BIKER'S EDGE

Today we have the sixth-generation Santa Cruz Tallboy on the channel. After six rounds of iterations and evolutions, how does it stack up against the rest of the trail bike category? Well, for starters, it’s still the fun-loving 29er we’ve seen over the last few generations. It’s far from identical, though, and not flat-out better in every category. Stick around to see if it’s the right trail bike for you.

What You Should Know About the Santa Cruz Tallboy 6

Well, first off, it forgoes the VPP design of old in favor of a 4-bar platform. Now let’s clear this up once and for all. A suspension platform is simply a tool to achieve a desired suspension feel. One isn’t necessarily “better” at any given quality than another. Instead, a given platform helps the manufacturer design the bike they want to design. And before this gets too far down the road, more bars aren’t always better. Looking at the 6-is-better-than-4 folks.

Secondly, the new Tallboy has more travel than it’s ever had. It now features 130mm of rear travel and is designed to be ridden with a 140mm fork, or 150mm if you prefer. Those have historically been 5010 numbers, which puts the Tallboy much closer to that bike than ever before. Whether that tells us anything about the future of the 5010 remains to be seen, but Santa Cruz is clearly asking the Tallboy to cover a broader range of trail riding than it used to. And it appears Santa Cruz has decided to go full 29 on their trail bikes for the foreseeable future. No MX options with the Tallboy.

And Santa Cruz has made the Tallboy a bit lighter and more compliant. In other words, they felt the 5th generation was too stiff and wanted a bit more forgiving frame feel. I’m not sure how much of that came across on the trail for me, but it is certainly a forgiving, stout ride quality for a small bike like this.

Santa Cruz Tallboy 6: Ride Review

Climbing Performance: 0

I’ve seen a bit of a trend in bikes lately. Especially in the trail, all-mountain, and enduro categories. XC bikes and full-on enduro race rigs are kind of fringe situations that are designed for specific racing requirements and not so much for the everyday trail riders. But in the other categories, it seems like most bikes are starting to condense their climbing abilities. What I mean by that is we used to see a huge disparity between categories in climbing performance. Short-travel trail bikes were spindly and quick; enduro bikes were slouchy rigs going nowhere fast. Now, the gap between categories seems smaller, with enduro bikes climbing better and trail bikes climbing a bit slower in favor of more traction, control, and versatility. Whether you like that or not, it’s held true for me across the bikes I’ve ridden over the last year or two. The Tallboy is a great example of that for me.

Tallboys of old have usually been pretty energetic and snappy on the pedals. While that feel certainly remains, it’s no longer a standout characteristic for me. The current Tallboy climbs well, but doesn’t blow your socks off with its speed or efficiency. In fact, I experienced more pedal bob on the Tallboy than I did on the new Yeti MT. Part of that comes down to anti-squat values; the MT has insanely high anti-squat, but I think most of it comes from the seated position on the bike. The seat tube angle at my saddle height puts me a bit farther behind the bottom bracket than I’d prefer. That rearward seated position seems to put more of my weight into the rear suspension, and I noticed more movement under power as a result. That said, the Tallboy still outclimbs the Yeti MT in account of the build and tires — but not by much.

The Tallboy starts to shine when the climbs get rough, though. If youre sitting on a fire road all day, you’ll likely not appreciate the bike’s full climbing potential. Once you get in some loose, rocky, and bumpy stuff, you’ll start to see where those efficiency tradeoffs carry their weight. The Tallboy does a great job of keeping momentum as the rear wheel bumps up and over rocks, roots, and ledges.

Downhill Capability: +1

Take this score with a grain of salt. I typically review bikes with the stock tires, as that is how the consumer will get their bike. I personally think the tires are a spec mismatch for the Tallboy. This score would have been a +2 if it had slightly more aggressive tires. I get why Santa Cruz specced it with Maxxis Forekasters to help with rolling resistance and claimed weight for the forums to latch onto. That said, the Tallboy deserves more. The tires hold it back from what the bike can accomplish. The Tallboy punches well above its weight class from a suspension and geometry standpoint. It handles the steeps, the rough, the awkward, the rocky, and the fast all very well. 

I rode the Tallboy on some trail that I normally reserve for the big bike. I thought it was going to be a spicy day out, but I was pleasantly surprised at how composed the bike was through all of it. I didn’t feel the need to back down from any features I’d normally hit on my bigger bikes. The suspension is active and helps keep the bike controlled through the rougher stuff. It handled big hits well without getting bent too out of shape. 

I think part of the bike’s capability is due to how easy it is to put the bike right where you want it to go. It has a very direct connection to the rider. You can keep it away from the things you dont want to hit or put it right on the line it needs to be on to get you through the rough section. That said, if you’re hoping to get on this and have it do all of the capability work for you, you’ll likely end up in the weeds. 

So from a chassis standpoint, I think this is a +2 bike. I’m scoring the complete bike as delivered, though, and the tires pull it back to a +1. 

