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Hi all,
I’m in the market for a new bike and have my heart set on a Santa Cruz, but I’m struggling to decide on the model. The three I’m considering are the 5010, Tallboy, and Hightower.
I’m looking for a one-bike-to-do-it-all setup and my riding is a mix of:
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Quick laps around Cannock Chase
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Off-piste stuff at Wyre Forest and Forest of Dean
I’m coming from a 170mm travel e-bike, which always felt too big and unwieldy, a lot of fun on the chunkier stuff but most of the time overkill. This time I’m after something simpler, less travel (120mm-140mm), light(ish), efficient on the climbs, and playful on the downs. Most of my rides are 1–3 hours, usually no more than 20km.
I did look at the new Stumpjumper 15 (had the Evo before, but fancy something different) and the Transition Smuggler (though I’ve read about bearing and routing issues), so I’ve decided to go all in on Santa Cruz.
At the moment, the 5010 is top of the list, mainly because I’ve found one online for nearly £1k less than the others, but I’m still open to being swayed.
For context: I’ve always ridden 29ers but I’m curious about the mullet setup. I’m 95kg and 5'11".
So… which one would you pick?
As a Tallboy 5 owner, I'd say 5010 or Hightower over the Tallboy for an all-rounder for UK trails. As good as the Tallboy is (and it IS good), if I was looking for one-bike-to-rule-them-all for UK use then I'd probably want a bit more travel.
5010 vs Hightower is more difficult. I'm 187cm riding XXLs and have mullet setups on another bike and don't miss the 29er rear wheel. TBF I've not tried this particular one with a 29er rear wheel (I just used the wheelset from my previous older frame) so it might be even better, but it rides brilliantly with 27.5 rear. I've not ridden either so can't really advise on that.
There's a deep dive into this very topic on the downtime podcast. It's a few years old but I suspect the specs haven't changed much
There's a deep dive into this very topic on the downtime podcast. It's a few years old but I suspect the specs haven't changed much
Thanks a lot, I'll have a listen to that today.
My Hightower is by far the best all round trail bike I've ever ridden and is pretty much ideal for anything and everything I ride, want to bang out a quick afternoon lap at GT, it eats up the miles, Enduro and techy trails at the Golfie, no problem, I even went on a gravel ride with a mate who was riding a gravel bike, and it was fine for that too. The VPP rear suspension is just amazing, the rear wheel feels like it's velcro'ed to the ground over rough stuff and I haven't been able to find anything to unsettle it. Back off the rebound in the shock a bit, and you can claim back a bit of 'poppiness' if that's your thing.
Only (very) slight issue I have with my V2 is that it's an XL and the seat angle puts you a bit far back, I've corrected by slamming the saddle forward, but that's less of an issue on the smaller sizes and I think they fixed that with a steeper seat angle on the newer versions. It's also not the lightest if that's important to you, but once you are riding it rides lighter than it feels when hefting it over a fence or a fallen tree.!
Doing the stew usual thing of suggesting what you have I would go for the tallboy with a 140mm fork. If you want to be fancy you could have 2 sets of wheels one light with fast tyres and one with minion true tyres. The only place I haven’t ridden it so far in the uk was the tweed valley. Cannock, peaks, trail centres it’s great
For simplicity I think I’ve ruled out the 5010 for now, although it can be had for a bit cheaper in the R spec vs S spec on the other two.
I listened to that podcast above and it felt like they enjoyed the 5010 but would choose either the TB and HT if they had to. Seems the TB might get the edge though due it being slightly more nimble.
To add to the confusion I’m back checking videos of the new Stumpy15. This because the current sale prices offer decent value when compared to the same price bracket Santa Cruz (slightly better brakes, fork, group set on the Specialized vs the Santa Cruz).
Dilemmas!
How much of the unweildyness of the eeb comes from the weight of it, rather than the travel though?
I've a full fat eeb that's 150/160 travel and also normal analog trail bike at 146/160 and an enduro bike 160/170
Both the normal bikes are way more lively than the eeb due to the weight difference primarily.
Anyway, I'd go hightower if you want an all-rounder. Depending how many enduro laps you're intending on doing (vs xc) I'd even consider the megatower
How much of the unweildyness of the eeb comes from the weight of it, rather than the travel though?
