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Bronson v. Hightower v. SB130


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Long story short: I rode a Bronson in Crested Butte last weekend and was blown away.  I've been riding the Diamondback Release 5C for 4 years now and am interested in exploring a new high-end MTB.  My plan is to go with the step below the highest end for the bikes referenced in the subject line.  For the SB130, I would be upgrading to carbon wheels and the Santa Cruz already comes with them in that build kit.  The pricing is pretty much identical and the geometry, other then the lower stack on the Yeti is near identical as well.

Can those that have experienced these bikes give me some feedback and thoughts on which they liked the best?  Links below:

 

Bronson: https://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-US/bikes/bronson#geometry-and-sizing

Hightower: https://www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-US/bikes/hightower

SB130: https://yeticycles.com/bikes/sb130

Edited by Kobra Kai MTB Guy
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I have a 2022 Bronson with the MX wheelset. So far it’s been a great bike. Compared to my previous 29er, I can definitely maneuver the bike around tight turns a little easier due to the 27.5 in the back, but still get all the benefits of the 29er’s roll over angle in the front. The VPP seems to do a good job at hiding the fact that you’re pedaling a 150mm bike. I also feel the VPP has a much more plush bottom stroke compared to my previous bike with DW Link which was a bit more jarring closer to the end of it’s travel. 
 

I’ve rented an SB130 in Colorado and had absolutely no complaints. Yeti has that bike dialed in so well. Honestly, there really isn’t much to say that isn’t already known about this bike.
 

Never ridden a Hightower but I will say the new Matte Evergreen color way is amazing. 
 

As @ATXZJ said, you can’t go wrong with any of them. Both SC and Yeti have a much better suspension platform than DB’s level link so whatever you go with will be quite the upgrade. 

Edited by WLemke
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I have owned the Yeti SB5 Turq and the Hightower CC and am currently running the Santa Cruz 5010 C.  I loved all of those bikes, and the Yeti was my favorite.  I kicked myself for selling it. The Yeti pedaled a little more...firmly, I.e. less bounce than the others, but I barely notice it in the others now. I had the suspension set up perfectly and loved how it rode and how it handled.

 

As @ATXZJstated, you won't go wrong with any of those bikes. 

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Just now, 4fun said:

@WLemke Isn’t the VPP and level link the same suspension platform. I think I even remember that there was some kind of legal battle over it 6-8 yrs ago. With the new generation of SC’s VPP it is not as visually apparent. 

It’s my understanding that the patent covering VPP expired and DB created their own VPP offshoot. I don’t have the knowledge to articulate how they differ but I do know that while they share a lot of similarities, there are some slight differences. 
 

 

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18 hours ago, WLemke said:

It’s my understanding that the patent covering VPP expired and DB created their own VPP offshoot. 
 

 

This^

There are several companies now using their own iteration of vpp. The biggest issue with older variants of VPP was pedal kickback. The latest version from SC seems to have addressed some of this. 

Pedal kickback sucks in rocky places like CTX.

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Timely review

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/review-the-155mm-revel-rail-29-wants-more-uphill.html

 

This stuck out for me:

"While I wouldn't recommend it to those looking at the all-XC or all-DH sides of the spectrum, it checks enough boxes on the smooth climbs, tech climbs, flow descents, and rough descents that I feel it would work well on the vast majority of bike terrain for the vast majority of people, and it manages to do that without ever feeling boring."

Edited by ATXZJ
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Thanks for the feedback everyone. I went into Peddler’s and they made it sound like the Bronson and Hightower would be difficult to get. After further review, the Bronson seemed a little big for around here as well. Long story short, Cycle Progression had a T2 SB130 in stock, and I went with that:

 

7B96BEDC-3FD9-46A7-97A4-73D01940656E.thumb.jpeg.5b4024bc2f997a8e48046be4c22c6ec7.jpeg
 

My feedback is mostly positive. Really, I’ve been quite blown away. The lack of bob when pedaling is very nice, and this bike takes big hits VERY well. I hit the 4-5 ft B-line drop to flat at the end of City and it felt super smooth. I was hoping you guys could help me out with the couple issues I’ve had:

 

1.  I was told this would be the case, but the anti-squat makes technical climbs more difficult than expected on a 29er. I just feel like it’s much harder to keep traction. 
 

2.  Similar to the above, every little bump in the trail is more noticeable than on the diamondback, while the bigger hits feel quite smooth. As a result, it performs quite well at City, but not as well on Double Down.  The videos I watched did warn against this, but I wasn’t sure if there was a way I could tweak the suspension to fix this. 

Edited by Kobra Kai MTB Guy
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Tough to say. It's just "different". 