Suspension Performance: 0

I see suspension performance relating to three main ride qualities: traction, control, and playfulness. The Tallboy does a good job of balancing those three characteristics. It overindexes in the playfulness factor too, which, for a 130mm bike, is a fun combo. First of all, the Tallboy has lower anti-squat values than previous generations. That means it will feel a bit more open and active around the sag point. That’s great for those smaller bumps and for keeping the tires from bouncing off the ground. That’s what gives you your traction. Santa Cruz has also reduced anti-rise, allowing the suspension to remain more active under braking. But the best part of the suspension design for me is how energetic it feels.

Right out of the gate, the Tallboy feels like a bike that rewards you for your efforts to move it around. It’s the kind of bike that you really only have to think about getting airborne, and it’s already there. It’s one of the easiest bikes to get off the ground that I’ve ridden lately. The suspension doesn’t just absorb and consume all of your inputs. Instead, it gets what you’re putting down and follows suit. 

Handling: +2

The Tallboy is proof that 29ers can be extremely lively and fun. You don’t need tiny wheels to have a good time. But it’s not just lively; it’s fairly stable as well. And it wins all of the points in the handling department because of that combo. 

When testing a new bike, I like to find its upper comfortability limit. I go ride stuff that scares me. Taking the Tallboy up Mt. Scary was a bit daunting. It has far less travel than I usually prefer for those trails. As soon as I was pointed back downhill, the Tallboy felt stable and confident enough to handle that terrain. It required my A-Game, but I survived. Hell, I’d even say I had a great time. 

After the scary test, I usually like to go ride something chill and easy to find the bike’s lower limit of difficulty. This is where the Tallboy shines. On easier, flowier, and less steep trails, the bike comes alive. It’s quick around a corner and incredibly easy to unweight. In fact, Zach followed me down a section of trail and said it looked like I was floating over everything. Not because the suspension ate it all up, but because of the bike’s ability to unweight on short notice when an unexpected obstacle appears in your way. 

Versatility: +1

Again, when I talk about versatility, it encompasses two distinct attributes. One being ride quality and the other being setup. The Tallboy does a good job of adding versatility in both categories. 

From a ride quality standpoint, you can ride a huge variety of terrain on the Tallboy. Greens, blues, blacks, and double blacks will all work on this bike. It climbs well, descends well, and covers rolling terrain well. It’s fast and sporty on the easy stuff. Obviously, at the upper end of that spectrum, you’re going to have to do a lot of the work to survive, but the bike is up for it. If you swapped the tires for some chunkier rubber, you’d open up that upper end pretty significantly. Which brings us to setup.

I think tires are the biggest difference-maker when it comes to components. The Tallboy benefits from being pretty down the middle in terms of build and intended application. Which means tires have a dramatic effect on its ride quality. Put some fast-rolling tires on there, and you’ve got yourself a ground-covering trail bike. Go burlier on the tires, and now we’re looking at a fun, lively, and playful all-mountain bike. I feel like this one goes either way based on the tires. 

And of course, you have a flip chip for adjusting geometry, although the range is small. A +1 feels fair.

Intangibles: +1

One thing I’ve always appreciated about Santa Cruz bikes is their build quality, attention to detail, and forethought for the people working on those bikes post-purchase. The Tallboy is very Santa Cruz in that regard. The paint is great, the frame feels robust, and you get free replacement bearings for life. Kudos to Santa Cruz for not cutting corners, even when the corners they aren’t cutting aren’t always sexy.

Santa Cruz Tallboy 6: Comparisons

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Who is the Santa Cruz Tallboy for?

Rider Profile: The Fun-First Rider

I think this is the Tallboy’s primary demographic. Folks who dont take biking too seriously. They just want to go have fun. They’re not racing, they’re not on Strava; they just want to go up a mountain and hit 1-300 jumps, corners, berms, and features on the way back down. It’s the standout quality of the bike, and if you like having fun, you’ll likely mesh well with the Tallboy.

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Rider Profile: The One-Bike Realist

I also like the Tallboy for the folks who want just one bike. It covers most, if not all, types of riding. It’s good on flow, tech, and jumps. It’s fun on easy stuff and still capable enough for the rough stuff. Although I wouldn’t necessarily call it the aggressive descender’s bike. If you want to go hard and hit big stuff frequently, you might want to look elsewhere. If you spend most of your rides in diverse terrain, it’s right up your alley.

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Rider Profile: The Skilled Rider Who Wants Less Bike

I also like the Tallboy for the skilled and aggressive descender, but as a shorter-travel option. It’s a hell of a lot of fun to ride slightly underbiked. It requires more out of you and your skill. You can still pick your way down tough trails, but that’s going to be more on you than the bike. The Tallboy is perfect for that type of rider. You go ride your daily trails on the Tallboy and save the biggest, scariest trails for the big bike. Or take the Tallboy with you and see what you’re made of.

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Final Thoughts

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Tallboy. And this newest iteration hasn’t given me any reason to feel otherwise. It’s my kind of little bike. Fun, engaging, lively, and versatile in a wide variety of terrain. It’s not the bike I’d choose to make hard trails easier. It’s the bike I’d choose to make almost every trail more fun.

Santa Cruz Tallboy FAQ