Yeah, probably a good slice of both to be honest, the extra weight combined with the longer travel made for a bike that I couldn't manoeuvre as well as I'd like. Don't get me wrong though - the motor was fun, climbing those fire roads was made easy but I got tired of the weight.
You might be right about the Megatower too, I only had those shorter travel bikes in the mix as a polar opposite to my last bike to keep things fresh. I just want a simple bike that'll do most things well enough.
Mullets can be great fun, but if you like covering ground then sticking with full 29 may be best.
I've ridden none of those bikes but would pick the Hightower for an all-rounder.
Bronson for the win here, but it is MX, I love them for the playful side, but if you want to munch miles of trails then 29 is the answer
I'd go The new stumpy 15 pro, currently on sale Very good spec, and similar spec in the hightower is 2k more
I'd go The new stumpy 15 pro, currently on sale Very good spec, and similar spec in the hightower is 2k more
Thanks Yeah, I'm actually looking at the Expert level with AXS, Mavens and a few nice bits. I had a sit on it and it felt great, very familiar. £4.6k though, not cheap. I'd probably end up 0% financing some of that to take the edge off, which I'd rather not.
I'm closer to the £3500 mark in reality which gets me the comp level Stumpy (£3800) , or......
The Transition Smuggler, also £3500 but with slightly lesser parts like cable gears and a 34 fork as opposed to a 36.
Had 3 x 5010 from the second iteration up to the last of the 27.5. Moved to a Hightower. After a couple of years on the HT (XL) which I liked I have moved on to a Stumpjumper 15 (S5). After almost 20 years on various SC bikes I am really liking the Stumpy's suspension setup. Traction to me feels much better (I'm using the same wheels and tyres as on the HT) riding the same routes. I never have to lock out the Genie shock and pedal bob is minimal. It doesn't seem to get hooked up on square edges as much at the HT did.
I built up the Stumpy from a frameset and negotiated a decent discount. I have been in a couple of Specialized stores recently and there are some cracking deals in store that are not shown online.
Had 3 x 5010 from the second iteration up to the last of the 27.5. Moved to a Hightower. After a couple of years on the HT (XL) which I liked I have moved on to a Stumpjumper 15 (S5). After almost 20 years on various SC bikes I am really liking the Stumpy's suspension setup. Traction to me feels much better (I'm using the same wheels and tyres as on the HT) riding the same routes. I never have to lock out the Genie shock and pedal bob is minimal. It doesn't seem to get hooked up on square edges as much at the HT did.
I built up the Stumpy from a frameset and negotiated a decent discount. I have been in a couple of Specialized stores recently and there are some cracking deals in store that are not shown online.
This is swaying me towards the stumpy, it also helps that my most local store is a spesh dealer.
I've had a Tallboy 4, then a Tallboy 5 (now the wife's bike) and I now a Hightower 3. All of them fairly decent spec "cc" models. Riding mainly in the Peak District I "think" I preferred the Tallboy 4. But the newer TB and HT are great bikes.
Happy for you to have a bounce on them if local to Stockport area.
Specialized make some great bikes... I ride my Epic 8 more than the Santa Cruz bikes and would imagine a modern Stumpy is a brilliant bike. No bad bikes these days 🙂
I'm actually looking at the Expert level with AXS, Mavens and a few nice bits. I had a sit on it and it felt great, very familiar. £4.6k though, not cheap.
You should be able to get a better deal than that on a Stumpy Expert.
I paid less than that for mine after they'd swapped out the brakes,rotors, crank/bb and tyres to my preference.
If 80% of your riding is on the tamer side, maybe the Tallboy will be the best choice? If it's a more equal mix, maybe the Hightower?
Basically, get the one that you'll enjoy more most of the time.
Or look for another bike with 130ish rear travel and split the difference instead. 130R/150F bikes can be really versatile IME.
Sounds like a Trek Fuel ex8 😉
If you're looking at a Tallboy then defo check out the Transmission Spur. In your position though I'd be looking at 140mm minimum as an allrounder.
My brother is going through the exact same thing. He’s been umming and ahhing for over a year and had nearly pulled the trigger on a couple of different bikes. In the end he decided to wait for some inheritance to come in before committing, and now it has - but he’s missed the deals on Santa Cruz bikes that were amazing earlier this year. He’s now also leaning towards the Stumpjumper 15 (alloy though as his budget is nearer 3k than 4) and I think it looks a good bike. Don’t think you’ll go wrong with either to be honest.
