How Good Are Modern Trail Bikes? The Santa Cruz Showdown

Downtime - The Mountain Bike Podcast

Downtime MTB

Leisure, Health & Fitness, Hobbies, Sports, Wilderness, Fitness

4.9 • 628 Ratings

🗓️ 27 December 2022

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Mountain bikes are continually developing and the trail bike category has become more and more popular. But just how good are modern trail bikes? We took the Santa Cruz Tallboy, 5010 and Hightower, which cover a travel range from 120 to 145mm, for a day’s gravity based riding, to see how they performed. Hear what we thought to each of the bikes, how they compare and which one’s we’d choose to keep. Just how capable are these type of bikes and could a shorter travel bike improve your riding enjoyment? Also, can you really work out how a bike is going to perform from some numbers on a spreadsheet? As ever, we were surprised by what we found. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with me, Jonathan and Ben to find out.

You can check out all of the Santa Cruz range over at santacruzbicycles.com.

Supporting Partners

7mesh

Do you want some incredible quality riding kit from the awesome 7mesh? Well, they are offering Downtime listeners a 20% discount using the code ‘DOWNTIME7MESH20‘ over at 7mesh.com. Head over now and check them out and what’s even better is that the ship globally, so wherever you are, you can get your hands on some top quality riding gear.

We Are One Composites

We Are One are generously offering Downtime listeners 15% off everything on their website. So wether you want their new Convergence wheels, their still very awesome Revolution wheels, or their incredible bike the Arrival, now is your time. You can get 15% off until midnight on December 31st 2022 by using the code ‘DowntimeDecember15‘ at weareonecomposites.com (note: this must be entered at the final stage of the checkout process on the ‘confirm order’ page).

Santa Cruz Bicycles

You can check out these bikes and the rest of the Santa Cruz range over at santacruzbicycles.com.

Podcast Stuff

Downtime EP

Downtime EP issue 2 is now available at downtimepodcast.com/ep. EP takes inspiration from the guests and topics of the podcast. It expands on them, and takes them into a stunning print-only format. EP is the perfect companion for some quiet time away from the distractions of modern life. Beautiful to have and hold, and a timeless piece of mountain bike history.

Just head over to downtimepodcast.com/ep to save yourself £5 off of the cover price with an annual subscription for just £20 plus postage or you can purchase EP1, or EP2 on their own too.

Merch

If you want to support the podcast, and represent, then my webstore is the place to head. All products are 100% organic, shipped without plastics, and made with a supply chain that’s using renewable energy. So check it out now over at downtimepodcast.com/shop.

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Our back catalogue of amazing episodes is available at downtimepodcast.com/episodes

Photo – Santa Cruz Bicycles

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey everyone, I'm Chris Hall and you're listening to The Downtown Podcast, where, as ever, we delve deep into the gravity-based side of mountain biking.
0:11.0	This episode is supported by Santa Cruz bicycles, Sever Mesh and Wheel One Composites, and there are some great offers for you coming right up.
0:18.6	Sever Mesh are based in the wild terrain and mad weather of British
0:21.9	Columbia and they're founded by three former members of outdoor brand Arcterics, so they were
0:26.5	always going to create cycling clothing that would push the envelope of performance and quality.
0:31.4	I've had the chance to use some of their mountain bike range over the last few months and I can
0:35.0	tell you that they've created some really great products that offer some impressive performance elements and handy features too, as well as
0:41.9	being pretty neutral on the colours and style side of things. For the Chilco Ataraq, they've created
0:46.8	their own material, WTV, which seems to somehow block a decent amount of wind, keep you warm,
0:52.6	but also not overheat. I've never ridden in something that is this comfortable over such a decent amount of wind, keep you warm, but also not over heat.
0:59.7	I've never ridden in something that is discomfort over such a wide range of temperatures and effort levels.
1:05.1	For me, it's the most versatile piece of riding kit I've ever worn and I've tried quite a lot over the years.
1:29.4	It works really well with their Griffin long-sleeve crew, which is also a waffle-style fabric this time from Politech. It's a great way to add a little bit of warmth into the mix when things get really cold like they did here recently. Whether you want to try 7-Mesh for the first time or you're already hooked, they're offering downtime listeners a 20% discount using the code downtime 7Mesh 20. That's downtime, followed by the number 7, then MESH and the number 20,
1:35.8	all in capitals with no spaces. So that's downtime 7Mesh20 over at 7Mesh.com for a very generous 20% off. Head over now and check them out and what's even better is that they ship globally,
1:40.1	so wherever you are, you can get your hands on some top quality riding gear.
1:44.3	We are one. I've been my go-to wheels for over four years now and I really can't fault them.
1:49.1	Great build quality, literally no maintenance needed and the ride quality is a fantastic balance
1:54.1	between being direct but still compliant in the right way so you don't get punished and
1:58.4	pinged around on the trail and right now you can get 15%
2:02.2	off anything on their site apologies to anyone who has had issues using the we are one
2:07.2	composite's discount code it does work but you need to use it at the very final stage of the checkout
2:11.8	process which is the confirm order page so to get an incredible 15% off anything from way
	...

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