Chameleon 27.5+ Mountain Bike Frame
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As a perennial favorite in Santa Cruz's line-up of mountain bikes, the Chameleon provides a high degree of versatility for shredding everything from smooth, flowing singletrack winding through the forest to the gnarlier trails with steep drop-offs and loose rocks standing in your way. It's a great bike if you're just starting your trail riding journey or desire a versatile hardtail for riding hard and fast across your local trail network. Santa Cruz revamped the Chameleon in 2017 to be longer, lower, and slacker than ever with its lengthy front end, low-slung 12.4-inch bottom bracket, and relaxed 67.5-degree head tube angle. This Chameleon 27.5+ Mountain Bike Frame carries all of these updates with fresh color schemes for 2019, making it an an absolute blast to rail around corners, plunge into steep descents, and even pedal a few laps around the bike park.
Originally conceived as a heavy-duty trail bike that could handle the rigors of bike parks and slalom courses, the Chameleon has evolved into a fun-loving trail bike that's compatible with multiple wheel sizes and moonlights as a practical solution for long-distance bikepacking missions. It's offered here as a 27.5+ trail bike for voluminous traction and greater compliance over rugged trails with its 2.8-inch Maxxis Rekon Tires, but it can be run as a fast-rolling 29er with its interchangeable dropouts. Also, these interchangeable dropouts allow you to swap out the gears for single-speed use, should you desire a no-nonsense drivetrain or live in an area without major elevation changes.
Seeing the Chameleon is designed to be a more utilitarian, low-maintenance trail bike, it's made from aluminum for optimal strength-to-weight, but without the added cost of carbon. This gives the Chameleon broader appeal than many of the full-suspension bikes, which is great considering it lowers the bar to entry for riders on a budget. Note, the particular dropouts spec'd on this 27.5+ version of the Chameleon are a few millimeters taller (when compared to the 29-inch version) to accommodate the 27.5+ wheel size without making the bottom bracket too low. We'd recommend running a 130-millimeter fork for a more balanced feel on the trail, but you can run a longer 140-millimeter fork if you'd like a bit more reserve for those bigger hits, plus added composure on the steeper, gnarlier bits of trail.
Details
- Versatile hardtail with a fun-loving persona on the trail
- 67.5-degree head tube angle for confidence at higher speeds
- Longer front end, short chainstays for an agile, playful feel
- 27.5+ wheel size smooths out rough trails with roots and rocks
- Alloy frame optimizes strength-to-weight at lower cost than carbon
- Interchangeable dropouts allow you to swap 27.5+ for 29in wheels
- Interchangeable dropouts also available for single-speed drivetrain
- BOOST axle spacing stiffens the rear wheel for precise handling
- Item #SNZ00JZ
- Frame Material
- aluminum
- Suspension
- hardtail
- Wheel Size
- 27.5+, 29 in (requires 29er-specific dropouts from Santa Cruz)
- Head Tube Diameter
- 1-1/8 - 1-1/2 in tapered
- Bottom Bracket Type
- BSA
- Cable Routing
- internal
- Front Derailleur Mount
- direct-mount
- Brake Type
- post mount disc
- Seatpost Diameter
- 31.6mm
- Rear Axle
- 12 x 148mm Boost
- Dropouts
- interchangeable dropouts for 29er use, singlespeed use (both sold separately)
- Claimed Weight
- [large] 5.35lb
- Manufacturer Warranty
- lifetime on frame
- Activity
- trail
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