New Bike Day!

Coming out party for the new bike in the house: Santa Cruz Highball! I've been looking at Highballs, Chisels , XTCs, Almas, etc for my son for about a year now. He has been riding my old Gunnar Rockhound without complaint, but it has dated geometry & drivetrain, along with being kinda' heavy. He races in a HS league, and they're really competitive, so having something to help him get up the hills a little quicker is a good thing. Anyway, my shopping around corresponded with @Faust29 deciding he had too many bikes in the house. Win-win as I was able to get the frame, fork, bars, cranks, seatpost from him, and start getting the rest purchased to build it up.

Frame & fork:

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Your basic box of bike bits:

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Some time with the truing stand:

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Produces a kick-ass bike:

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I pretty much built it up similar to SC's stock S build, with SRAM GX Eagle and Race Face components. I built up DT Swiss 370 hubs with WTB rims & Schwalbe tires, so those are a little nicer than the stock ones:
https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Santa-Cruz/Highball-C-S,19929

Still dialing in everything a little bit, but I think seat/saddle are good to go, and bars are as low/close as they can reasonably go. And yeah, the kid is fast on it! Will see what his endurance is like, but he's got a crazy-good power/weight ratio going on. Mission accomplished, and thanks Steve!
 
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Cyclotourist said:
Coming out party for the new bike in the house: Santa Cruz Highball! I've been looking at Highballs, Chisels , XTCs, Almas, etc for my son for about a year now. He has been riding my old Gunnar Rockhound without complaint, but it has dated geometry & drivetrain, along with being kinda' heavy. He races in a HS league, and they're really competitive, so having something to help him get up the hills a little quicker is a good thing. Anyway, my shopping around corresponded with @Faust29 deciding he had too many bikes in the house. Win-win as I was able to get the frame, fork, bars, cranks, seatpost from him, and start getting the rest purchased to build it up.

Frame & fork:

View attachment 47994

Your basic box of bike bits:

View attachment 47995

Some time with the truing stand:

View attachment 47996

Produces a kick-ass bike:

View attachment 47997

View attachment 47998

I pretty much built it up similar to a stock bike, with SRAM GX Eagle and Race Face components. I built up DT Swiss 370 hubs with WTB rims & Schwalbe tires, so those are a little nicer than the stock ones:
https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Santa-Cruz/Highball-C-S,19929

Still dialing in everything a little bit, but I think seat/saddle are good to go, and bars are as low/close as they can reasonably go. And yeah, the kid is fast on it! Will see what his endurance is like, but he's got a crazy-good power/weight ratio going on. Mission accomplished, and thanks Steve!
Click to expand...
Nice work Dad!
 
He’s ready... :devilish:


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Railing it
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MolarM said:
Stoked for you. Good times ahead! Love the aluminum and belt drive. Things will stay nice and clean. My kids' Specialized bikes at 16" seemed heavy for them at this age, the Belter looks a lot lighter which = less frustration. Congrats!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks, super excited.. I had a couple other bikes in mind but really like the belt drive and how light this one is for a little kid. (It even has sliding dropouts @Faust29 @mtnbikej )

I got my first bike on my 4th birthday, he’s getting his first (pedal) bike just after turning 3. It wasn’t cheap but I had saved up a bunch of REI gift cards and was waiting for it to become available there, it’s sold out on Early Rider’s website.
 
Cornholio said:
Thanks, super excited.. I had a couple other bikes in mind but really like the belt drive and how light this one is for a little kid. (It even has sliding dropouts @Faust29 @mtnbikej )

I got my first bike on my 4th birthday, he’s getting his first (pedal) bike just after turning 3. It wasn’t cheap but I had saved up a bunch of REI gift cards and was waiting for it to become available there, it’s sold out on Early Rider’s website.
Click to expand...

Looks like a pretty slack front end, steep seat tube, belt drive, plus tires... That thing is awesome! :thumbsup:
 
New Bike Day for Jennifer! We went over to JRA this morning to pick up her Ibis Mojo 3. While we were there setting it up there were a couple of passing showers. Thankfully they were done by the time we headed over to Space Mountain to break it in.
She got the GX build and upgraded to the Fox Float Factory Series with Kashima coating, Ibis 742 carbon wheelset, XT 4 piston brakes, Ibis carbon bar and we swapped out the 2.6 Minions for 2.6 Rekons. Oh yeah. Almost forgot. Dropper delete. I guess she's still an XC girl at heart. It's a beautiful build and comes in at just under 26lbs with pedals. I'm still a little jealous.
Here's a few pics before she got it dirty.

