Santa Cruz Megatower C R review | Enduro Bike of the Year contender

Santa Cruz claims the Megatower offers downhill bike performance but is capable of being ridden just about everywhere.

It’s built around 29in wheels front and rear, offers up a generous 165mm of rear-wheel travel and comes with a carbon frame only.

The bike here is the cheapest on offer and features kit that’ll do the job but not exactly dazzle you for the asking price of close to £5,000.

While the rear end may feel a little muted and not as supple as some of the best enduro bikes when bouncing around in the car park, it’s a different story on the trail. For the most part, at least.

When things get rowdy, the Megatower is a solid place to be as it skims through the chatter, carrying speed with ease.

There’s no shortage of confidence when the trails get trickier, but it isn’t the most comfortable bike in this Bike of the Year category on longer descents.

Santa Cruz Megatower C R frame and suspension details

Santa Cruz offers the Megatower in either its pricier ‘CC’ or slightly cheaper and heavier ‘C’ carbon, as used for the bike you see here.

The Megatower also only comes with 29in front and rear wheels. Because the rear end uses a dedicated design around the 29in back wheel, there’s no scope to swap it out for a 27.5in hoop. If you want a bike with mixed wheels, you’ll need to try the Santa Cruz Nomad instead.

Suspension comes courtesy of the VPP system, which delivers 165mm of rear-wheel travel. This uses two counter-rotating links (which attach the front and rear triangles together) to create a virtual pivot point.

Engineers can tune this to eke out the best performance when it comes to bump absorption, as well as how the system behaves under pedalling or braking forces.

Santa Cruz has ensured the back end of the Megatower is able to work with either the air-sprung shock that comes as standard or a heavier coil-sprung shock, should you wish to make the switch.

If you want to increase rear0wheel travel slightly, Santa Cruz says you can slot a longer 65mm-stroke shock into the frame, bumping it up to 170mm.

Other interesting details include the Glovebox frame storage inside the down tube and a neat little mud flap to help protect the rear shock a little better. There's also a lower link that not only houses a flip chip, but a grease port, too, to help keep things running smoothly.

Santa Cruz Megatower C R geometry details

The flip chip in the lower link delivers 0.3 degrees of adjustment to the head and seat tube angles, while altering bottom bracket height by a scant 3.5mm.

In the lowest setting, that puts the head angle at 63.5 degrees. With my saddle set to my preferred pedalling height, the seat tube angle measured a steep 78.3 degrees, while the bottom bracket sits lower than quoted at 336mm off the floor.

The front-centre (the horizontal measurement from the centre of the bottom bracket to the front axle) measured 800mm on the size-medium test bike.

Santa Cruz alters the effective chainstay length (otherwise known as the rear-centre) as frame size increases, growing a total of 11mm from the size small to the extra-extra-large.

On the medium bike, it’s a well-portioned 438mm.

Santa Cruz Megatower C R specification

The ‘R’ is the cheapest of all 11 (yes, 11!) Megatower build options, although it will still set you back just under £5,000.

While that includes a carbon frame, the parts list means it struggles to compete in the value stakes when compared to direct-to-consumer brands such as YT.

However, while the kit may not be flashy, it is functional.

The RockShox ZEB fork uses the Rush RC damper to deliver 170mm of travel. At the rear, a RockShox Super Deluxe Select enables you to tweak rebound damping and nothing else.

SRAM supplies its NX Eagle gearing, as well as its G2 RE brakes, which appear to be strikingly similar to the older Guide RE brakes used on similar enduro bikes and electric mountain bikes a couple of years ago.

Santa Cruz has not scrimped on tyres, though. A Maxxis Assegai complete with 3C MaxxGrip rubber and an EXO+ casing takes care of business up-front, while a faster-rolling Minion DHR II 3C MaxxTerra EXO+ brings up the rear.

Santa Cruz Megatower C R ride impressions

I rode the Megatower on a plethora of terrain dotted around the South West of England and South Wales.

This varied from steep, technical singletrack and jump lines in the bike park through to high-speed, high-load downhill trails.

Each venue demanded something different from the bike, enabling me to paint an accurate overall picture of performance.

Santa Cruz Megatower C R setup

Setting up the rear end of the Megatower for my 68kg weight proved easy.

With 140psi in the shock’s air spring, I was left with 30 per cent sag, which was spot-on for me, and the rebound adjuster fully wound off.

The fork took a little more tinkering with, though. I initially had too much pressure in the air spring and not enough rebound damping in place, leading to the front end riding too high and not offering the control I was after.

I ended up settling on 59psi in the spring with seven clicks of rebound damping from fully open. This helped to set the right height, added comfort and better balanced things from front to rear.

