Santa Cruz Hightower AL R

Our greatest hits compiled into one bike—just hit play.

If ever a bike resembled your most cherished mix tape compilation, the Hightower is it. Featuring our lower-link mounted shock design, updated, adjustable geometry, this "Engineering Best Of..." assembles some of our biggest design pleasers into one belter of a road-trip companion.

The Hightower has been a does-it-all-well trail bike since its inception. Hightower excels when the route covers 'all points in between,' and descents come courtesy of some big-ass climbs. The VPP suspension’s lower-link-mounted shock creates a nearly linear leverage curve, meaning it mops up bumps of all sizes while maintaining progressivity!

140mm of rear travel complemented by a 150mm front end gives Hightower just a bit more front and rear travel over the first-generation model. Combined with a slacker 65-degree head tube angle, the Hightower still sits squarely in the Goldilocks zone, but with a touch more "Get me out of here!" capability when the porridge gets too hot!

Balancing stiffness and weight savings in all the right places is a hallmark of all Santa Cruz carbon frames and the Hightower flies the flag yet higher. The advanced composite chassis tracks well across all trail surfaces, holds a line, and is reactive to rider directions while isolating pedal-influenced inputs.

The Hightower also has a bonus disc to heighten the experience—the flip chip. In the High setting, the BB height is a little higher for those tricky tech trails and/or when Plus-sized tires are required. In the Low position, the shock rate is more progressive to provide additional bottom-out resistance. Whatever mood you’re in, the tone of the Hightower can be adapted to meet your individual taste.

And speaking of taste, there’s a room for a water bottle inside the main frame and a threaded BB for convenience. There's refined cable routing for better shifting performance, simpler installation, and no cable rub. On top of that, there’s a tailgate shuttle guard, downtube protector, shock fender, and noise-canceling chainstay protector keeping things quiet.

The lifetime frame warranty, lifetime pivot bearing replacement policy, and lifetime guarantee on the optional Reserve carbon wheels assures you that the Hightower will keep delivering the hits for years to come.

- Aluminum 29/27+ 145mm Travel VPP frame
- RockShox Yari RC 150mm fork
- FOX Float Performance DPS shock
- SRAM NX Eagle drivetrain
- WTB ST i30 TCS 2.0 rims
- Maxxis Minion tires