29 inches and long suspension travel? That doesn't go together. At least that's what people thought a few years ago. The Santa Cruz Hightower was one of the first bikes to show what was possible with 29 inches in the all-mountain segment: the bike pedalled efficiently uphill thanks to its moderate suspension travel, but you could still really let it go downhill. For 2020, the 140-millimetre bike was fitted with a 150 mm fork and a new frame with a Lowerlink VPP rear triangle. Despite the downhill-heavy spec, the weight remains moderate, with strong suspension and solid tyres, the bike poaches in the enduro segment and is still available for longer MTB tours. With 33.9 per cent of the votes, the Bike of the Year 2020 in the All Mountain category!
Second place goes to the Orbea Occam with 24.6 per cent of reader votes. Third place went to the Nicolai Saturn 14 with 17.6 per cent. Mi-Tech's Puna and Niners RIP 9 RDO share fourth and fifth place.
Adrian Kaether
Editor
