Santa Cruz Hightower Review | Is it a 5/5??
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2024
- 2021 Santa Cruz Hightower X01 Reserve Build ride and review! This bike is almost identical specs to the 2022 model. Check out how I rate this bike on the climbs, descents & overall! Check out my Comparison video's here:
• Santa Cruz Bronson VS ...
• 2021 Santa Cruz Highto...
Such a sweet build on a sweet bike!
Thank you! What bike are you riding right now?
@@dialedmtb I've got 2. SC Tallboy and SC Hightower.
Just completely rebuilt my Tallboy with wider, higher rise bars, 1x12, new brakes, new dropper and a few other bits. Feels like a new bike. The Hightower is almost new, I just put new 2.5wt maxxis dhf and 2.4wt dhr on it and had the brakes bled.
Nice that is awesome! You have some rad bikes!
Love my Hightower. Bought a 2021 Carbon S build, didn't like the GX components, nor the code R brakes. Upped to XO1 AXS rear derailleur, and code RSC brakes. Best bike ever !!
That’s awesome! Super solid build!
I put a 54t ratchet kit (DT Swiss 350 Reserve wheels) and a 30t Bergtec oval chainring on my 2021 Hightower to improve the climbing. Both helped.
Yeah I put that 54t ratchet upgrade kit on mine as well! it definitely helped! I will probably try an oval chainring soon!
Just got one of these used yesterday and can’t wait to try it out this weekend. I own a V3 5010 that I ride everywhere including bike parks. Really looking forward to see how the HT does in steep black diamond local trails and then in the bike park in the summer! Thanks for the review like the details you went over!
Hey, glad you liked it! I think you will be super pumped with this bike basically anywhere you take it. I think it will actually climb faster then your V3 5010, and it should be quite a bit faster on almost any descent as well. Let me know what you think about it!
What build and color did you end up with?
@@dialedmtb just came back from a ride and yes it does climb and descend faster, it just has more momentum all the way around. I will need a bit time to dial in the suspension and get used to turning radius on back to back turns. I got the Orange frame. It was an S build but the previous owner upgraded to fox 36, reserve wheels and XX1 cassette and derailleur.
Yeah I’d say in about 3 decent sized rides you should have the cornering figured out on the thing and will be ripping on it from then on!! But that is a rad build!
Nice demo bro. What is your height? What size of frame?. Thanks!.
Hey man! I’m just over 5’8” and I’m on a size medium.
Cool vid. I've been debating between a 21' Hightower XT and a 22' Tallboy GX. Which one would you recommend? I personally like the ember color of the Hightower more than the TB colors but not sure I need that much suspension.
The ember color was a 2021 color so unless your shop has left over ones then you’d get the black color or the matte Mellon. But honestly I think the Tallboy is my favorite Santa Cruz bike for me, where I live. What kind of trails do you have? But I’d say get the XT Tallboy if you can. The spec on that one is super good!
@@dialedmtb Yeah, only one of my LBS has an ember color 21' Hightower XT in stock so that's why I was interested. All the other stores have the 22' models. I actually placed a deposit on a TB with GX that's supposed to arrive in Feb. I'd prefer XT but I haven't seen any in stock. I ride trails in the Bay Area, Cali (like Alum Rock Park, Calero County Park, and Fremont Older Trail) and I don't think I need more than 120mm of suspension so the TB should be perfect.
Yeah the Tallboy will be perfect!!
killer review … How do you think the hightower would do on say Sage Fright or some of the other jump lines at Eagle . I am debating between Nomad , HT and Bronson. I think the Nomad is maybe more than I need and an tired of pedaling an Enduro bike up hill
Thank you!
But the Hightower would do just fine on Sage Fright, it would actually probably be a little more fun because it’s lighter and more flickable in the air.
@@dialedmtb thanks ... sounds like the Hightower is the next bike. Or the ripmo or the sb140 or the sb130 :)
Definitely check out the 130! I wish I could ride/demo a Ripmo but none are available. I have heard that bike is amazing also though.
What single track area is this?
I have a 2020 Hightower CS Medium… I rode a large 2022 Bronson mullet and felt more confident, should I sell and buy the Bronson or convert the Hightower to a mullet ?
I would say if you liked the feel of the new Bronson more you should get that. Making the HT a mullet eill
not create the same feel that the Bronson has.
Can u review and compare the giant trance x 29 2.
I wish I was able to! None are around me to Demo.
I disagree, the climbing is the fun part. The descent is the reward.
Haha definitely not a bad way to put it!
I have an GX S build w the lyric upfront would this 22’ with a 36 upfront be better or same ?
It’s going to be very similar, I think if you were to get the performance elite or factory 36 with a Grip 2 then that would be better but the performance to the lyric will be similar.
Do you prefer the SC HT over the Yeti 130 lunch ride?
If you are a more aggressive rider then the 130 for sure, if you are a more relaxed rider that can get aggressive if they want but not preferred then the HT.
do you prefer this over the optic?
That is super hard.. if they were the exact same price for the same build I may take this over the optic.. but there is no way I would pass over the C2 (XT) or the C1 (XTR) build for so much less money then then Hightower. The C2 is $5099 and a similar build HT is $6949 with almost identical builds. I think the optic will be closer to $6k for 22' but still a great bike and an amazing value.
@@dialedmtb why is the ht priced so much higher with a same build spec ?
Well just the Santa Cruz brand is more expensive in general. SC has a lifetime warranty and lifetime bearing replacement while Norco has a standard 5 year warranty. Other then that there’s not much separating the brands in my opinion after owning both.
Hightower has been on my radar for some time now. I just pulled the trigger and got one to join my 5010 in my quiver
That’s awesome! How are you liking it so far?
@@spicymountainbike I ride a 2019 SC 5010 and have the 2021 Hightower on order, waiting for it to get here in the next month.
@@dialedmtb still waiting for it to arrive 🤦🏼♂️
I like the hightower better then the 5010, but disclaimer.. I like 29" wheels newer geo bikes way better then anything else. They climb faster, roll over things better, and descend better/faster. 27.5 has its place for about 5-10% of riders but that's why you see so much more going on in the 29" world these days.
@@dialedmtb for the most part I love the Hightower. I ride in southern Utah so there are a variety of trails. I like the 5010 for tight technical trails cus it’s smaller and maneuvers easy. The Hightower feels so much more amazing descending downhill. I’ve already tried it out at Brianhead and Deer Valley bike parks and I was impressed. My wife likes to ride with me so I used that as an excuse to keep both 😂.
Is this your goto ride ?
This bike has stayed in my fleet longer then any other bike recently. I’ve had it for a year now so definitely one of my favorite bikes.
@@dialedmtb I’m between this and the Tallboy.
What build option are you looking at? For me that would honestly make the decision for me.
@@dialedmtb GX
I would probably go with the HT for the GX build level.