[stevebrock]

Had a Heckler and spent the extra £130 on the RP23 upgrade, not realising what a waste of money it was..after reading many forums, opinion was that the RP23 HV on the Heckler was very hard to live with! You either had nice small bump compliance with risk of bottoming out on big hits or no small bump compliance with no risk to bottoming out. I did try to shim the air can which improved things a bit but in the end got rid of the RP23 and got a Coil Shock which was better suited to the single pivot!

I am about to demo a Butcher here in the UK, it will have an RP23 on it, obviously with the butcher being a linkage driven single I guess the RP23 is going to behave the same? Maybe I should just wait until the weekend to ride the demo Butcher, it is a Medium with a Lyrik but I am only able to afford a 150mm Sektor.

If Im happy with the bike then I will be ordering a Lime Green!

 

[Russalf]

I guess your going to be demoing the same bike i did, white medium butcher with lyrics, bike came with monkey lite 680mm bars which ruined the test ride for me as im used to 740s.

I went for a frame only with the float R, i figured if the shock needs work why spend the £130 on the rp23 when i could send it to TF to get pushed or tweaked for the same money. Ive had 3 rides on the bike now and cant see myself sending the shock off, it performs pretty well, i think i would struggle to tell the difference between the rp23 and R.

Have a look what tune the rp23 is, i didnt look but the stock R on my frame is Low compression and Low Rebound Tune.

 

[stevebrock]

Thankas for replying yes seems the same bike, but not seen it, but I know it comes with a RP23 (low compression/rebound tune according to Jungle) and a Lyrik. Jungle sent it to my LBS today and I pick it up Thursday!

So after the demo, you were obviously likeing the bike then? Have you ridden a Heckler? is it better??

What colour did you go for? your spec? cheers

 

[Russalf]

Ive never seriously ridden a heckler, only round car parks etc so cant comment. My previous bike was a Commencal Mini DH and before that was a Meta 6, so i like my linkage activated single pivots. The biggest difference i notcied was how stable this bike is in fast corners, it doesnt sink into its travel like my old bike.

Have loads of pics, i know how annoying it is searching the internet for pics of the colour and bike you want!

Mines Lime Green (camera doesnt show colour well):

Pics with flash, shows the true colour better:

Spec:
2009 Fox36 Float R
Renthal Duo Stem
Diety Dirty Thirty bars cut down to 740
XT shifters
XT rear mech
SLX double front mech
Saint Brakes 7inch fron 6inch rear
SLX double chain set
M647 DX pedals
Gamut Double chain guide
Hope Pro 2 on Stans Flow
CK Headset
Crank Bro Joplin 4 r
Fizik Gobi
Normally has 2.2 Rubber queens front and back but i have a trailraker on the rear at the moment due to the state of the trails.

Weighs 32lbs, soon to be less once my xtr trail pedals and new bars turn up.

 

[gticlay]

I wouldn't spend the extra on the RP23.

 

[triplereffi]

I thought about it befor I bought my butcher

After couple of ridings on variety of trails, I saw that optimal tuning of the rebound is enough and there is no need for a PP. No unwanted bobbing while nice and smooth drops. I think SC has built unintentionally higher performance bike than they planned.
While I ride, I see many MTB riders that tuning their PP and\or travel (Talas). I think the Butcher keeps you make the best of the trail, without uploading sophisticated components. Save the money and buy a dropper instead. That's all the butcher needs.

 

[stevebrock]

Thanks for the replys....

I have today ordered a Lime Green Butcher (M) with a Float R, also ordered a RS Sektor 150mm and PRO2's/Stans Flow......

Can't wait to start building her!

Russalf - Yes It was the White Butcher (M) with Lyriks,XO, Elixir CR the same bike MBUK tested last year!

I don't think the shock/fork was optimised for me, but the bike pedalled really well and was a dream on the descents.