My brother is going through the exact same thing. He’s been umming and ahhing for over a year and had nearly pulled the trigger on a couple of different bikes. In the end he decided to wait for some inheritance to come in before committing, and now it has - but he’s missed the deals on Santa Cruz bikes that were amazing earlier this year. He’s now also leaning towards the Stumpjumper 15 (alloy though as his budget is nearer 3k than 4) and I think it looks a good bike. Don’t think you’ll go wrong with either to be honest.
I know right. Weren't the Santa Cruz 5010 base model less than 3k at Stif not long ago?? No such bargains at the moment. I've found some used ones at £2k or so but I'm quite reluctant to buy a used carbon mountain bike.
After much research I think it might end up being the Specialized, as much as I'd love a Santa Cruz, the different bikes are confusing and there seems to be too much nuance and overlap, I'm sure I'd always wonder if I got the wrong one. At least with the Stumpjumper it's pretty much the one option of a do-it-all bike - it's not an Enduro and it's not an Epic. Simple. Plus you seem to get better value for your money when looking at the parts and hardware.
Stif and others had some 40-50% off deals at the end of 2024 and into early 2025. Just after I'd bought my secondhand Tallboy, obviously! (I genuinely wasn't upset as my used Tallboy was still an absolute steal).
SC deals are still out there but not as commonplace, e.g. Hightower in XL with 45% off: linky.
I agree there's quite a bit of overlap in the SC range but try not to overthink it - Hightower is likely still the pick of the range for an all-rounder with enduro leanings (with the Tallboy being the same but 'opposite', i.e. with XC leanings).
I used to have a 5010 (2023 so the 'current' model) until recently.
It was great as a second bike as a change from my enduro bike. It was super nimble and flew off anything, great fun on just about any trail.
I sold it because I now have just 1 pedal bike, and the 5010 isn't what I want for that. It's great to make old trails fun again, or to spice up a slower ride. But for my riding level it's just too hyperactive to make riding enduro and downhill trails fast a fun experience. It feels fun if you hold back and play, but less rewarding amd too bouncy if you open it fully up. YMMV. Can you demo one? My old one is probably for sale at Pedal Syndicate now.
FWIW I'm now on a Druid 29 which pedals better, is much more fun to ride fast, but I feel is marginally less intuitive to pop and jump.
My Hightower (2021 frame) has coped perfectly with everything I've ridden it on, from easy days out with my nephew on blue trails when he 1st got into riding to Tweed valley steeps , uplift days at Dyfi and Inners, 25 minute descents on Madeira and multiple enduro races. I believe the latest version is more focused on descending than in previous years and is able to run a coil shock where previously it was air shock only without running a cascade link
All rounder is very situation/rider dependent.
I've got 3 close riding buddies (including the Mrs) with the almost-current/outgoing hightower.
An excellent up and down bike for any sort of singletrack riding, and uplifted downhilling.
But... All three also have either an XC bike, or a hardtail to compliment it. The exact split in riding time varies between them.
In contrast, I've got the previous (v4) 5010*, and do use it for pretty much all MTBing, my hardtail having been relegated to gravel-commuting, the occasional XC racing, and this years HOTS. And I think its going to be gravel only from now on unless I can sort out my issues with it, just not finding it enjoyable on singletrack when I know in the back of my mind I'd be having more fun on the 5010.
*which as I found out a few weeks ago on a similar discussion, has geo very similar to Sam Hill's Iron Horse - so no worries about its descending capabilities.
I have the latest Tallboy and it rides much quicker than the numbers suggest . As a XC bike its quick and happy to do all day mile munching. As a bigger trail hitting toy it punches well above its weight BUT has its limits. I wouldnt want to hit the Reds at BPW on it , its more than do able in the right hands but its want more. The Hightower would be a much better all rounder and well removed from the two versions of the Megatower which were both BIG bikes , the later I sold as it was just way to much for most UK riding . I did look at the Hightower in place of the Mega and the bigger bike but took a punt on a Deviate Highlander. Now thats a good long legged trail bike .. 160f and 145 r .. More planted than poppy