Some would say a mountain bike is a self propelled, wheeled
vehicle designed to go wherever the rider wants to and have fun at the
same time.What do you need to look for in a mountain bike? The lightest bike will break the moment you start having real fun. The fastest bike uphill is more uncomfortable than a hair shirt. The fastest bike downhill only goes uphill if you have legs like Arnold Schwarzenegger (or a lift). Perhaps you can see where I'm coming from, there are lots of specialist bikes out there but unless you have a limited riding style they're very limiting indeed.
So we want a bike that's light enough to pedal uphill, without getting a hernia. Fast enough downhill, to beat your mates to the bottom. Strong enough not to break, if you sometimes get big air and doesn't cost more than a small family car. Yeah, I know, pretty tall order. If we've already thrown out the need to win races (a specialist requirement) full suspension is surely the way to go.
It can make both climbing and descending more enjoyable (no, really) and it's definitely more fun on descents. Horror of horrors, don't we usually have most of our fun on the descents? If you have most of your fun on the climbs you need a race bike. The down side with suspension is two fold, the expense and the maintenance. The maintenance isn't the problem it used to be, as many of the new designs work for a long time without much interference.
However most of the new shocks need servicing by a specialist when the time comes and this can cost about sixty pounds. So you end up with two possible candidates for best bike, the tough hardtail and the light(ish) cross country full suspension.
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| Santa Cruz Superlight sz M, 2008, Black, D XC kit
$760.00 $850.00 | |
| Nice Used Santa Cruz Superlight Full Suspension Mountain Bike Blue 19" Fox XTR
$561.00 $999.99 | |
| Santa Cruz Blur - Large - XTR, Fox, Marzocchi
$355.00 | |
| Santa Cruz Bullit LARGE
$1,050.00 |
Santa Cruz Heckler Review
| Strengths: | Design, Component Selection, bump absorption, Low maintenance Single Pivot, Do-everything you want frame, great handling wheels and tyres, tons of grip, excellent descending, confidence inspiring at high speeds down the trail. Lots of travel accepts up to 6" drops without complaing, and the frame feels solid as a vault. Reasonably priced for a full suspension bike, specially a Santa Cruz |
| Weaknesses: | Some say its heavy, mine weighs 30 pounds and I think its adecquate for XC/trail riding and strong enough for hardcore AM/FR. My biggest complain is that the DHX 5.0 Air Shock sucks for climbing, it wastes half your pedalling energy. Probably the Heckler is better suited with the Fox RP23 or better yet the Fox RC4 Coil. Shifting requires some initial tuning (lots of cracking from chains when new and undesired speed changes when climbing steep terrain, specially of the saddle) but once you get the proper tension set in, forget it, its awesome... Made in Taiwan??? Not something I particularly like but hey everybody is doing it to cut costs. |
| Similar Products Used: | SC Superlight, Kona Dawg, Kona One 20, Cannondale Rush 5, Trek EX8 |
| Bike Setup: | Medium 2010 Frame, Fox Talas R 150mm 15QR Fork, Fox DHX 5.0 Air 2009 Shock, RAM Kit, XT and SLX Drivetrain/Shifters, Truvativ Stylo Team Crankset, Truvativ Race Stem and Handlebar, Avid Elixir 5 Brakes 183mm Front and 160mm Rear, Mavic 321 Wheels, Deore XT Hubs and Kenda Nevegal 2.35 tires, WTB V Comp Saddle, Easton 70 Seatpost. |
| Bottom Line: | The best all-around bike on the market at a reasonable price. It goes just about anywhere you want it to go. Gives you the balls to do things you wouln´t do on other same level and price bikes. Tough as nails and with the right uppgrades you can turn it into a light XC rig or an awesome Nomad like Freerider. LOVE IT, no wonder it has such good reviews and it has been constantly evolving for 10+ years... IF you can only have one bike, want to improve on all your MTB skills, than look no further... HECKLERs RULE |