Santa Cruz Megatower C R climbing performance

Give the Megatower a roll around in the car park and the back end of the bike doesn’t feel the most eager to sink into its travel. It’s also quite slow to rebound (or, at least, I found this the case with the relatively low pressures I required) and feels quite damped.

This helps to create a very stable pedalling platform. Add the steep seat tube angle into the mix and you’ve got a bike that behaves nicely on the climbs and covers ground more eagerly than other bikes with similar travel and weight figures.

And that’s even with the tacky MaxxGrip compound on the front.

Changing gear as and when the terrain dictates isn’t the slickest process. Shifting isn’t as smooth and doesn’t feel as precise as that of Shimano’s Deore. Many bikes at this price are likely to be sporting GX Eagle or above, too.

Tight, janky uphill sections also highlight the gappy, slow-to-engage freehub when you need to find bursts of power after hopping up a step or exiting a turn.

However, aside from that, the Megatower never feels like a chore when winching skywards.

Santa Cruz Megatower C R descending performance

On technical, natural terrain, I found I needed to work that bit harder to ensure the rear tyre kept gripping.

This isn’t an issue up front, thanks to how forgiving the ZEB fork feels. Don’t be fooled by the limited amount of adjustment or the cheaper price tag – it’s a real workhorse that’s incredibly capable.

However, the rear end isn’t quite as supple or eager to eat up the bumps. It won't iron out every ripple in the trail, as other bikes can – I’m looking at you, Kona Process X CR – or track the terrain as accurately.

Instead, the back end skims rather than swallows up all the chunder – simply put, it’s not as glued to the floor as some enduro bikes. It’s a seriously fast, very capable machine, but to get the most out of it you need a committed riding style.

Ease up and become a passenger and you won't get the best out of this bike.

The balanced suspension and very stable ride the Megatower generates means you can stand confidently between the 29in wheels in a commanding position.

Beneath you, things feel remarkably solid and hard to unsettle, enabling you to hold cambers or slap into turns with reckless abandon.

There’s more feedback through the bike when tackling roughed-up loose turns, but it’s never too much to throw you off line or put you off tackling something a little more challenging.

It might not offer the bump-flattening prowess of some, but I was surprised how comfortable I felt when really pushing the Megatower.

Point it into something seriously steep, though, and you’ll find the SRAM stoppers don’t offer quite the same power or punch as the pricier Code or even the cheapest Shimano four-piston alternatives.

Picking up the pace

Take the Megatower to the bike park and it’ll more than hold its own.

On high-speed tracks, its natural tendency to skim and skip its way down the trail helps it to carry speed well. It feels efficient in how it works, never wasting too much movement if it doesn’t need to.

Balance never seems to dwindle, making things feel composed and predictable, even if it isn’t the most pillowy soft ride going.

Because it doesn’t isolate riders from impacts quite as well as other bikes, you start to notice a bit of fatigue creeping in on longer runs or after multiple laps of the hill.

But it’s not enough to take the shine off the speed available on tap when you fully commit to riding the Megatower fast.

While it might not be the plushest or comfiest bike going, its steadfast nature and willingness to be pushed hard make it exciting to ride.

And it helps that there’s enough support through the suspension to ensure you can load the bike up to pop and play around on the trail, only enhancing that excitement factor further.

How does the Santa Cruz Megatower C R compare?

On paper, the Kona Process X CR offers a better spec, as it should do for close to £800 more.

Gearing is of the Shimano SLX variety, which feels slicker on the trail than the NX Eagle transmission on the Megatower.

The Shimano SLX brakes are lighter to use and more powerful than the SRAM G2 REs, too.

Both bikes use full carbon frames with up-to-date geometry and relatively low-end suspension dampers. In the Kona’s case, these are from the Fox Performance and Performance Elite line-up.

On the hill, there’s no getting away from their different ride characteristics. While the Megatower feels efficient and direct, the Kona is glued to the trail, delivering a far more forgiving, traction-rich ride.

That means it lacks some of the pop and playfulness of the Megatower on certain trails, but makes it for it in terms of outright comfort when tackling rough, technical tracks. Here, there’s no shortage of grip on slippery rocks or roots, and thanks to the plush suspension, rider fatigue isn’t an issue on longer trails.

However, it’s pricier, not as exciting to ride and certainly less easy-going on the climbs.

Santa Cruz Megatower C R bottom line

The Megatower C R might not be the plushest or comfiest bike out there or come with the best kit going, but its composed, balanced suspension makes for a seriously stable, solid ride when the going gets rough, which helps when it comes to carrying speed.

Punchier brakes and slicker-shifting gears would certainly elevate the performance and bring it in line with rival enduro bikes at this price.

It’s still a seriously exciting, fun bike to ride, though.