Santa Cruz’s new bike sounds perfect for local trail riders. 135mm of VVP travel at the back, a 140mm RockShox Pike upfront on the 29er model or a 150mm Pike for the 27.5+ shod bike. Plus the geometry is slack, long and low which ensures that it’s stable and shreddable – or at least so the foreign reviews are raving. The local Santa Cruz importers, Dragons Sports, tell us that the Hightower will be available on pre-order form your local Santa dealer with the first models landing on the shop floors in April.
The really cool thing about the Hightower is its ability to roll on either 29er or 27.5+ wheels. With the flip of a clip in the top suspension pivot and the swap of a fork you can ride the same bike on both wheel sizes. Or if swapping forks isn’t your thing (it’s a bit of a pre-ride palaver, aside from the cost of two Pikes) you can purchase the 27.5+ build option and just switch up to the 29er wheels if you’re after a more responsive ride. That said, Santa Cruz like Scott are opting to spec the Hightower with 2.8” 27.5+ tyres, which we think will make the bike a bit more versatile than the plus sized bikes spec’d with 3” wide tyres.
Both the 29er and the 27.5+ bikes are available in build options centred around SRAM GX, XO1 or XX1 drivetrains, but the South African pricing is yet to be confirmed officially to Full Sus. We suggest if you’re interested in one (and who wouldn’t be?) you drop on down to your local dealer and find out more. In the office the arm wrestle has already started for who’ll get to test it…
Visit www.santacruzbicycles.com for all the information.
