Details of new Santa Cruz Hightower 3

some one in the industry might know more than me, but I always assumed that like cars most of the SCs these days would be bought on finance

So rightly or wrongly it’s the monthly cost thats more important than the overall figure.

Stif have the Carbon GX S build up for £649 down and £168 on 0% over 36 months( or to use the dailymails preferred measurement easily affordable by not buying two cups of coffee a day and canceling your Netflix sub)

The ease of payment probably explains why although the full builds are poor value they still sell.

I think they look like great in that purple

if I could justify a new bike id be really tempted.

yeti seem to change their design regularly and so did Trek until the were “inspired” by the Split Pivot

Yeti’s Infinity Link appears to date back to 2014 and the basic silhouette of a Trek FS (bar the XC race bikes) has not changed much since they moved to a rocker link years ago.

They have size specific chainstays, UDH, fully guided internal cables, integrated chainslap guard and downtube protector, threaded BB, easily user servicable suspension, on-trend but not ground breaking geometry including lowish seat tubes and head tubes that grow with the size.
And now a Swat box, which while they certainly arent innovators, it is far from a default feature of carbon full suss bikes currently

So why would you go for the Santa Cruz (apart from the name)?

Most current-gen carbon frames have these features (not all). Trek slash, Nukeproof mega, spesh stumpjumper evo to name a few.

The bikes I’ve mentioned are cheaper and generally better specced, even in todays market. Ironically, some are probably a lot more exclusive, especially in the UK.

So why should I be paying the extra cash?

Apart from the name, it doesn’t really have a USP. Its a shame, because in the past they were always a cut above the competition.

So why would you go for the Santa Cruz (apart from the name)?

Why did I? I recently bought a 5010.
One of the few carbon 650b bikes still around. (I imagine I will soon be a little wheel grounch, just like all the 26 aint dead bros)
And available frame only, so I can build it as I like – and reuse some of my existing, high spec parts.

Now I have it and have lived with it, I would, when it comes to change bikes which hopefully wont be for many years, be willing to pay full price for a frame. (I got a 2021 discounted)

@petedee given an epic frame is £4k what did you actually build/buy?

Don’t take it the wrong way but
4k frame
2k group set
900 fork
Decent light wheels 600+
Dropper 150
Brakes 3-400
Sadle grips stem bars headset etc 2-300
Tyres 150

So about 8.5k at retail, so if you got 45% off everything you’d be about there.

That was hard enough without simply buying what was on offer vs what you wanted pre covid, in the last 2 years it must have been border line impossible.

@dangeourbrain

Got the chisel ltd edition frame in water theme. It’s 1400g despite being alloy. It’s a fantastic frame. I’m not going to blow 4k for a few hundred grams with the epic. Can loose that for cheaper through exercise and fat loss.

Chisel ltd edition frame – 1.1k
Dt Swiss 391xr on bitex 211s – 550
AXS eagle mech/shifter with XX1 cassette and GX carbon crankset, hollowpinned xx1 chain – ~1.7k
Rockshox Sid ultimate race day 32mm -950
Specialized romano saddle ~ 80
Slx brakes (2pot) ~ 160
Rental fat boy lite bar ~ 100
Rotors – 80
Tyres ~ 100

Bought between sept and November ’21. Mate sourced and built my wheels. It was hard enough to source some stuff. Went with slx brakes as I couldn’t get xtr or xt at the time. Also got the only medium frame in stock in the UK in water edition.

Got the chisel ltd edition frame in water theme.

Sounds nice but we’re not really comparing apples with apples here, alu HT vs carbon FS. You do however make a good point in terms of better value if you shop around and build up. I built my v3 Bronson based on a new C level frame with new and mint s/h parts for about 4k.  I got almost that back in trade (plus I still have my better set of wheels to sell which were fitted to it) which enabled me to get my Megatower (good trade in meant I felt less ripped off – I’d have struggled to get close to that on eBay etc I think).  If I was starting from scratch I’d source and build again (though more difficult to get value in the current climate).

