Quick details of the new Santa Cruz Tallboy and the Juliana Joplin. This really is the year of the 29er for Santa Cruz eh?

Quick details of the new Santa Cruz Tallboy and the Juliana Joplin. This really is the year of the 29er for Santa Cruz eh?

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Pricing for complete Tallboys and Joplins starts at £2,899 (AL D) and tops out out at £9,299 (CC XX1 AXS RSV).

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Santa Cruz Tallboy

If ever there was a gravity riders’ XC bike, the Tallboy is it.

The new 120mm Tallboy takes a leap further into what short-travel bikes really are capable of. With kick-ass lower-link VPP suspension, a streamlined design, the typical Santa Cruz refinement, and rather radical geometry, the Tallboy is back to being a genre bending folk hero.

Sure, 10mm more travel might only seem like one small step—but coupled with a lower link-driven VPP suspension design this is one giant leap for the Tallboy.

It’s the kind of bike that makes you sprint while going up, along, over, or down due to the maximum efficiency of the VPP design and responsive, lightweight chassis. But because it shares the same engineering principles as our longest travel bikes, the progressive lower link-mounted shock feels equally at home doing cross-country as it does in extreme-country. Paired with a 130mm fork the new Tallboy becomes ever more appealing to riders who like to open it up.

And the geometry, that’s a big part of what’s going on.

Established theory suggests shorter travel bikes get ridden slower, therefore require steeper and more conservative geometries. In reality though, when was the last time you ever throttled back on a fun trail because you weren’t on a bigger bike? Caution to the wind and all that. So we’ve done the same here and mimicked our longer travel geometry to create a bike with a 65.5-degree head-angle, generous front center, and short o set fork. Something rarely seen on a bike of this ilk.

And the radical thinking doesn’t stop there. The Tallboy’s short- short 430mm chainstays have +/- 10mm of rear axle adjustment to ensure riders of all sizes and styles feel equally at home. Match that to a relatively low BB (335mm and 37.5mm drop) and you’ve got a combo that’s ready to haul into every pocket turn and launch out the other side.

There’s no label that quite fits what this bike is. But the name Tallboy says it all. Have at it.

Juliana Joplin

But wait, when I said one more, I actually meant two. A little bit (cross) country. A little bit rock and roll.

The Juliana Joplin is a bit of an XC wild child, a light bike that’s heavy on capability with a “let’s go” attitude to any trail.

Let’s go fast. Let’s go far. Let’s go until your legs are ready to give up, and then go some more. Let’s make every second count. Let’s carve rides out of busy days and put those lines on the map on your done list.

The Joplin’s 29-inch wheels and lean frame float over washboard bumps with the same ease it devours jagged ledges. A geometry bred for long days in the saddle is blended with 130mm of travel in the front and 120mm in the rear, creating a capable climber that doesn’t flinch when roots get ragged and rocks start to roll. The lower link VPP suspension offers a responsive pedalling platform that’s ready to get up and go the moment you are. Whether you’re flossing rock gardens or making the rider in front of you your next hare, the Joplin is one rapid little trail fox that will take you farther than you thought you could and give you the confidence to go bigger than you thought you would.

With a size range that starts at XS, this bike brings big-wheel bene ts to those of us in the fun-size category too. And yes, every size in the line ts a water bottle inside the main triangle because XS doesn’t mean “do things by half”. Tying up the package is a range of component builds that weave the line between fun and fast, creating a bike that’s ready to race the distance or just race the clouds home.

So, what are you waiting for? Let’s go!