Santa Cruz BronsonvsTallboy

The Bronson sits as the quintessential 'Goldilocks' bike, bridging the gap between park-day jibs and all-day pedaling with its mullet wheel setup. It is a machine of two halves, using a 29-inch front wheel for traction and a 27.5-inch rear wheel for flickability. Conversely, the Tallboy has largely abandoned the flighty XC persona for a 'hench' 120mm frame that behaves more like a miniature enduro sled than a marathon racer. Both bikes use the VPP suspension layout, but they use it to achieve different goals. The Bronson targets mid-stroke support for popping off roots, while the Tallboy's latest revision focuses on small-bump sensitivity to keep a 29-inch rear wheel glued to technical climbs. They both strictly offer carbon-only frames now, forcing a choice between the heavier C and the lighter CC layups. While you'll pay a 'Santa Cruz tax' on either, you're buying a lifetime bearing warranty and a frame that feels significantly more robust than the flimsy competition.

Riding the Bronson feels like bringing a knife to a gunfight and realizing the knife is actually a lightsaber. The 27.5-inch rear wheel makes it a terrorist in tight corners, letting you manual with an ease that the dual-29er Tallboy can’t match. However, that smaller rear wheel can 'thud' into square-edge hits that the front just cleared, a sensation several reviewers noted as the rear end being unable to cash the checks the front wheel writes. The Tallboy feels like a rocket ship on rolling terrain, where it ignores the mushy feel of longer-travel bikes and slingshots out of corners. It is surprisingly planted for a 120mm bike—reviewers have even called the frame 'relentlessly rigid.' While the Bronson excels when you’re showboating and looking for airtime, the Tallboy is at its best when you’re trying to maintain high average speeds over chunky singletrack without the safety blanket of a 160mm fork. On the climbs, the Bronson’s VPP platform is so efficient that the shock's climb switch is effectively decorative. It scoots up hills with a snappiness that belies its 150mm of travel. The Tallboy is equally adept but relies more on pure traction than the Bronson’s 'pop.' The Tallboy provides a level of comfort and control in technical climbing that few bikes in the 120mm category can touch, though it won't be the most 'sprightly' when compared to a dedicated XC whippet.