Santa Cruzâs Highball has always been at the more cross-country end of things, with its brother, the Chameleon tackling the slightly more âgnarâ aspects in hardtail form. Despite that, the Highball of old was capable on interesting trails, as we found out last year running one as a long term bike. It wasnât just fast, but also a lot of fun, and with a longer fork and a dropped saddle it was far more at home on steeper terrain than it might have looked.
For 2015 Santa Cruz is offering three Highballsâ the alloy 29er tested here, and two carbon models â a 29in and a 650b version.
With the 2015 Highball, Santa Cruz has taken the model's heritage and shifted the bike to a more cross-country bias. The biggest change from the previous model is the longer top tube (from 609mm to 625mm in size L) and the addition of a bolt-thru rear end. The head tube has also got half a degree slacker to 70 degrees (with 505mm axle to crown fork).
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Angles are still pretty tight, but extra length means more fun
While many cross-country orientated bikes, and mountain bikes in general, have moved towards press-fit bottom brackets, Santa Cruz has stuck with the traditional threaded setup. This, in our eyes is a welcome feature â theyâre easy to service and replace and tend to creak less in our experience. This does mean that thereâs less material in the bottom bracket area, which has a slight impact on stiffness in that area despite the wide-diameter down tube. The rear triangle benefits from a slight touch of softness though, as, without sounding like a cliché, thereâs a welcome element of vertical give that keeps the Highball comfier than some of its more race-bred stablemates.
- Sizes: S, M, L (tested), XL
- Frame: Highball aluminium
- Fork: Marzocchi 320 LCR, 120mm
- Wheels: Shimano XTR)
- Tyres: Specialized Butcher(f), Specialized Ground Control (r)
- Cranks: Shimano XT, 38/24
- Gears: Shimano XTR
- Brakes: Shimano XTR
- Stem: Thomson
- Bar: Whisky Parts Co Carbon
- Saddle: Syncros XR1.5
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