[cobym2]

I'm getting an All Mountain frame. I was wondering what the consensus would be on a choice between a Reign and a Heckler. The Reign will prob'ly be a better pedaler, right? But the Heckler is a proven and reliable design. Thanks for the input people..

 

[xenochimera]

did you post this question on pinkbike BTW?? i like my r3 but i never rode a heckler. i say go with the reign

 

[theg1ant]

reign

 

[Pinky]

Theres a lot of things to consider here.

Strength and rigidity. What sort of riding do you plan for the bike? The Hecklers rear is stiffer laterally than the Reign. If you get your kicks going out and really punishing your bike , I think the Heckler would be better.

Cost. For the price of a Heckler frame , you could almost build a complete Reign if you shop around wisely for components.

Performance. The Reign pedals more efficiently than the SC.

Personally , I prefer the geometry of the Heckler over the Reign , but I bought a Reign because I'm using it as a trail / enduro bike. Not for thrashing or 4X. And theres the value for money factor too. I'm not rolling in cash !

 

[wannabeRacer]

Reign...

 

[LyNx]

I agree w/ Pinky, the GIANT frames in general r so much cheaper than the "boutique frames" that u can generally build a complete bike for the price of the "boutique" frame. But as also stated the Heckler (in this case) is prob gona take more abuse. But BIANT does have a lifetime frame warranty.

 

[Call_me_Clyde]

Definitive answer

depends on where you post the question.

Giant Forum = Reign

Santa Cruz Forum = Heckler

I vote for the Giant for the same reasons stated here by others regarding value for your money.

Bob

 

[All Mountain]

Reign is proven, just read the Reign threads and/or mag reviews. Or any Trance thread for that matter, as they are similiar.

Heckler has now been effectively superceeded by the Nomad (all take a Nomad over a Reign if your spending the money).

 

[Ride_Ypsi]

Good Choices

I'm getting an All Mountain frame. I was wondering what the consensus would be on a choice between a Reign and a Heckler. The Reign will prob'ly be a better pedaler, right? But the Heckler is a proven and reliable design. Thanks for the input people..

I rode the R1 last season, and my wife has a Heckler built w/ a Vanilla, 5th coil and XC parts everywhere else. Your decision will depend on your budget, how unique of a bike you want, and how much you like to clean / maintain your bike.

As far as pedaling, I found no differance between the two. A single pivot with a good platform shock, that is set up right, will pedal just as well as the Reign. The Maestro supposedly provides a better wheel path and doesn't brake jack like the single pivot does. So, it's a more sophisticated design, but most people, unless they are very picky about the subtle ride caracteristics of a bike won't notice or won't care.

The main reason I sold my R1 was simply that it was more bike than I needed for my terrain (mostly rolling single track with lots of short climbs) and it was a big pain to clean after a muddy ride. I ended up getting a Prophet because of it's simple design.
I would have kept it if I had more mountains, and raced mt cross, or I didn't race and it was my only bike.

Most importantly disregard all of this, and go ride em.


Hope this helps,
Nate

 

[cobym2]

Keep em coming...

Thanks for the inputs guys, but keep em coming. This is really a lot of help.

The reason I wanted an all mountain rig is because I find myself shying away from the steep technical trails and rockgardens because I currently ride a pure XC hardtail with 80mm up front. I want something that will give me more confidence going down.

 

[LyNx]

Thanks for the inputs guys, but keep em coming. This is really a lot of help.

The reason I wanted an all mountain rig is because I find myself shying away from the steep technical trails and rockgardens because I currently ride a pure XC hardtail with 80mm up front. I want something that will give me more confidence going down.

Then what u really want is a Trance. Seriously if u want more confidence on the DHs, but will mainly ride XC the Trance is the ticket. Definitly ride any bike u can b4 u decide to purchase. As far as cleaning goes, I haven't found my Trance hard to clean at all but I guess that personal preference - maybe it's cause I have so much fun on the ride that I don't mind spending the time cleaning it when I'm done.

 

[danmtchl]

Then what u really want is a Trance. Seriously if u want more confidence on the DHs, but will mainly ride XC the Trance is the ticket. Definitly ride any bike u can b4 u decide to purchase. As far as cleaning goes, I haven't found my Trance hard to clean at all but I guess that personal preference - maybe it's cause I have so much fun on the ride that I don't mind spending the time cleaning it when I'm done.

Also Giant builds that Heckler. Why pay Santa Cruz a Boutique price that someone in Taiwan built.

 

[cobym2]

The trance? really...? Is it ok with the steeper head angle? if I get the trance, is it ok if I put a taller fork, say a Vanilla RLC, to slacken the head angle?


Anyway, the price of the Reign frame is just around USD150 less than a new heck here. Thats why I was comparing. Was initially ruling out teh cruz, but when I found out the price.... well, it got me thinking.

 

[LyNx]

The trance? really...? Is it ok with the steeper head angle? if I get the trance, is it ok if I put a taller fork, say a Vanilla RLC, to slacken the head angle?.

Steep head angle Can't say I found that at all, although I did come from a bike using an 80mm travel, $hitty fork and felt like I could almost take on anything when I got my Trance. AND yes u could use a fork with some more travel to slacken the HA - I personally extended my REBA to the full 115mm of travel it's capable and like it, DanMtchl swears by a 115mm on the Trance and I'd have to agree since we both basically use the same fork REBA (me SL him the Race) and at the 115mm travel you just get even more plushness from the REBA. The REBA was a recomendation from him when I found out my T3 came w/ a crapped out DUKE and I still cannot thank him for "nudging" me to the REBA. I personally think you'd enjoy the Trance.

 

[cobym2]

Thanks for the helpful replies again. I'm taking a serious look at the trance. Will try to testride the trance, reign and the heckler.

 

[Piker]

Pros/Cons

I rode a Large Heckler from April 04 until it was stolen in November 05. Replaced it with a 20" Reign 1 last month as i couldn't go through building up another bling filled bike and the R1 is well spec'd and priced.

My Heckler had a RS Pike team dual air and Fox Float RL AVA Pro Pedal. This combination worked well for rough XC and enduro and allowed the bike to pedal well but still remain active. It was light as a feather (hope bulbs/XM719 rims on No Tubes) but always felt strong and laterally stiff enough to take on drops and rocks without flex.

My Reign 1 now has a Fox 36RC2 and i am most impressed with both the frame and this fork combo. 36 feels stiffer than the Pike and the high and low speed compression adjustment works well if you like to fiddle with such performance characteristics.

I haven't noticed if one bike is/was laterally stiffer than the other. The swinger probably feels a little plusher, but there is more travel in the Reign. They both felt/feel good climbing. If anything the Reign feels a little more stable as the wheelbase is longer which also helps with climbing.

With a Heckler, less pivots probably means less potential for bearing play in the long run.

Single pivot was great, but i'm equally impressed with maestro at this point.

I agree with Ride_Ypsi that from my experience a single pivot will pedal well when using a platform shock.

As stated previously, boutique or mass produced is irrelevant as they come from the same place, but i have to admit i'm not impressed with Giants' crap tribal graphics, which are probably meant to appeal to a wider audience than those seeking the understated 'coolness' of a SC!