complete Mountain Bike is more your style. With 29-inch wheels and a stiff, hardtail Carbon C frame, the Highball 29er doesn't hide behind big travel and gimmicky suspension designs. Your engine — and nothing but your engine — is the only thing on display.


The carbon Santa Cruz uses for the Highball Carbon C frame is a lower modulus of carbon than that used in the "pro," Carbon CC models, so more material is required to achieve the same stiffness and durability. This has two effects on the bike: it weighs more — around a claimed 250 grams per frame — and it costs a lot less, making the Highball 29 a carbon XC missile for the masses. The weight difference amounts to about half a pound, so if you just trim a few inches off your beard and spend a week not indulging in our culture's collective bacon fetish, then you'll more than cover the spread.


The California manufacturer still brings its meticulous construction practices to bear on the slightly heavier Carbon C chassis, using a single layup instead of a jigsaw puzzle of individually-cured carbon tubes. This allows Santa Cruz to wrap the fibers continuously around structurally important junctures like the head tube and bottom bracket, strengthening the frame, dissipating the force from impacts, and more efficiently channeling pedal input.


Translated into trail talk, this means it hits the bricks when you stomp the pedals and dampens high-speed chatter with a low weight that makes any full-suspension bike look like a bloated gravity machine that only sees inclines from the chairlift. The Highball 29er does somewhat address the lack of rear suspension with a diminished seatpost, slimmed down to 27.2 millimeters. While this doesn't quite equate to the square-edge hit capabilities of the Nomad or Bronson, it does help to eat up chatter that will otherwise punish your body over the course of a long ride.


In order to accommodate its big, speedy wheels, the Highball 29's chainstays register at a hair under 17-inches, but a steep head tube brings the wheelbase to over a half-inch shorter than the smaller-wheeled Highball 27. The Highball 29 is nimble enough to gently pick through trail furniture and it tracks through switchbacks like a cat on carpet, but it still shines brightest when the throttle is fully open. The 12x142mm rear axle is the stiff rear triangle's best friend, ensuring that every possible watt goes straight into the trail, and the FOX 32 CTD fork can toggle between lockout settings for stiff climbing or 100mm of travel to smooth roots while burning through berms.


The drivetrain's blend of Shimano's XT and SLX components ensures that the frame's power transfer isn't hampered or interrupted altogether by sloppy operation or dropped chains, and the included WTB rims are also tubeless-ready, so you can max-out the Highball's already low weight while riding with impunity through the goat head patches of late summer.


Frame Material
Carbon C
Fork
Fox 32 Float CTD Performance Fit
Front Travel
100 mm
Shifters
Shimano XT M670
Front Derailleur
Shimano XT
Rear Derailleur
Shimano XT M786 Shadow+
ISCG Tabs
no
Crankset
24 / 38 t Shimano SLX M675
Bottom Bracket
BSA threaded
Cassette
11 - 36 t Shimano SLX HG81
Chain
Shimano SLX HG75
Brakeset
Shimano SLX M675
Brake Type
hydraulic disc
Rotors
160 mm Shimano RT66
Handlebar
Race Face Evolve Flat
Handlebar Width
720 mm
Grips
Santa Cruz Palmdale Lock-on
Stem
Race Face Turbine Basic
Saddle
WTB Volt Race
Seatpost
Race Face Ride
Wheelset
[rims] WTB STi19 TCS
Hubs
SRAM MTH 716/746
Front Axle
15x100mm thru-axle
Rear Axle
12x142mm thru-axle
Tires
Maxxis Ikon
Tire Size
29 x 2.2 in
Pedals
not included
Recommended Use
cross-country
Manufacturer Warranty
5 years on frame

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