I am BLOWN AWAY by the Cascade Components LT Link! 

Glad you liked it!

Agreed. Supplemental strength training is huge. It’s part of my weekly routine as well. Kettlebell routines for the win!

Thank you kindly, Borja!

I'm glad you did too, Ben! Thanks for the kind words, and say hi if you see me out on the trails!

Great to hear! I've heard lots of great feedback on the Yeti links. We have a CC link for the Transition Sentinel on Ali's bike and she loves it. I now have friends with CC links on an Enduro and Process 153, and both are really impressed with the performance.

Enjoy the new set up!

@@SemiSendy Just got it back from the shop so the first test rides will be this weekend. I am hoping I can lower the pressure on the fork and shock now that I have the link and 10mm more of travel in the fork. Want it to feel just a little more plush.

@@RR-dr6pi if your sag is correct your rebound is probably too slow. That will make the bike feel dead. Rebound is the setting that a lot of people get wrong. Properly set, it would seem too fast to most but will actually provide much better traction and the "plush" feeling you want. Obviously too fast is bad too.

Thanks, Nick!!!

Absolutely, and thanks for checking these videos out! I'm always psyched to share what I can.

It really is such a great playground. Cheers, Robert!

You've gotta check out Raccoon if you ever get the opportunity. It's the grown jewel of Chattanooga! The whole idea of the TB having better clearance really is baffling. I think they'll keep this in mind moving forward though.

100%! Cheers, Owen.

Have you tried the link with your coil? They say it should provide more clearance.

Nevermind, just saw your response to another comment. Bummer.

@@The_Backsmith802 yeah, sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

How do u feel this effects the climbing

My buddy recently picked up the link for the 153, and is absolutely thrilled with it. I think you’ll be pretty stoked!

Thanks Ben, she's a fun whip!

Welcome aboard!

Thanks, Bike Somm! Will do.

That's awesome, Todd. Get that camera out and have some fun!

Absolutely, John. I hope it was helpful!

Heck yeah! Can't wait to hear what you think.

What are your thoughts? Curious about this for myself.

@@Mtully01 so far so good. do notice a few more pedal strikes w/ linkage. Just scored a 190x45 RS Super Deluxe so curious to see how it and linkage perform.

@@GF-cb8rr did the 140 airspring swap last fall. Just got the RS SD installed and bike finally feels dialed!

@@smithkev75 I also ride a Santa Cruz Tallboy, do you think I would benefit from a Cascade link for my bike? I choose the Tallboy over the Hightower, because I’m doing a lot of touring on my mtb in my local forests. The trails are pretty mellow and I’m pedaling most of the time. So I wanted a bike that really excels at pedaling but still is capable of being a fun machine when pointed downhill. The Tallboy is amazing for this and also jumps really well! However on repeated big hits I sometimes wish I have a little bit of extra safety underneath me. That’s why I’m thinking to opt for the cascade link, put the 140mm air shaft in my Pike (right now it has stock 130mm) and maybe replace the stock Fox DPS shock with something that has a Piggyback, like the Rock Shox Super Deluxe Ultimate or a Fox Float DPX. But I would only do it, if I don’t loose any of the Tallboys pedaling efficiency, since this is the most crucial thing to me! I need the pedal efficiency and great snappy handling 95% of the time and that extra security only 5% of the time. If there are really no downsides in upgrading to the cascade link, I’d get it in the blink of an eye! Problem is that it’s just to expensive to buy the link (and a new shock) just to find out it makes the main use of the bike worse. I’d really love to hear your side on this! Also from everyone in the comments if they have experience with the Cascade Link on the Tallboy!

Haha, that's awesome! Happy to help if any other questions come up. Thanks for the sub!

Thank you Niklas! I have used the MegNeg and I prefer the SuperDeluxe without it on the cascade link. The MegNeg made the small bump and mid-stroke less supportive. Cascade recommends using the regular air can as well in most cases.

@@SemiSendy Thanks!

