I was quite keen to check this out when I saw it on my FB this morning, but it seems they’ve gone back to the bad old days of short front ends.

Reach of 445mm on the large frame. That’s same as my Enduro 29 (which is not even the new version).

Oh well, couldn’t afford one anyway.

I’d want the L for the reach but couldn’t live with a 100mm dropper so would need the seat tube of the M.

Aha, now I get it.

Just as they were getting somewhere with the new Nomad as well.

I presume this model will be cheaper to reflect their reduced tooling costs then?

I presume this model will be cheaper to reflect their reduced tooling costs then?

Funnily enough:

Hightower LT R Carbon C – $3949 USD
Hightower R Carbon C – $3999 USD

BARGAIN

(Also – the LT has only has one position for the shock link, Hightower has high and low settings, and the LT won’t take Plus wheels)

There’s been a lot of chat around plus tyres not really being much of a benefit on FS, maybe they think the same? Or maybe making a bike that takes both and the resultant affect on BB height is seen as too much of a compromise.

Who knows, but they do have other bikes in the range, with the exception of a fat bike, they pretty much cover all bases.

You could say they’re getting lazy, if George is right about them nicking the front end off the normal Hightower.

😛

Definitely Chaka, or just gently refining something that already works, in a VW Golf type thang.

They do that with rear tri too, I’m sure the Bronson and the Nomad have the same rear tri whatever the size of the frame. Other manufacturers may do this too, I haven’t looked, only really crunch numbers of bikes I sort of intend buying.

Probably – but it’s unusual to see a company like SC taking a shortcut – can’t imagine a longer front triangle with steeper SA would have been beyond them, given their budget and backing.

Not suggesting the bike doesn’t work, but it is basically just a modified Hightower with a different linkage and longer fork, rather than being designed ground up, and there are a few compromised made in geo as a result.

Slightly surprised it’s only a 150 mm fork – guess that’s a product of sticking with the non-LT front triangle. Most people I know already run the non-LT with 150 mm so with the LT overall you’re only gaining 15 mm travel at the back. Hardly seems worth it.

As for reach – as recommended above I’d look at sizing up as appropriate. The standover on these things is massive – I run a 170 mm drop Reverb easily.

oops!

So another over priced mass market bike pretending to be a boutique bike. I dont understand how they get away with it.

Is there a price difference anymore between high end ‘mass market’ and medium volume ’boutique’.

2/10 for effort on this SC… I would hazard a guess that the rear triangle is also mostly the same just with an updated brake mount (which will magically appear on the regular hightower soon…). The lack of plus compatibility could just be a side effect of longer shock stroke and tyre clearance at bottom out.

Anyone ordered one yet ?

Likewise .. I’ll see what StartCycles can offer, just can’t decide on spec.