[](https://nsmb.com/articles/mb-1-and-santa-cruz-chameleon-mx/)It’s interesting where Steve ended up. Different preferences and sports surfaces I suppose. Nice to see he abandoned T47 for a BSA BB and I agree that 120mm fork travel is perfect for aggressive hardtails.
Geo-wise the bike is very conservative. In terms of achieving a balanced ride ‘between the wheels’ I was particularly surprised by the short chain stays (nice that they’re size specific though) and there is a range with the sliders too. Frankly the static (no sag) 65* HTA is steep. But I’ve only ridden the Sedona area once, so I’m not trying to tell anyone my geo ideas work there.
I think a rider looking at buying one could probably draw a lot of parallels from riding the **[current Chameleon](https://nsmb.com/articles/mb-1-and-santa-cruz-chameleon-mx/)**. That’s not a bad thing at all - it’s a great all around rig - but not the experience I’m looking for.
———
If you’re interested, my Stache experience was a kicking off point for me to experiment with 29+, made riding rigid bikes fun again, added capability with huge inserts, and I ended up with my ideal version a couple of years back with my **[Waltworks V2](https://nsmb.com/articles/personal-rides-andrews-custom-waltworks-v2/)**.
Sagged HTA is around 63.5 with a 120mm suspension fork (static at 64 with a rigid) and the stays are 450-470mm for a M/L size. It also satisfies my goal to stay MNA for discretionary purchases when there’s a viable option.
As I mentioned above. The Stache (and indeed no 29+ bike) is going to rail like an XC race bike on float trails or like a Pump/Jump bike at the local park so I say (my opinion) embrace the monster truck factor. Climbs awesome (even on tight trails). And that floating effect you talk about - the more balanced and much longer wheelbase just eventuates it.
The problem is there’s not currently a stock rig that you can evaluate those ideas on. Stooge has a (rigid-specific) 29+ coming that gets closer. But it’s really up to an individual or company to step out a bit.
July 4, 2022, 8:27 a.m. - Andrew Major
[](https://nsmb.com/articles/mb-1-and-santa-cruz-chameleon-mx/)It’s interesting where Steve ended up. Different preferences and sports surfaces I suppose. Nice to see he abandoned T47 for a BSA BB and I agree that 120mm fork travel is perfect for aggressive hardtails. Geo-wise the bike is very conservative. In terms of achieving a balanced ride ‘between the wheels’ I was particularly surprised by the short chain stays (nice that they’re size specific though) and there is a range with the sliders too. Frankly the static (no sag) 65* HTA is steep. But I’ve only ridden the Sedona area once, so I’m not trying to tell anyone my geo ideas work there. I think a rider looking at buying one could probably draw a lot of parallels from riding the **[current Chameleon](https://nsmb.com/articles/mb-1-and-santa-cruz-chameleon-mx/)**. That’s not a bad thing at all - it’s a great all around rig - but not the experience I’m looking for. ——— If you’re interested, my Stache experience was a kicking off point for me to experiment with 29+, made riding rigid bikes fun again, added capability with huge inserts, and I ended up with my ideal version a couple of years back with my **[Waltworks V2](https://nsmb.com/articles/personal-rides-andrews-custom-waltworks-v2/)**. Sagged HTA is around 63.5 with a 120mm suspension fork (static at 64 with a rigid) and the stays are 450-470mm for a M/L size. It also satisfies my goal to stay MNA for discretionary purchases when there’s a viable option. As I mentioned above. The Stache (and indeed no 29+ bike) is going to rail like an XC race bike on float trails or like a Pump/Jump bike at the local park so I say (my opinion) embrace the monster truck factor. Climbs awesome (even on tight trails). And that floating effect you talk about - the more balanced and much longer wheelbase just eventuates it. The problem is there’s not currently a stock rig that you can evaluate those ideas on. Stooge has a (rigid-specific) 29+ coming that gets closer. But it’s really up to an individual or company to step out a bit.