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Santa Cruz Hightower Carbon C R 2024

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Details

The Mountain Bike, Distilled.

The newest version of the Hightower remains our greatest hits of engineering—now further refined and bottled into our most all-terrain of bikes. Big on wheels, medium on travel, and short on fuss, this is the do-it-all model that does it over and over again thanks to a versatile balance of geo, spec, and durability. If you're not looking for extremes, just something extremely good, the Hightower is your elevator.

Engineering Details:

- Our Engineers' Greatest Hits
Not all frames are created equal. Hightower represents Santa Cruz’s greatest hits, showcasing our design, engineering, and performance prowess.

- Lower Link Assembly
The highly sculpted and optimized Lower Link (A) houses a geometry-adjusting Flip Chip (B) and beefy Pivot Axles (C) to virtually eliminate lateral flex.

- Upper Link Assembly
We only use the highest quality Enduro MAX or TPX sealed, radial bearings (A) and premium fasteners (B) for our linkage assemblies. They’re easy to properly torque and maintain, plus we offer free replacement bearings for life.

- One-Piece Swingarm
VPP suspension utilizes a one-piece swingarm that eliminates the need for pivots on the stays, creating a stout, bulletproof rear end for accurate tracking and superior performance.

- C and CC Carbon
Santa Cruz offers two grades of carbon—top-end CC Carbon and value-minded C Carbon. Though they have the same stiffness and performance, CC is lighter and comes paired with a more premium suspension.

- Carbon Mastery
The Sag Window (A), Glovebox (B), and internal cable tunnels (not shown) demonstrate Santa Cruz’s expertise at combining practical function with carbon design and manufacturing artistry.

- The Sum of the Parts
In isolation, all these things are great—together with fanatical suspension tuning, a premium build spec, and a meticulous attention to detail, they’re transcendent.

Featuring:

SRAM Eagle Transmission - stronger, better shifting, wirelessly

The next generation SRAM Eagle Transmission specced on our CC-carbon models is a radically robust, fully integrated and interdependent wireless transmission. Built around the universal constant of the wheel axle itself, the Full Mount hangerless attachment creates a far stronger connection to the frame and the super strong derailleur provides unprecedented strength. Shifting under load is made possible due to a combination of X-SYNC technology and cassette mapping, creating seamless shifts even during your hardest power output. The new AXS Pods are extremely ergonomic and highly customizable, so shifting gears is light and intuitive. It's simply the most advanced transmission and nearly as tough as the mountain itself.

Hightower 3 Highlights:

- VPP™
VPP™ suspension can be optimized to strike the right balance between pedaling efficiency and all-out bump-chomping prowess. That means wherever you see "VPP" you know it's tuned to perform exactly how it should for the purpose it's designed for.

- 145mm VPP travel
Looking for something good at climbing, downhill, and going round and round your local trails? Say hello to Hightower. 145mm in the rear paired with 150mm up front is your perfect combo.

- Suspension sensitivity
Compared to the last Hightower, we reduced the anti-squat in the first 40% of travel. This noticeably improves suspension sensitivity in both climbing and descending scenarios due to reduced chain influence on the suspension.

- Suspension consistency
Hightower's leverage curve is relatively straight, with added progression towards the end of the travel. This provides improved bottom-out resistance with more consistent damping and support.

- Glovebox
Place your ride essentials securely beneath a new high-quality latch and panel in the Hightower's downtube. The Glovebox comes with a fitted Tool Wallet and Tube Purse, tailored for the frame to keep your tools close to hand.

- Sag window
A window allows easier suspension sag and setup. The details are completed by a neat mud flap to protect the rear shock plus tidy cable routing within the frame and swingarm, and rubberized DT protectors to shrug off strikes.

- Flip chip
In the Low position, the shock rate becomes more progressive, particularly at the end of the stroke, and there’s some bottom-out resistance to be gained. In the High setting, the bike rides a little higher in its travel and supplies the rider with more mid-stroke support. Tweakers and finicky shredders can adapt the suspension feel to their needs and desires.

- 29-inch wheels
Hightower features fast-rolling, bump-easing 29-inch wheels front and rear. On high-end builds, we spec Reserve 30|HD carbon rims laced to premium hubs, which are built and hand-tuned in our Santa Cruz, Calif. factory. See Reserve 30|HD wheels.

Sizes:
Frame SizeSmallMediumLargeX-LargeXX-Large
Reach | hi/lo (mm) 430/427 455/452 475/472 495/492 520/517
Stack | hi/lo (mm) 611/613 625/627 634/636 652/654 665/668
Head Tube Angle | hi/lo 64.8°/64.5° 64.8°/64.5° 64.8°/64.5° 64.8°/64.5° 64.8°/64.5°
Seat Tube Length (mm) 380 405 430 460 500
Front Center | hi/lo (mm) 752/752 783/783 807/807 836/836 867/867
BB Height | hi/lo (mm) 342/339 342/338 342/338 342/338 342/338
BB Drop | hi/lo (mm) 31/34 31/34 31/34 31/34 31/34
Wheelbase | hi/lo (mm) 1183/1183 1217/1218 1244/1245 1276/1276 1310/1311
Rear Center | hi/lo (mm) 431/432 434/435 437/438 440/441 443/444
Head Tube Length (mm) 100 115 125 145 160
Top Tube Length | hi/lo (mm) 571/572 599/600 626/627 647/648 674/675
Seat Tube Angle | hi/lo 77°/76.7° 77°/76.7° 76.7°/76.4° 76.9°/76.6° 76.9°/76.7°
Standover Height | hi/lo (mm) 706/701 708/703 711/706 714/709 719/714
Sizes:
Frame SizeRider Height (in)Rider Height (cm)
Small 5'1" - 5'5" 155 - 165
Medium 5'5" - 5'9" 165 - 175
Large 5'9" - 6'1" 175 - 185
X-Large 6'1" - 6'4" 185 - 193
XX-Large 6'4" - 6'7" 193 - 201

Specs

Frame Carbon C
Fork RockShox Lyrik Base, 150mm
Rear Shock FOX Float Performance, 210x55
Rims RaceFace AR Offset 30, 29"
Hubs Front: SRAM MTH 716, 15x110, Torque Cap, 6-Bolt 32h
Rear: SRAM MTH 746, 12x148, HG, 6-Bolt, 32h
Tires Front: Maxxis Minion DHR II 29"x2.4", 3C MaxxGrip, EXO
Rear: Maxxis Minion DHR II 29"x2.4", 3C MaxxTerra, EXO
Bottom Bracket SRAM DUB 68/73mm Threaded BB
Crankset SRAM Descendant Eagle 148 DUB 32t
Shifters SRAM NX Eagle, 12spd
Rear Derailleur SRAM NX Eagle, 12spd
Cassette/Freewheel SRAM PG1230, 12spd, 11-50t
Chain SRAM NX Eagle, 12spd
Brakes SRAM G2 R
Rotors Front: Avid Centerline, 200mm
Rear: Avid Centerline, 180mm
Handlebars RaceFace Aeffect R
Tape/Grips Santa Cruz Bicycles House Grips
Stem Burgtec Enduro MK3, 42mm
Headset FSA IS-2/47/42 ACB or Cane Creek 10 IS Integrated
Seatpost SDG Tellis Dropper, 31.6
Saddle WTB Silverado, CroMo
Pedals Sold Separately

* Subject to change without notice.

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