Submitted by
Joe Ferrari
a Downhiller
from Crawley ,England
Date Reviewed: May 25, 2001
Strengths: As soon as you get on a chameleon you notice how fast it accelarates.this bikes accelerates like a rocket!i found that this frame also flexs alot less than most frames.its lighter than most of it's competitors.this is the best handeling bike i have ever riden,its very stable and always cotrolable but is very exicting and inspiring to ride.its also very strong,you dont expect a hardtail to take a 9 foot drop.the hope c2 brakes are the best i will never buy an open system after using these.sport hubs are almost faultles.the sid 100 is very plush.
Weaknesses: the frame has next no tyre clearence.it has no disc mount so i have to run a hope torque arm an extra short hub.the sid 100 feels great but bend too easily.race face turbine lp's are creaky pices of crap,no matter what i try they never stop creaking.the un52 bb keeps snaping.the dmr seat creaks alot.
Bottom Line:
this bike is great. it is the best handeling hardtail i have ever riden.it's strong, reasonably light and is very stiff!!!
Similar Products Used: ellsworth specialist,orange msisle,orange airo,p3,spooky bandwagon,spooky metal head,dmr trailstar,dmr sidekick etc...
Bike Setup: sid 100,chris king headset,azonic bar and stem,xt shifter and rear mech,odi ruffian grips,hope c2 brakes,hope sport hubs on 321's with dt spokes,intense comp 60 tyres,dmr pedals and saddle,thomson seat post,race face turbines,mrp world cup 2.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Font9a
a Cross Country Rider
from Austin, Texas, USA
Date Reviewed: September 26, 2000
Strengths: geometry, welds, acceleration, climbing, horizontal dropouts for ss
Weaknesses: very stiff -- requires front suspension for offroad riding
Bottom Line:
This bike is amazing. I've only set it up to ride ss and it does that with aplomb. Santa Cruz built a bike that I never dreamed could come close to a CycleCraft 24 geometry. It is super quick and very stiff.
Since I commute 15 mi. day and have started to ride offroad 10-30 mi. day, additionally I've had to compromise and put a SID on the front. The SID's a great fork, but it takes a lot of fun out of street and trials riding. As a ss this bike was much funner on the street with a rigid fork. It was quicker, stiffer, more predictable, more stable in the air.
Riding offroad is a lot of fun, and maybe if you have pure dirt trails with few rocks/technical sections you can ride this thing rigid -- but not here in Austin.
I imagine this bike would function really well for xc geared riding, but it's so much fun as a ss, I don't have any reason to clutter it up.
Similar Products Used: ss cyclecraft 24, ss kastan 24, ss elf 24, ss firehouse 26, ss cooks bros 26, ss kona 26
Bike Setup: med frame, sid xc, raceface turbines, dx platform pedals, xtr levers and brakes, bontrager bars, stem, dean Ti post, ck headset, mavic sbp 15 rims on dx hubs, green michelin sprints
Strengths: I bought the Santa Cruz Chameleon last year after racing on a Specialized M2 for 3 years. Nothing wrong with Specialized, just needed a lighter better manuevering bike and got it. The Chameleon corners like crazy, anything tight and twisted is no problem. Climbing? Well this bike practically takes itself up hills with a little effort from the person in the saddle. My only beef? It slams down rough decents because of the stiff chain-stays and it takes getting used to. But overall it's a damn good buy.
Weaknesses: No weaknesses found, a little rough on decents.
Bike Setup: SID xc front suspension, Salsa barends and grips, Chris King headset, Mavic cross rims, IRC mythos tires, Avid brake levers all else XTR Shimano.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Dave
a Weekend Warrior
from Manlius, NY
Date Reviewed: October 14, 1999
Strengths: This bike has balls. Super tight acceleration from the square chainstays and all around excellent attention to the frame. I haven't fixed it up to do single speed or BMX, but I'm itchin' to try it, and I'm sure it'll work incredibly.
