LONGTERM RIDES
JIMMER’S SANTA CRUZ TALLBOY C S £5,599
Our art editor has hit paydirt with the Tallboy and is ready to slay the rough stuff
The 120mm-travel Tallboy shares DNA with Santa Cruz’s 144mm Hightower and 160mm Megatower, with the same silhouette and similar geometry. In a short-travel package, this adds up to a proper blend of big-bike attitude and small-bike efficiency.
First up, it’s stunning – a true show-stopper in its ‘Flatte Earth’ colourway. This S build has a decent spec, too, including a Fox Float DPS Performance shock, with a three-position lever to switch between settings, and a 130mm Fox 34 Performance fork. You get SRAM’s solid and reliable GX Eagle drivetrain, plus their G2 R brakes with 180mm rotors and a RockShox Reverb dropper post. Race Face AR rims come laced to DT Swiss 370 hubs. It’s good to have a knobbly Maxxis Dissector tyre up front for grip, because the low-profile Rekon out back will keep me on my toes! A 42.5mm Burgtec stem and 800mm bar finish off a sorted cockpit.
The Tallboy uses Santa Cruz’s patented VPP (Virtual Pivot Point) suspension design, in its latest lower- link-driven configuration. You’ll have to be patient with me until I’ve done enough miles to
