Santa Cruz Tallboy Carbon 29 - XT - Flatte Earth - 2022

If ever there was a gravity riders' XC bike, the Tallboy is it.

The new 120mm Tallboy takes a leap further into what short-travel bikes really are capable of. With kick-ass lower-link VPP suspension, a streamlined design, the typical Santa Cruz refinement, and rather radical geometry, the Tallboy is back to being a genre-bending folk hero.

Sure, 10mm more travel might only seem like one small step. But, coupled with a lower link-driven VPP suspension design, this is one giant leap for the Tallboy.

It's the kind of bike that makes you sprint while going up, along, over, or down because of the maximum efficiency of the VPP design and responsive, lightweight chassis. But, because it shares the same engineering principles as our longest travel bikes, the progressive lower link-mounted shock feels equally at home doing cross-country as it does in extreme-country. Paired with a 130mm fork the new Tallboy becomes ever more appealing to riders who like to open it up.

And, the geometry: that's a big part of what's going on...

Established theory suggests shorter-travel bikes get ridden more slowly, therefore require steeper and more conservative geometries. In reality though, when was the last time you ever throttled back on a fun trail because you weren't on a bigger bike? ...caution to the wind and all that. So, we've done the same here and mimicked our longer travel geometry to create a bike with a 65.5-degree head-angle, generous front center, and short-offset fork, something rarely seen on a bike of this ilk.

And, the radical thinking doesn't stop there. The Tallboy's short-short 430mm chainstays have +/- 10mm of rear axle adjustment to ensure riders of all sizes and styles feel equally at home. Match that to a relatively low BB (335mm and 37.5mm drop), and you've got a combo that's ready to haul into every pocket turn and launch out the other side.

• Frame XT
• Fork FOX 34 Performance Elite, 130mm, 29"
• Rear Shock FOX Float Performance Elite DPS
• Rims RaceFace ARC Offset 30 29" Rims
• Hubs Front: Industry Nine 1/1, 110x15, 6 Bolt, 28h
• Rear: Industry Nine 1/1, 148x12, Microspline, 6 Bolt, 28h
• Spokes Sapim Race
• Axles Front: 15x110mm
• Rear: 12x148mm
• Tires Front: Maxxis Dissector, 29"x2.4, 3C, EXO, MaxxTerra, TR
• Rear: Maxxis Rekon, 29"x2.4, 3C. EXO, MaxxTerra, TR
• Bottom Bracket Shimano XT 68/73mm
• Crankset Shimano XT M8120
• Chainrings 32t
• Shifters Shimano XT M8100, 12spd
• Rear Derailleur Shimano XT M8100, 12spd
• Cassette/Freewheel Shimano XT M8100, 12spd, 10-51t
• Chain Shimano XT, 12spd
• Brakes Shimano XT 8120
• Rotors Shimano XT RT-86, Ice Tech, 180mm
• Handlebars Santa Cruz 20 Carbon Bar, 800mm, 20mm Rise
• Tape/Grips Santa Cruz House Grips or Burgtec Bartender Pro Grip Minnaar
• Stem Burgtec Enduro MK3, 42.5mm
• Headset Cane Creek 40 IS Integrated
• Seatpost RockShox Reverb Stealth
• Saddle WTB Silverado Medium Cromoly SL Fusion Saddle or WTB Volt
• Pedals Sold separately