Santa Cruz Tallboy Carbon C S

The Tallboy cuts a whole new swath across the trail bike landscape.

The Santa Cruz Tallboy muddles the line between XC and trail with 110mm of rear wheel travel paired with a 120mm Fox 34 Performance fork. Fast-rolling Race Face ARC 29er wheels wrapped in front- and rear-specific Maxxis tires come stock, or you can upgrade to Santa Cruz’s own Reserve carbon rims for the ultimate do-anything wheelset. The Tallboy climbs almost as well as a straight-up cross-country bike, due in part to the 12 wide-ranging gears from SRAM’s GX Eagle drivetrain. But it shows its true colors when the trail turns downward, where SRAM Level TL brakes put precise control and reliable power at your fingertips and the brilliantly simple yet effective suspension design keeps you glued to your line without weighing you down. The Tallboy’s short-travel chassis gives it scalpel-like handling while maintaining tremendous trail capability. At first glance, 110mm of travel might seem like it’ll get overwhelmed on technical trails, but 110mm of travel designed and tuned by the experts at Santa Cruz will usher you through some pretty fast, hairy terrain long before waving the white flag, delivering the descending goods for a fraction of the climbing costs.