Since then, I’ve gone on several overnight and multi-day bikepacking trips and the Santa Cruz Chameleon is one of the most comfortable bikes I’ve ever ridden. When I first bought my Chameleon I went on a 26-mile, 3700ft+ pedal close to home to test it out and the only complaint I had was that the handlebars need upgrading to ones that have more hand positions. And the Santa Cruz Chameleon delivers on that front. This is perhaps the most important consideration for a bikepacking bike, right? If you’re spending hours upon hours, days upon days in the saddle it better be comfortable AF. The geometry is great for long days in the saddle But steel frames are also quite a bit heavier and slightly more expensive not to mention there are far fewer choices to pick from). (As a side note, a lot of diehard bikepackers will argue that steel frames are the best choice for bikepacking because they can be welded back together in times of dire need and they’re a more comfortable ride. So for me, aluminum is the way to go when doing hard and rugged bikepacking adventures. Aluminum can take wear and tear better than carbonĬarbon may be lighter, but when you start strapping bags and things to a carbon frame the friction between bag and frame can start wearing away the carbon material which, you might guess, is no bueno.The Chameleon now comes in only an aluminum frame, which is: It Comes in an aluminum frameįor bikepacking, an aluminum frame can be more durable than a carbon frame. It’s still cool to have the choice of what wheel size you want to run, thanks to the dropout technology, but you are a bit more limited by not being able to put a 27.5+ wheel on the front. Now you can choose from either a 29″ model or mixed wheel model with a 29″ in the front and a 27.5″ in the rear (aka a mullet). Unfortunately, for 2022 Santa Cruz has done away with the 27.5+ Chameleon. One of the features I really liked about my Santa Cruz Chameleon for bikepacking was that I could choose either a 29″ wheelset or a 27.5+ wheelset depending on the type of trip I was going on. The Chameleon comes with a 130mm fork which is perfect for both pedaling uphill and descending down moderate singletrack tech. Hardtails can feel more efficient than full-suspension bikes on climbs but unlike a fully-rigid bike, hardtails still absorb trail/gravel chatter thanks to the front fork.Īnother benefit to hardtails is that they can be loaded with bike bikepacking bags more easily than full-suspension bikes because you don’t have to fit bags (primarily the frame bag) around the rear shock. The Santa Cruz Chameleon is a hardtail, meaning that it doesn’t have rear suspension but it does have front fork suspension. I pedaled my Santa Cruz Chameleon 630 miles across Washington! Why I chose the Chameleon 1. On the other hand, if you’re like me and you want to have a quiver of bikes, the Chameleon is good for a lot of adventures but it doesn’t excel at them all. If you’re looking for the ONE bikepacking bike that does it all, the Chameleon (as its name suggests!) could be a really great fit. The Santa Cruz Chameleon is a great all-around bikepacking bike that can handle a variety of terrain from singletrack to gravel roads. For example, a dedicated gravel bike, a short-travel mountain bike, a mid-travel mountain bike, and so on. Since I ride bikes to earn my living with this blog, I prefer to have multiple bikes that are specific for each type of adventure. I sold my Chameleon because I’m the kind of person who wants the perfect bike for every adventure. If you keep reading through this post, you’ll see that it’s actually a great choice for multi-day biking adventures. Why did I sell it? Not because it wasn’t a great bike for bikepacking. In early 2022, I sold my Santa Cruz Chameleon after riding it across Washington, taking it on the White Rim Trail in Moab, doing the Cathedral Valley Loop, among other adventures.
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