Weaknesses: The bike has balls, but it also kills yours because it's not exactly forgiving...using a hard seat isn't something I advise. The decals are on the surface of the paint, and have already partially been scratched off.
Bottom Line:
This bike is pure bliss. No ifs, ands, or butts. I never really looked at it until I got a deal on the frame for only $450. After a little coercing I decided to stick it out and fork over the cash for it. Definitely the best decision of my biking career (ok, hobby). I live in NY where there's a lot of foresty singletrack and no real need for full suspension, so this is the ideal bike. Plus, wherever I go people have practically never seen the bike because Santa Cruz is West Coast (could ya guess?), so everybody looks at it like it's an alien. Plus the Sid blue paint job (it's gorgeous, go for either that or the billet), black SXr fork, and red striped on the Fire XC tires look really crazy. Overall it's a dream...shop around, find the best price, and pick this bike up.
Similar Products Used: GT Avalanche and Zaskar Klein Attitude Comp Specialized Stumpjumper and Rockhopper Kona Muni-Mula
Bike Setup: I got this mail-order, so I was able to shop around. It's pretty much XT parts, Manitou SXr, raceface chainrings, FSA cranks, Fire XC tires
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
alex watterson
a Downhiller
from alpharetta,ga
Date Reviewed: July 6, 1999
Strengths: Yo, this bike is phat! with the 1 inch square chainstays and the lightness of it this is a great bike for all kinds of riding. It handles better than any bike I have ridden.i tried out everything from A to Z and i got a chameleon. I had a heckler untill i got a chameleon and for just cruzing around on the heckler it kind of took it out of you. The chameleon you can stick a huge long travel fork on and be ready for slalom, or put a sid on and your ready for xc. Also if you have ever had to warienty a bike from a different company you have computers and recordings answering the phone and then you have to figure out where you need to be transferd to then wait for someone to pick up. at Santa Cruz Real live people actualy pick up the calls and they are people who could answer any question you could possible think of. They have the best customer service out of all the bike companys. for the price of this bike nothing else compares.
Weaknesses: Can't think of any.
Bottom Line:
I had a lot of $ to spend on a bike and could have bought anything. This totaly blew away the competiton and saved me a lot of $.
Similar Products Used: Schwinn Factory homegrown XTR Trek 9900 Specilized Stumpjumper Santa Cruz super light*this was my 2nd choice Mongoose newman frames
Bike Setup: Chameleon in lime green. King headset with a 99 sid sl. King hubs with dt spokes on a crossmax rim. Continental tires. Syncros stem with easton ct2 bar and seatpost.Everything else is XTR
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Julian Parkes
a Downhiller
from Bristol, England
Date Reviewed: June 20, 1999
Strengths: This bike is a dream to ride.... I have been riding full suspensions for about 3 years and then my bike got stolen... I read about this bike in MBUK and thought i would give it a try... It is the perfect dual slalom/ jump bike as it can take a good long travel downhill fork but is always a great jumper... this has gotta be the besat bike on the market
Similar Products Used: Kona chute... This bike isn't even close to the chameleon
Bike Setup: Bomber z1's hope pro hubs built onto mavic 521 disc's, hayes disc brakes, xt groupset...
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Jib
a downhiller
from newcastle (england)
Date Reviewed: November 5, 1998
Bottom Line:
This bike is great for a long travel fork it is spetially designed with a modified head tube angle and extra head tube gusseting.The frame has wonderfull attention to detail from the box section to the horisontal drop outs.In the past it has said to be a little on the heavy side which is a sacrifice for extra strenghth, this is why this bike is best suited to dual slalom rather than cross country as advertised.There is a pre built up version of the chameleon with bommer z1's (the chameleon expert) these forks are exactly what it needs and the bring the best out in the frame, giving supperior stearing and suspention activeness.Santa-cruz are a very renouned name with a ora of a high level of workmanship and quallity about them, who can argue at this price?
