News

All-new Santa Cruz Hightower 2020 announced

Santa Cruz have just announced an all-new Santa Cruz Hightower with 29″-Wheels, 140 mm travel and a do-it-all philosophy. You can check out all the information you need, right here from Santa Cruz themselves:

If ever a bike resembled your most cherished mixtape compilation, the Hightower is it. Featuring our lower-link mounted shock design, and updated, adjustable geometry, this “Engineering Best Of…” assembles some of our biggest design pleasers into one belter of a road-trip companion.

Santa Cruz Hightower CC XX1 AXS | 150 mm/140 mm (f/r) | 29″ | € 10,899

The Hightower has been a does-it-all-well trail bike since its inception. More manoeuvrable than its longer-travel sibling, the Megatower, and more at home in the steep-and-chunky than its snappy cousin Tallboy, Hightower excels when the route covers ‘all points in between,’ and descents come courtesy of some big-ass climbs. The VPP suspension’s lower-link-mounted shock position creates a nearly linear leverage curve, meaning it mops up bumps of all sizes and maintains the kind of progressivity normally reserved for our V10 DH bike!

Most important features of the all-new Santa Cruz Hightower

  • 140mm VPP® rear travel, 150mm fork
  • 29-inch wheels (27.5+ compatibility)
  • Head tube angle adjustable to 65.2° or 65.5° via flip chip.
  • Available in aluminum, CC and C carbon
  • Santa Cruz Reserve 30 carbon wheel option
  • Lifetime warranty
  • Made for: Anywhere, anytime, no matter the rider
  • Sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL

140mm of rear travel complemented by a 150mm front end gives Hightower just a bit more front and rear travel over the first generation model. Combined with a slacker 65-degree head tube angle, the Hightower still sits squarely in the Goldilocks zone, but with a touch more “Oh sh*t get me out of here” capability when the porridge gets too hot!

Balancing stiffness and weight savings in all the right places is a hallmark of all Santa Cruz carbon frames and the Hightower flies the flag yet higher. The advanced composite chassis tracks well across all trail surfaces, holds a line, and is reactive to rider directions while isolating pedal influenced inputs.

All models in detail

The Hightower also has a bonus disc to heighten the experience — the flip chip. In the High setting, the BB height is a little higher for those tricky tech trails and/or when Plus sized tires are required. In the Low position the shock rate is more progressive, to provide additional bottom-out resistance. Whatever mood you’re in, the tone of the Hightower can be adapted to meet your individual taste. And speaking of taste, there’s a room for a water bottle inside the main frame and a threaded BB for convenience. There’s refined cable routing for better shifting performance, simpler installation, and no cable rub. On top of that, there’s a tailgate shuttle guard, downtube protector, shock fender and noise cancelling chainstay protector keeping things quiet.

The lifetime frame warranty, lifetime pivot bearing replacement policy, and lifetime guarantee on the optional Reserve carbon wheels assures you that the Hightower will keep delivering the hits for years to come.

Santa Cruz Hightower A D 29

Fork RockShox 35 Gold RL 150 mm
Rear shock FOX Float Performance DPS 140 mm
Brakes SRAM Guide T 180/180 mm
Drivetrain SRAM SX Eagle 1×12
Wheels WTB ST i29 TCS 2.0 29″
Tires Maxxis Minion DHR 3C EXO TR 2,4″
Seatpost Race Face Aeffect
Price € 3,399

Santa Cruz Hightower A R 29

Fork RockShox Yari RC 150 mm
Rear shock FOX Float Performance DPS 140 mm
Brakes SRAM Guide R 180/180 mm
Drivetrain SRAM NX Eagle 1×12
Wheels WTB ST i29 TCS 2.0 29″
Tires Maxxis Minion DHR 3C EXO TR 2,4″
Seatpost Race Face Aeffect
Price € 3,899

Santa Cruz Hightower A S 29

Fork RockShox Lyrik Select+ 150 mm
Rear shock RockShox Super Deluxe Select+ 140 mm
Brakes SRAM Code R 180/180 mm
Drivetrain SRAM GX Eagle 1×12
Wheels RaceFace AR Offset 30 29″
Tires Maxxis Minion DHR 3C EXO TR 2,4″
Seatpost RockShox Reverb Stealth
Price € 4,899