I’ve heard equally great reviews on the MT link 🤘

I don’t have one, but it’s definitely on the wish list to pick up one day. I picked up two bikes in the last year, so it’s going to be a good while before any others show up in the stable. Unless of course, I run across a steal of a deal. 😂🤘

Really good question. These modern low BB's really do require some extra attention when it comes to pedal strikes. I can't say it's that much perceivably worse than the stock LO setting though. Running less sag on the CC helps, and is still a huge improvement over the stock link. All in all, the pro's far outweigh the con's.

I find myself looking at other bikes and thinking, nope. There’s no CC link for it 😂 Silly but true.

I've opted not to remove the delrin reducer on my SuperDeluxe, but I have run another 210x55 with the cascade link. It's a nominal difference in travel and not something really perceivable between the two. For me it was a non-issue either way. I recently found out the HTv2 will remain for another model year, so the CC link will cover the next summer release as well.

@@SemiSendy awesome, good to know. thanks for replying and great vids. cheers.

I did leave it 29 in the back, dropping to a 27.5" would make the BB insanely low with this link. That said, I just received a mullet specific link from Cascade this week to test out. I'll be putting together a video all about converting and riding the HTv2 as a mullet, so keep your eyes out for that in the coming month.

Thanks Clint, and that’s awesome. The stoke is real! I’m running the en305 rim with the Michelin Wild Enduro 2.4 up front. It’s pretty aggressive with loads of grip.

@@SemiSendy nice setup! Thanks for the info. Cheers! Keep shredding!

Thanks, mate! 🤘

Kanashi Panda not sure to be honest. Cascade has a long history of lower link SC designs which haven’t had any reported issues of the like. The HTv2 is the 4th in the lineage I believe.

That's a Stumpjumper thing that is an unfortunate consequence of using a long shock yoke. The Stumpjumper is hard on shocks no matter what link is used. The long shock yoke coupled with any slight play in the joint between the shock and the yoke puts the shock shaft in bending which will eventually cause failure for aggressive and heavy riders. Air shocks are less prone to it than coils because of the shock shaft diameter, but no shocks are immune to it.

Watched again and heard the BB height specs😢

Not particularly. Felt like an artificial "push" through the initial stroke.

Hey Raul! I’ve not tried an air shock with a 55mm stroke, but I don’t think it will degrade pop. I’d give it a go first since it’s already set up that way. You’ll love the new set up for sure! 🤘

Not sure if it's on their drawing board or not.

I preferred mine at 160mm when running the CC link, but it's definitely not a requirement.

R3Z3N sadly it’s not free for either of us. Even having to pay to license music, there are only so many options out there 😢😂😊

@@SemiSendy Either way, great video, I appreciate the feedback!

I’m not affiliated with Santa Cruz so I can’t directly answer questions you might have for them. I can tell you that engineers don’t always have the last say in these types of decisions, and people aren’t one dimensional in their preferences either. FWIW, they just did move a bit more in this direction with the latest update.

Hi Helder, for swapping out the shock itself, there's just two bolts in total that need to be removed, one at either end where the shock is connected to the frame and linkage. The mounting hardware is something you'll want to look up independently from the Hightower specific information, since it's shock specific. You'll need the know how to remove and install the proper hardware. SC does recommend using roller bearings for the linkage side.

I've ran it with the dhx2 with a 500# sls spring, still rubs sadly. It's enough to remove the paint down to the carbon, so I really urge anyone with concerns about that to stay away from running coil until SC revises the tunnel (IF they do) down the road.

@@SemiSendy Man, I was really hoping the LT Link would make a difference. I really appreciate that you're out there trying things on our behalf. Thanks for the feedback and for another great video!

@@joshuabell3348 absolutely. I wish I had better news there, but I'm really grateful for the words of encouragement and appreciation. Makes it all worthwhile!

@@SemiSendy Hi, is it impossible with the cascade link I have on my bike to install a spring damper with a spring on an 82kg rider?Thanks

@@scht5366 not without the spring rubbing on the frame.