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UPSed said:
New Bike Day for Jennifer! We went over to JRA this morning to pick up her Ibis Mojo 3. While we were there setting it up there were a couple of passing showers. Thankfully they were done by the time we headed over to Space Mountain to break it in.
She got the GX build and upgraded to the Fox Float Factory Series with Kashima coating, Ibis 742 carbon wheelset, XT 4 piston brakes, Ibis carbon bar and we swapped out the 2.6 Minions for 2.6 Rekons. Oh yeah. Almost forgot. Dropper delete. I guess she's still an XC girl at heart. It's a beautiful build and comes in at just under 26lbs with pedals. I'm still a little jealous.
Here's a few pics before she got it dirty.

View attachment 49257 View attachment 49258 View attachment 49259 View attachment 49260 View attachment 49261 View attachment 49262 View attachment 49263
Click to expand...
I like an all black bike! Congrats Jen!
 
UPSed said:
New Bike Day for Jennifer! We went over to JRA this morning to pick up her Ibis Mojo 3. While we were there setting it up there were a couple of passing showers. Thankfully they were done by the time we headed over to Space Mountain to break it in.
She got the GX build and upgraded to the Fox Float Factory Series with Kashima coating, Ibis 742 carbon wheelset, XT 4 piston brakes, Ibis carbon bar and we swapped out the 2.6 Minions for 2.6 Rekons. Oh yeah. Almost forgot. Dropper delete. I guess she's still an XC girl at heart. It's a beautiful build and comes in at just under 26lbs with pedals. I'm still a little jealous.
Here's a few pics before she got it dirty.

View attachment 49257 View attachment 49258 View attachment 49259 View attachment 49260 View attachment 49261 View attachment 49262 View attachment 49263
Click to expand...


That's pretty flashy.
 
UPSed said:
New Bike Day for Jennifer! We went over to JRA this morning to pick up her Ibis Mojo 3. While we were there setting it up there were a couple of passing showers. Thankfully they were done by the time we headed over to Space Mountain to break it in.
She got the GX build and upgraded to the Fox Float Factory Series with Kashima coating, Ibis 742 carbon wheelset, XT 4 piston brakes, Ibis carbon bar and we swapped out the 2.6 Minions for 2.6 Rekons. Oh yeah. Almost forgot. Dropper delete. I guess she's still an XC girl at heart. It's a beautiful build and comes in at just under 26lbs with pedals. I'm still a little jealous.
Here's a few pics before she got it dirty.

View attachment 49257 View attachment 49258 View attachment 49259 View attachment 49260 View attachment 49261 View attachment 49262 View attachment 49263
Click to expand...

So great!!!
 
UPSed said:
Lack of a dropper slows neither one of us down but I gotta say the rigid post does look outta place on the Mojo.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: XC Guy here....... I agree, they are not a necessity. I scoffed at them for years.

However, I have learned to embrace the dropper on the Hightower. I still do not have one on the SS.....nor do I think I'll put one on it.

We actually just took the dropper off of Suz's Niner SS and put the Thomson post back on. Even she has come to embrace the dropper on her Tallboy.

Just sayin'. :whistling:
 
mtnbikej said:
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: XC Guy here....... I agree, they are not a necessity. I scoffed at them for years.

However, I have learned to embrace the dropper on the Hightower. I still do not have one on the SS.....nor do I think I'll put one on it.

We actually just took the dropper off of Suz's Niner SS and put the Thomson post back on. Even she has come to embrace the dropper on her Tallboy.

Just sayin'. :whistling:
Click to expand...
Yeah. When I rode the RIP 9 a few weeks ago I appreciated the dropper on a good portion of PCE but it's just not needed for the majority of riding I do. Will I ever I ever put one back on my JET? Probably. I even considered putting my plus tires back on after riding Space Mountain yesterday. Maybe I just need another bike? :whistling:
 
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