Is the MEGAtower too MEGA?! | Megatower Review & My Journey From 27.5 Wheels to a 29er

What's up everyone, Jimmy from MTB Travel Review here, and today we're going to talk a little bit about my Santa Cruz Megatower and my journey from 27 5-inch wheels to a 29er. Now for the last year and a half I've been on the 2016 V3 Santa Cruz Nomad. It's a great bike, it was a ton of fun, and I rode it long enough that I really became one with this bike and I was obsessed with it. That said, I spent a lot of time racing enduro in the Eastern States Cup Series here in the Northeast U.S., and all of the guys that were landing those podium spots, and basically all the riders now, are on 29ers. So I knew it was time for me to take a leap. Now with the pandemic, as everyone knows, it's been really hard to find bikes, parts, pretty much anything to do with bikes is sold out. So when I found out that Cycles Etc., my local shop, had a 2020 Megatower XL available, I went in on it blind. Now I'd heard mixed reviews about 29ers in general and about the Megatower. For me, I'm a one bike kind of guy. I have a YouTube, I do all these other things, but I can't afford two bikes at the same time. So I need one bike that can handle my local XC trails, riding with my dog Hazelnut, or doing enduro runs. A really good all-around bike. A lot of the guys that I spoke with either said that this was the best bike they've ever been on, they love it, they would never go back, or they said it's a really big bike and it's a lot to handle, so maybe it's a little too much for me. Now since I'm a one bike kind of guy, I'm really, I'm willing to ride a bigger bike and I'm willing to throw the extra weight around. It's just something I have to be willing to do if I can't get a smaller, lighter XC bike for my local trails. So went in blind, got the bike, and so far it's been an absolute blast. The first thing to note on the Megatower is of course the VPP suspension that comes on all Santa Cruz bikes. Now the VPP suspension, or virtual pivot point suspension, is known for being great at small bump compliance. It's also great at transferring your pedal power into a forward motion as opposed to losing a lot of energy with pedaling and your suspension sucking up that energy instead of propelling the bike forward. So one thing that I knew coming into the Megatower was that it was going to pedal really well no matter the size, and it also was going to have great small bump compliance and some great progressivity and resistance to bottom outs. So for me, it's a great all-around bike. If I can pedal it well, but it can also take big hits and has a really nice small bump feel, that's a win. Now in addition to that, the Megatower has some adjustability. So it has the rear flip chip here, which allows you to shorten or lengthen the chain stay about 10 millimeters or so. I run this in short at the moment because I like my back end a shorter to be a little more playful with my BMX background. That said, once racing picks up, I'll probably make it a little longer so I have some more stability on those steeper downhill runs. The Megatower also has a flip chip in the lower link here, and what that does is allows you to adjust the bottom bracket height ever so slightly. It also allows you to slightly adjust the progressivity of the bike. So if this is in the high setting, which is where I keep it for now, the bottom bracket is ever so slightly higher, and then the seat tube and the head tube angles are a little steeper, so it's a little better for pedaling efficiency on my local trails. Now again, once I start racing, I will probably lower this chip to the lower setting so the bottom bracket will sit a little lower, making me a little more stable on the bike, and it'll make my head and seat tube angles a little slacker for those steeper runs. Now mind you, these flip chips are a minor adjustment, 5-10 millimeters, so it's not a huge difference, but having the adjustability is key. Now what I have here is basically the stock CS build, so I'll leave some of the details up there for you guys, since there really weren't many parts out there to upgrade. But I do have some Renthal carbon bars or Renthal stem, and the biggest upgrade that I made, and one thing that I learned going from 27.5 to 29, is the carbon wheels here. When I first started riding this bike, it came with some stock 30 millimeter internal aluminum rims, and the first thing I noticed as I was getting used to the bigger bike, is that I could really feel the wheels flex, and it just wasn't stiff enough for me with the bigger 29 inch wheels, and that is ultimately why I decided to go to carbon. Now, I decided to go with Noble. Noble has some really great pricing, and their new premium line with a sine wave design, they're just beautiful rims, they're bulletproof, and they have an excellent warranty replacement program. If you guys don't know a lot about Noble, feel free to check out the video that I did reviewing their full premium wheel line. Gives you all the details in the grind, just a great set of wheels, and so far I've been loving them. So let's get out for a ride on my local trails, and I can tell you a little more about the feel of the bike. We're gonna head over to Bill Ricka State Forest in Massachusetts here. It's a very mellow XC spot, it has some really fun tech stuff to play on, and it's a good place to experiment with a bike of this size on a local trail system. Let's get out there. Hello my cats and kittens. Today we ride Bill Ricka State Forest with Brian. Let's go