It is rumored that our store in San Rafael was home to some of the first mountain bikes in the country. Mike's Bikes was founded in 1964 as one of Marin County's very first Schwinn shops. The 2023 Tallboy features a host of small but effective suspension and geometry tweaks that help keep the back end planted while climbing and keeps you from bobbing. That short travel has other benefits, too, it may not be a full-on mountain goat XC bike, but the Tallboy goes uphill like it's being chased by a bear (Which could be helpful if you're actually being chased by a bear). This means you've got a low-to-the-ground feel of a short travel bike but the geometry to tear the knobs of your tires. Unlike other bikes in this travel range, the Tallboy comes out of the gate swinging just like its longer-traveled siblings with a 65.5° head-angle, long front center, and short fork offset. What the Tallboy lacks in travel, it gains in geometry. Since most folks equate more capability to more travel, 120mm of rear travel sounds pretty paltry. Let's start with the basics the Tallboy is a 120mm travel bike with slack geometry typically associated with the big trail rigs. It's okay! Not everybody lives in the backwoods of Squamish BC where the standard XC loop has features that would make an Enduro World Series rider blush.

Real talk - If your trails don't need big travel, you're just hauling around more weight and riding higher on the bike.

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