29ers

Jamie says something less than glowing about Specialized? Are there cracks in the marriage?

What's next - "VPP pedals well"?

You feeling OK mate?

I figured he was trying to sow doubt so that he's first up on the waiting list for a carbon one.

-D

he's been stumbling off the company line occasionally for a while now. last year it was something about the enduro climbing better than the stumpy :dizzy: may only be a matter of time before he [HTML_REMOVED]gasps[HTML_REMOVED] strays into the arms of another brand?!

sadly, he's now diagnosed w/ terminal cancer (and less than a year to live), but he's still doing what he loves

hasn't he been battling cancer for a while now? i remember stumbling across his fastboy blog, what, 5 years ago? when he was just a young bike geek building custom fixies for his friends and taking pretty pictures. he's got quite an eye

JCL has been bitching about the Demo having too short of a rear end, with Gwin wanting it changed

Still the best suspension, best design details etc IMO. I'm just convinced short chainstays are a f**king weight distribution disaster. Suspension balance, climbing and front tire grip on flatter turns all go to shit.

So, getting back to 29ers… I just picked up my second 29er in the form of a Tallboy LTC. Took a demo bike out for a rip, came back and put the credit card down. Super fun bike. Given that the numbers of paper make it look less aggressive than my 2012 Transition Bandit 29, it's actually a far faster bike up, down and across. Goes to show that sometimes you can't judge a bike by it's numbers, they need to be ridden. Photo's to come…..

Yeah,

the Tallboy LTC doesn't seem too unorthodox on paper, but everyone who rides one just raves about it.

Definitely show us those pics and tell us more about it.

If you want to lift the front wheel for jumps or manuals, does it fight you?

I want a Tallboy LTC so bad, it almost hurts :dizzy:

Around here they are incredibly scarce though. I might book a trip to Italy in summer to test ride one.

If you don't mind, I'd be very happy if you could give us a little review.
Have you by any chance ridden a Stumpjumper 29er?

Greetings
Znarf

I need a bit more time to get the review fully down, but yes I've ridden a Transition Bandit 29er for the past year, test rode and demo'd a Stumpjumper 29er and now have two good rides in on the Tallboy.

I will say this… the Tallboy LTc has a very dialled suspension platform. The last time I rode a VPP bike I didn't like it at all. The feedback in the granny ring when climbing felt weird to me. It seems that the latest version of VPP has cured that feeling and the bike doesn't exhibit that trait as much as it did. It climbs really well. The other nice thing is that the bike has a really good mid-stroke which makes the bike VERY easy to loft and jump. It makes for a very playful bike.

My main reason for taking a look at bikes again was that I was finding the top tube on the transition to be too short for me. I'm doing longer rides and planning some racing this year and wanted something a little more suited to that. I'm 6'2" on a large frame. Even though the Tallboy, on paper, has a .6" longer top tube, with my saddle at pedalling height, it equates to another 1.5" in length from saddle tip to bars, even with a 10mm shorter stem.

Ironically.. the Stumpjumper felt almost too long for me. It has another .5 in the top tube and another 1.5" in the wheel base. That made the bike feel a little hard to man handle in the tighter trails here in Vancouver. You needed your weight more forward rather than centred on the Tallboy and to be honest it ride very similar to my Transition. Also I'm not a big fan of the suspension actually. It didn't feel as crisp and responsive as the Tallboy.

My final comment and other impressive thing with the current Santa Cruz product is the pivot hardware. Easy to service, high quality and well conceived. My first full suspension bike was a Santa Cruz Bullit and after about 10 years away from the brand I'm back and I'm liking what I'm seeing/feeling.

Thanks a lot Jon-boy!

That sounds great. I am 6ft and actually riding an extra large Stumpjumper with a 30mm stem, as I have very long legs and arms.

I am looking at a large Tallboy LTC though, as the XL Stumpjumper 29er really is too long for me.
I really don't dig the suspension on the Stumpjumper as well. It is very linear, bobs slightly and mid stroke is very weak.

