Santa Cruz Bicycles

Tallboy Carbon SPX XC - Complete Mountain Bike

There is a simple explanation for why early 29er full suspension bikes were shunned by all-mountain/aggressive riders. It's because they were rushed to market before there was supporting technology like thru-axles, angular contact bearings, and tapered head tubes. The original 29er FS bikes were a nightmare around switchbacks and noodly over rough terrain. In the past five years, however, we've witnessed the 29er FS platform blossom due to those aforementioned advancements found here on the Santa Cruz Tallboy Carbon SPX XC Complete Mountain Bike.

While the Tallboy Carbon is not an all-mountain bike, it has benefited from the technology that makes longer travel 29er's viable. The Tallboy frame's proprietary manufacturing processes allow the frame to offer line-holding stiffness in an incredibly light package. The front triangle is constructed as once piece, rather than having components produced separately, and then bonded or wrapped. Additionally, the carbon fibers are continuous around tube junctions this distributes loads and absorbs impact energy better.

One thing that you can't see without cutting the frame in half is that it looks as good on the inside as it does on the outside. There's nothing there except smooth carbon, and this isn't because SC's engineers are obsessive compulsive. This actually prevents stress risers in failure prone areas of the frame. For that reason too, there are no riveted or bonded-on cable and hose guides, as they're incorporated into the original layup.

That layup provides stiff and solid mounting points for the latest generation of Santa Cruz's Virtual Pivot Point rear suspension. The upper and lower links flatten out the shock rate and provide a more active feel to the early part of the axle path. The suspension allows the rear wheel to move up and back as you ride over a bump, and it balances the downward force of pedaling with the pulling force of the chain through its link configuration and axle path. The resulting movement makes it easier to roll over a bump or through a dip, and the suspension doesn’t change whether you’re in the saddle or not.

The Tallboy Carbon has a carbon fiber upper link that shaves weight and enhances lateral stiffness. It's counterpart on the bottom is alloy, and it has easily-serviceable grease ports. The pivots for both links have stout 15mm locking collet axle-pins so they won't creak or loosen, and they run on intricately-sealed bearings that should last the life of the frame.

The VPP suspension of the Tallboy Carbon yields 100mm of smooth travel damped by a Fox CTD rear shock -- a lightweight, reliable shock that features an intuitive interface for simple, on-the-fly suspension tuning. It has three distinct settings; a firm 'Climbing' setting, medium 'Trail' setting, and a plush 'Descend' setting. This keeps operation straightforward and intuitive for beginners and experts alike.

Complementing the CTD rear shock is a 120mm Fox 32 Float CTD front shock. Like the 142 x 12mm rear axle, the fork sports a 15mm thru axle for stiffness. A hand-laced and tensioned wheelset composed of DT Swiss 350 hubs, 14/15 gauge spokes, and WTB i19 rims wrapped in Maxxis Crossmark 2.1 tubeless tires spin around those axles.

The drivetrain is full, 3 x 10, Shimano XT, including the Cranks, derailleurs, shifters, and cassette. Stopping the SPX XC Tallboy Carbon is a set of 160mm Ice Tech XT brakes. The Easton EA70 handlebar and stem are joined by a Thomson Elite seatpost with a WTB Silverado Team saddle topping it off.

The Santa Cruz Tallboy Carbon SPX XC Complete Mountain Bike Comes in sizes Medium through XX-Large, and two colors; Black/Blue and Carbon/Re