Shop Santa Cruz Hightower
It's been eight years since Santa Cruz first launched the Hightower as their mid-travel 29" wheeled trail bike, ready for just about anything and capable of putting in some major saddle time. The Hightower has had some small bumps up in travel from 135mm to 145mm, and now to 150mm travel with the latest iteration, the Hightower 4. Paired with a 160mm travel fork, the new Hightower is seriously exploring its roots as a capable all-mountain bike and encroaching on enduro bike territory, as modern bikes get ever more pedal-friendly and burly at the same time.
What's New With The Hightower 4?
Santa Cruz aren't straying too far from their tried and true recipe with the Hightower 4 - it still runs 29" wheels with a VPP suspension layout, but there are some notable changes. Mirroring the changes we've seen with the Bronson 5, the Hightower gets an aesthetic refresh, with the updated shock tunnel area and a much lower-slung shock. These changes are not just aesthetic however - they enable the geometry and kinematic changes Santa Cruz have made to improve the overall ride quality of the bike.
The name of the game with the Hightower 4 then is anti-squat, just like the Bronson, but that's only part of the story. Combined with longer and slacker geometry, and bigger travel, the Hightower 4 is poised to take a more aggressive space in the all-mountain arena. With identical travel numbers and almost identical geometry, it really is a case of "choose your wheel size, and be a dick about it".
As we mentioned before, the most immediately noticeable change to the Hightower is in the shock area, with the tunnel being larger and more open, giving better access to the shock for sag setting, but also presumably aiding stiffness and weight reductions. The shock moves down and forward into the down tube, using the same new mounting system as the Bronson. Otherwise, the Hightower maintains a similar silhouette, albeit with slightly sharper lines and angles for an altogether more purposeful look.
Frame Details
The Hightower 4 frame comes in five sizes still, SM - XXL, with C and CC carbon options, CC being the lighter weight, higher grade carbon. Similarly to the Bronson 5, those CC frames are designed for wireless electronic shifting only, with no cable ports for mechanical shifting. C frames feature tube-in-tube routing for mechanical shifting. Each build comes two colour options - Old Growth Green or Matte Deep Purple.
The devil is in the details with the new Hightower 4; along with the new shock tunnel, the Hightower 4 features significant CNC machining in the linkage pieces, reducing weight and giving the bike a slick new look. That wider shock tunnel also means compatibility with coil shocks, for those that want to get really rowdy.
Other things that we know and love carry over from the previous generation of Hightower, including a threaded BB, Boost 148mm hub spacing, UDH back end, 2-position geometry flip-chip, integrated headset, Glovebox in-frame storage, rubberized frame protection, post mount btakes, ISCG05 chain guide mounts, clearance for 29x2.5" rubber, and a lifetime warranty on the frame and pivot bearings.
Suspension
On the Hightower 4, travel bumps up to 150mm in the rear and 160mm up front, from 145/150mm. While more travel is for the most part a good thing, the main news on the suspension front in the change in kinematics. Following the Bronson, the lower link and shock have moved down and forward, closer to the bottom bracket. This change has allowed the engineers at Santa Cruz to get closer to the kinematic they want.
Anti-squat is the magic property that Santa Cruz are chasing here. Anti-squat describes the way the suspension reacts to pedal input, and vise-versa, how the pedals react to suspension input. High anti-squat numbers mean that pedal input forces the shock to stay high in its stroke and resists compressing, which makes for an efficient pedalling platform, but means the suspension can be less active on technical climbs. Likewise, high anti-squat can mean that when riding downhill, suspension movement can pull on the chain, resulting in pedal kickback for the rider.
Lowering anti-squat numbers about 15-20% throughout the travel brings a couple of key benefits. Firstly, it should open up the suspension a little more under power, allowing for more sensitive suspension, translating into more climbing grip. Secondly, it should reduce pedal kickback when descending, making for a more calm and confident ride through choppy terrain.
Geometry
Geometry on the Hightower 4 moves trends toward longer and slacker, as many bikes are doing these days. Bigger travel credentials require the geometry to back that up, so we're seeing a 0.6º slacker 63.9/64.2º head angle, paired with a 1.2º steeper 77.9/78.2º in a size large. Reach grows by 6mm to 478/480mm and size-specific chainstays by 2mm to 439/440mm in that size Large. BB height and head tube length stay the same, keeping the ride height roughly the same.
Chainstays are actually shorter on the full 29" Hightower compared to the Bronson, since the smaller rear wheel on the Bronson requires a longer chainstay to achieve the same weight on the front wheel. What this tells us is that the Hightower 4 remains a balanced trail bike, but errs toward faster and more stable.
Who Is the Hightower 4 For?
The Hightower 4 is, and has always been, a multi-faceted bike, perfect for all-around trail riding. It stays true to its roots, with excellent climbing manners, not too much travel for blue flow trails, and extra capability for getting deeper and steeper when needed. The Hightower is the culmination of years of refinement, making a bike that's truly well-rounded, reliable, and with a versatile and balanced ride quality that's easy to get along with as a day to day one bike to rule them all.
Great for your weekend trail rides, alpine adventures, and the occasional bike park day, the Hightower 4 will do what you ask of it without fuss, so long as you don't expect it to be a fully fledged enduro/DH bike, or a world cup cross country bike. It's a mountain bike, and a damn good one at that.
Build & Spec
The Hightower 4 comes with a burly no-nonsense parts spec that gets the job done without compromising on weight or reliability, so you can ride day-in, day-out without worry. Every bike S-spec and above comes with a OneUp V3 dropper post, Fox 36 fork, and Fox Float X shock, while every bike with SRAM's T-Type drivetrains come with the ultra-powerful Maven brakes. All bikes come with a Maxxis Minion DHR II EXO+ Maxxterra/Minion DHF EXO Maxxgrip tire combo.
Starting at the C R spec, it comes with a Rockshox Lyrik base fork and Fox Rhythm shock, SRAM NX Eagle drivetrain, DB8 Stealth brakes on 200/200mm rotors, and Reserve 30 TR aluminum wheels on SRAM MTH hubs. The C S spec upgrades to the Fox Performance 36 fork, and Float X shock, GX Eagle drivetrain, DT Swiss 370 hubs, and OneUp V3 dropper. The C GX AXS bike gets Performance Elite suspension, GX Transmission drivetrain, Reserve 30 SL aluminum rims on DT 370 hubs, and Maven Bronze brakes on 180/180mm rotors.
Moving up to the CC frame, the XO AXS build spec gets Fox Factory 36 fork, Factory Float X shock, XO AXS Transmission drivetrain, Maven Silver brakes, and Reserve 30 SL aluminum rims on Industry Nine 1/1 hubs. The XO AXS RSV spec upgrades the rims to Reserve 30 HD carbon rims. The top spec XX AXS RSV uses the same Factory suspension, but upgrades to an XX AXS Transmission drivetrain, Reserve 30 HD rims on I9 Hydra hubs, and Maven Ultimate brakes.
The Hightower 4 is also available in a frame-only option.
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