Tallboy

Brand: Santa Cruz
Category: Mountain

Every season there are a few bike launches that we Just. Can’t. Wait. to get our hands on. And this year, the 2020 Tallboy 4 was one of them. A decade ago, Tallboys 1 and 2 earned the nickname “The Colorado State Bike” here at Sports Garage, and we still view the Tallboy as one of the Founding Fathers of modern 29″ trail bikes. Appropriately, the 2020 Tallboy 4 adds 10 mm of rear, lower link driven suspension (a VPP design change we saw and liked in 2019 on the 5010 and Bronson). Other updates, including short-short 430 mm chain stays and a 65.5 degree head angle, move this bike out of its former category – let’s call that burly XC – and into the field of more capable all-mountain bikes. Our “mid-travel” fleet ranges from 120 to 140 mm of rear suspension, and within that range, the Tallboy 4 is a genre bender. Not sure you want really longer suspension, but you still want to charge hard and get rowdy in the descents? Sir Tallboy the 4th is exactly the machine.