![]() I have a bike with the same travel and similar geo and i'm actually wondering whether a bigger bike or smaller bike would make more sense. This bike should eat up flowy singletrack. With plenty of anti squat on hand, pumping the bike onto the back of the rollers propelled the ride forward at a hurrying manner. I even got along with the WTB Silverado sans diaper. 77deg seat tube angle was forward enough for my 5'9" carcass and bike has a perfect all day pedalling position. I like taller front ends and there won't be a Pisa tower of spacers under my stem. I was a big fan of the 115mm headtube on the size medium. 435mm on the medium is a snappy little turner for me. 3mm increase with each size is what you get. The size specific rear ends are a crowd pleaser these days and Santa cruz delivers on this front too. I'd play with it in the High position only if you wanted more clearance for your pedals. Don't worry about the flip chip at the base of the shock as it has very little effect on the overall numbers. The new bike supports a 64.5deg head angle which is inline with the new generation of trail bikes these days. The anti-squat values sat around 120% at around sag, swiftly dropping to 0 as you sink into the travel. The all day pedal machine Hightower doesn't pretend to be an Enduro bike but with enough anti-squat to keep you high up in the travel for excellent pedalling position and efficiency. Supportive is the word I'd use to describe the feel through my feet, as I couldn't sink into the bike as much as I do on the Orbea Rallon I am currently piloting. We had 145mm travel, and it was suggested we use all of it. I was suggested not to go past 32% sag on the Super Deluxe, as the progression has been reduced from the previous Hightower to create a supportive and predictable suspension feedback throughout the stroke. Not much in the sense of big compressions were found on the bench cut nature of the Willamette Forest Trails. It was a common agreement within the camp that the bikes should be set to "softer than usual" chassis for this non-technical fast single track we were navigating to generate traction and comfort. Rebound was set quick to match the rear of the bike. ![]() I settled on 80psi and just about fully wide open compression circuit on the Fox 36 Performance Elite. Taking mental notes of this characteristic, I reduced the shock pressure from the initial 185psi down to 180psi and opened up the rebound one click to get things settled in on the unfamiliar high speed singletrack. Tires were covered in fresh mould release, suspension was set up at 28% sag. Quite impressed with the setup provided, we went on a quick afternoon shuttle in previously rain soaked Oakridge trails. With my pedals in place, all I had to do was to raise the seatpost up a few milimeters to get a proper fit. I had provided my riding weight and measurements to suspension engineer Kiran at Santa Cruz. Normally I'd choose to run 780 to 770mm bars on a bike of this genre but out of laziness and curiosity, I left them at full width for the 3-day Media Camp. Sitting atop the medium Hightower, with its 455mm reach and 800mm bars, felt very familiar. I was invited to try the new bike out in Oakridge and Westfir, Oregon over the course of 3 days of shuttle assisted pedalling in a vast trail network. The category itself is crowded with the likes of the Scott Genius, Pivot Switchblade, Specialized Stumpjumper and the like. This really makes the Hightower family the most boring bike in the lineup, in a good way.įor this 2022 version, the Hightower 3 got some tweaks to make it more relevant and stay ahead of the competition. It is easy to ride uphill, across the hill and down the hill in most trail networks in the world. What that means is without having to push any boundaries and geometry numbers, it is a bike that can be ridden by anyone, anywhere without drifting to the fringes of the playground. Sitting in the middle of the sand box with all the Tonka toys nearby, the Hightower has always been a mountain biker's mountain bike. The new 2022 Santa Cruz Hightower, also known as the Hightower 3, is a refinement over the existing platform rather than a complete redesign.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |