New Santa Cruz Hightower gets extra travel and geometry update for increased traction and comfort

The fourth-generation Santa Cruz Hightower continues to embody the do-it-all ethos of the original Hightower, launched in 2016, but gets a significant overhaul for 2025 in a bid to make it even more capable and versatile.

Although the new bike also runs on 29in wheels at the front and rear, there’s now 150mm of rear-suspension travel on tap and a focus on a smoother, more traction-rich ride thanks to tweaks in how that travel is delivered.

The geometry has been updated too, boasting a slacker head angle, steeper seat tube angle and a marginally longer rear centre.

Santa Cruz is offering six builds (three using its 'C’ carbon frames and three with the pricier ‘CC’ carbon frames), starting at $4,799 / £4,899 and topping out at $10,899 / £9,999 for the all-singing, all-dancing XX AXS RSV build.

Five things you need to know about the new Santa Cruz Hightower

• Rear-wheel travel upped to 150mm, while the fork is bumped up to 160mm
• New, lower shock position and revised pivot placements result in less anti-squat, which is said to remain active while climbing and reduce pedal kickback
• Head angle has been slackened to 63.9 degrees (in the ‘low’ setting), while seat tube angle has been steepened to around 78 degrees
• Only available in ‘C’ or ‘CC’ carbon, the latter of which will only accept wireless drivetrains
• Five sizes (29in wheels on all sizes) and six build options available, starting at $4,799 / £4899 for the C R spec, all the way up to $10,899 / £9,999 for the top-end XX AXS RSV bike

More travel, traction and composure

Santa Cruz claims the Hightower is “probably the bike that most people need”. But why?

As many brands with a bike like the Hightower will claim, this could be the one bike to rule them all, the quiver killer or even the best do-it-all machine out there.

It’s a proper all-rounder and Santa Cruz has done its utmost to keep it that way, despite a few changes that might make you think it could be treading on the longer-travel Megatower’s toes.

What hasn’t changed is the wheel size. The Hightower continues to run on 29in wheels and is designed specifically to do so. Take a look at the revised Bronson if you prefer a mixed-wheel setup with broadly similar intentions.

For 2025, the Hightower gets 150mm of rear-wheel travel – a bump of 5mm over the outgoing third-generation frame. This is paired with a longer-travel 160mm fork up front.

Not only has Santa Cruz upped the travel at the back, it has also altered how it’s delivered.

While the Virtual Pivot Point (VPP) system is still used, the feel of that 150mm of travel should be different.

Santa Cruz has moved the shock deeper into the frame and rotated the lower of the two links further forward and down.

Like the Bronson, the shock now sits low in the frame’s ‘bird's nest’ – a triangulated structure above the bottom bracket junction, which provides easier access to the shock.

The resulting change to the pivot placements has reduced the anti-squat (the measure of how much the suspension design resists bobbing as you pedal).

It’s said this change has been made to help keep the rear suspension more active while pedalling up rough, technical terrain, as well as reducing pedal kickback when the rear wheel smashes into square-edge impacts, reducing any harshness.

According to the graph shared by Santa Cruz, though, anti-squat should still be well over 100 per cent at sag and provide a fairly efficient ride.

Should you wish to switch from an air-sprung to coil-sprung shock, there’s now more room around the shock where it pierces the seat tube, making this a possible aftermarket upgrade option.

Top-end frames cut out the cables

At present, Santa Cruz is only offering the fourth-generation Hightower frames in its ‘C’ or more expensive ‘CC’ carbon.

While that isn’t outside the norm, what is more newsworthy is that, just like the Bronson and carbon Specialized Stumpjumper 15 that launched earlier this year, the pricier ‘CC’ frame won’t have internal routing for cable-actuated drivetrains.

The higher-end carbon frame will only work with wireless gear systems, which will limit what owners can switch to later down the line should they destroy a derailleur.

Whether this is a good or bad thing is certainly up for debate.

The slightly more wallet-friendly ‘C’ version of the bike does, however, come with internal routing for cable-actuated systems, which many riders will appreciate.

Longer, slacker and more capable geometry

The changes to the suspension weren’t the only thing in store for the Hightower, which now gets a slacker head angle, steeper seat tube angle and slightly longer rear centres.

