A Month in on the Hightower + One Race

A month in after building the Hightower & enjoying it in all weather I’m a 29er convert completely blown away with the bike, it sadly means the Bronson has been gathering dust in the garage.

The bike is poppy fun and agile which I was sceptical about but mow completely blown away with it, I’ve had to change my riding style slightly & adjust to the increase in grip and also how quickly it gathers speed. I’ve done lakes rocky rides, steep techy descents & played on of piste runs in Dalby and did the Boltby bash Enduro on it last weekend. Despite one rather high speed of at the end of stage 4 and a mid stage stop to remove debris from the rear wheel it resulted in 4th in class so I’m rather pleased.

Lastly I built mine up 150 front end & glad I did, the Pikes have proved to be perfect.

good to hear, I have got my eye on one (currently have tallboy LTC which i love). Are you running 29 or 650b+?

Running 29er Stuker & very pleased with it, the suspension is impressive though that could be how 29ers ride compared to other wheel sizes.

Went straight for pike 150’s and glad I did oh and worth noting, I was considering a 170 drop reverb (costly) but due to the frame shape / design I think a 150 is perfect, it’s a large frame & I’m 6ft and feels perfect.

Cheers

I think i might have been admiring your hightower at the boltby bash, red one with a bit of tyre on the downtube?

Very nice.

Also very please with mine.
Coming off a Tallboy LTC.
Prefer it with B+ wheels in rather than 29ers though I have both so keep swaping them around.
Just fitted one of these too.
Looking forwards to the weekend to get it setup.
Fox X2 by multispeedstu[/url], on Flickr

thats interesting SSStu…..how different does the bike feel with B+ vs the 29ers?
I have not ridden many B+ bikes but have demoed a couple of stumpies in B+ format and i found both of them a bit ponderous at the front. I would probably stick to 29er on the Hightower but would be interested to give the B+ a go as well.

singlespeed shep yep that was me blathered in mudd but had a ball though I did think I’d trashed the rear wheel such was the clattering from the branch it took in.
The bike was perfect never missed a beat apart from the old bloke riding it ! a smashing event.

Keen to know your thoughts singlespeed Stu on how you get on with the + wheel & tyre set up as I’m contemplating it my self.

Just need it to stop raining, not stopped for 2 days here then back out on it.

Just need it to stop raining, not stopped for 2 days here then back out on it.

Are they water soluble then? 😉

I did a back to back demo on one at Aston Hill with 29er and 27.5+ wheels on the downhill tracks. The 29er felt very similar to my Bronson, just a little more stable and faster. The plus wheels felt like I was cheating! They smoothed off so much of the chattery stuff and braking bumps. Only time they were crap was on slippery gloop but I suspect that was due to tyres (Maxxis Ikons had very small treads).

I’ve got a 29er on order (waiting for 1 x 12 Eagle XX1 in July) but was chatting to Sixth Element about a second set of plus wheels. 150mm forks and both wheel options really should make it the perfect one (and a bit) bike does it all.

Fancy mine with 36s and a FloatX2 but will try it with the standard RS stuff first and see how I get on..

I know but It’s a poor excuse to let my old legs recover & try & get some filthy riding gear washed.

I’m waiting for Eagle 12spd as well, I thought it was early June?

The main difference that I feel between the + and 29er wheels is similar to hughjay up there^^.
They just seem to smooth stuff out.
Had a week up at Inners and rode it with the + wheels in until our last day then I put the 29er wheels in so that the bike would fit on the uplift trailer.
It just didn’t feel as confidence inspiring. I’m trying to stick with the 29er wheels for a bit to see if I just need to adapt back.
I also notice the same kind of feeling when I switch from + wheels to 29er wheels in my hardtail.
For the price of another set of wheels it’d be daft not to have the choice.
Only takes a few minutes to change between the two.

Do you have two cassettes and sets of rotors? A second XX1 12 speed cassette isn’t a tempting prospect although it’ll even out wear I guess.

Surely 1 cassette would be better and just swap it between wheels, otherwise you would get chain skippage as the cassettes might wear differently

One cassette and two pairs of rotors for the reasons above.

Possibly a daft question, but I assume identical hubs will be needed to ensure the rotors line up, or are they all built to a standard position?

If your wheel swapping get identical, most are just about in the same place but saves any hassle

I’ve got a pair of pro2’s and a pair of pro4’s on the Hightower.
They’re near enough to not bother adjusting the calipers.
Pro2’s and Kings on the hardtail.
Rear is near enough, front need a small tweek of the caliper. Takes about a minute.

How are y’all going for sizing on these? I sat on an XL in the lbs and it felt fine, which I’m surprised about as I am just 6 foot. Had a pretty short stem though

I test rode a Large and I;m just 6 foot too. I could standover an XL just fine, but a 150mm reverb was almost full inserted and I like the idea of a 170mm version. After my V1 Bronson, the L feels very long anyway so I didn’t see the point of an XL.

6′ with a 32″ inside leg here on a large.

Seems large would be the option then

What length stems are you using?

Cheers

50mm but thinking of trying a 35.

I’m 5’9 32″ leg and found the Large perfect for me ( which surprised me as I’m medium on every other bike)

6ft with 34 leg & a large fits me fine, really feel sat in the bike nothing like my initial thoughts.

Wheel swapping is very straight forward no issues, the bike just gets better & doing a 50K loop last Sunday in the peaks taking in Cutgate showed how good the bike is on Strava compared to my Bronson.

had a demo on one last weekend in surrey hills and loved it. Its a completely different beast to its predecessor. frame now on order!

Now got a 35mm stem on and got the X2 99% dialed in.
Eli checks out the Hightower. by multispeedstu[/url], on Flickr

Hightower peeps – what water bottles / cages are we finding to fit? Presumably the neato Fabric cageless one won’t?

Got one on order, went for the red but now wondering if I should change to the black and change the decal colours? Anyone care to post up their bikes?

Mine should arrive tomorrow….I’ll only be able to stroke it for a good few months after tomorrow’s shoulder op 🙁

Anyone care to post up their bikes?

Here’s another pic of mine.
2016-07-10_02-17-27 by multispeedstu[/url], on Flickr

I’m really quite tempted on one of these. Any more opinions on 650b+?
Is it here to stay do we think?

I have B+ and 29er wheels for mine.
The B+ are getting a lot more use.
Including a week in Verbier.

Yes. I like yours. Give it to me. 🙂
Do the tyres feel squirmy at those low pressures?
I really need to demo one of these ASAP.

Where about are you?

Brizzle. Think I missed the skyline cycles demo day.

If you’re ever in the Midlands or Mid Wales give us a shout and you can have a go on mine.
If a large will fit you.

Thanks stu. That’s very kind. Large should be perfect too.

heres mine..medium Hightower CC frame on 29er Light bike/Hope wheels, pike 140/ dbinline.

Singlespeedstu (or anyone else) – could you share your X2 settings to give me an idea of where to start?

Also, pointers on bottles/cages that fit the frame (XL) would be much appreciated.

Yours, a very excited soon-to-be Hightower owner