![]() Staying true to its easily-adapted to singlespeed roots, the aluminum Chameleon sports adjustable and removable dropouts. This platform has a lot of heart for mountain bikers, so adapting it is in a lot of ways, a resuscitation. If I was somewhere that had mountain bike rentals, and the trails didn’t demand an AM or DH bike, I’d always go for the Chameleon because I knew exactly what to expect from it. So what is the Chameleon anyway, or I suppose, what was it? Everyone has a Chameleon story and most of these tales started with the phrase “it was my first real mountain bike.” My experiences with the Chameleon centered on the rental market. The Chameleon was always that odd little shreddy frame offering amidst a catalog of heavy-hitters in the Santa Cruz lineup, which spans from lightweight XC-race models like the Highball to the big and rambunctious V10. This bike can really do a lot, but isn’t that the nature of hardtails in general? For me, my thoughts on the Chameleon stem from its legacy, its updated design and most importantly, to a lot of people, the cost. Sure, Santa Cruz is saying the chameleon is a master of adaptation, which metaphorically makes a lot of sense. The Santa Cruz Bicycles Chameleon adheres to this logic, standing out from many of the other production hardtails on the market but before we get ahead of ourselves here, and lizard anecdotes aside, when I first saw the newly-designed Chameleon last year it checked a lot of boxes and left me with a few questions. Contrarily, their colors are used to mark territory, attract mates and display moods, often resulting in these unique lizards “standing out” more than blending in. You'll know you have it dialed when it feels like you're never making large bodyweight shifts to either lift the front end or keep it stuck to the ground.Chameleons don’t actually change color to “blend” into their surroundings. Using these tuning parameters will help you find the sweet spot for your terrain and preference. ![]() Additionally, using the Hi BB setting will lend itself to a more front biased feel. Compared to a 29er, a slightly lower handlebar and a more forward-biased suspension setup will make an MX bike feel more like what you're used to. This gives a very natural feeling on steep descents, but requires some body position and setup consideration for a balanced feel on flatter terrain. On an MX bike, the bias is more rearward. This creates a natural position on lower-angle terrain but requires body position and/or setup adjustments to achieve any sort of rearward bias. Handlebars Burgtec RideWide Alloy Bar, 800mmĢ9" bikes provide a ton of front wheel grip- this is partially due to the front wheel itself, but also due to the axle height of the rear wheel which works to keep the front end weighted. Rear Hub DT Swiss 370, 12x148, XD, 36t, 28hĬrankset SRAM Descendant Eagle 148 DUB, 30tĬrankset SRAM Descendant Eagle 148 DUB, 32t Rear Tire Maxxis Aggressor 27.5"x2.5", EXO, TRįront Tire Maxxis Minion DHF 29"x2.5"WT, 3C MaxxGrip, EXO, TRįront Hub SRAM MTH 716, 15x110, Torque Cap, 32h Rear Tire Maxxis Aggressor 29"x2.5"WT, EXO, TR Headset Cane Creek 40 IS Integrated Headset Headset Cane Creek 10 IS Integrated Headset ![]() ![]() ![]() Cassette SRAM XG1275 Eagle, 12spd, 10-50tīottom Bracket SRAM DUB 68/73mm Threaded BB ![]()
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