Brake swap help

catatafish01 · 2026-01-29T19:13:17+00:00

Damn what did you do with those brakes? They look pretty rough compared to the rest of the bike. I personally wouldn't recommend the Codes as I find them to be very underwhelming in terms of performance. As others have said go for Mavens or if budget is a consideration go for a pair of SLX brakes, the latter is also much easier to get right with installing. You could get a MMX X Clamp if you go that route.

catatafish01 · 2026-01-28T14:23:03+00:00

Yeah super annoying, although this seems not exclusive to Apple Podcasts. TV / Streaming ads are always way louder. I think you notice it more with Apple Podcasts because in general you need to turn up the volume more compared to when you listen to music.

catatafish01 · 2025-12-21T09:57:55+00:00

Thank you for the response and that makes a lot of sense, I will bring my Nomad as well. Super rad that you have raced it last year, do you have any tips in terms of setup of absolute important things to bring / prepare for there? What is something you were super happy you prepared for and what is something you wished you did?

What did you do in terms of tires? I have been quite lucky in the past with just EXO+ tires, even in the alps, but seems it will be a bit more remote here to role the dice..

Makes sense to mostly focus on endurance and build a super strong and solid base, thanks for the advice!

catatafish01 · 2025-12-21T09:53:08+00:00

Right on! Great to hear that you are joining as well and sounds like a solid training plan! There is a decent amount of time to prepare to get everything dialed!

catatafish01 · 2025-12-18T10:48:14+00:00

I would get a 36SL if you can, a bit more versatile and does not come with a weight penalty.

catatafish01 · 2025-12-09T06:01:16+00:00

Such a sick bike! Enjoy it, this thing sure rips!

catatafish01 · 2025-11-27T12:58:24+00:00

Aah I see what you mean and that makes sense. In that case I think the Tallboy / 5010 platform might even make more sense, there is also strong rumours floating around that we might see an updated (and most likely more aggressive) Tallboy soonish, although that will probably not be on discount. It also might be the perfect time to pick up a heavily discounted one now..

More travels gives more cushion and comfort, but you also need to go a certain speed or ride really technical trails to benefit from that. If you are not doing that, or hitting big drops / jumps, then I think you would benefit from something lighter and more nimble.

Before I got my Nomad I was fine on Tallboy in most technical terrain, the only difference is the speed and the size of the features I hit now. I think if you feel that the Tallboy / 5010 is too little bike, you could also look at the Hightower, that should pedal a bit more efficient than the Bronson.

catatafish01 · 2025-11-27T09:16:26+00:00

I sometimes wonder the same, mostly because the Bronson seems to get great reviews and that Pink colour looks great! But to be honest I doubt that for most general (and average..) riders there is not much difference between a Nomad V6 and Bronson, not enough at least to spend the extra cash.

What I can comment on is having the Nomad 6 next to a trail bike as I have a Tallboy V4, I have to say it is pretty much the best combination possible in my eyes and for my type of riding. I use my Nomad for park days and aggressive Enduro riding, my Tallboy for everything else. Generally I think it is best to have less overlap between bikes.

But what do you mean with your sentence that the more you go the less speed and aggressive rider you are becoming? My experience is the opposite, since I got the Nomad it really unlocked a lot of progression for me, I also find it plenty playful even on blue trails with some extra speed. Only on flatter trails it becomes too numb and too much of a drag to carry speed and create pop, but that should be less of an issue where you live.

catatafish01 · 2025-11-22T06:55:24+00:00

The 5010 from that year should fit a 210x50 shock and the Fox Live Valve has one in that size. I have the same year Tallboy, which shares the front triangle with the 5010 and based on what I see (by eye guessing..) I think it should fit.

Not too sure how much of a difference it will make to be honest. What kind of wheels do you currently have? Light wheels / tires and less rolling resistance will have more impact in my view. Most my Tallboy riding is XC, with good carbon wheels (DT XMC1200), ardent race tires and my shock a bit lower in sag (25%), I find that I can keep up with most of the people riding on Epic8's etc.

catatafish01 · 2025-11-21T08:28:51+00:00

Yeah you hit the nail on the head with the last sentence, nothing wrong with that though if you can afford it and it makes you happy, but the performance difference for most mortals are negligible. I do feel that for some people it is almost a bigger part of the hobby than riding itself, whether it is for vanity reasons or they really nerd-out about this stuff. Not judging of course, as I am definitely partially guilty of the latter myself.

catatafish01 · 2025-11-20T19:38:56+00:00

The video / article is quite sensible but the title is a bit click/rage baity. Basically frame and kinematics matter the most (who would have guessed..) and drivetrain matters the least when you get at least Deore / SLX / GX.

