Advice on Santa Cruz Tallboy setup

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Advice on Santa Cruz Tallboy setup
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flag mistersparky
Posted: Oct 29, 2018 at 6:57 Quote
Good day everyone!

I've just upgrade my Rocky Mountain Element (a stock 2014 build) to a custom 2017 Santa Cruz Tallboy C, and I have a question or two about tthe setup.

The Element served me well. Beyond anything else, it's the quickest bike I had ever owned, and reflected well my more XC preference in riding style. However, it was starting to show it's age, felt a little undersized, lacked a dropper post etc. The Tallboy is a fantastic bike, a lot of fun to ride and it feels like it fits me very well. However, there is one thing that bugs me about it - it's just doesn't feel as quick as the Element. This is noticable at speed on pretty much any level surface, and on climbs.

Overall bike weight seems around the same. The geometry on the Tallboy is a little (but not that much more) "aggressive", but I feel this is somewhat compensated by the fact that in general, it feels like a better fit than the Element. Could this slowness, or percpection of slowness be in the wheels? (Continental Folding X King 2.2 front, Race King 2.2 rear on Wheeltech Inferno 23 rims and SLX hubs on the Element, vs Hope Tech Enduro rims on Hope Pro 4 hubs, Maxxis High Roller 2 rear and Schwalbe Magic Mary front, tubeless set up on the Tallboy - both 29'ers). Or am I just kidding myself that the Tallboy could and should feel as quick as a full-on XC bike?

Thanks in advance for any advice on this!
flag danielwest330
Posted: Oct 29, 2018 at 7:11 Quote
mistersparky wrote:
Good day everyone!

I've just upgrade my Rocky Mountain Element (a stock 2014 build) to a custom 2017 Santa Cruz Tallboy C, and I have a question or two about tthe setup.

The Element served me well. Beyond anything else, it's the quickest bike I had ever owned, and reflected well my more XC preference in riding style. However, it was starting to show it's age, felt a little undersized, lacked a dropper post etc. The Tallboy is a fantastic bike, a lot of fun to ride and it feels like it fits me very well. However, there is one thing that bugs me about it - it's just doesn't feel as quick as the Element. This is noticable at speed on pretty much any level surface, and on climbs.

Overall bike weight seems around the same. The geometry on the Tallboy is a little (but not that much more) "aggressive", but I feel this is somewhat compensated by the fact that in general, it feels like a better fit than the Element. Could this slowness, or percpection of slowness be in the wheels? (Continental Folding X King 2.2 front, Race King 2.2 rear on Wheeltech Inferno 23 rims and SLX hubs on the Element, vs Hope Tech Enduro rims on Hope Pro 4 hubs, Maxxis High Roller 2 rear and Schwalbe Magic Mary front, tubeless set up on the Tallboy - both 29'ers). Or am I just kidding myself that the Tallboy could and should feel as quick as a full-on XC bike?

Thanks in advance for any advice on this!

Probably the tires and maybe wheels, magic mary and high roller 2 are definitely slower rolling and heavier than x king and race king. hope tech enduro rims aren't very light either.
flag mistersparky
Posted: Oct 30, 2018 at 5:03 Quote
danielwest330 wrote:
mistersparky wrote:
Good day everyone!

I've just upgrade my Rocky Mountain Element (a stock 2014 build) to a custom 2017 Santa Cruz Tallboy C, and I have a question or two about tthe setup.

The Element served me well. Beyond anything else, it's the quickest bike I had ever owned, and reflected well my more XC preference in riding style. However, it was starting to show it's age, felt a little undersized, lacked a dropper post etc. The Tallboy is a fantastic bike, a lot of fun to ride and it feels like it fits me very well. However, there is one thing that bugs me about it - it's just doesn't feel as quick as the Element. This is noticable at speed on pretty much any level surface, and on climbs.

Overall bike weight seems around the same. The geometry on the Tallboy is a little (but not that much more) "aggressive", but I feel this is somewhat compensated by the fact that in general, it feels like a better fit than the Element. Could this slowness, or percpection of slowness be in the wheels? (Continental Folding X King 2.2 front, Race King 2.2 rear on Wheeltech Inferno 23 rims and SLX hubs on the Element, vs Hope Tech Enduro rims on Hope Pro 4 hubs, Maxxis High Roller 2 rear and Schwalbe Magic Mary front, tubeless set up on the Tallboy - both 29'ers). Or am I just kidding myself that the Tallboy could and should feel as quick as a full-on XC bike?

Thanks in advance for any advice on this!

Probably the tires and maybe wheels, magic mary and high roller 2 are definitely slower rolling and heavier than x king and race king. hope tech enduro rims aren't very light either.

Many thanks for the response. What would be my best option if I were looking at swapping the whole wheelset out? The Hope XC / Pro 4 option with a lighter tubeless tyre setup? Or Would I be better looking at something a little different - one of the Mavic options for example?
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