Like the previous version of the bike, the new Hightower features a flip chip at the lower shock mount, which enables you to alter between two geometry settings, ‘high’ and ‘low’.

This gives you 0.3 degrees of adjustment at the head and seat tube angles, 1mm difference at the chainstay, and alters the reach and bottom bracket height by 3mm.

In the low setting, Santa Cruz says the head angle is a slack 63.9 degrees (that’s 0.6 degrees slacker than the outgoing model), while the seat tube angle is now closer to 78 degrees – nearly a full degree steeper than the third-generation Hightower.

Why am I being a little vaguer with this figure? Well, it varies across the size range, so while the small should measure 77.3 degrees in the low setting, the XXL frame should be steeper at 78.1 degrees in a bid to give riders of all sizes a similar position between the wheels when seated.

Reach figures range from 432mm on the small to 523mm on the XXL (again, in the low setting), while the rear centres (otherwise known as effective chainstay lengths) vary from 435mm up to 446mm.

Devil in the detail

Santa Cruz offers a lifetime warranty on its carbon frames, bearings and carbon wheels.

While there’s no doubt all of the bikes I’m about to list here cost a lot of cash, it is reassuring to know there’s some form of back-up available should things go wrong.

Onto the details, and if you’re not a fan of wearing a cycling backpack, like other bikes in the Santa Cruz range, the new Hightower comes with integrated down tube storage (dubbed the ‘Glovebox’).

This has been updated and features a new latch design, which should keep it nice and secure once you’ve stuffed all the spares and snacks you could possibly ever need inside.

Maximum rear tyre width is 29x2.5in, there are ISCG 05 tabs around the bottom bracket should you feel the need to bolt a chain guide in place, a Universal Derailleur Hanger that will be easy to replace and a threaded bottom bracket.

Santa Cruz Hightower range overview

While all Hightowers get the same Maxxis Minion DHF and Minion DHR II tyre combo, it’s only the SRAM AXS-equipped bikes that will also feature the mighty SRAM Maven brakes.

There’s also only one bike in the range to feature a RockShox fork (the C R model), while the remaining five use Fox suspension at the front and rear.

Santa Cruz Hightower C R

• Frame: C carbon, 150mm travel
• Shock: Fox Rhythm
• Fork: RockShox Lyrik Base, 160mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM NX Eagle
• Brakes: SRAM DB8
• Wheels: Reserve 30 TR 6061 rims and SRAM MTH hubs
• Price: £4,899 / $4,799

Santa Cruz Hightower C S

• Frame: C carbon, 150mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float X Performance
• Fork: Fox 36 Performance, 160mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM GX Eagle
• Brakes: SRAM DB8
• Wheels: Reserve 30 TR 6061 rims and DT Swiss 370
• Price: £5,699 / $5,999

Santa Cruz Hightower GX AXS

• Frame: C carbon, 150mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float X Performance Elite
• Fork: Fox 36 Performance Elite, 160mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM GX Eagle AXS
• Brakes: SRAM Maven Bronze
• Wheels: Reserve 30 SL 6069 rims and DT Swiss 370 hubs
• Price: £6,599 / $6,999

Santa Cruz Hightower CC X0 AXS

• Frame: CC carbon, 150mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float X Factory
• Fork: Fox 36 Factory, 160mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM X0 Eagle AXS
• Brakes: SRAM Maven Silver
• Wheels: Reserve 30 SL 6069 rims and i9 1/1 hubs
• Price: £7,799 / $7,999

Santa Cruz Hightower CC X0 AXS RSV

• Frame: CC carbon, 150mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float X Factory
• Fork: Fox 36 Factory, 160mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM X0 Eagle AXS
• Brakes: SRAM Maven Silver
• Wheels: Reserve 30 HD and i9 1/1 hubs
• Price: £8,799 / $8,999

Santa Cruz Hightower XX AXS RSV

• Frame: C carbon, 150mm travel
• Shock: Fox Float X Factory
• Fork: Fox 36 Factory, 160mm travel
• Drivetrain: SRAM XX Eagle AXS
• Brakes: SRAM Maven Ultimate
• Wheels: Reserve 30 HD and i9 Hydra hubs
• Price: £9,999 / $10,899