Santa Cruz Bicycles

Hightower Carbon 29 XE Complete Mountain Bike - 2018

As the premiere choice in Santa Cruz's line for conquering formidable alpine terrain, the Hightower Carbon 29 XE Complete Mountain Bike laughs in the face of chunky rock gardens threatening to end your riding season and sketchy descents where falling isn't optional. When it was first introduced, the Hightower represented the longest travel 29er in Santa Cruz's range (now supplanted by the Hightower LT), instantly making it the go-to choice for challenging terrain and high-stakes lines on the mountain. For unmatched versatility, it's configurable with either 27.5+ or 29-inch wheels, courtesy of its flip-chip located along the upper linkage. In this particular 29er set-up, you'll find the Hightower exhibits greater rollover and speed-carrying abilities with its larger wheels.

This version of the Hightower benefits from the significant weight savings of Santa Cruz's resoundingly stiff and strong Carbon C frame. If you're unaware, a stiffer frame transfers rider energy into forward momentum efficiently, giving you snappier acceleration out of corners and spirited climbing prowess when you're earning your turns. The frame's internal cable and dropper post routing lends a cleaner aesthetic, as well as protecting cables from flinging muck and dirt. It's also equipped with a BSA threaded bottom bracket for creak-free performance, especially compared to the press fit bottom brackets.

In 29er form, the Hightower solidifies itself as an aggressive trail machine with its long, low, and slack geometry inspiring confidence at high speeds. The 67-degree head tube angle (in the low 29er setting) maintains composure for opening it up swift downhill sections of trail. The longer reach and wheelbase maintain a comfortable and confident position, ensuring you're never cramped during longer rides and extended descents in the mountains. And although it's longer than many bikes in its respective class, Santa Cruz trimmed down the chainstays to a relatively short 17.1 inches for quicker cornering than what you'd expect from a bike of this category.

As you'd expect from a bike of this pedigree, it's packing Santa Cruz's VPP suspension for an efficient pedaling platform with a progressive feel as you push deep into its travel. The newest iteration of VPP is revised from older versions, with the upper link now connected to the top tube in a configuration inspired by previous generation Nomads. The lower link neatly resides above the bottom bracket, protecting it from flinging rocks and damaging strikes. The revised VPP suspension is more sensitive off-the-top stroke, making it better at absorbing small bumps on the trail and laying down traction on rocky climbs. The mid-stroke is more linear than before for greater support until the end of its travel, at which point it ramps up considerably to prevent you from harshly bottoming out.

Looking into the details of the 29 XE build, you'll find a simplified 1x11 drivetrain with a mixture of Shimano XT, Race Face, and E13 for crisp shifts over a wide range of usable gears. For those coming from a 2x set-up, you'll find there's plentiful low-end for spinning up the steepest of climbs, thanks to the cassette's 46-tooth cog. And to keep up with the Hightower's capable descending, the Fox 36 Performance Elite features a stiff chassis and 140 millimeters of supportive travel.