SANTA CRUZ chameleon 2001 ostensibly calm and amicable

[rasumichin]

No, to be honest, this was built for "aggressive XC" but I do not like that term. After a bunch of rigid old school builds and evermore armed riding buddies I just lusted for a bike with front suspension.
Most parts were already waiting in the shelf and thus I needed a frame like the 2001 Chameleon with 68mm Bottom bracket shell, 1-1/8'' head tube and 27.2mm seat post diameter (making it a medium chameleon MK2). The seat post can completely disappear in the seat tube which makes this bike ready for steep descents and hilarious jumping. The geometry is just right with 16'' seat tube and 22.6'' horizontal top tube.

Marzocchi marathon s 2003 eta 105mm
Kingsbery roller bearing ahead set
wheels: bullseye, DT swiss, mavic 519, WTB velociraptor
drivetrain: bullseye 184 mm, onza buzz saw 24 & 34, sugino 42, Shimano XT 730 732 736 | dura aca ax 14 - 31
steering/sitting:moots, selle italia flite, gary fisher
brakes: PAUL

12,00 kg (26,4 lbs)



The marzocchi marathon s is a nice fork.


It has more than enough travel, is plush and with the eta option ... beneficial on steep climbs.


The chainstays are beefy and short (416 mm in this setup), which allows easy rear wheel riding. Surprisingly, i cannot notice any more stiffness as compared to my steel bikes.


Never before I had seen the KINGSBERY roller bearing ahead set. It is light (129g), wide (56mm) and it has a broad separate screw on its top for finetuning the roller bearings.


Overall, its fun to ride and I just need to get accustomed to that fashionable upright riding position.

Cheers,
Alexander

 

[rolondo]

I love this bike. Great selection of parts too. I had a Chameleon for several years - one of the most versatile frames Santa Cruz made.

 

[rasumichin]

^thank you!

The chameleon has a head badge now (sticker made by http://www.allmartn.de/)



... and a bullit bros chain tensioner. This reduces chain slap on the root carpets around.


Going up a steep climb yesterday I was presented with an unexpected view on this grey day

 

[Grannygrinder]

Very nice, my sort of xc bike. But i have to ask, how long is that seatpost? :shock:

 

[rasumichin]

Thanks; that seat post is 380mm and it sticks at least 10cm in the seat tube. That was stated by santa cruz in 2001 to be the minimum seatpost insertion length. The wtb phoenix and some of the cunningham mtbs inspired me to test this long-seattube-geometry. It rides a bit like a softtail (I had a YBB for 2 seasons) without beeing too bouncy at ascending.

 

[rasumichin]

Re:

Now with odyssey elementary stem and riser bar.



Good for gnarly single trail and rocky trialy passages.

 

[Mindmap3]

Looks good buddy.

I really like Chameleons having had three plus one for my other half. They just seem to cope with all sorts of riding, living up to their name.

Are you missing a none drive side drop out insert? Either that or I can't make it out in the pic!

 

[yeti_bomb]

Looking rad

 

[PeteC]

Lovin' that one. Especially like the Bullseye parts on there---don't see that everyday.

 

[rasumichin]

Re:

Thank you!

@Mindmap3 Yes I need to source one of these reinforcement inserts. I got the frame with disc tabs attached. The drop out inserts are available via ebay.com but would cost me as much as I paid for the frame :facepalm:.



The other side is in place.