The combination of the shallower tyre impact angle and an initially-rearward axle path sucks up anything mid-sized you don’t pump or jump seamlessly. Even full travel off a 6ft drop doesn’t create any drama and the big wheels steamroller smaller bumps with impunity. Typically for Santa Cruz the geometry is conservative, rather than super-slack and low. That keeps it interested in uphill turns and it’s got an easy snap around slow, flat turns, rather than the desire to wander away into the outside ditch like some 29ers.Įven the superlative Fox 34 fork feels normal, but that’s exactly what provides the trigger to realizing just what this bike is actually doing. While fitting a burly 34 into our long-term Tallboy made it feel almost hardtail-like, the LTc totally balances the impact response front to rear. While the combination of weight, stiffness and travel set totally new benchmarks for big-wheelers, first impressions are of a remarkably normal, not radical bike. Ride & handling: Prepare to press the reset button on your riding So how does this new Long Travel carbon (LTc) version stack up? Turns out Santa Cruz have set another new benchmark for trail bike speed, control and confidence whether you’re climbing technical stuff, bombing descents or ripping up the singletrack. Santa Cruz’s first 29er, the 100mm Tallboy, was crowned our benchmark-setting bike of 2011. This bike certainly has a lot to live up to.
#FOX FLOAT RP23 AXLE TO AXLE FULL#
Read on for our full review of the Santa Cruz Tallboy LTC: This is the fastest, most controlled and confident all-round trail bike we’ve ridden – if you can afford it: this is the fastest, most controlled and confident all-round trail bike we’ve ridden – if you can afford it Russell Burton/Future Publishing Yes it’s expensive, but it’s pretty much pressed the reset button on all our expectations of what’s doable on a trail bike.” It’s stunning.ĭrifting loose turns without drama and clearing rocky descents we normally trickle down in a single leap became the default descending mode. We found ourselves cruising up technical climbs that normally leave us scrabbling for traction or gasping for breath within a couple of runs we were carrying more speed than we normally do on 160mm bikes. It was only later, when we registered just how fast this bike could blast along our benchmark test trails that its truly outstanding performance began to sink in. The sweetly direct drive of the VPP2 suspension and low overall mass offsets the inevitably heavier wheels, while frame and fork stiffness keep it tracking very accurately.Īt the Arizona launch we repeatedly terrified ourselves realising what we had just ridden flat out down and across while following far better riders. The balanced rather than radically slack geometry means a reasonably keen turn in and decent carve on tight corners. As usual, the big wheels quieten trail noise and reduce the rattle that provides much of the sense of speed. Yet at 2.4kg (5.3lb) it’s barely heavier, and it’s far lighter than its competition even with a dropper post and Fox’s chunky 34 forks it’s no heavier than most 26in trail bikes.ĭespite the superlative statistics, the ride is remarkably normal at first.