Pete has spent the winter finding out what the top spec Hightower available in the UK can with the latest tweaks to this classic.
An all-singing, all-dancing spec and that classic Santa Cruz ride feel. Does it all add up for the Santa Cruz Hightower CC XO1 AXS Reserve on the trail though? Pete has been finding out.
Key features:
- Fox 36 Float Factory 150mm fork
- Rockshox Super Deluxe Ultimate shock
- SRAM XO1 AXS Eagle 12-speed drive
- SRAM Code RSC brakes
- Reserve 30 HD on i9 1/1 hubs
- Rockshox Reverb Stealth dropper
- £9,599.00 RRP
- SantaCruzBicycles.com
Geometry
The Hightower is available in Small to XXLarge. I am testing the Small. The Hightower comes with a Hi/Lo flipchip.
Reach on the Small in Lo is 427 combined with a 380mm seat tube. Head angle is 64.5 with a seat tube angle of 76.7 degrees. Chainstays are size-specific at 431mm, with the wheelbase coming in at 1183mm.
Since I last checked in, the Hightower has been everywhere and done everything asked of it. From laps of the woods to big hill days, arguably the only thing it hasn’t done is a trail centre, but that’s not really my bag anyway.
What I still can’t get my head around, despite this being a bike knocking on the door of ten grand, is just how light it is. Rarely has a bike this capable come in this light and shrugged off the knocks time after time. Climbing, as a result is a breeze, even if you you can feel the anti-squat working hard in the easy gears. A feeling that takes a little getting used to.
Normally, I would opt for a size Medium Santa Cruz, running about the 450mm mark reach-wise but the bike I got was a size Small. While it’s not small by any measure, it’s certainly at the lower end of what I can comfortably ride. The 125mm dropper doesn’t drop far enough to keep the saddle out of the way when it comes to the steep stuff mind.
When you get the bike up to speed on the bigger, faster, more open stuff, the smaller cockpit does start to run out of wiggle room, and at the end of the descent, those 180mm rotors will be asking you to stop. I appreciate that for that kind of work, a Megatower would be the better pick, but this is a very capable 145mm 29er that feels like it’s mildly hamstrung by a lack of heat dissipation in the brakes.
Despite my concerns that the EXO tyres might not be up to the task, much like the rotors, they haven’t let me down yet, staying full of the same air they had in them when the bike arrived. That said, if it were my bike, I’d put a MaxxGrip tyre on the back and enjoy the extra traction over the shorter lifespan.
That said, fling it around some tree slalom in the woods or a less point-and-shoot hill day and the Hightower will have you going faster than your brain can calculate all too quickly. It took no time at all to find the damper sweet spot, and I haven’t changed the settings since.
I think it’s fair to say that I haven’t ridden a bike off-road faster yet with more composure than with the Hightower, it really is a delight to ride. Beyond the initial AXS battery issues, the components have been flawless with not even a minor niggle despite it having the wettest of winters to deal with and near daily laps.
What do we think?
While it might cost the equivalent to a house deposit/second hand car or van (delete where appropriate), the top tier Santa Cruz Hightower is a rocketship that will give you more smiles than pretty much anything else out there. Once you’ve recovered from the rate of knots it got you down the hill, it’s capable enough to get you back to the top for another.
We love:
- Lightning quick
- Confidence-inspiring
- Go anywhere capability
Could do better:
- Needs bigger rotors
- It’s almost ten grand
