Strengths: Loads of mud clearance, long travel forks, very stiff and surprisingly light, ridiculously confidence inspiring!!
Rare at the moment and looks awesome.
Weaknesses: You could moan that there are one or 2 area that collect mud and some people may find it uncomfortable.
Overall: I bought the Deore version of this bike that comes with Manitou Black Elite 120mm forks and Deore kit. I had a few upgrades straight away, including a carbon seatpost, without this I think the ride could be very harsh as the back end is super stiff.
The bike itself is outstanding, on the first ride I found myself making motorbike noises and throwing myself off things that I normally reserve for full sus!! I could get into a lot of trouble riding this bike, but I find it hard to fault it. The build quality is excellent and is the kit I've had it build with. It is designed to handle long travel forks and big tyres and if you set it up as intended it handles singletrack with an amazinlgy light and flickable feel for what looks like a big bike.
I think that my other bikes may gather some dust this winter!
Strengths: Looks & Kudos; It's a single pivot (if you like that sort of thing); Fantastically burly bike, but still light enough to ride all day; climbs superbly with virtually no bob; descends like a demon!!
Weaknesses: I was concerned about damaging the bike when I first got it, but that soon passed. Other than that? can't think of any...
Overall: I was lucky enough to get the first production frame in the UK. Initially I found that other MTBers were stopping me to ask about it and are still, months later, commenting about the bike. It would seem that the new Heckler has caused quite a stir, despite the fact that it's a tried and tested single pivot design.
It has transformed my riding, admittedly I also upgraded to discs on the bike as well which makes a huge difference. I now find myself picking a much rougher line that I could previously and riding much faster, rocky descents are a blast and I get to the bottom feeling much fresher than I ever could on a hardtail.
The frame itself has some fantastic features, like the replaceable dropout and the bottle opener behind the rear disc mount. This bike fits perfectly in between big burly downhill/freeride rigs and lightweight XC full sus bikes.
Strengths: This is seriously cheap, stands out from the crowd and is a good bike!!
Very direct drive and lotsa fun!
Weaknesses: Front brake....added for uk market and is about as effective as a chocolate teapot. I bought a v-brake plate and stuck a v-brake on instead. Or just do without!
Overall: I bought this as a change from the norm and it's excellent fun. It looks a little different from most bmxes and cruisers and it rides really well. The whole bike is amazingly stiff, especially if you're used to MTBs with some suspension, but for hacking around on and having fun at the track it's superb. No gears & no suspension means not much to go wrong.
Strengths: Enormously strong and stiff, look very trick, wider than a standard crank, cheap.
Weaknesses: umm....you could end up cleaning them a lot to keep them nice and shiny!!
Overall: Awesome set of very strong cranks at a reasonable price, comes with bottom bracket and free t-shirt. I have found that the extra width overall means I no longer clip my heels against the chainstays... which is nice. Excellent cranks for DH. Duel or jumping
Strengths: Cheap, good protection from impact, comfortable, easy to put on and take off.
Weaknesses: Knee cup is loose, so no good for wearing with shorts, very hot & sweaty
Overall: I've just upgraded to Dianese pads, but for the money these are a good buy, just amke sure you wear them under long trousers or risk the knee cup moving.
Weaknesses: Conix nut, if you don't like that kind of thing...
Overall: I stuck one of these on my Slalom bike and then one my Specialized when I killed the Tange headset that came with it....They're on, don't need adjusting are well sealed...I can forget about them.
