Quiver Filler
Full disclosure: I own two Stumpjumpers.
Jules wants to know if he should buy a Megatower. At least half the time I see a bike review, I think to myself that I could really use that bike, so I empathize.
My quiver consists of a crabon SC Tallboy 2 for less technical races; an alu Spec Fatboy with a Bluto for snow, beach, mud, etc; an aluminum long travel (150-160?) four year old Stumpy, which is my daily driver; and a 10 month old crabon Stumpjumper ST (130), which only gets out when there is not too much mud. This latter is the bike closest to the Hightower that I was considering last spring, when I bought it. Also have a CAAD 10 for road.
The FS bikes are definitely easier on my 64 year old back and shoulders than the Fatboy. Also, the LT Stumpy, which has 3” rubber is most comfortable. This is important to me, because I like to ride MTB a lot.
If I only owned the Stumpy ST, which is the closest in capabilities to Jules’ Hightower, then I might first want a FS fat bike for the conditions that I enumerated above, or a lighter race (depends in part how Jules, who is pretty strong, does in today’s Mayhem) bike before a LT like the Megatower, FWIW.