Santa Cruz Hightower C R 29

Fork RockShox Yari RC 150 mm
Rear shock FOX Float Performance DPS 140 mm
Brakes SRAM Guide R 180/180 mm
Drivetrain SRAM NX Eagle 1×12
Wheels WTB ST i29 TCS 2.0 29″
Tires Maxxis Minion DHR 3C EXO TR 2,4″
Seatpost Race Face Aeffect
Price € 4,699

Santa Cruz Hightower C S 29

Fork RockShox Lyrik Select+ 150 mm
Rear shock RockShox Super Deluxe Select+ 140 mm
Brakes SRAM Code R 180/180 mm
Drivetrain SRAM GX Eagle 1×12
Wheels RaceFace AR Offset 30 29″
Tires Maxxis Minion DHR 3C EXO TR 2,4″
Seatpost RockShox Reverb Stealth
Price € 5,499

Santa Cruz Hightower C S 29 RESERVE

Fork RockShox Lyrik Select+ 150 mm
Rear shock RockShox Super Deluxe Select+ 140 mm
Brakes SRAM Code R 180/180 mm
Drivetrain SRAM GX Eagle 1×12
Wheels Santa Cruz Reserve 30 29″
Tires Maxxis Minion DHR 3C EXO TR 2,4″
Seatpost RockShox Reverb Stealth
Price € 6,699

Santa Cruz Hightower CC X01 29

Fork RockShox Lyrik Ultimate 150 mm
Rear shock RockShox Super Deluxe Select Ultimate 140 mm
Brakes SRAM Code RSC 180/180 mm
Drivetrain SRAM X01 Eagle 1×12
Wheels RaceFace ARC Offset 30 29″
Tires Maxxis Minion DHR 3C EXO TR 2,4″
Seatpost RockShox Reverb Stealth
Price € 7,399

Santa Cruz Hightower CC X01 29 RESERVE

Fork RockShox Lyrik Ultimate 150 mm
Rear shock RockShox Super Deluxe Select Ultimate 140 mm
Brakes SRAM Code RSC 180/180 mm
Drivetrain SRAM X01 Eagle 1×12
Wheels Santa Cruz Reserve 30 29″
Tires Maxxis Minion DHR 3C EXO TR 2,4″
Seatpost RockShox Reverb Stealth
Price € 8,599

Santa Cruz Hightower CC XX1 AXS 29 RESERVE

Fork RockShox Lyrik Ultimate 150 mm
Rear shock RockShox Super Deluxe Select Ultimate 140 mm
Brakes SRAM Code RSC 180/180 mm
Drivetrain SRAM XX1 Eagle AXS 1×12
Wheels Santa Cruz Reserve 30 29″
Tires Maxxis Minion DHR 3C EXO TR 2,4″
Seatpost RockShox Reverb Stealth
Price € 10,899

Santa Cruz Hightower CC XTR 29 RESERVE

Fork RockShox Lyrik Ultimate 150 mm
Rear shock RockShox Super Deluxe Select Ultimate 140 mm
Brakes Shimano XTRC 180/180 mm
Drivetrain Shimano XTR 1×12
Wheels Santa Cruz Reserve 30 29″
Tires Maxxis Minion DHR 3C EXO TR 2,4″
Seatpost RockShox Reverb Stealth
Price € 9,999

The geomentry of the Santa Cruz Hightower

Size S (Low/High) M (Low/High) L (Low/High) XL (Low/High) XXL (Low/High)
Seat tube 380 mm 405 mm 430 mm 460 mm 500 mm
Top tube 567 mm 596 mm 619 mm 646 mm 680 mm
Head tube 90 mm 100 mm 110 mm 130 mm 155 mm
Head angle 65.2/65.5° 65.2/65.5° 65.2/65.5° 65.2/65.5° 65.2/65.5°
Sitzwinkel 76.7/77.1° 76.6/77.0° 76.5/76.8° 76.3/76.6° 76.0/76.3°
Chainstay 434 mm 434 mm 434 mm 434 mm 434 mm
BB Height 340/344 mm 340/344 mm 340/344 mm 340/344 mm 340/344 mm
Wheelbase 1,179 mm 1,208 mm 1,232 mm 1,261 mm 1,296/1,301 mm
Reach 425/428 mm 450/453 mm 470/473 mm 490/493 mm 515/518 mm
Stack 603/601 mm 612/610 mm 621/619 mm 639/637 mm 662/660 mm

For more information head to santacruzbicycles.com


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Words & Photos: Santa Cruz