Today provided me with the good fortune of test riding an Aluminum Santa Cruz Tall boy in the entry level D XC kit with the RP23 upgrade. If you've read the review that Dirt Rag did this month on the same bike, then I can say my impressions are quite similar. I had a size medium and am 5'8" and weigh 170lbs. The bike with my flat pedals weighs approx 32 lbs. I thought Waterdog given the recent rains and it's moderately technical trails would be a suitable place to verify the Tallboy's well marketed prowess. Most of the trails at Waterdog today were grippy with some puddles and a little mud. The only concern was that some of the ruts that had gone a bit clayish. I walked around on the firmer dirt to cut the trail some slack. I imagine tomorrow will make for a great day at WD.
This was not my first Tallboy ride. I put about 20 miles on a Carbon Tallboy this past October at Cuyuna in Minnesota. Cuyuna is an amazing IMBA designed trail system, but a little too flowy and packed to show the strengths of the Tallboy. My impression, up until now, of the Tallboy was that it is stiff, fast and handles better than some of the other big wheel bikes. It was today, at Waterdog, with a mix of slick and hero dirt conditions that I saw how awesome the TB geometry is for climbing and clearing steep shots and snappy feeling for a 29er. Lest we not forget the low center of gravity and immersed in wheels feeling you get with a 29er that makes you feel more stable on the down. I'm sure I sound like a broken record as we've all read a million praises about the Tallboy. What I am saying is that Tallboy in the 32lb configuration with a basic spec pedals, handles and shifts amazingly well. Definitely did not feel like grinding my 32lb Nomad up the Finch trail switchbacks. I was impressed dropping down Berry's, above the lake, with the stiffness of the QR/Rock Shox Recon and how the fork tracked riding some of the roots on the fringes of the corners. One thing that was odd is it took a ton of air pressure to get the fork from being too squish i.e. an extra 40psi. This could be an issue with the shock. Lock on grips would have been nice and the Maxxis Crossmark is okay, but that tire is more about fast rolling than hooking up in the corners. Nice to see the entry level Tallboy is a fun ride and SC has not compromised quality to make the bike price point more accessible. Waterdog was great riding today and so was the aluminum Tallboy. Happy Trails, friends.
couple of shots of the dirt and the bike.
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