bikes. Biking. Piece of candy. What in the hell? All right, so the first thing that I noticed when going from a 27.5 to a 29er is of course the size of the bike. Now this bike, this is the XL Megatower, it has about a 1260 millimeter wheel base and about 490 millimeters of reach. So it's a big bike, I'm sitting taller on the 29 inch wheels, and it took me a little bit, maybe five, ten rides to just get used to being on a bigger bike. I was usually pretty stiff because I was just nervous being on the bike, I couldn't corner well, and initially I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to handle this like I could my V3 Nomad, but after five, ten rides this thing fits me perfectly. Now I tend to be a lankier, I have long arms, I have long legs, so maybe the bike was just, maybe the 29er is just a better fit for me overall, but it was really easy to get comfortable on it. Once I had the carbon wheels, which were a bit stiffer, I can really rail this thing into corners and it handles really well. Another thing to note on this bike is it does actually climb really well. Now again, this bike probably with the set of around 32, 33 pounds, it's a big bike, you're gonna have to heave it up the hill, but it pedals really smooth, you don't lose a lot of your energy, I hardly ever use my lockout switch on my real shock, and it doesn't bother me at all. It's a really strong climber for as big of a bike as it is, so I'm really excited to get this on some more race runs and do some more big mountain climbs during the enduro series. Now what surprised me the most about the Megatower is how well it handles in some local tech. For as big as it is, again, it took me a little bit to get the confidence back in the XC and the cornering, but once you know how to handle this bike, you can really move it around well. I mean, you can see here that I can still ride this thing, launch it off spines, I can handle some tight corners and get through some really unique tech with all of the confidence that I had on my smaller 27.5 Nomad. I was really impressed with the control, and now six months in, the control is even better. This thing, honestly, now that I'm used to it, it feels just as good as my Nomad did, which is great, but of course, it can handle a lot more chunk, it really has some great rolling speed, and with the bigger wheels, it can just roll over a lot of stuff. It makes all that stuff that you used to be nervous about, those little logs, seem a lot smaller and a lot easier, which is great, especially when it comes to racing, when you're full speed ahead. There she is, the old spineage. Oh, this is the one where I got that sweet video where you jumped it. Yeah, trying some trickier rock lines in the leaves. Now last but not least, let's not forget what this bike was made for. After six months, I've done some big runs from Upper J Bar up at Berk to a couple serious enduro races. This thing, if you point it down, is a rocket ship. Even on my local trails in my first couple rides, I remember doing runs that I've done a million times, and I came in and clipped a tree at full speed because I just had so much more speed than I was used to on the Nomad. This bike was built for going down fast, and it's pretty damn good at it. Just know that this bike is big, it's fast, and if you point it down, she'll go. This is a tricky little guy. All right guys, now all that said, the biggest question I get from everybody is what do you think about the bike, and is it a good all-around bike? And there's so many variables here. First things first, and this is something Will and Cooper from CCF talked to me a little about, but with the way suspension is these days, and with all the bikes that are being built, and the advancements that have been made in the last five years, with a proper suspension setup, any bike can ride well. Any bike can be playful. Any bike can ride however you want to set it up, so there's so much adjustability that it's hard for me to tell someone who's a different body size of different riding style whether they're going to like the bike or not. First things first, I always tell them to demo the bike, but generally speaking, I love this bike, and for me, it's an excellent all-around bike. Again, yes, it's a big bike. I think for a bigger bike, I'm willing to put in the extra effort. If I can't throw it around, I need to be stronger. If I can't pedal up the hill behind the XC guy, I need to be stronger. I'm willing to work for that, and that's just my mentality. That said, if you can afford a couple bikes, yeah, I wouldn't be mad if I had a smaller XC bike for my local trails or riding with my dog, but again, for me, one bike, and so far, this has been the perfect all-arounder. It handles all the big stuff. It's a ton of fun on my local stuff, so if you are ready to move up to a 29er, you already know that Santa Cruz is tried and true, and in my opinion, this is an incredible bike, but again, get out there. Find one. Find a buddy. Do a demo. Go ride it for yourself. See how it feels, and just see if it's the bike for you. Well, I hope this video was helpful for you guys. Again, this is just my opinion on the bike. I love the bike. It's been a ton of fun. If you have any questions, comments, anything you want to add, feel free to leave them below. Make sure, if you like this video, to click that like button. Subscribe. You can even click that little bell, so every time I put out a new video, it gives you an alert. I really appreciate the support, and thanks for following along, guys. Keep riding.