Santa Cruz Bicycles

Hightower Carbon CC X01 Eagle Mountain Bike - 2019

The Santa Cruz Hightower Carbon CC XO1 Eagle Complete Mountain Bike is designed for the aggressive trail rider seeking one bike that'll shred pretty much any stretch of singletrack that lies before you, regardless if you're pedaling deep into the Colorado Rockies or ripping through the thick forests of Northern Vermont's famed Kingdom Trails. It's one of the most versatile 29ers on the marketplace, allowing you to experience the widest breadth of riding locations without it being too much bike on tamer trails or conversely, being outgunned when the trail turns steep and rocky. For the 2019 model year, the Hightower gets fresh colorways for an eye-catching look that's sure to draw complements out on the trail. Otherwise, it's exactly the same as previous model years, which is a good thing if you're seeking dialed geometry that both climbs and descends extremely well.

This particular Hightower represents the lightest frame available, thanks to Santa Cruz's top-tier Carbon CC layup for weight savings over the cheaper Carbon C frame. Typical Santa Cruz Carbon CC frames weight approximately 250 to 280 grams lighter than those with the Carbon C layup, giving you a lighter, more spirited feel when it's time to accelerate from a corner, lay down power on punchy climbs, and smash over rocks and roots standing in your way. Best of all, this carbon layup doesn't sacrifice one bit of strength or stiffness, so you'll remain impressed with its precise handling and serious level of abuse this Carbon CC frame can withstand.

The Hightower's adjustable flip-chip is definitely one of its best features, seeing you can swap out the provided 29-inch wheels for the voluminous traction and bump-smoothing support of 27.5+ wheels rolling on tires up to a massive 3.0 inches wide. That being said, Santa Cruz no longer offers a 27.5+ build from the factory, so you'll have to either buy a 150-millimeter fork or swap out the air spring in the provided 140-millimeter FOX 36 Float Performance Fork to squeeze out an additional 10 millimeters of travel. This taller fork ensures the bottom bracket doesn't get too low, seeing the few millimeter difference when dropping down to 27.5+ wheels on either 2.8 or 3.0-inch tires.

Regardless of what wheel size you run, the Hightower solidifies its status as an aggressive trail machine with its long, relatively slack geometry inspiring confidence at high speeds. The head tube angle is practically the same between both wheel sizes at 67 degrees, so long as you choose a 140-millimeter fork on the 29er and a 150-millimeter fork in 27.5+ form. Both sizes retain a roomy cockpit and noticeably long wheelbase for a comfortable and confident riding position, also lending stability when you open it up at higher speeds. To help offset the longer geometry, Santa Cruz designed the Hightower with relatively short chainstays of 17.1 inches for quick turning capabilities. It's also pretty damn low, with its 13.2-inch bottom bracket keeping you glued to the trail when you're rallying across rock gardens and bombing downhill at high velocities.

As you'd expect from a trail bike of this pedigree, it's packing 135 millimeters of travel from Santa Cruz's VPP suspension, which sports an upper-link driven shock in this configuration for an optimal mixture of pedaling efficiency and excellent bottom-out resistance on rowdy descents. 135 millimeters of travel (that's approximately 5.3 inches) optimizes the standard Hightower for aggressive trail riders seeking a well-balanced feel that'll quickly scoot uphill and conquer technical descents, but without it being too much bike for many riders like some long-travel 29ers. Since it's rolling on bigger 29-inch wheels, the 135 millimeters of VPP travel really strikes the sweet spot for most trail riders, seeing the bigger wheels steamroll any rocks and roots standing in your way without requiring excessive travel to get the job done.

This iteration of VPP uses an upper box-style link attaching to the top tube for greater stiffness and increased stand-over clearance. The lower link sits neatly above the bottom bracket, protecting it from damaging rock strikes when you're riding the Hightower like a monster truck over loose rocks and trail debris. The VPP suspension is more sensitive off-the-top than older versions (especially with FOX's EVOL air canister), making it better at absorbing small bumps on the trail and laying down traction on rocky climbs. The mid-stroke is more linear for a more active feel until the end-stroke, at which point it ramps up considerably to prevent bottoming out on bigger hits.