May be interested in swapping my Dialled Alpine for a SC chameleon. I dont know much about the new ones (the one in question is an 08)

How do they ride? Will be running 130mm Z1's to start with.

I want something a bit more XC orientated, and an 18inch sounds about the right size.

How much abuse can they take? The claimed frame weight is 4.25lbs

I'm a bit wary of aluminium frames after snapping them in the past, are chameleons upto the task of XC but also DH type stuff occasionally, and a few jumps?

Do they have an EBB?

What else do i need to know

Know nothing about chameleons, but liking the username. On burning heart records weren't they?

Had one that was stolen, I was running pikes. It was nice and sharp, easy to jump and comfortable on medium length rides.

They are very, very stiff I'd go for big tyres and much seatpost for XC.

Know nothing about chameleons, but liking the username. On burning heart records weren't they?

Yeh they were on Burning Heart, i actually took my name from a Husker Du song though.

How do they ride? Directly. It will let you know where the rear wheel is all the time, which isn't necessarily a good thing, but can be alleviated by lots of post, and a decent saddle.

How much abuse? depends on how much you give I suppose, but it seems solid enough to me, and I've thrown my around without thinking about it.

Can it handle some jumps, Yes, and DH, again Yep (without being silly about it, it's not a DH bike)

Yep they have an EBB, it's fine, nip it up and it's fine, mine creaks a bit after a year or so, when I can be arsed to go at it with an allen key, it'll stop.

Anything else? It's a cracking bike, I should've got one years ago

I'd say the older ones are better, i have a new style one and feel the front end is to high, where as the first gen ones were like bmx bikes on 26 inch wheels.

they genuinely are used for everything from jump bikes to xc some will say there stiff and beat you up but as long as your not a wimp its fine. its not the perfect xc or jump bike but a good jack of all trades.

i doubt you'll snap a 08 one as long as previous owner was not hucking it daily.

2008 has horizontal dropouts I think with 09 having ebb. think ebb came in during 08 though so check with the seller

Fun fun fun unless you have a bad back. If you're well ard, you'll love it. They make you mess about a little more than your average hard tail. Had one a year ago and sold it when I bought an Indy fab TI just to be bling. The IF was great (until it cracked) but all the time I was thinking, yeah this is fast and smooth but its missing something. It was the "just messing about on bikes" feeling. I have since sold the IF and bought a TI 29er for the cover ground fast rides and another chameleon for general trail riding. Fallen in love again. Air Pikes non U turn up front and it climbs ok too.

Recently bought a 2008 frame and built up with uturn air pikes/xt groupset and formula brakes.

I wanted a bike to compliment my 5 (which is a am so built burley) been on my first ride this weekend.

I wanted a bike which could be built lightish ( or lighter than my 5 ) I also wanted it to be versitile. I'm 5 11 and went for a large as I wanted this bike to be more xc orientated. Bear in mind mines a large so not masses of seatpost and I'm running skinny winter tyres.

My thoughts are:

it can be built lightish- mines 27lbs
it looks nice
does not seem high at the front(running hope headset with no spacers) and when I wind down to 110mm climbs brill
handles techy decents well- even though I have a large
looks as though it would handle more than I can give it

but the chainstay/toptube design etc do make it seem fairly harsh at the rear( my previous HT was 853) but I'm going to try and eliviate that with a larger volume tyre & maybe tubeless so I can run lower pressure.

Hope this drawn out/boring opinion helps!

Oh and the 2008 has normal dropouts and a ebb.

Best frame I have ever owned… after 16 years of riding all kinds of hardtails i finally found the holy grail…a bike that does it all! Buy it!

Its tough enough to jump – I do this a lot, it climbs like an XC bike but it's hard to explain, it just feels exciting and fun, maybe not as surefooted on the downhills as my old norco, but faster – really easy to flick around.

They are short though – you may need a thomson layback post to get a good reach.

If you're well ard, you'll love it

Cool, I'm officially well 'ard 😀

I hace an older one and love it. The BMX on 26 inch wheels comment is spot on. You will never find another bike that begs so much to be thrown off rocks and drops. Guaranteed to return from every ride with a big grin on your face.

The only bad thing as pointed out above is that they are STIFF! Don't expect to be doing big long rides on it unless you float like a butteryfly.

Here's a question the lizard is always pointed out as stiff (in this case a negative) if SC addressed this would you prefer the bike I reckon people would criticise the lack of stiffness.

Im not convinced they r that harsh.Ive got an 09 and a Cotic Soul and i think the SC rides better. Ive always been of the opinion that the seat,seatpost and wheels/tyres have more impact than the frames construction.

Only enjoyed haveing mine= BIG tyre needed tho!

Im not convinced they r that harsh

thats what i think, know stiffer than any other similar hardtail.

noticably stiffer than my handjob, my old inbred and my humu. They're all steel though. I don't grade stiffness on what it feels like sitting down, more so by the way the back wheel tracks over the ground. Climbing on a Chameleon can be hard work because the back end bounces around so much. The very thing that makes it ace to descend on makes it a tough climbing bike.

Cheers guys, sounds pretty promising.

Ideally Im after a BFe, looks like a similar thing but obviously its steel instead.

Anyone compared the two?

no but I had a similar debate this time last year and during my research found this lovely picture

Just noticed they appear to have bottle bosses on the seat tube (or at least the large does)

What were they thinking?!?!?!

Looks like its a no go now

Santa Cruz **** dickheads. Lost faith in their do it all frame and have turned it into a mincing xc frame for people who like to carry two bottles of pop on their bike.

How can I ride dirt jumps with a saddle stuck about a foot out the top of the frame. Im going to write a letter of complaint.

don't look like it from there website.

Maybe on the small one it doesnt or maybe they are optional? check this shit out though:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rick2/3279204918/

I'm gonna go and cry myself to sleep

is that a picture of the bike in question.

my chamy don't have those bottle mounts

Cant see your pic, but the chap has got back to me and confirmed that there are bottle bosses on the seat tube. Must only be on the large and x-large models.

Back to the drawing bored

Get one! I love mine, although it's a slightly older model (2006 I think).

I use it as an all mountain, DH, Jump and even a 24hr XC race bike. It takes some abuse out here in Spain, but keeps begging for more!

They're great fun and I can't imagine you would regret buying one.

That one you've linked to (the blue frame) was mine – wondered why my Flickr stats had gone up. Good for XC but I should have got the medium for razzing about. I always felt the BB was too high as well. I've got a Genesis Alpitude now and that's awesome.