I have not tried the MegNeg with the cascade link. I ran it on the stock link, and honestly I really did not care for it. To me it felt like a artificial push through the small bump, and didn’t provide the underlying support I prefer. Chatting with cascade about it, I got the sense that they felt much the same way.

I can certainly understand that concern.

The only Geo changes noted by Cascade are a 5mm increase in chain stay length and a 2.5mm drop in BB height. I'm running a 160mm fork, which does slacken the HTA by about .5* and balances out the feel of the bike and keeps the BB at a nice height. These Geo changes all bring more stability to the platform and keep the bike more composed at speed through the rough stuff. Trade off is a little bit less responsiveness in slow speed handling. For anyone who definitely prefers the "HI" position on the stock link, the CC link is not what I would recommend. In hindsight, I wish I had spoken about that in this review.

Fair enough! I can understand that being a concern for sure. I've adapted well to it and it fits my style, but definitely not something everyone can get along with.

Thanks for the sub, Paul! I was able to swap the air spring in the Lyrik with a 160mm one for around 60$. I really liked the way it balanced out the bike with the stock link in the LO position before the CC link came to market. I can understand the cost of the CC link being a deal breaker. I was grateful the price to performance ratio made it a good value in the end. The change in rear travel on the 2021 model was due to the stroke length of the shock. A lot of folks decided to remove the 2.5mm travel reducer out of the 2020 stock SuperDeluxe to take it to 145mm. I think SC realized the 2.5mm reducer wasn't really necessary.

Hi Ro, that’s a great question. I personally hesitate to answer just because I have not tried the link on the Tallboy. The change in pedal efficiency between the stock link and the cascade on the high tower was extremely minimal, but hopefully somebody who’s tried it on the tallboy can chime in here..

@@SemiSendy thanks for your answer! I’d love to get a full blown enduro bike, like a Megatower and max it out with a coil shock, cascade link and even upgrade the fork to coil spring. That plush and planted feel is what I truly love and desire in suspension, however it’s absolutely useless around here.. I just wish I would live in an area with more gnarly descents because that’s what I truly like about mountainbiking. That’s why I need to opt for a low travel bike that’s good to pedal, even if I hate pedaling! But without pedaling a lot, I wouldn’t be able to at least enjoy those 15 seconds of descending on our most brutal trails. Did I already mention that I really really want to live in an area where I can bomb sick downhills instead of fireroads and almost boring CC like singletrails?

Not a dumb question at all. The answer can be somewhat complex. There’s a lot of various things influencing the decision of the manufacturer. There’s also a lot of subjectivity in what characteristics are “best” when it comes to the design of the linkage and resulting kinematic. From a manufacturing standpoint, when it comes to a trail bike like this, there’s typically going to be a fine balancing act between pedaling performance, descending characteristics, etc. there’s often times also a heavy influence from the marketing side. The outcome of all of these things may not appeal to a certain segment of the market. In steps cascade that sees these complaints and has the ability to design and manufacture a tweak to answer those needs. What’s pretty cool in this specific scenario is that the next generation hightower (version 3) was altered a bit and addresses some of the issues that this cascade link was working towards resolving. The popularity of the cascade link may have played a role in encouraging them to head that direction.

@@SemiSendy interesting, that makes a ton of sense. Does that mean that with all this improved small-bump sensitivity there will be more pedal bob from the cascade link? I was thinking about getting on for my ripmo af; it's going to be converted to an ebike anyways so bob doesn't matter so much. But curious nonetheless :D

@@charlesdu9941 yeah, there’s always a bit of trade off for sure. I will say I think Ibis has the stock linkage on the ripmos pretty dialed.

I run my set up with 160mm up front, and it's right on par with the stock link in LO on a 150mm fork.

Mostly filmed this in the upper chunky area on the first two trails starting from the left. Great short test tracks!

