Santa Cruz Heckler SL - 1st Ride & Impressions
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- Опубликовано: 7 дек 2023
- Finally getting to spend some time on the Heckler SL!
For more info on this bike here's the link to the SC website with everything you'll need to know.
www.santacruzbicycles.com/en-...
Overall, I had a great time getting to know the Fazua Ride 60 platform and getting accustom to the newer lighter e-bike market! 
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Another Great video, Justin. Great review on the SL. Im a Bullet fan but may have to give this one a go.
Both are great bikes! Hopefully I’ll be able to do some back to back SL vs full power soon and that’ll make it easier to decide 🤘🏻
Great review. I’ve had mine for 2 months now and your video is near the same opinion of my experiences. Have a rad time, it’s such a fun bike 🤙🏼
Stoked to hear you’re getting along with it well! Have you made any modifications to the build yet?
@@justin_niemi not significantly. Only the small contact points (custom bolts, bars, grips, saddle,). Right now suspension feels good but may change my mind once we get to bike park season 🤙🏼
solid review
Thank you Joshua! ✌🏻
Great review man. Sick riding also. I just bought a Heckler SL myself and my impression is pretty similar to yours
Thanks dude! Just watched your review and you’re right very similar. Next time I get out on it I’ll have to try River on the downhill. For the last 2 rides I was pretty much full rocket 😂 good stats tho 4600ft 17miles & 2100ft 9.5miles with plenty left in the battery 🔋
@@justin_niemi lol 🤘
17 miles and almost 5000 elevation I almost don’t believe you had any battery left
Who is this bike for? It's for folks who have $$$$ and want an e-bike that looks and rides like a regular mtb. I've had the Heckler SL since launch and I've also been riding full power bikes for 4 years now (Turbo Levo) and the Heckler SL addresses issues with full power bikes being heavy and generally not very playful, especially at lower speeds. It's easy to bunny-hop, jump and generally feels nimble. Because of the lighter weight much easier to push or lift over obstacles like downed trees. Aside from the rather fragile ring controller, the fit and finish is top notch and is a beautiful bike to behold. Effort-wise you do have to put in a bit more work when compared to a full power bike but it's not a deal breaker. On my local loop riding at the same pace I would expend an average of 100W on the SL vs 80W on the Levo. I'd say the biggest drawback is the non-easily removable battery. The only time I missed the full power Levo is on long steep double track climbs. Every where else the Heckler SL outshines the Levo.
Thanks for commenting! I haven’t spent too much time recently on full power bikes, so thank you for sharing your experience with the SL vs the Levo. Was your Levo a gen 3 and was it carbon? The last time I rode one I remember thinking it was pretty light in comparison to other e-bikes and I didn’t think it wasn’t playful. Do you feel that you’re able to complete similar rides range wise that you were able to complete with the Levo? I rode with my buddy who had a Norco w/ a 900W battery so I don’t feel that’s a fair comparison.
@@justin_niemi I have a gen 2 carbon Levo, 700Wh battery, with many upgrades (Zeb 170mm, Fox X2 w/ cascade link) and the bike weighs in at 50lbs which is light by full power standards. However, it still feels heavy when compared to a regular bike or the Heckler SL. Most notably is bunny hops. It is great in the rough stuff as I've got this bike setup more like a full on enduro bike. As for range the Levo has more. On one of my bigger loops: 27km, 1000m climb, 2h:20m moving time, 95% single track, Levo consumed 60% battery vs 84% on the Heckler SL. My average power output: 105W for the Levo, 125W for the Heckler. The Heckler SL would need the range extender to have comparable range to the Levo. I estimate i can get about 3h of riding with the Heckler which is ~95% of my rides.
Lime Baby! Nice. I have a 5010 V4 and a Hightower. I ride them both - just depends on where and ride duration. Thinking about going E and this bike looks like it could be the single solution for me. Always loved the Nomad. Great review. See you out there!
Sounds like the SL would slot right into the perfect place for you! Especially with you being used to both of those bikes. Hope to see ya out there 🤘🏻
I ride a hard tail and Im about to purchase my first Santa Cruz...looking at a Bronson but I want to ride this thing as well. Im also in the Bay Area, so Im gonna go hit SC Corp and demo both, thanks so much for this its a great video and I learned alot
Thanks for commenting! I hope you love the upgrade. Sounds like it’ll be perfect for these Bay Area trails ✌🏻
Lime Ridge. Nice riding skills man!
LR rips
No, you’re right. 😂 back 9 and thorn alley are fun. Just want to know how the SC handles the gnar and chunky tech. Maybe there’s another vid.
Thanks dude - great review! I’ve got an XO spec of this bike due later this month so can’t wait! Did you try the Boost+ mode where you press controller forward for a couple seconds? Interested to hear how that felt.
That’s such a sweet build 🤤 you’re gonna love it! I did try the + mode and I didn’t notice it providing much more support than rocket already does. I think on a steep techy climb it may work more in your favor, but I can’t say I felt a difference using it on a normal climb.
