Climbs very well.
billybobzia said:
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