We snuck out a story back in February of an as-then-unnamed, early sample carbon 29er. http://www.singletrackworld.com/2011/02/new-santa-cruz-carbon-29er/
Well, now the cat is officially out of the bag as Santa Cruz announces the Carbon Highball 29er hardtail.
With a 2.45lb frame weight and a full bike build of 21lbs (with chi-chi components) it might be the bike that’ll topple some people from their ’29ers are heavy’ viewpoints.
And also being announced are other three new bikes: an aluminium Tallboy 29er, the ‘surely made for the UK’ Blur Trail Carbon – with 5in of travel and slacker than the XC angles, plus one more bike that we’re not going to be told about until the Sea Otter Classic in the middle of next month.
The official story is here on the Santa Cruz website.
As a taster, here is the new Tallboy 29er in aluminium. More pics here: http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/tallboy/pr.html
And the Blur Trail Carbon! Made for the UK with 5in of travel, but with the more trail-friendly head angle of the Blur LT-c rather than the ‘steer with your eyebrows’ responsiveness of the Blur C
A load more photos here: http://www.santacruzbikes.com/blurtr_carbon/pr.html
It looks like being a very interesting time at this year’s Sea Otter, with major new ‘radical’ announcements from a number of bike companies. Stay tuned for Chipps’ coverage in a couple of weeks…
Here are the photos from Santa Cruz.
And add your voice to the Singletrack forum thread here:
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/santa-cruz-highball-245lbs-29er
Here’s some geometry for you:
We’ll get you the UK prices as soon as Dickon has finished with his calculator…
Comments (20)
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Quite good looking, pity about those fugly big wheels
Blur Trail Carbon, you say….?
Niner air9 still wins in the beauty stakes.
Like the look of the that new Blur, but I reckon the Yeti ASR5 Carbon is a still a step ahead, with even more ‘aggressive’ geometry.
Looks good but why no postmount rear tabs – is this not possible on carbon frames?
I think it depends how you’re going to secure the brake. Would you have the steel bolts thread into the carbon? A little risky. Or have inserts? A little complicated. Having IS mounts with PM adaptors seems to be a good way of dealing with differing rotor sizes, different brands of brakes and assorted alignment of things.
It all looks a bit tight in the seat tube chain stay area…. where will I fit all the mud in?
The turner way of making a post mount might be the best way to do it.
“We’re going to see a lot more post mount rear brakes in the future. Expect the International Standard brake mount to be internationally ignored within the next couple of years…”
Or not. 🙂
It’s interesting that Santa Cruz has chosen to stick to a regular threaded BB rather than one of the swanky new press-fit ones. I’m sure it’ll all work out in the end.
Blur trail, is this the reincarnation of the 4X perhaps?
Looks like the bike that’ll replace mine eventually anyway.
I wish I had backed my guess about the name.
Post mount rear calipers require much higher manufacturing tolerances than IS mount. Also manufacturing inconsistencies in IS mount are much easier to rectify once they’ve occurred. As such for the foreseeable future it’s a lot more likely that IS mount is likely to stay the standard for rear brakes for most manufacturers.
So, why the LT TRc? Not sure if its so different to the LTc that it’s worth producing, but I’m sure I’ll be proved wrong. Checking over the geometry of the LTc, there is a slightly longer TT here, a lower BB, slightly longer WB – but ultimately, it’s a 140mm VPP frame with a 68 deg HA weighing around 5lbs taking a 140-150 fork. Confused!
“slightly longer TT here, a lower BB” – can often make quite a big difference.. may even be able to run with a big more sag than is recommended on the LTc.. I dunno
Thats the first 29’er I’ve seen that really make me want to have a go, would a brilliant mile muncher. I bet it will cost a fortune though… :o(
as above – those stays aren’t designed for a muddy british winter are they!
“Skinny back end with plenty of mud clearance”
Were they looking at different pictures from me?
“We’ll get you the UK prices as soon as Dickon has finished with his calculator…” I assume it’s one of those big display ones so he has enough room for all the zeros. I’d quite like a BLTc or TRc but I think a heckler is about the only thing I could afford.
If the calculator is like Dickon’s bikes, it’ll be polished alloy with carbon fibre buttons and look immaculate.
TheTallboy looks wrong to me, but the Highball, everything about it looks right. And I’m a shortarse that would never see the benefit of one.
But I want one now.