I swapped the stock Triad for a regular RP23, which wasn't easy because of the proprietary yoke. Although the RP23 is a lot better compression wise and I shimmed it for a more progressive stroke as well, it still blows through travel too quick.

The FSR really doesn't suffer from pedal feedback, but at the same time it doesn't stiffen under pedaling as well, which to a certain degree is good IMHO.

In 2011 the Stumpjumper was a good deal. Long travel 29er for a reasonable price and actually available.
First stock bike I've bought since I was a kid. Good enough bike, nice actually. But as a stock bike pretty uninspiring for a spoiled biker. :rolleyes:

Before I bought the Stumpjumper I rode a Heckler for several seasons, which did stiffen quite a bit when pedaling and that actually made it snappy.

Also I just loved that it was a Santa Cruz. I've had two SC bikes and out of the many bikes I owned (worked at a LBS during university) the Santa Cruzes are the only ones I really miss and still would love to own.

The understated design and their policy of not overthrowing their whole lineup every year for an all new and better than ever novelty is really appealing to me.

So my next bike will definitely be a Santa Cruz again.

The Tallboy LTC would get a part transfusion, as I upgraded the SJ anyway from hair to toe…

And sometime in the future I'd love to treat it with a nice carbon wheel set, as the icing…

Greetings
Znarf

Some good info in this thread, I've been lurking for awhile. I too have been waffling back and forth on buying a long travel 29er for awhile now. I had a Gary Fisher Rig SS hardtail about 6 years ago, and loved the feel of the big wheels, until I moved to Vancouver and rode it down Pipeline once. I've been on 26" bikes since then, but have been waiting for the fs 29 to evolve to the point where it could be my do-it-all bike.

When Specialized released the Enduro 29er a couple of weeks back I got on the phone to my LBS to place my order for an XL Comp! I thought…at last! The bike I've been waiting for! Alas, I was recently informed that all the Enduro 29ers have been pre-ordered, and there are none available in Canada this year. The shop didn't even get a heads up that they were available. Not sure if that means Specialized underestimated the demand, or they just did a small run to test the waters. At any rate, after reading some comments here about the short chain stays and rearward weight bias, I'm not so sure. I have a 95cm inseam, so when my saddle is extended for climbing I'm pretty far off the back as it is.

I have owned a 2010 Enduro 26, and really liked the bike, but in an XL it just looked goofy. Tiny wheels with this huge X-wing frame. I now ride an XL Pitch that I built up from a frame, with a Pushed RP2 and Float 36. I think its a very underestimated bike, and does most of what the Enduro could do, but is a little longer and lower. In looking at the geometry, its pretty similar to the newer Stumpy Evo. I find that Specialized bikes just fit my 6'4" frame well, and my 1st choice for a 29er (prior to the Enduro fiasco) was a Stumpy Evo 29er. Its good to hear someone else say that they find the Transiton frames a little short in the reach, as I've always felt that as well. I'm interested in the Tallboy LT though…although I always thought they were a bit short as well.

Keep the posts and reviews coming! It's not easy to find all these bikes to actually test ride, so hearing reports from others (especially riders my height) is great.

For people interested in the SC Tallboy LTc, check out this thread:
http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=151032

Johnny, if you are in Vancouver go visit Steed. They have the Specialized bikes there but also a Large and X-Large Tallboy LTC that you can throw a leg over. Another point of the Tallboy… it has a nice short head tube… I was able to get the bars about 3/4" lower than I had on the Transition. It has made for a much better position for me to climb in and won't miss the lack of the Talas fork.

Wicked respray done on this Honzo, looks sick with the Knolly-inspired matte black/shiny decal setup.

Yo,

Honzos are rad. I'd love one as a single speed build.
Over here the 2012 blue frames in bigger sizes go for cheap.
Very tempting,,.

Greetings Znarf

Very nice! Love the uncomplicated look of the Honzo.

Somewhere deep inside I feel this strange need to get a hardtail 29er , like the Honzo, because it just seems so bas-ass, and my son rides a Chromag Stylus for AM and loves it.

But then my 50 year old back tells me it might be better to just get a tattoo or something.