My wife is on a full powered YT Decoy and we have been thinking about selling it and getting her this because of the weight costs. I will say E bike is what got her into the sport she was not a fan of pedaling an Amish bike. I’m thinking this may not provide enough grunt for her to have as an only bike while I have a full power and an analog bike.
I’m in between heckler SL, updated kenevo SL or the mondraker Neat for my next SL ebike
I’d have to say power & range would be big factors for me. The Fazua motor is more powerful and the larger battery offers more range. I am really curious to see how the TQ and the new 1.2 motor compare tho. That TQ being super quiet has always intrigued me, I have yet to ride one tho. Have you?
Great review. Where are you riding? Look awesome.
I am in northern CA! Unfortunately these trails aren’t sanctioned so I can’t release the location.
I’m debating between this or the canyon strive on. Where is this trail at? Looks really nice
I was at Lime Ridge for the first time some time after the new year, forget exactly when. I almost ate a huge amount of shit off that big concrete pad which (when I was there) was about a meter-high drop, which I managed to just ride out on the wheelbase of my own e-bike. Erosion is a bitch. 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah it’s definitely getting a lot more traffic these days and almost no local up keep. If only WCOS would work with us we could do some trail days and butter this spot up 👌🏻
I’ve been on a Nomad V4 with a cascade link for the last 4-5 years. I was really considering this Heckler SL as my first e bike. In your opinion does this bike still soak up rocks and chunk as good as a Nomad? I still want to be able to use it at all the local Bay Area trails, jumps, Pacifica, UCSC, Tahoe, Northstar etc. Do you think this could be a good do it all sort of bike?
Edit, ok I just watched your comments at the end of the video and you pretty much answered my questions!
Dude! Glad I was able to clarify that for you. Honestly I wouldn’t hesitate to take this bike down any of those trail systems and with how smooth it felt on thorn alley I bet it would flow sooo good in the bike park over summer. I’d love to jump it some more to really see how it manages but on those 3 drops it was so composed I don’t doubt it’ll feel good in all of those systems you mentioned 🤘🏻
Trying to decide between an SL or full power ebike. XC racer here. 5 10 220 lbs.
Are you riding with friends who have full power bikes? Are you interested in doing massive efforts where a 2nd battery may be necessary? If so you may benefit from the larger motor and removable battery! Your fitness is likely not an issue and the SL will definitely give you a closer to analog feel, but at the expense of range.
@@justin_niemi most of my Michigan friends don't have them yet. Ebikes. A few of my buddies that travel down south Bentonville Brevard Knoxville do have them. My immediate reason for wanting one would be able to see a lot more trail when I leave state on short weekends to cover more ground. I rented a full power one at kanoga. Which is a bike park that you are your own shuttle. I was hitting jumps bigger than I ever have even on the specialized evo 53 lbs. I did go down in a corner probably trying to ride it not used to be raked out and heavier. Part of me wants to go full size for the range reason the power. But our Michigan trails it's hard to find much more than 2000 feet of climb.
Great re-view. All in what i need for my decision - however; I think the battery capacity [range] is to less for me. Where did you shot the video? CAL?
Yeah the range is pretty good tbh it lasted just as long as the full power did with the 630Wh battery! Yup I’m in northern CA!
My buddies motor keeps shutting off and won’t turn back on. Luckily it pedals pretty well with the motor off so some rides have turned into analog rides 😂 Not sure if he’s figured out the cause but a bit unreliable. He loves it otherwise. Bike rips and keeps up with my Kenevo Expert full fat on big rides.
Gosh, pedaling one of these off sounds like a nightmare 😳 stoked to hear he can keep up with the full powers when it’s running good tho! I assumed it would fall behind a bit even in rocket.
Nice! Where you riding?
This is Lime Ridge 🤘🏻
Hey man how did u find the rear suspension some people saying its plush ive had a few sc bikes and they dont become plush very easy
Hmm, hard to say, I wouldn’t normally describe anything in the trail/enduro category as plush. Downhill bikes definitely but that’s because they run much more sag and have way more travel. I didn’t think the rear felt harsh and I’m running it around 22-25% sag normally. I often ride the bikes with less sag for support of large impacts, but I didn’t think the SC felt harsh at that sag range. Still really supportive and skipped across the small stuff.
It's for those who can pay to play.
Gotta pay to play, mhmm 💵
The Fazua system is a complete disaster, very very problematic and failure prone. This is a well known fact at this point. I would completely avoid this bike. Its a shame because its very well designed and seems to perform great.
I’ve seen a few people mention issues and I looked online but couldn’t find much. Would you care to share a link?
There’s a few videos about it. Really disappointing. I was interested in this bike. ruclips.net/video/2uafOlDORfE/видео.htmlsi=uMAC9dEO-riIIVVT
I’ve had my motor replaced after 4 rides on my new heckler SL :(
@@justin_niemi pinkbike forums, emtb forums, Facebook owners groups for Heckler SL, and transition Relay…. ruclips.net/video/FtcwdFHD5X8/видео.htmlsi=qy35CRqx8k3sznEB