Anyone rode a 5010 and a tallboy?

Personally I’d go full 29 at that travel range without question unless you are planning on mostly dirt jumping and jibbing.

Responding just to hear more responses. Not long ago I would have said, 5010 is just a shittier Bronson now that its mullet. But now seeing what they did to the Bronson (and Hightower)... I feel the 5010 MX is somehow valid now. Sadly. I've wanted to demo a 5010 and tallboy on the same day/trails now to kinda understand... How similar and/or different they are. Ultimately, I'd wager they feel nearly identical if you close your eyes (maybe don't ride with your eyes closed). But the most notable change is of course a 27 inch rear wheel. Just in terms of tipping it over side to side and fitting through corners... It's superior. It's not like the 5010 isn't gonna climb well or be light, etc. That said... I think in this travel range if you're just doing average riding the Tallboy is still a more sensible choice, for all around riding and sourcing rims long term. Would love to know what other people think... Wish it was easier to demo both back to back.

Shock and tire choice also point to the riding experience.  5010 is spec with burlier fork, shock, and tires.  This points to intended use--not as fast/light, but beefier DH abilities.

I mean... They're 10mm apart in travel and only half a degree off up front. If you're comparing apples to apples with the R builds, they run the same shock. Throw the exact same tires on the Tallboy and I reckon the on trail feel is very very similar. The most notable change being the small rear tire leaning over and flicking easier.

My perspective based on a similar 2 bike quiver and 5'6" as well.  My two bikes are canfield balance (180/170mm 27") and Pivot Switchblade (160/142, 29").  I'm looking to replace the Switchblade with a mullet similar travel and get rid of the 29 as I want to play more on blues and buzz butt less on black + trails.  

I haven't rode either of those, but think if you want an all day pedal bike that travels as fast and efficient through blue ish terrain, go the Tallboy.   If you want to jump, slap turns and give up a tiny bit of pedalling efficiency go 5010.  Both will be faster uphill on most climbs than the Nomad, but on steep technical climbing you may find yourself clearing more on the Nomad as traction is better.

My thoughts, having been a two bike quiver guy for a number of years now. 

1) Either bike will work. What will dictate how well either the Tallboy or the 5010 climbs is going to come down to the build kit - specifically, tires and wheels.

2) Speaking of tires, there is no free lunch here. You either have tires you can smash or tires you need to be careful of line selection/how stupid you feel like being. 

3) 27.5 or 29" rear wheel won't really matter either direction here (no pun intended). Either can be setup to climb well, and clearly both can work well descending, too. 

I'd make the decision based on how much travel I really want to have and what I can get a better deal on. Again, either will work. I know it gets pricey quickly, but if you really want to get the most out of a shorter travel bike, you almost need two wheelsets. Maybe this is one thing that skews you toward the 5010, you could borrow the wheelset from the Nomad bike when you want a short travel bike that is more responsive to rider input. 

 

Yeah, ultimately the Tallboy is a shorter wheelbase. I think the biggest part of the story given how similar they are is OP said they are 5'6... And with a descending focus it seems. I doubt the bikes would be worlds apart climbing uphill, but especially for 5'6 I can see the 5010 being a much more comfortable and confident descender. Wagon wheel rear with short travel working its ass off to not bottom out and punching back at this guys bum over and over probably isn't... What he's in the market for. Closer to 6 foot and with big ol long legs the comparison becomes very different.

I have a nomad 6 with what sounds like a similar setup, dh tires, coil suspension 39.5lbs.  I also have a full 29r 135r/150f trail bike that shares a stable with the nomad.  I do like having a full 29r as a stable mate to a mullet bike as it's something completely different.  That being said, I'm 6'2", so a full 29r doesn't really impact maneuverability for me.  

I do live in socal, so pretty much all of my riding is very steep terrain, and that is my drug of choice in general.  In your situation, I would sorta lean to the 5010, based purely on your height.  That being said, I don't think you can go wrong either way.  If you're the kind of person that is doing big days on a relative hoss like the nomad, you're not going to be blown away by the pedaling different between a 5010 and a tallboy.  As others have stated, it's going to be the tires selection that's going to dictate 90% of the pedal-ability of your trail bike.  

I'd honestly test ride both and buy the one that speaks to you.  I could easily make arguments for either, but for me it would come down to ride fantasy, or what I envisioned doing/riding with these bikes when I close my eyes.  If it's all day epics and going hard on climbs, surfing that line of breathing vs puking and wanting to run much faster tires... then I would pick tallboy.  If it's all day epics, and still mostly getting your fullfiment out of the descents and still going easy/moderate on the pedals, still looking for features to pop off of, schralping berms and running a dhr2/assegai type of tire with a bit lighter casing... then 5010.  

Edit: I have ridden the new 5010 and the current tallboy.  Both are quite good.  The new 5010 is my favorite of the two... mostly because my default mode is riding fast and not necessarily riding fun.  The 5010 rides fun and encourages you to do so.  

"If it's all day epics and going hard on climbs, surfing that line of breathing vs puking and wanting to run much faster tires... then I would pick tallboy.  If it's all day epics, and still mostly getting your fullfiment out of the descents and still going easy/moderate on the pedals, still looking for features to pop off of, schralping berms and running a dhr2/assegai type of tire with a bit lighter casing... then 5010."

This exactly.  I've owned prior gen Tallboys and currently have a 5010.  It's companions are a 160/145 lightweight ebike and a RAAW Madonna, both dual 29.  The 5010's job is to help me have the most fun possible on "normal" trails, and it does that very, very well.

This may not be applicable because you're buying a complete bike and, making assumptions based on your height, not all that heavy, but there's more to say about forks.  Sure fork travel is only 10mm difference, but you can drop a Lyrik to 140 and run it on the front of the 5010.  I'm 6'2" 220 ready to ride.  I value compliance and have a Lyrik rather than Zeb on the front of the 160 ebike, but I was worried about a Pike at 140.  I want to push the 5010 and scare myself a little on trails the bigger bikes would eat up.  Something worth considering.

If you swap forks, I'd highly recommend an older/lower end fork with an MRP Lift.

Hope this helps!