Even as current SC owner I’m looking elsewhere for my next bike. Don’t get me wrong, I love their bikes – great ride, bullet proof frames, attention to detail, easy to work on, amazing customer support. But they’ve never been cheap, and these days they’re charging a $1-2k brand premium. Same goes for Specialized, Yeti, Trek and a few others. It seems there are fewer and fewer attractive choices in general. Compulsory wireless shifting, proprietary headsets, short dropper posts, crappy tire specs, etc. etc. Best bet is 2nd hand market these days for a 2022-2023 gently used bike with nice components. Or wait for a sale on a Transition which seems the only bike company that isn’t force-feeding us the latest gadgets and headset cable routing and specs a proper length dropper post.
shasty on
We’re one product cycle away from the hightower becoming a megatower, and tallboy becoming a hightower.
wavysail on
What has changed over the previous year’s model other than the colors?
Equivalent-Regret-97 on
I love my Hightower AL R that I got 25% off new. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t pay full MSRP for their builds. Might look at Transition or YT for my next bike
StripedSocksMan on
I’m waiting for the next release, SC purists will hate it since it isn’t a VPP bike.
MTB_SF on
Why is the shock a different stroke on the R and S builds but with the same travel?
I_Peed_on_my_Skis on
Parts spec on the R model is offensive at $5k lmao.
Starsky686 on
I’ll take this trend of no internal cable routing over headset cable routing, but I don’t like either.
Apprehensive_Sky8715 on
I’ve had 6 Santa Cruz bikes now I ride a Canfield and you could’nt pay me to ride corporate plastic again…
15 Comments
No mechanical gear option is a big L.
Oh another nomad nomad with less travel and bigger back wheel, but this time they made it worse.
New geo?
https://preview.redd.it/d5rbvp9u5epd1.jpeg?width=643&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae377e56851429a32ffacfc60d27d840fb48a07d
Even as current SC owner I’m looking elsewhere for my next bike. Don’t get me wrong, I love their bikes – great ride, bullet proof frames, attention to detail, easy to work on, amazing customer support. But they’ve never been cheap, and these days they’re charging a $1-2k brand premium. Same goes for Specialized, Yeti, Trek and a few others. It seems there are fewer and fewer attractive choices in general. Compulsory wireless shifting, proprietary headsets, short dropper posts, crappy tire specs, etc. etc. Best bet is 2nd hand market these days for a 2022-2023 gently used bike with nice components. Or wait for a sale on a Transition which seems the only bike company that isn’t force-feeding us the latest gadgets and headset cable routing and specs a proper length dropper post.
We’re one product cycle away from the hightower becoming a megatower, and tallboy becoming a hightower.
What has changed over the previous year’s model other than the colors?
I love my Hightower AL R that I got 25% off new. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t pay full MSRP for their builds. Might look at Transition or YT for my next bike
I’m waiting for the next release, SC purists will hate it since it isn’t a VPP bike.
Why is the shock a different stroke on the R and S builds but with the same travel?
Parts spec on the R model is offensive at $5k lmao.
I’ll take this trend of no internal cable routing over headset cable routing, but I don’t like either.
I’ve had 6 Santa Cruz bikes now I ride a Canfield and you could’nt pay me to ride corporate plastic again…
I bought Intense and never looked back!
The dentists rn:
Nice bike. Does it come in man size?