First Rides: Tallboy vs Tallboy: The all new Santa Cruz Tallboy 6 (vs the Tallboy 5)

Here at TVB we’re big fans of shorter travel bikes. Their climbing abilities, combined with a sense of speed and liveliness to ride both up and down the hill can get addictive, and even when they do get outgunned by the trail, they are still a lot of fun to ride with the right mindset. Almost all our staff own one, whether it’s a lighter marathon bike in the  Blur or something a little more trail focused like the Tallboy.

Neil and Matthew have both owned Tallboys, with Neil’s VPP Tallboy still his current "cross-country" bike. As a massive fan of the bike, he's the ideal candidate to take the newest V6 out for a ride and see how it compares to the well-established VPP bike, so when we had the chance to borrow one for a week recently we let him get stuck in. Over to Neil.

What is the Tallboy meant for?

I’ve had my Tallboy for a few years and I’ve become a huge fan of this type of bike, even if they are a little hard to categorise and my personal one is getting slightly dated now. It wouldn’t make an ideal XC race bike, or a good uplift and enduro bike either, but for the huge variety of off-road riding between those extremes, the Tallboy is brilliant.

It’s light and pedal-efficient enough that covering distance on mixed ground is fast and effortless (the biggest ride I did on mine last year was a single-day lap of the Cairngorm outer loop bikepacking trail at around 220km and 3,000m of climbing). For singletrack descending and UK trail centres, you would struggle to pick a more engaging or faster bike, and it’s a fun challenge to ride on more technical terrain. For anyone who likes long days out, singletrack and natural trail riding but isn’t planing on XC racing, a bike like this is the perfect thing.

When the new Tallboy 6 popped up, it caused quite a fuss on the internet as another Santa Cruz bike to switch away from their signature VPP suspension platform. On paper, the new Tallboy looks quite different to the previous one, with more travel, a Horst link suspension platform, and adjusted geometry, so it was going to be interesting to see how it compared in real life. Testing time was limited, with just three quick after-work rides to get set up, followed by one decently long full-day ride, but enough to get a good first impression.

What’s New? Horst Link vs. VPP Suspension

Before we get into the ride, a quick recap on what the new Tallboy 6 is and what has changed. For a deeper dive on the new bike, re-read our article from the launch. 

By far the biggest switch is in the suspension design. Santa Cruz tried a few different test mules (VPP, Single Pivot, and Horst Link) before settling on what became the final design.

Their core design goals were:

• Reduce suspension progression: Create a more linear, consistent bike, firming up the early-to-mid travel for more mid-stroke support and improve rebound control from larger hits.

• Reduce anti-squat and anti-rise: Keep the rear suspension more active and free-moving under pedalling and braking forces.

Looking at the charts, they have done exactly that, with big drops in all three figures. Alongside the suspension redesign also come a whole raft of other changes.

Frame and Geometry Updates

• Lighter weight: The Horst link frame uses less carbon because it does away with the traditional shock tunnel, resulting in a lighter frameset.

• Better dropper clearance: Removing the shock tunnel also allows for deeper dropper post insertion depth. The Medium bike now comes with a 180mm dropper and Large gets a 210mm post. 

• Frame refinements: All models are now supplied in the higher-quality CC carbon. You also get a tool mount under the top tube and a beefed-up Glovebox frame storage lid for long-term durability.

• Travel & Geometry: Travel grows by 10mm at each end, now sitting at 140mm front and 130mm rear. The geometry is slightly slacker with a steeper effective seat angle and a longer wheelbase, though not a drastic departure from the V5.

All that would seem to point to it being more of a trailbike than before, yet after riding it, while it is very different in feel, perhaps surprisingly, it is also still entirely the same kind of bike as it ever was. If I had to try and nail down how the two bikes fit into mountain biking I’d draw the below graph. 

The eagle eyed out there might notice the lines are, to put it mildly, quite similar and that’s one of my big early takeaways. For all that the new bike does have a significantly different ride to the last, it still very much for the same rider, and the same kinds of riding. So what is actually different then?

Climbing and Pedalling Performance

The Tallboy 6 is, by any measure, an easy bike to put the miles in on. With the anti-squat noticeably reduced, it doesn’t have the urgent, surging feeling when you get on the power of some XC bikes (or the old VPP Tallboy), but traction and smoothness climbing over rougher ground are improved and there’s still no feeling of wasted effort.

