It was drip fed to us. Forums across the internet salivated at what it might look like. It was worth the tantalising wait. Santa Cruz launched the Highball 29er carbon fibre hardtail, possibly the most exciting new model in the company’s history.

For a company better known for its full suspension bikes, this seems at first an odd departure, with 29er hardtails proving exceptionally popular, and increasingly so over in the states and here in the UK, Santa Cruz were keen not to miss a slice of the action. So taking everything learnt in the well received Tallboy, Santa Cruz got busy developing a hardtail version.

Last week Santa Cruz UK invited us up north, a mere 5-hour drive from BM HQ, to the stunning landscape of Gisburn Forest for the chance to ride the new Highball. Staying in the sumptuous Dog and Partridge bed and breakfast, which caters for mountain bikers whether it’s stopping for a pint or staying overnight, we were a mere stones throw from the excellent man made trails around the forest. And the Highball was high on our list of those we wanted to try out from the company’s 2011 line-up.

First up, the Highball is light, crazy light at 2.4lb (1.08kg) for the frame. This has been made possible thanks to the company’s own carbon fibre manufacturing process, the same as that used on the Tallboy and Blur. In this process a one-piece layup is used to make the front triangle, a monocoque, with continuous fibres through the junctions (something we can see when we’re shown frames cut in half – the frame looks just as good internally as from the outside). The rear stays are then bonded to the main frame for an ultra stiff, and importantly, light package. Santa Cruz are keen to stress just how carefully they layup each frame, and the huge man hours that go into each and every frame to ensure it’s of the highest quality. They won’t hesitate to reject a frame if there’s even a slight problem. All very reassuring stuff.

With a decent mix of smooth, bermed and flowing singletrack interlaced with rough rock gardens, plenty of roots and some eye-opening standout features like the Gulley, Gisburn Forest was a great test for the bike, representing the typical sort of riding and terrain across the UK. From the moment you clip in, the lightness of the frame is immediately noticeable. Shove the pedals over and straight away you’re reaching for the shift lever to quickly flick up a couple of sprockets. A couple more pedal revolutions along an undulating stretch of fireroad and I’m all out of gears. This is a fast bike.

But the Highball’s performance isn’t all down to the light weight, though the sub-22lb builds that are easily possible (our example drowning in Shimano XTR and carbon bits, it’s not heavy) but also down to the stiffness of the carbon frame. The frame feels incredibly tight and taut along its length, from the bolt-thru axle on the Fox forks, through the tapered head tube and out back to the carbon dropouts, there’s not a degree of squirm or laziness detectable. Each thrust of pedal forward results in a surge forward that has to be experienced to be believed.

A 70.5 degree head tube angle was chosen, and the shortest head tube they could get away with, which combined with the 100mm from the Fox fork worked a delight throughout he challenging and often demanding trails of Gisburn. The chainstays, short at 17.3in and requiring a curved seat tube for rear wheel clearance, keep the wheelbase short (43.4in) and the rear wheel underneath you. Handling, as a result, is a delight.

It goes where you demand it, proving easy to place the front wheel just where you want it for laser accurate cornering, whether at dawdling speeds or flat out fast. We might have expected to find it a handful in the slower, tighter and twister corners, but that just wasn’t the case, but it’s certainly in the faster more open corners where the Highball excels, demonstrating the benefits of the larger wheels. And yes, we never thought we might say that a couple of years ago, but it seems 29ers have no grown up.

On faster flowing trails, the advantage of the larger wheel size is also having an impact on the speed. Their large size contributes to a great feeling of momentum, and it’s easy to carry speed through the trail. I find myself carrying huge dollops of speed into corners, and here it just rails right through the. It does take a few corners to dial your head into the change from 26in wheels to 29in, but after a few turns you’re not worrying about the often talked about disadvantages of 29ers through corners but instead enjoying a rollercoaster of a ride.

Fast; it seems it’s one of the advantages of 29ers. On many trails the bigger wheels roll faster, a result of the reduced approach angle when compared to smaller 26in wheels, particularly noticeable on trails covered in smaller pitter patter bumps. And, as I gently spun back to the Dog and Partridge at the end of a ride, sweat pouring from my brow, I found myself thinking that this, the Highball, could be the ultimate UK cross-country racing bike, even over typical short travel full-sussers. I certainly wouldn’t have any hesitation racing one.

Available now from www.santacruzbikes.co.uk.

We’ll be getting a Highball in for a through test soon, so watch this space.