![]() ![]() While these components certainly add to the experience of the review, I’d say the meat of the ride quality lies with the frame design itself. This particular Chameleon was custom-built for a tradeshow using Hope UK parts and a few fancy upgrades. In fact, I tried my hardest to compare this bike to my steel bikes in terms of stiffness or resonance but couldn’t.īest of all, the Chameleon comes in two build kit options and a frameset offering, all of which are very appealing to your wallet ($1,699 for the D complete kit, $2,349 for the R complete kit and $749 for the frame!) The bigger tires also drastically reduce the otherwise chattering experience common with aluminum hardtails. This frame has evolved to be up-to-date and relevant in this ever-changing industry, resulting in one of the most enjoyable rides I’ve experienced on a production hardtail. Based on a 120mm fork, the Chameleon might seem under-equipped, sitting in there amidst big bikes like the V10, but alas, this bike, like its natural world namesake, has a few evolutionary tricks up its sleeve.īeing able to fit a 3″, 27.5″ or a 29″ x 2.4″ wheel, thanks to the dropouts which add 15mm of adjustment, is not necessarily a new thing for the MTB industry, or Santa Cruz itself, but it is for the Chameleon and its exactly what it needed. The geometry got slightly tweaked too, with a short 415mm chainstay, a head angle of 67.5º and a bb height of 315mm. ![]() These are for either gears with a boosted 148mm x 12mm axle or single speed with 142mm x 12mm axle. 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. Chameleons don’t actually change color to “blend” into their surroundings. ![]()
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