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Trying out new mountain bikes at Interbike’s Outdoor Demo
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After a day of riding road bikes at the Interbike Outdoor Demo on Monday, I hit the dirt on Tuesday to check out some new innovations on the mountain bike side.
The Santa Cruz Tallboy is big 29er news, as it is a completely carbon full suspension 29er with 100mm (four inches of travel) and the frame weighs only five pounds (size M). Tallboys cost $2350 for the frame ($4700 for the SPX model with Shimano XT that I tested) and come even in an XXL size that fits me with a nearly 26-inch top tube.
I fell in love with its impressive lateral and torsional stiffness, its supple compliance and bump-gobbling ease of riding, and its VPP (Virtual Pivot Point) suspension system. There is almost no bobbing, even when climbing out of the saddle, and it becomes as solid as a fully rigid bike once the fork lockout is on and the rear shock’s pedal platform is on.
KHS’s 650C-wheel hardtail rolls faster than a 26-inch-wheeled bike, yet is lighter than a 29er and will fit smaller riders.
Moots was an early adopter of both soft tail full suspension systems and 29-inch wheels. Over ten years, those features of the Moots X YBB have remained unchanged, although the head tube has gotten much shorter, and the geometry has been continually tweaked, resulting in today’s refined $3200 titanium frame.