Between a low overall bike weight, fast tyres, and a well-balanced climbing position, the climbing experience becomes one of ease, constant progress, and energy efficiency. It’s also light at just over 13kg in stock trim, with lighter builds easily possible. The longer day ride I did was 72km with 1,890m of climbing, and had time not run out, I could have happily kept going. The bike isn’t tiring to ride.

The Tallboy 6 also has a steepened seat angle compared to previous generations, placing the rider more upright and directly above the pedals. For flat miles, you could argue for either setup, but for steeper climbing, the new Tallboy 6 has the edge. With rider weight trimmed forward, the front wheel is less prone to lifting, reducing the need to shuffle forward onto the nose of the saddle.

The older VPP Tallboy comparatively feels a little snappier and firmer under power, and ‘feels’ faster on a smooth tarmac climb or when accelerating into a sprint. However, there is also more feedback through the pedals and a sensation of the rear wheel hanging up when trying to claw up bumpy, technical trails. It’s a sportier, more XC feel, but it is also more demanding and less forgiving on mixed terrain. The rougher the ground, the more the new Tallboy 6 gets the edge with a calmer, more neutral ride character.

Descending Performance

Let’s start with the common ground: the Tallboy has always been a fast bike, and that is still very much the case here. On the right trails, like the flowing trail centres of the UK where you can spend time off the brakes cornering and pumping, both versions are hugely fast and fun. They easily generate speed, with a descent-focused geometry that lets you push your limits like you're on a proper enduro bike.

Compared to pure XC bikes, they are more confidence-inspiring and solid and that greater composure allows them to be ridden harder without feeling like you’re mistreating the frame. It’s not the safe, muted feeling of a long-travel bike, but the feeling that any rider effort immediately translates into forward speed quickly gets addictive. Even if you aren't bothered about maximum speed, the Tallboy is more forgiving than a true XC bike. For long days in the hills, there is both mental and physical energy to be saved by a more comfortable, composed chassis over the course of a big ride.

Tallboy vs Tallboy. Real-World Suspension Differences

Where the two generations differ noticeably is in the suspension feel, with the biggest change being that the new V6 has a more neutral feel everywhere than the VPP bike. With less progression, the new version rides higher in its travel, and that combined with the extra 10mm of rear wheel travel and lower anti-rise keeps it just a little more composed through successive hits. It’s quieter at the pedals, leaving the rider less aware of bumps, braking forces, and trail chatter. 

Comparing the two versions, it’s a little like having two fast sports cars, but one with the driving aids turned on and the other with them off. Both have a similar theoretical maximum speed, but the new one is easier to drive fast and the other arguably more exciting. On smooth trails there’s actually very little between the two bikes, but as the roughness and steepness increases, the 6 is a little more composed and easy to handle and it can ultimately handle just a bit more roughness before maxing out. 

Of course, proper blown-out, rough enduro terrain will somewhat overwhelm both bikes; there is only so big the bumps can get before short-travel suspension and fast tires run out of answers, especially when the bike is also under braking. However, steep ground remains surprisingly manageable thanks to the sorted geometry, and you’d be surprised what either version can get down with a bit of acclimatisation and the right mindset.

Summing Up

It maybe shouldn’t have come as a surprise given how well we know how the Santa Cruz Vala and Bullit ride, but the new Tallboy 6 produces a very nicely balanced package. It’s light, easy to set up, and easy to ride. When it comes to covering longer days and mellower terrain, it converts human effort into forward movement very efficiently indeed, both up and down the hill.

On the descents, it’s easy to ride, balanced and active while still keeping a light and energetic feel to the ride overall. It’s not quite a pure XC bike, and it’s not the most aggressive, heavy-hitting 130mm platform ever made, but for a balanced all-around trail bike built for long days in the saddle and flat out singletrack descending, it’s about as good as anything out there.

The message to current Tallboy owners? Don’t rush out and sell your bike straight away.  The new bike does improve on the existing one in a few ways, but the V5 Tallboy is still another excellent option in the same category and for riders who like the firmer pedalling platform and trail feedback delivered by VPP it’s still a strong candidate when it comes to fast trail bikes. 

After either? We still have some Tallboy 5 stock at a whopping 40% off and new Tallboy 6's are arriving now, so you can take your pick for the moment!

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