Sitting and spinning keeping as much weight as you can on the back tire without unloading the front. Active suspension platforms just seem to want to do the work. 

It's almost like describing driving on ice to someone from Mississippi. Just takes practice.

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19 hours ago, Kobra Kai MTB Guy said:

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I went into Peddler’s and they made it sound like the Bronson and Hightower would be difficult to get. After further review, the Bronson seemed a little big for around here as well. Long story short, Cycle Progression had a T2 SB130 in stock, and I went with that:

 

7B96BEDC-3FD9-46A7-97A4-73D01940656E.thumb.jpeg.5b4024bc2f997a8e48046be4c22c6ec7.jpeg
 

My feedback is mostly positive. Really, I’ve been quite blown away. The lack of bob when pedaling is very nice, and this bike takes big hits VERY well. I hit the 4-5 ft B-line drop to flat at the end of City and it felt super smooth. I was hoping you guys could help me out with the couple issues I’ve had:

 

1.  I was told this would be the case, but the anti-squat makes technical climbs more difficult than expected on a 29er. I just feel like it’s much harder to keep traction. 
 

2.  Similar to the above, every little bump in the trail is more noticeable than on the diamondback, while the bigger hits feel quite smooth. As a result, it performs quite well at City, but not as well on Double Down.  The videos I watched did warn against this, but I wasn’t sure if there was a way I could tweak the suspension to fix this. 

Nice score! Curious if you sized down from what you had been riding? When I was looking at the SB130, I concluded that a M would be right for me even though I've always rode L bikes.  

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1 hour ago, throet said:

Nice score! Curious if you sized down from what you had been riding? When I was looking at the SB130, I concluded that a M would be right for me even though I've always rode L bikes.  

I considered it since the DB has such short chainstays and reach at a medium, but decided I wanted something that felt way different since I’m keeping the DB.

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On 7/23/2022 at 8:41 AM, Kobra Kai MTB Guy said:

I considered it since the DB has such short chainstays and reach at a medium, but decided I wanted something that felt way different since I’m keeping the DB.

I've generally found that after about a dozen rides your brain totally locks into the differences between bikes. I can walk into my garage and grab any bike and my brain knows "ok, it's the purple one, it will handle like this..."

Basically, once I've dialed it in for the first time, muscle memory takes over. I can go from riding the FS carbon on BCGB on the weekends to my street bike on Monday and then my steel hardtail SS for the R&I and my brain runs on autopilot. But each of those needed about a dozen rides to lock it in.

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  • 1 month later...
On 7/22/2022 at 12:40 PM, Kobra Kai MTB Guy said:

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I went into Peddler’s and they made it sound like the Bronson and Hightower would be difficult to get. After further review, the Bronson seemed a little big for around here as well. Long story short, Cycle Progression had a T2 SB130 in stock, and I went with that:

 

7B96BEDC-3FD9-46A7-97A4-73D01940656E.thumb.jpeg.5b4024bc2f997a8e48046be4c22c6ec7.jpeg
 

My feedback is mostly positive. Really, I’ve been quite blown away. The lack of bob when pedaling is very nice, and this bike takes big hits VERY well. I hit the 4-5 ft B-line drop to flat at the end of City and it felt super smooth. I was hoping you guys could help me out with the couple issues I’ve had:

 

1.  I was told this would be the case, but the anti-squat makes technical climbs more difficult than expected on a 29er. I just feel like it’s much harder to keep traction. 
 

2.  Similar to the above, every little bump in the trail is more noticeable than on the diamondback, while the bigger hits feel quite smooth. As a result, it performs quite well at City, but not as well on Double Down.  The videos I watched did warn against this, but I wasn’t sure if there was a way I could tweak the suspension to fix this. 

Forgot to mention the cascade link. They make one for the yeti that will help with the small bump compliance and ledge issues associated with this platform. I just installed one on my druid and it made a noticeable difference on compliance, even on a high pivot. Did take some fiddling with shock psi and settings to get it dialed, but well worth it. Downside is it'll slack your yeti out slightly and is a little pricey. If you install, do it on the DL and hold onto your old link in case of a warranty issue.

https://cascadecomponents.bike/collections/yeti-linkages

 

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2 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

Forgot to mention the cascade link. They make one for the yeti that will help with the small bump compliance and ledge issues associated with this platform. I just installed one on my druid and it made a noticeable difference on compliance, even on a high pivot. Did take some fiddling with shock psi and settings to get it dialed, but well worth it. Downside is it'll slack your yeti out slightly and is a little pricey. If you install, do it on the DL and hold onto your old link in case of a warranty issue.

https://cascadecomponents.bike/collections/yeti-linkages

 

Man, I saw those and thought they were BS. I may check it out now. Thanks!

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