Five generations in, still the bike every other short-travel 29er gets compared to.
Three of the reviews we cited for the Tallboy, from three different publications, reach for some version of Santa Cruz's "Downhillers XC bike" marketing line in their final summary. MBR used it straight. Blister quoted it. The Loam Wolf reworded it. When independent reviewers start converging on the same phrase, the framing is probably right. That framing is what this bike is, and has been across a few generations now.
Santa Cruz is not a boutique. They're a big outfit, owned by the much bigger Dutch conglomerate PON Holdings (same house as Cervélo and Focus), and the Tallboy is a lineup fixture they've refined rather than reinvented. The Tallboy 5 won't surprise you if you rode the 4. The 4 didn't surprise anyone either. Santa Cruz doesn't take big swings. They take small, careful ones, year after year.
The current frame is the fifth generation, launched late 2022 for model year 2023. 120mm out back, 130mm up front, 65.5° head angle. Blister put their X01 AXS RSV test bike on a scale at 29.2 pounds. That's a top-tier build, carbon wheels and AXS Transmission, $10,000 to $11,000 depending on model year. Even at that spec, the Tallboy is on the heavier end of the downcountry scale. A comparable Transition Spur, for example, hits 27.1.
Individually, the reviewers land in roughly the same place. Pinkbike's Mike Kazimer, in his first ride, said the Tallboy "isn't a downcountry bike, and it's not trying to be." Don't tell us how to live our lives, Mike. For what it's worth, he liked it. He called it a "do-everything machine" with a "'just right' air to its handling" that pulls ahead when gravity takes over. MBR's Guy Kesteven scored it a 9 out of 10 and wrote that for the "berm smashing hooligans" on their test team, this really is the "Downhillers XC bike" Santa Cruz claims it is. Blister's David Golay wrote that the Tallboy "descends very, very well for a 120mm-travel bike, but it's not one that's going to trick you into thinking you're on a bigger, burlier bike." The common thread across reviews is that the Tallboy climbs efficiently, descends above its pay grade, and doesn't feel peaky at either end.
Our favorite data point isn't in the reviews. Pinkbike's Dario DiGiulio named the Tallboy as one of his "10 things I loved in 2025." His personal bike is overforked to 140 up front. When a reviewer who tests a hundred bikes a year chooses to own one, and then modifies it to do more, something about that bike is working.
The Tallboy isn't a downcountry bike, and it's not trying to be. Instead, it's a do-everything machine that has a 'just right' air to its handling. When gravity takes over it's the Tallboy that pulls ahead, with a more planted feel that delivers the confidence required to hit higher speeds and more challenging trail features.
Read full review at Pinkbike →The Tallboy descends very, very well for a 120mm-travel bike, but it's not one that's going to trick you into thinking you're on a bigger, burlier bike or anything like that. A better way to look at it is that the Tallboy encourages you to push hard and go fast on the sorts of descents where a 120mm-travel bike is genuinely appropriate.
Read full review at Blister →If you identify with the full send, berm smashing hooligans on our test team then this really is the 'Downhillers XC bike' that Santa Cruz claims.
Read full review at Mountain Bike Rider →The Tallboy is quite honestly one of my favorite bikes in recent memory; the way it combines playful, intuitive handling, stability at speed, and climbing efficiency, means it's my go-to bike for a lot of different scenarios.
Read full review at Singletracks →Truly a downhiller's XC bike, the Santa Cruz Tallboy is an inspiring machine that's likely to serve both a trail center cruiser and light enduro bruiser well.
Read full review at The Loam Wolf →
