Long Termer: Santa Cruz Hightower – Part 1

Okay, okay. This isn’t really a ‘first ride’ sort of review. After all, I’ve already done one of those all the way over in Patagonia a month or so ago – but this is a ‘first ride’ in that dust doesn’t feature at all. Or sunshine, or anywhere foreign or exotic…

So if you’re coming to this article cold, here’s a quick recap: as I’ve previously mentioned, the Hightower the replacement in Santa Cruz’s pantheon for the much-loved TallBoy LT, but it differs from that bike in several important respects. Firstly, it’s carbon only. C or CC (which is blingier) – no aluminium. It’s longer, it’s slacker, it runs the VPP3 suspension system, same as the Bronson or the Nomad but with 135mm of travel, the chainstays are quite a lot shorter, and it’s got enough clearance to run either 29in or 27.5+ wheels. You can fiddle with fork travel and a little chip at the back end to keep the bottom bracket at an appropriate height and the angles similar between the wheel sizes.

So far, I’ve been running the bike with the wheels I brought back with me – 29in Easton ARC rims laced to DT Swiss 350 hubs, all shod with Maxxis Minion DHR IIs, and I have no complaints at all. I should stress, though, that the build I brought back with me was from the US – and as a result there are some spec. changes compared to the UK Hightower CC. If you buy the equivalent bike from the UK, with the same fork, shock, and groupset, you’ll get Hope Pro II hubs and WTB i29 asym rims instead. The same Minion tyres, mind. There are other, subtle, differences too. The Race Face stem is replaced with a Burgtec, and the dropper changes from a Reverb to a KS Lev, for example.

So how is this most Californian of bikes shaping up in the slop of a Yorkshire winter? Very well, as it happens. There is scads of clearance for mid when running 29in wheels, as you’d expect, for one thing. The lower pivot’s apparent ‘mud shelf’ hasn’t been much of a problem so far either – possibly a combination of the sort of runny, gritty slop round these parts and the small rear-triangle brace keeping everything out – although I can see in more gloopy climes that it might also serve to keep as much in as it does out (something for further testing, I think).

The lack of a front mech does afford a load of space for clag to fall through, though, which can only be a good thing.

The short chainstays and long reach give ample room for Body English, and an excellent position to pop the bike about – it definitely feels more playful than the Tallboy LT – and the slack head angle also bestows a feeling of confidence, too – it’s hard to imagine throwing yourself over the front. And so far, happily, I haven’t had to.

I do feel, however, that I can attack favourite bits of trail with more pep than I’m used to – and there’s predictability and liveliness in the steering which belie the longer wheelbase. Braking is assured so far. I’ve always been slightly skeptical of SRAM’s guide brakes, but these ones are happily disabusing me of any untoward notions – they’re controlled, they modulate well and so far they’ve been excellent. My test bike has 180mm rotors front and rear; I may well swop out the front one for a 200mm though – just because I’m fat.

In short, I’m enjoying the Hightower very much. It’s doing everything without fuss, it’s increasing what I thought a mid-travel 29er would be comfortable with, and occasionally it’s way more of a wide-eyed maniac than I am – in a very good way.

So what’s next? Well, apart from the brakes I’ve already mentioned, the obvious thing to do is to stick on some of those 27.5+ wheels and tyres, to see what happens. This means extending the fork from 140mm to 150mm, and messing about with the shock mounts to raise the bottom bracket. I’m going to swop out the saddle, and possibly the bars – saddles are a very personal choice; this one is fine but not, to my arse, a sofa – and I’m going to play with the rise on the bars a little – these ones are flat. Comfy enough, for sure, but dead flat.

Watch this space…

Review Info

Barney Marsh

Barney Marsh takes the word ‘career’ literally, veering wildly across the road of his life, as thoroughly in control as a goldfish on the dashboard of a motorhome. He’s been, with varying degrees of success, a scientist, teacher, shop assistant, binman and, for one memorable day, a hospital laundry worker. These days, he’s a dad, husband, guitarist, and writer, also with varying degrees of success. He sometimes takes photographs. Some of them are acceptable. Occasionally he rides bikes to cast the rest of his life into sharp relief. Or just to ride through puddles. Sometimes he writes about them. Bikes, not puddles. He is a writer of rongs, a stealer of souls and a polisher of turds. He isn’t nearly as clever or as funny as he thinks he is.

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