THE COOL KID
SANTA CRUZ HECKLER S
Santa Cruz might have arrived late to the e-bike party. But now the Heckler is here, and everyone is staring.
Like other Santa Cruz bikes, it’s a thing of beauty – clean lines, gorgeous angles, not a cable or pivot bearing out of place, and the option of two paint schemes: an eyeball-searing colour called Yellowjacket, or off-black with copper highlights.
It’s a hard-charging trail bike, with geometry that echoes the current Bronson: 27.5” wheels and beefy 2.6” tyres; 150mm of travel at the back and 160mm up front; and a 65.5° head angle. The chain stays are super-tight for an e-bike (445mm), keeping the wheelbase short and giving the Heckler a somewhat frisky character.
The bottom bracket has been lowered a smidgen for improved cornering stability, and the rear suspension has been tweaked to reduce the anti-squat characteristics – in other words, it’s meant to work when you pedal, so that the rear wheel doesn’t lose grip when you’re climbing and you don’t lose drive from the motor.
Santa Cruz had some big decisions to make over the three years it took them to bring the Heckler to market. Probably the most important was which motor to incorporate. A bespoke motor as used by their big-ticket Californian cousins Specialized was out of the question – simply no budget – so they had to look at what else was available.
They ended up choosing the widely used
Shimano Steps E-8000 system – a 250-watt motor paired with a 504Wh battery. For two reasons: firstly because the design of the motor plays nicely with the bike’s lower link-driven VPP rear suspension, and secondly because of Shimano’s massive support network worldwide; spare parts should be easy to come by, no matter where you live and ride, and warranty issues are easily dealt with.
There’s an app that lets you customise the power modes, and you don’t need any fancy tools to remove the battery – just a 4mm Allen key.
The E-8000 system is a few years old already and the motor is a little noisy, although it does deliver reliable, instant power. It’s also relatively compact and lightweight (2.88kg) compared to other 250W units.
To keep the overall weight of the bike down, the frame is made from Santa Cruz’s top-spec CC carbon, which unfortunately also ramps the price into super-premium territory. You have to really want a Santa Cruz to buy the Heckler, because for the same amount of cash there are some very tempting bikes from the likes of Specialized and Trek.
At the end of the day, the Heckler name is apt – it’s an e-bike that will polarise opinion. For Santa Cruz devotees, there is nothing better. For everyone else, well, there’s a lot you can get with R135k…
About R135 000 depending on exchange rate santacruzbicycles.com