I suspect you’ve hit the nail on the head with that one. Plus for the retailer there will be a cut from the finance company from the interest charged

The supplier takes a bath on the finance. It’s likely one of the main reasons SC bikes are more expensive – you’re paying for the finance in the price. I believe SC run their own financing, so it’s just built into the price before you buy.

For bikes though generally the shop takes a hit on the finance. There’s no kickbacks for retail finance on bikes for most retailers.

Ive never understood the appeal of the full builds when the frame option is available.

Genuine question: what % of people buy their SC at full price? My local shop often has them discounted, makes me think that perhaps the advertised price isn’t the actual price.

Fender do this with their guitars. The RRP is basically an inflated made-up price so people feel good about getting a 10-20% off ‘deal’.

Genuine question: what % of people buy their SC at full price? My local shop often has them discounted, makes me think that perhaps the advertised price isn’t the actual price.

Those buying on 0% finance I would expect, which I would also expect is a shed load of people given the cost of them. The shop will take a hit on that but that means if you’re paying cash, they can give you 10+% off and they get the same in the bank at the end of the day.

Also worth noting that for companies with very effective marketing engines (Like SC) then selling them is a box shifting excercise. The bike is already sold, you just have to be the one to supply it to the customer. That usually comes down to either location (being the closest) or price. Or a combo of the two. You would rarely have to ‘sell’ the bike. That means that price is often the deciding factor. You just have to be careful you don’t undermine the market to the point that SC cuts you off.

For bikes though generally the shop takes a hit on the finance. There’s no kickbacks for retail finance on bikes for most retailers.

THats a big chance since I worked in retail. Yes there was a hit on any interest free deal because the money had to be sourced from somewhere but on interest charging deals we always got a % from the finance company

I never understood the apparent dislike of Santa Cruz bikes and, sometimes, their owners.
If you dont like the brand- don’t buy one.
If you like the brand but think they are too expensive- dont buy one.

We’re probably all here because we like bikes and riding them. Respect other peoples choices.

Genuine question: what % of people buy their SC at full price? My local shop often has them discounted, makes me think that perhaps the advertised price isn’t the actual price.

As posted earlier I got a very good trade in on my current SC bike (MT2, so a brand new in demand model), the difference between trade and what I would probably got amounts to about 10% I reckon.

My previous bike was a Bronson v3 I built (just before Covid price rise madness) on a C frame which I’d picked up new for a good price (they don’t normally sell C frame only, I think it had been stripped for parts for another build, full warranty etc).  I built a better than CS spec for significantly less than the CS price.

Prior to that I had a Bronson v2 Alu.  But I got that secondhand.

If you’re after the absolute highest component spec for the money then, obviously, look elsewhere. I think I’d value those things I listed over a drivetrain spec bump, for example

This.  I’d love AXS or other high end shifting, but GX (or SLX/XT) does the job well for me. I’m also not a suspension fiddler, I like to find something that works for me and leave it at that so top end adjustability / kashima holds less value to me too (as long as the chassis and damper perform well).

we see people that spend money just to appear flashy,

But thats not a fact is it? Its just your perception. Unless of course you asked them why they bought it and they said “to appear flashy”

I think it’s more buying into the brand image that he’s on about. Some may perceive that image to be ‘flashy’.  Personally I do like the image, I like the riders SC sponsor, I like the content they put out, I like the look of my bike, I like the dealer I use and I like the customer support from SC.  But most importantly I love riding my bike, to me it feels great, I like the VPP platform and I don’t care for what people think of me for owning one as long as I am happy. Without that last part, or if budget was a bigger issue I’d be riding a different bike.

It will be a real test of the market as interest rates rise. 0% finance will come under real pressure at that happens and I think thats driving a lot of the pricing we see nowadays.

Yikes, don’t mention Santa Cruz and Rapha together,,