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I changed my Tallboy 3 for a Tallboy 4 frame a couple of weeks ago, mainly out of curiosity. I know the TB4 is fairly conservative for a long-low-slack design, by some standards, but it was still interesting to ride the two bikes back to back.
Climbing: the TB4's front wheel wasn't nearly as wander-y on the steep stuff as some reviews suggest. But it's not as nimble or quick a climber as the TB3. The TB4 CC frame certainly feels heavier than my TB3 C frame, though I've not weighed both (googling suggests it's at least 200g more, perhaps 3-400g). But that doesn't account for the less-sprightly feel uphill, which I guess is down to the longer and slacker geo. It's not bad, just a bit lardy and leisurely.
Descending: I've never felt underbiked on the TB3 but I'm certainly carrying more speed into corners on the TB4. That said, I've not beaten any DH PBs in half a dozen rides, which confirms that the rider is the limiting factor not the bike! I don't have any big, straight-line descents near me, they're all quite twisty, so maybe that's a factor.
Sizing and geo: I had an XL TB3 and went for a XL TB4. Downsizing to a L would have meant a shorter reach than my TB3 so that wasn't an option. It's a bigger bike but still fits me well. It took me a couple of rides to get used to the geo and I now understand why riders on LLS bikes have that puffed out chest, splayed knees stance with the BB further back. I bet there's a happy medium somewhere between trad geo and the more extreme new LLS designs. I definitely wouldn't want to go any further forward or longer.
All in all, I like the new bike and enjoy riding it but don't yet love it. It's been interesting certainly. I'll try to figure out how to post a photo.
WTF. Pics man, pics!!
Edit: just read you last line. Go to postimages.org, upload photo, click hotlinks from forums, paste into to text box on here.
Bob's yer fanny, aunts yer uncle...
I have got a Tallboy 4 and its a bloody brilliant bike.
Get some pictures up of it!.
Bought my TB4 in March this year. Loved if from the first ride and still haven't developed a wandering eye (usually happens after a ride or two).
Great bikes.
It looks like a modern trail bike geometry - but it’s not wildly long or slack that I can see.
Compared with my medium Bird the TB Medium is a bit shorter and their Large is a bit longer. Seat tubes on the SC are a bit long for my liking where I like to run as big a dropper as possible.
The geometry seems pretty decent with a slack ish head angle / steep ish seat angle and pretty short chainstays.
I think to get the full benefit of longer and slacker you have to re-learn how to ride your bike to some extent. You need to be more aggressive with the lean of the bike into the corner and really get over the middle of the bike and make sure the front wheel is weighted. They don’t feel as nimble / as ‘darty’ on tight singletrack. But virtually everywhere else I’ve found them faster at descending. Once you’ve got it turned into a corner it’ll be more stable and harder to knock offline.
I’m still working on technique quite a few years into riding modern geometry - I still sometimes have to consciously make sure on steep tech that I don’t hang off the back - otherwise you lose all grip front the front wheel. It’s all about getting low on the bike but relatively centrally and keep your elbows bent.
I read quite a lot of reviews of the TB when I bought my Ripley end of 2019. Conclusions seemed to be it was the best descender of the class (Ripley, Yeti, etc) but the worse climber. Not bad, just not maybe as good as 120mm travel bikes should be.
I looked at them again when I bought my Rascal. I couldn't get past the average climbing performance as reviewed but I never rode one. Had an interesting msg exchange with Singletrack Andi about his. He definitely likes it, think gist of it was faster than his YT Izzo down, not as quick climbing.
OK, belated image post that will hopefully work:
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Apologies for the top-tube bag, I just really like them. Something I don't like is how the shock is really hard to access, for setting sag or giving it a wipe etc. But having the frame triangle relatively open is a good thing for fitting other bikepacking frame bags.
I think there's definitely a learning curve to the change in geo (especially as I ride a lot of road and gravel too). Another thing I find is that I've had pedal strikes for the first time and also the rear wheel loses traction on steep climbs. All things that can be fixed with tweaks to technique. I'm probably sounding too negative - it's definitely a great bike and I prefer it to the Hightower and Bronsons that I've rented in various places. I just don't think its modern geometry is without its quirks.
bought a large tall boy thus time last year because the wait time was ridiculous for the XL, Its obviously a fantastic bike, but it's just too bloody small for me. Remember kids, patience is a virtue
That "Hard to access" rear shock hides a cunning trick... it never gets dirty either 🙂