[billybobzia]

rode a heckler today and was impressed, but is it truly an all around bike?? i am not a weight weenie but do lots of long rides(4-6 hours) with lots of climbing, would this be a good bike for me?? it seems reasonably light, anyone know the weight of a complete set up with xt and marzochi Z-1?? would love all feedback!thanks

 

[dpdsurf]

rode a heckler today and was impressed, but is it truly an all around bike?? i am not a weight weenie but do lots of long rides(4-6 hours) with lots of climbing, would this be a good bike for me?? it seems reasonably light, anyone know the weight of a complete set up with xt and marzochi Z-1?? would love all feedback!thanks

I love my Heckler and think it is very versatile. Coming from a Specialized Enduro it is a better fit for the rougher terain which I encounter on my local loop. Climbs well with a 5th element coil and can be built fairly light. The version you mentioned will roughly weigh between 32 - 36 lbs depending on which Z-1 model, tires and wheel choice.

Mine is 35 lbs and was built with heavier stronger parts for where I ride
Z-1 FR QR20
Mavic EX823 wheels
Nokian Tubless 2.3 tires (36 lbs w/ a Michelin wild gripper 2.5 front & 2.2 rear)
Truvativ Stylo Team cranks w/ Gigapipe BB
Sram XO rear deraileur / XT front
Sram X-7 trigger shifters
Thomson stem and post

 

[russw19]

rode a heckler today and was impressed, but is it truly an all around bike?? i am not a weight weenie but do lots of long rides(4-6 hours) with lots of climbing, would this be a good bike for me?? it seems reasonably light, anyone know the weight of a complete set up with xt and marzochi Z-1?? would love all feedback!thanks

Go to Santa Cruz's webpage and go to the color picker section. Pick the build kit and fork for the Heckler and it will give you a built weight. Santa Cruz is pretty close with their published weights and I would say what they list will be within a pound for accuracy.

 

[ronny]

All arounder for sure.

rode a heckler today and was impressed, but is it truly an all around bike?? i am not a weight weenie but do lots of long rides(4-6 hours) with lots of climbing, would this be a good bike for me?? it seems reasonably light, anyone know the weight of a complete set up with xt and marzochi Z-1?? would love all feedback!thanks

The Heckler is a good all around bike. If you are into rough aggressive riding it is a nice ride. I would consider something else if the majority of your riding is long up hill xc type of trails. The Heckler can climb with the 5th element but it is better suited to aggressive trail riding than long xc uphills. If you want a do anything (almost) bike the Heckler is a good pick. It is pricy for a frame that is built overseas.

 

[kapusta]

Climbs very well.

rode a heckler today and was impressed, but is it truly an all around bike?? i am not a weight weenie but do lots of long rides(4-6 hours) with lots of climbing, would this be a good bike for me?? it seems reasonably light, anyone know the weight of a complete set up with xt and marzochi Z-1?? would love all feedback!thanks

Yes, it really is an all around bike.

I rode a Superlight for years, and I find the Heckler climbs about the same, overall. My superlight was around 26 lbs and my Heckler is around 30-31 lbs, and I climb everything I used to. I also like long rides with big climbs (and therefore big descents) I've done many rides with 2,500-3,500 foot climbs and it feels like an XC bike on the way up. It is a very stable, cush ride on the way down, though.

Here is my build to give you an idea of what I've got:

TALAS fork
5th element coil
Hugi 240 disk hubs laced to Velocity VXC rims (these are XC wheels)
Tires vary, but most are in the 680-780 gram range (ex: Weirwolf 2.5, Blue grove2.35)
Easton carbon post and bar
Sram 7.0 gripshifters
X-9 rear der
XT cassette
XT front der
LX cranks
Avid mech discs

I think somebody mentioned the Santa cruz site as a place to look for the wieght of the build you are thinking of. Also, try Speedgoat's bike building program. It is pretty acurate. I plugged in my own build once to check it, and it was within a 1/4 pound of the actual weight.

If climbing is a big priority for you, the Heckler will do a great job, but the Z1 would not be my first choice. I originally had a Z1 FR on mine, but I was not crazy about the way it climbed unless the eta was engaged. I have a TALAS now and I am much happier with it on those epic rides. The Z1 was a better fork for playing really rough, but the TALAS feels better overall to me on rides that have it all.

Kapusta

 

[jr711]

all-arounder, YES

i've had my heckler a little over a year now. its a definate all-around bike.

i got the medium heckler with vanilla 125RLC and R-Freeride Kit and weighed about 34 lbs.

with that setup i've done long climbs, DH runs at resorts, raced DH, and ride regular xc.

when i first got the bike and did i climb i got real scared the bike was too heavy(9 lbs more than my xc hardtail), but once i got use to it it was fine. just a little slower in group rides when everyone else has a lighter bike.

with the right build i think it would be easy to the heckler to 30lbs

i've read the newer hecklers are shipping with a longer stroke shock which gives it 5.6 inches in the rear instead of 5.0

 

[Super Uke]

This is my second season with my Heckler and I love it. I do alot of XC country mixed with agressive downhilling. It's a great all around bike if you can't afford having three bikes (XC, Downhill and freeride)!!

