This Spring, Santa Cruz sent us the new Hightower for testing. Now in its third iteration, the All Mountain bike is the brand’s utilitarian offering – the most “one and done” bike in their lineup. Since there hasn’t exactly been a ton of new developments in that category over the last couple of years, I was very much looking forward to trying it out on my local trails.
With new kinematics, internal downtube storage and a slew of other updates the sum of those parts make it a much different machine than the last Hightower, even if it might not appear to be upon first glance. Let’s dive in and see what all the fuss is about…
Starting out with climbing, we can contextualize things through past models from Santa Cruz – many of which featured a high degree of anti-squat and leverage rate curves that were less straightforward. Their latest models see reduced anti-squat and broadly speaking they have a fairly linear rate of progression. This means that the suspension compliance has improved massively – especially in the mid stroke, where successive impacts would otherwise feel rough and transmit feedback through the pedals. Reducing anti-squat too much can make a bike wallow in its travel but personally, I think that Santa Cruz aced it and found a nice balance point. Overall, the kinematics are greatly improved but do feature a bit more baked in movement on the climbs, so the tradeoff cost is a slightly less firm pedaling platform under power. In simple terms you may be reaching for that lockout lever more often on the long grinds. A worthy tradeoff for me…
As far as the handling is concerned I’ll start with geometry. The numbers here aren’t super aggressive, nor are they all that conservative. In short, they’re safe – as they should be on a bike in this category. This means that you could spend all day on this bike and not get exhausted by a machine whose angles demand high speeds and aggressive terrain. On the other side of things, it’s roomy and slack enough that a you can confidently descend the vast majority of terrain you’ll encounter on most rides.
At 6′ tall I tested a size large. While I personally prefer things a touch closer to the 480mm mark in terms of reach, I was quite content on the Hightower with its 472/475mm reach. As mentioned earlier, switching from the 42.5mm stem to a 50mm made me feel right at home – less behind the front axle. In any case, this is a really sprightly bike – it loves to jump and is very comfortable in the air. Things like traction under braking and in the corners were simply an afterthought and I found that the Hightower is really just a bike that you don’t really have to think about. The suspension is very sensitive and light off the top but I’ve yet to experience a harsh bottom out. While I had no real complaints about the suspension, I was left curious how the Hightower would ride with a coil shock but unfortunately it’s not compatible with one. When I reached out to Santa Cruz to inquire about this, they informed me that it wasn’t about kinematics but rather about squeezing out more dropper seatpost travel. By tightening up the hole that the shock passes through the bike gained between 10-20mm of post travel (depending on size) and on a mid duty bike such as this, I can absolutely see why that was a priority.
As far as how all of the frame features come though on trail, I obviously loved having the downtube storage as it just makes life easier and decreases the likelihood that you’ll need to carry a bag. The Hightower is also a super quiet bike – something that helps it become and afterthought on trail. This mainly is due to nicely designed rubber protection, sleeved internal routings and sturdy, well designed hardware. Distraction free riding really does add to the experience and provide peace of mind…
I’ve spent a decent chunk of time discussing the attributes of the frame itself because that’s what’s at the heart of things and is most important. Santa Cruz has Hightower models that start at $5,499 and reach up to $10,699, so you can get in where you fit in. As far as value is concerned, on the particular model I tested here it doesn’t exactly blow me away. You do get some very nice features that typically come at a hefty price such as electronic shifting and carbon fiber wheels. However there are a few small things like the 180mm front rotor and base model shock which are a little annoying on a bike in this price range. It is worth considering that Santa Cruz does offer a lifetime warranty and have incredible support on offer for spare parts on models going back decades.
At the end of the day I was very pleased with this bike and I’m not in a hurry to send it back. It ticks all the right boxes for a rider who would like the simplicity of having just one bike that does everything and does it well. That goes a long ways.
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