Santa Cruz Heckler's rear travel?

I really like this bike, but I still do not understand its rear travel. As it only has one pivotal point, won't it wobble as you climb or pedal your way through your neck of the woods (I am talking about pedalling induced bobbing)? I want to buy one and have Fox RP32s put in, but I am still all not that sure about it. Moreover, multi link rears usually keep the bike's travel in line. They do stress out the fact this bike's suspension is based on swingarm bearings, but I'm still none the wiser. I'd like someone to explain this to me. How does it work? And more importantly, who do they do to keep the rear piece in line with the rest of the frame? Another thing is, I simply do find the bike鈥檚 rear triangle as getting too close to the bike鈥檚 frame when suspension brings it upwards. I mean the frame鈥檚 ark above the bike鈥檚 pivotal point. There is simply no room between the bike鈥檚 frame and its rear piece to move up and down.

Thanks Tibug. It is precisely lateral flex what is putting me off buying this bike. I know the rear piece moves in an ark, but it looks as if it is getting too close to the frame as it moves inwards. Fox RP 32s have lockouts for pro pedalling positions (soft, normal, hard), but I am still not all too sure about the bike. If you are asking me about the Nomad, then I鈥檇 say I do understand the way it works, but when it all comes down to the Heckler I just can鈥檛 get my head round it. From an aesthetically point of view looks quite impressive, but I cannot bloody tell how it actually works just by the looks of it. I was hopping someone had a similar bike to comment on it, but it seems like you know what you are talking about too. By 鈥渒eep the rear piece in line with the rest of the frame鈥?I mean 鈥渢he suspension will ark in time鈥? What a pity is it not? Would you buy it?

You would think that pedal induced bob would be a major problem on any single pivot bike. However, the semi-active high forward pivot combined with a good stable platform shock (such as the RP23) make a bike that transforms almost all energy pushed into the pedals into forward momentum. So, in short, you will be able to pedal up hills without losing much energy to the suspension while still being able to bomb downhill thanks to the active YET not-prone-to-pedal-induced-bobbing suspension.

Unfortunately, the problem with most all non-linkage-driven single pivot designs is lateral flex. The weight of cornering, etc. is all concentrated within that pivot. This puts more stress on the shock and shock bushings. Also, you will need to pay attention to the pivot and keep it in tip top shape because many single pivots have problems with long-term quality, as the pivots may wear out being not designed right for the long haul. The Heckler's swingarm is not famous for being stiff, but I don't know about 2008.

The tradeoff for no pedal induced bob is pedal feeback (chain growth leading to a noticable change in ease of pedaling-it makes it harder to pedal) when climbing through rough sections, but I think its a very worthwhile trade.

I'm not sure what you mean by "to keep the rear piece in line with the rest of the frame," but if you mean that the suspension will arc, then yes, it absolutely will. Single pivots do that, leading to chain growth and other things (pedal bob, "pogo"ing) that can be counteracted with things like the high forward pivot on the Heckler.

http://www.santacruzmtb.com/heckler/
The rear triangle does not move straight up and down. It is restricted by the shock eye to eye measurement and made to move in an arc. This will not make the rear triangle contact the frame however...if that's what you mean. The rear triangle can't move farther out than where it is when the shock is fully extended. The only way to move is inward, compressing the shock in an arc moving around the pivot. The main frame will not make contact with the rear triangle if you have a compatible shock on there.

There is a reason the Heckler is and has been so popular. Or actually...there's lots of reasons.

I really hope that helps. I will add more to this explanation if you need further explanation.
Tim

EDIT: I think that Santa Cruz has made some major improvements to the Heckler in the last few years. The '07 was a whole different bike than the '06-well, almost. I haven't heard of anyone complaining of an overly flexy swingarm, so my opinion is that if your going to have a problem with stiffness with a bike as honed to perfection (or at least Santa Cruz's idea of perfection) as the Heckler, you should be looking at a Nomad.

Here's a review for the '07 Heckler. I don't usually like this mag, but I agree with this review...
http://www.mbaction.com/Me2/dirmod.asp?s...

Would I buy it for a XC/AM bike? Yes. But it costs too much for my nonexistent budget...:sad:

Actually, I'd probably buy a Giant Trance over the Heckler....choices choices...

Oh, and remember that the wheel path goes up AND in, and that wheel travel does not = shock stroke. Shock stroke on the 7 7/8 in. eye-eye RP23 is like 2.5 inches, meaning that the rear triangle can move 2.5 inches inwards only when full bottom'd out. And because some of the travel is upwards and only some is inwards, the tire will never make contact with the seattube, providing you have a shock with the right eye-to-eye and stroke.

Hope that helps,
Tim

Your crazy!!! Your talking about the heckler one of the best mountain bikes to ever exist. It sounds like your over thinking it to much. The fact that its a single pivot does not mean that it is inferior to all the 4-bar, dw links, and fsr rear ends out their. The simplicity of the single pivot is what makes the heckler such a great bike. No mater what full sus. bike you have your almost always going to have a little pedal feed back unless you have a I-drive or a new Hero. Santa Cruz did a great job of engineering this bike, I would think they would take stuff such as the rear swing arm hitting the frame into consideration when designing the bike. I dear you to find a bad review on the heckler. If you still have doubts then try to take on for a test ride, and if you still don't like it then you belong on a hard tail.


EDIT: I would buy one in a hart beat.