 

[AsianPersuasion]

The Heckler is a great bike. It can sure replace a few bikes. It does not climb well out of the box. Mine is set up with very durable parts and it comes in around 35lbs. Downhills, it feels like a dream but climbing, you feel every ounce. I'm fortunate enought to have a bike for most specific applications, but after a few solid climbs, I may hold off selling my other bikes which the Heck was supposed to replace. Overall, the bike is amazing...

 

[r-kelly]

Your bike should be 32+ pounds. It will climb well. Mine is 31 pounds with Z1 fr sl. On my 10 mile after work ride the weight is not a factor. On longer rides (20 miles+) with fast riders it is a little harder to keep up compared to my 25 pound xc bike.

If you mostly do long xc rides, and not into freeriding a blur might be better for you.

 

[billybobzia]

on there website the bike builder leads me to believe i can get one built up to weigh under 30 pounds with a Fox Talas or Vanilla, do you guys think it is accurate??

 

[r-kelly]

on there website the bike builder leads me to believe i can get one built up to weigh under 30 pounds with a Fox Talas or Vanilla, do you guys think it is accurate??

yea with fairly light tires and a fox shock you should be just under 30 pounds.

The other thing I should have mentioned in my post above...is that the Z1 is a realy tall fork and not great for long xc rides. Its not bad either but the fox forks or a minute will be lighter and lower for better climbing

 

[jrm]

you could

on there website the bike builder leads me to believe i can get one built up to weigh under 30 pounds with a Fox Talas or Vanilla, do you guys think it is accurate??

If you fitted it with a AVA or 5th air, a light wheelset, fork and component group. i seen pictures of 28 lbs hecklers. But to build one up that light lkinda defeats the purpose of the bike IMO. Have you looked at the specialized enduro's? IMO i would say that a 4 bar allways active 4 bar design is more of a all do platform for 4 to 6 hour jounts.

 

[billybobzia]

If you fitted it with a AVA or 5th air, a light wheelset, fork and component group. i seen pictures of 28 lbs hecklers. But to build one up that light lkinda defeats the purpose of the bike IMO. Have you looked at the specialized enduro's? IMO i would say that a 4 bar allways active 4 bar design is more of a all do platform for 4 to 6 hour jounts.

dont understand, why?? why would a 28 lb heckler not serve both purposes (climbing and descending)...i have a Spec SJ FSR and it weighs about 28, just thinking about more travel and about the same weight..

 

[r-kelly]

dont understand, why?? why would a 28 lb heckler not serve both purposes (climbing and descending)...i have a Spec SJ FSR and it weighs about 28, just thinking about more travel and about the same weight..

It would be a good descender but with lightweight wheelset/ tires/shocks etc. it wont excel as a heavy duty trail/freeride bike (its intended purpose)

If you want a light bike that descends well a blur will climb better than a light heckler and descend perfectly well too.

 

[Bikinfoolferlife]

Inspired by this thread, I took the bathroom scale

down and came up with 31/32 pounds for my Heckler. I have a Moots YBB and an older Heckler when I want lighter bikes, but I still don't ride 'em much compared to the newer Heckler and I ride mostly XC with a little Downieville or Durango style shuttling thrown in. Recently in Colorado some guys were laughing about my "downhill" bike but I climbed as well as anyone else did on their various bikes (strongest guy still wins on that score most of the time), and usually one of the first downhill. When it gets really steep I can put the ECC lockout on but I only run into stuff that steep once in a while, but it is a kinda tall front end the way I've got it set up:

02 Heckler with 5th Element Coil
02 Z1FR QR20+
Shimano XT Rapidfire Shift/Brake combos, XT derailleurs front & rear
Chris King ISO Disc Hubs (20mm in front) w/ 14g spokes Mavic F219 rims
King Headset
Syntace VRO Bar/stem combo
Avid BB Disc calipers w/6" rotors
old (00?) Shimano LX square taper triple ring crank w/Shimano BB
Salsa chainguard
WTB Motoraptor 2.4 race tires
Titec Berserkr saddle
Race Face XY post

I really like this bike because it does everything fairly well and it's very reliable and easy to service the pivots. I do wonder if the Blur was available at the time if I'd gone that way...

 

[jrm]

r-kelly hit the nail on the head..

dont understand, why?? why would a 28 lb heckler not serve both purposes (climbing and descending)...i have a Spec SJ FSR and it weighs about 28, just thinking about more travel and about the same weight..

Sure the heckler will serve that purpose. But from owning both a heckler and currently riding a a 4 bar suspension design..the 4 bar does a better job hands down. The fact that you have an stumpy FSR makes the enduro a better option IMO. I weighed a 04' enduro expert at the LBS and it came in @ 29 lbs. and thats with OE parts too. What about upgrading your link and rear shock for more travel?

 

[ibmkidIII]

Sounds like a lighter bike may be better for you, depending. It defintely is an all around bike ( I LOVE mine), but it doesn't excel in the long XC rides(20-30 miles), though I use mine for that purpose quite often. Mine is built up beefy at 34lbs, with a TALAS RLC and 2.4 knobbies. I love pointing it downhill, but I do struggle a bit on the uphills and wish for a nimbly 24lbs bike for those climbs....can't have it all.

Heckler in action...