Pitted against some of the other bikes in this Field Test, it clearly holds its own on the ups, proving that it's a very solid climber for the enduro bike category. The well-supported suspension has enough sensitivity to keep traction over rocks and roots without bobbing much, and the bike as a whole has a nice, responsive feel. Still, long travel and all, the Megatower powers right up as well as you'd expect from any 34 lb (15.4 kg) bike. If someone told me a few years ago that 165mm travel bikes would soon be climbing as well as they do today, I'd have trouble believing it.

All the build kits all come with SRAM drivetrains and brakes, so Shimano fans are out of luck, but there's an interesting mix of Fox and RockShox suspension, including mixed Fox 38 / RockShox Super Deluxe (both air and coil) options in the middle of the range.

Still, the Megatower keeps its other geo adjustment flip chip, which changes the head angle by a paltry 0.3mm between 63.5º and 63.8º, changes the bottom bracket height by 3.5mm, and makes the leverage a bit more progressive in the low option.Īvailable in a total of 11 build options, the Megatower pricing starts at $5,649 for a base model in the C (as opposed to the fancier and slightly lighter CC) carbon, and skyrockets all the way up to $13,999 USD for the Flight Attendent, CC, all the bells and whistles build. Santa Cruz has chosen to ditch the chainstay length adjustment chip for size-specific chainstay lengths - our size L test bike had 441mm chainstays. This new version uses the same VPP suspension platform as its predecessor, with just a few tweaks including a slightly lower leverage ratio, and there's an option to swap out the stock 62.5mm stroke length shock for a 65mm one, bumping the travel up to 170mm.

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