It was only a matter of time, wasn’t it, before Santa Cruz offered a long travel version of its best selling model, the Tallboy. The Tallboy LT and LTc ups travel from 100mm to 135mm, with a 1.5 degree slacker head angle and 0.5 degree slacker seat tube.
When Fox released their 34 forks with 140mm last year, we were wondering when the new wave of longer travel 29ers were going to start coming on stream. That movement has just started, with Santa Cruz making a step into the unknown.
It’s an important bike for Santa Cruz. The Tallboy was an overnight sensation when it was released just a couple of years ago and is arguably one of the most popular 29er full suspension frames around at the moment. An aluminium version soon followed for those without deep enough pockets to afford the staggeringly high price tag of the carbon Tallboy.
The next stop was a natural travel increase, as happened with the Blur family of bikes. Think of it as a big wheeled Blur LT. With this release Santa Cruz are keeping abreast of the rapidly evolving 29er market. There’s much anticipation of the next wave of longer travel bikes, “and the industry is figuring out how to make these bikes handle and perform well in a wider set of terrain than was thought possible a few years ago,” says a Santa Cruz spokesperson.
The Tallboy LT will be available at launch in carbon and aluminium, with both sharing the same geometry and ability to run a 135-150mm fork. Geometry as we said in the opening paragraph is much slacker, an indication of the style of riding the bike is designed for, for which read more aggressive. The head angle measures 69.5 degrees and the seat 72.6 degrees. Bottom bracket height is 13.4in and the wheelbase is 1117.6mm, with 454.66mm chainstays.
The Tallboy LTc is the flagship of the two new releases. It takes all the lessons learnt in carbon fibre manufacturing with the carbon Tallboy into this new frame. One of the big developments is the fitting of a 142×12 rear axle (about time some sceptics will comment) to ensure the longer travel frame is stiff enough.
What’s the weight of the frame? Just 5.3lbs (2.40kg). Only three sizes (m, l and xl) will be available. No weight for the aluminium LT has been made available yet.
When can I get one?
The first Tallboy LTs are in stock now and available as part of our Custom Colour Choice Program for delivery by April 13th. The Tallboy LTc will be in stock and available for delivery by the beginning of May.
No UK prices yet, but the LTc frame will cost $2699 with a Fox Float RP23 shock, while the aluminium LT will cost $1999 – expect prices to be roughly the same when converted to sterling.
Introducing the Tallboy LT carbon from santa cruz bikes on Vimeo.
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