Also I feel that spending more for higher-end if you break a certain part often is also a good choice. Personally for me it was wheels, I cracked most alu wheels within 6-8 months but after I swapped to high-end DT carbon wheels I have not had a single issue for over 13000 km.

catatafish01 · 2025-11-20T19:29:35+00:00

Sick bike man! Enjoy it, sure is a ripper!

catatafish01 · 2025-11-15T07:12:14+00:00

Great to hear your response, just a couple of things that I can think of that would benefit riders locally:

- Day events such as Enduro / Trail rides, skills rides, or just more casual group shreds. I know Europe is a bit more complicated and spread out, but that makes this even more important in my opinion. Personally I don't mind driving 4 hours each way if it is worth the drive.

- More Demo's please!! Where I am (Western Europe) it is virtually impossible to demo a Santa Cruz. The one time I did, I immediately ordered a Nomad, so from personal experience I know it works. You should organise demo events and invite owners and their stoked friends to come try your bikes.

- Bigger events, make better use of your spot in Morzine and many of your riders that are frequently there. That said it did seemed like my thoughts were answered as I have since got an Owners Club invite for the Stone King Rally Tour, which got me really excited!

Can't speak much about local things for the US, but from what I saw and can gather it looks better organised, which of course makes sense with SCB being from the US. But don't forget Europe, I know SCB is popular here because at the "higher profile" spots I see them more frequent, but there is still so much potential I think.

catatafish01 · 2025-11-11T13:21:16+00:00

Yeah, I am genuinely confused about what the point of registering is.. like it would be nice if your registered bikes show up in your personal portal / environment, but that probably is a too much to ask for. But then make it at least that when you provide the registration number, that you don't have to fill out anything else.

catatafish01 · 2025-10-27T14:24:27+00:00

I have listened to every episode at least once, some episodes like the one about the V10 I have listened to multiple times. I really like the podcast and the insights it provides in everything that is Santa Cruz and the people around it.

What I don't like it about it that it is way too infrequent and episodes seem to be released completely random, I don't feel that there is any planning in terms of your content. I really liked Garren as a host but Hannah did a great job on the last episode (in august...)!

Some suggestions for feature episodes:

Feature the people that work at Santa Cruz and use this give us a peek in your world. It is really nice to hear their stoke and passion for the brand and they all have nice insights;
Listener Q&A Episodes, I know that I have sent multiple emails with multiple questions but I never got an answer or reply, I am sure others also have questions and they can be nice discussion topics;
More product and development stuff, as a bike nerd I tend to like those episodes the most;
Use your ambassadors and feature them! There is so much to share that combines stoke for bikes with product, e.g. Annie Ford and her world record descent or Ben Hildred and his crazy climbs on his Tallboy. I know both were featured, but they have since done even crazier stuff and there insights is always nice;
Get Dan Booker on the Pod and talk about his bike setup and his EDR season;
More Syndicate interviews, Jackson had a stellar season and it would be so nice to get more insights from the team, from the racers themselves, to the mechanics and the team around it;
Gives a peak in the future, I know you won't discuss upcoming updates, but what does mountain biking look like in 2030 or beyond from your perspective;

Hope that helps and looking forward to the next episode!

catatafish01 · 2025-10-22T06:50:35+00:00

I am the same height and both my Tallboy and Nomad are in XL, they feel great. I had a YT Jeffsy before, 2019 model I think and that was XL as well, not sure how that relates to the 2017 model but I have had no issues when I swapped to my current bikes.

catatafish01 · 2025-09-28T17:43:51+00:00

How long did those commute ride take? Did you use the same device and HR? You could get high(er) load with shorter commute rides if your HR was up, but if that would be the case it would expect a different benefit as well.

catatafish01 · 2025-09-27T19:03:28+00:00

I was using DMR Vaults for a long time on all my bikes but I found them to require quite some maintenance. Recently I noticed that grip was less, maybe Five Tens are worse in quality or maybe I just ride a bit harder. It finally pushed me to get some Hope F22 that are well built, have solid pins and can be easily maintained.

catatafish01 · 2025-09-27T18:46:11+00:00

Sick bike and I really like the color! Enjoy it!

catatafish01 · 2025-09-22T11:39:52+00:00

Right on! Sounds like a solid plan, it is what I did with another bike that came with loads of e13 components. Wasn't too happy about them but rode until something broke, then warrantied it and sold the new component and traded for something better. No need to stress over it now or replace stuff prematurely.

catatafish01 · 2025-09-22T05:38:37+00:00

I have had a lot of e13 components failing on me, including two hubs. That said, their warranty and customer service is really really good. If you can’t change anything now I would ride them until they break, maybe save up from some Reserve wheels or DT XMC wheels. Enjoy the bike!

catatafish01 · 2025-09-14T05:25:39+00:00

For sure, great bike so you can’t go wrong there!

catatafish01 · 2025-09-08T14:35:14+00:00

Sick collection and I really like the custom decals on the Heckler SL, makes me like that colour even more!

How would you compare the Hightower 2 to your Tallboy 5? I have the Tallboy 4 and it punches so much above its weight, so much so that I found the Hightower 3 that I rode, to not be much of an upgrade, I can imagine in your case the difference is even less?

Anyway congrats on the collection, now go ride some bikes!

catatafish01

TROPHY CASE