Hey Jesus. I honestly wasn't a fan of the MegNeg (I know, unpopular opinion) and I get what David is getting at. To me it felt like a bandaid for a problem that was cleared up with the Cascade Link. I'd be willing to bet that if the CC link was the stock leverage curve, no one would have felt the need to try the MegNeg to begin with. I see it as a end of the line option if no better solutions are present (which was the case for a while) Now, I should be clear I haven't personally tried the MegNeg/CC link combo, and I don't want to dissuade you from giving it a try if you're inclined. I would encourage you to try it without and see which set up feels best to you.

Running similar sag as I was on the stock link. I tend to ride fairly high around 28%.

For sure, that bike is going to be even more of a ripper!

Do you know if this link drops bb on the tallboy4 also? About to get one

It doesn't appear so. Here's the link with all of their published info. Might want to double check with them, but I've always seen it published in the main spec's previously: cascadecomponents.bike/products/v4-tallboy-link

@@jonanderson1777 its the same as if the flip chip was in the low setting

I I have 2 rides on my tallboy link. Worth every penny

Hey Pippin, a mullet 5010 sounds super cool. I'm pretty curious about the new 5010 in general myself. I haven't yet seen a 5010 link released from Cascade though. It might be worth dropping them a message to see if it's something they may be considering or already working on. I haven't done the math, but I'd guess a 130mm (possibly a 140mm) fork with a 29" wheel up front would shake out nicely. I'd love to hear what you think if you end up giving it a go!

Hey Bryson, I'm running a 40mm stem.

Maybe about 80% of it. There's POV from WVA, VA and GA in there too.

Ok, I've been to Raccoon twice and I love it. Some of the footage towards the end didn't look familiar and wanted to make sure I wasn't missing any trails out there 😁

Sadly, yes.

Also with the cascade link? I thought there would be more space......(great vids btw, keep going👍🏼)

Hey 9000rpm, the flip chip is just a feature of the stock link. The cascade link is basically a more optimized LO setting. Similar geo with more progression.

I’m curious about this as well.

No, only the geo adjustments mentioned in the video. Cheers.

She's getting some new socks (rims) ;)

Hi Chris, thanks for tuning in! That's a great question. The Cascade LT link is much more about an improvement in suspension kinematics than anything. Having ridden the Megatower a fair amount as well, both with and without the MT Cascade link, I can say I would not own either bike without swapping over to it. That said, the HTv2 is currently set up stock at 145/150. The LT link with a 52.5 stroke doesn't make much of a change there. The small bump and lower bottom out resistance is key. 160 up front feels like a much better balance even with the stock link for me. The current SC's run pretty low bottom brackets and the CC link slightly lowers it more, increasing the the front travel helps to find a nice offset for that. It also slightly slackens the HTA a bit more and adds a touch more trail and wheelbase. It all comes together for a bit more of a playful bike that still crushes descents and handles park nicely. Looking at the Megatower, it would move in similar directions with the same addition of the CC link. Most run a 170-180mm fork with the CC link for a similar balance. Personally, I would take all of the adjustments coming from the CC link before I'd be at all concerned with the chainstay flip chip. I'm not saying I wouldn't ever own an MT, I've certainly considered it, but they don't overlap quite like you'd think given the way I would set them up. Cheers!

Sounds to me like the link and increasing the shock stroke to 55mm with 160mm fork turns the Hightower into a better (stock) Megatower in that the off the top sensitivity is better, especially for lighter riders.

Black Sheep MTB Don’t be jelly, they may get to the Ripmo one day. 😉

They don’t make it because it doesn’t need it!

Black Sheep MTB in all fairness, ibis let their engineers wander from the traditional mindset of marketing numbers. I like that, a lot.

The Ripmo rides great. But, to put it mildly, it is not the prettiest bike around 🤣

Jesus Arango you crazy. The ripmo is a good looking bike. I love the curves

It's usually only a thing when aggressively pedaling through sprint sections on downhills, typically when the bike is compressing under g force and I'm trying to throw in a few pedal strokes. I've learned where that point is though. Running the fork at 160mm helps offset this. and gives the bike a more overall balanced feel. It's no worse than the stock link in the LO position with a 150mm fork.

The Cascade Link does require a bit more pressure. I weigh 180 and I'm running 198psi.