peaktorque

New Bike is complete: First impressions (New hubs too)

Published: December 14th 2023, 11:44:25 pm

So... A long time coming this one. I have had this frame for a while and have been shopping around for what feels like an aeon for the parts at the best prices. The frame is a Santa Cruz megatower CC in XXL....it is huge. A longer reach and wheelbase than my XL DH bike. Crazy. You may know this replaced my Hightower, a shorter travel but almost as long and capable trail bike. Truth be told, I was somewhat putting this build off due to this being, for me at least, a dwindling niche. Between the DH bike and the hardtail do I ride enduro? Not really. I am either riding proper DH tracks with an uplift, or wanting to cover ground at speed on my hardtail or gravel bike and not being scared silly. The thought of pedalling a moderately heavy bike (nearly 16kg, DH bike being 16.5kg!) up a 15 min climb, for a 2 min run, repeated 4 times before my legs are fuct, has lost its appeal. If I want an all day ride, i'd take the hardtail, because that doesn't mind fire road or road. ANYWAY.

Could the first ride change my mind? After spending 3 nights bent double and anally applying the Invisiframe kit (100 quid of paint protection film, exquisitely patterned to cover all the delicate bits of carbon), it was ready for its first ride. This is my first time on Fox Factory shocks, and yes there are too many options of adjustment. I just want a good base setting and want to ride. The base settings left the bike feeling a bit dead over really rough stuff. I need to speed the compression up and the rebound. Coming from the top end RockShox setup, it certainly takes a bit more dialling in. TBC on that. For a big bike, it didn't feel as squishy and bouncy as i'd hoped. It certainly feels more trail than DH (with Enduro being the fulcrum of that see-saw). What it lacks in plushness, it gains on climbing prowess. For a 170mm travel bike, it feels as taught as the 140mm Hightower. The anti-squat is high, higher than most bikes of this ilk. Due to the conditions being absolutely lethal on wet roots and mud, I made the rare decision to run flat pedals. Maybe this is why i felt the bike being a bit harsh and disconnected.

I am riding the new hubs that i previewed in the last video. They are exceptionally stiff wheels with 32h front and rear, very noticeable on the rear. Maybe too stiff? Who knows, it is entirely subjective. I can notice the high engagement. I had one moment of quite nasty pedal kickback - something I had NEVER experienced on low engagement DT hubs. With DH type riding, you're either pedalling or you're not. Most of the time coasting. Engagement doesn't really matter to me. I do not doubt the longevity of this new system though. It certainly is adding some mass to this build! For lower intensity riding I may try them with the Elite carbon wheels I have on the hardtail. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this written review format!