2014 Santa Cruz Heckler

Braking Characteristics  

I haven’t noticed the rear end to lock up under braking forces, which is the stereotype when it comes to single pivot suspension designs. This might be due to the fact that Santa Cruz moved the pivot forward of the bottom bracket on the 2014 Heckler.

And as I mentioned before, the Deore brakes have worked very well, and I haven’t noticed a performance decrease from my XT units.

So, why not get a Bronson?

Or you might ask, “Why does the Heckler even exist in the age of Virtual Pivot Point suspension?” Well, first I should point out price. An equivalently spec’d Bronson will go for an extra $400, or about 13% the total cost of a Heckler.

Savings aside, I think there are several valid reasons that Santa Cruz continues to produce single pivot bikes—and devout fans is one of them. (Caveat: I should preface this with the fact that I haven’t yet ridden a Bronson, so take these observations for what they’re worth.)

I think that, for many types of riding situations, the VPP is the “faster” choice. However, I think single pivot is great since it’s so easy to load the rear end, bunny hop, and gain some flow in the process. I haven’t quite pushed this bike to its limits, but descending on this design feels so plush, I think I can understand why Santa Cruz has kept this platform around.

Another lesser known benefit of this design is that it’s very easy to take apart and rebuild. You can take the bike apart in about 15 minutes with nothing but a set of allen wrenches.

Comparisons

Here I’ll try and provide some comparisons to other bikes I’ve ridden that are built for the same intended purpose and cost about the same as the Hecker. The 2014 Giant Trance SX Trail 27.5 ($4,050) and the 2014 Salsa Horsethief 2 ($3,299) come to mind.

• Santa Cruz Heckler v. Giant Trance SX Trail 
  

I rode the Trance at the Interbike Outdoor Demo this year at Bootleg Canyon, and I came away thinking that it’s a very capable trail bike with a little extra travel. It felt a little lighter (both in resting weight and “snappiness” when accelerating) than the Heckler. And granted, some of that feel might be due to the different tire specs.

The Trance did seem to feel more like a trail bike with an extra inch of travel than a shorter travel freeride bike.

• Santa Cruz Heckler v. Salsa Horsethief 
  

Then there’s the 2014 Salsa Horsethief, which costs $3,299 for the lower spec’d model. Assuming the 29er isn’t already so out of fashion that you’ve stopped reading, I’ll say that the Horsethief has a lot of similar traits to the Heckler, and rides like it has an extra inch or two of travel.

My only ride / race on this bike took place at this year’s inaugural Lone Peak Revenge Enduro in Big Sky, MT. Over the course of four thousand feet up and down, I had a good chance to figure this bike out. And I really liked what it had to offer.

Like the Heckler, the 2014 Horsethief makes you feel like you’re flying low (rare for a 29er dual suspension) with a short, playful rear end and a slack front end that gives you plenty of confidence on the down. The trails I rode (with plenty of steep, rocky sections) are mainly for lift-served DH bikes. I would not have felt as comfortable on a less capable XC dual suspension bike—interesting since the Horsethief is only listed at 130 front and 120 rear travel.

Bottom Line

The Heckler is just as happy on an XC ride with your friends as it being loaded onto a chairlift for some proper downhill fun. In fact, the Santa Cruz promo for this bike on Vimeo shows their Test Ride Posse making the Goats Gully trail in Whistler look mellow.

At $3,000 with a more than respectable build kit, the Heckler, for me, sums up what a good enduro bike should be: it’s a great value, it’s very versatile and most of all, it’s very fun to ride.