Santa Cruz once again has a 29er trail bike in its line. The Hightower builds on the pedigree of the Tallboy LT with a host of refinements that make it an entirely new, more versatile machine.
- Longer, lower and slacker than the Tallboy LT
- 135mm rear travel
- 1x specific frame design
- Available in 29er and 27.5+ builds
- 73mm threaded bottom bracket
- Offered in M, L and XL frame sizes
- Claimed frame weight with Monarch RT3 shock 5.88lb / 2.68kg
- Available now
Bringing back the big gun
Santa Cruz rolled out its first long-travel 29er, the Tallboy LT, in the spring of 2012. At the time it was an incredibly capable machine, but the evolution of 29ers, and trail bike geometry in general, left it looking steep in the front and overly long in the rear when compared with some of the recently released 29er trail bikes. Santa Cruz retired the Tallboy LT at the back end of 2015, leaving many riders to wonder what would come next.
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The Hightower shares the same 135mm of rear suspension travel as its predecessor, but the geometry and handling is different enough that Santa Cruz opted to give the bike a new name to accompany its more aggressive personality. If you're into numbers the, the Hightower's head angle is 2.5 degrees slacker and the chainstays are 15mm shorter than the Tallboy LT. Frame reach has increased considerably across all frame sizes, too. As a result, Santa Cruz won't offer the Hightower in an XXL as it did with the Tallboy LT. The reach of an XL Hightower is approximately 16-18mm longer than an XXL Tallboy LT, depending on the wheel configuration – more on that in a bit.
The majority of features incorporated into the Hightower follow the same steady progression of refinements Santa Cruz rolled out last year with the redesigned Bronson and 5010. Like these two smaller-wheeled siblings, the Hightower uses a reworked VPP arrangement, with the lower VPP link tucked above and behind the 73mm threaded bottom bracket shell. (Yes, Santa Cruz stays the course with a threaded BB. Thanks, guys!)
The Hightower also features internal cable routing for the rear derailleur, a 148x12mm rear thru axle, and a 31.6mm diameter seat tube to accommodate 150mm dropper seatposts, which comes stock on all complete bikes. Unlike the Tallboy LT, the Hightower is a 1x specific machine.
Big wheels or big rubber – you choose
Build kits, pricing and weights
So how does it ride?
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
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