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heckler questions

alex

Chimp
May 20, 2004
69
0
I have a heckler, that I use for everything. I beat the hell out of it. I even have a whole separate xc build for the thing I love it so much. My question revolves around my shock. I have a 5th coil on there and I blew it. Money is an issue but I still have a few options.

I assume i can get it tuned by some company similar to Push

Have 5th deal with it

buy a new shock that is not to pricy and can handle the abuse

Let me know what you think about it
 

mobius

Turbo Monkey
Jan 25, 2003
2,158
0
Around DC
Have 5th deal with it. They will either rebuild it for free and have it back to you in 2-3 days or do it for real cheap. They are easy to deal with it and a good company from my experiences with my 5th.

I have never heard of anyone doing any "tuning" to a 5th element

Your not gonna find a shock that can handle the abuse and is cheap a direct replacement would be a DHX and they aren't really that cheap.
 

Cant Climb

Turbo Monkey
May 9, 2004
2,683
10
Send the shock back to progressive and request to have tuned how you like it.......also, if your shock is the 2" stoke have them make the change to make it 2.25", it will give you .7" more travel.......

Buying a new shock is a waste of money.....5th makes good stuff.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Whatever you do, have progressive fix your 5th. Great customer service and there are updated internals they usually swap in for little or no money.

I've been running a float RP3 air shock on my heckler lately, seems to be working really well so far and it is way lighter. I can't speak to durability yet, I've only had it for a couple months, but so far it's been solid.
 
May 12, 2005
977
0
roanoke va
5th is easy to work with and if you send it in they will update all the internals and adj. nobs, everything. still, you can't ride that hard and not expect to have somthing go out on you. you gotta pay to play
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,855
9,560
AK
alex said:
buy a new shock that is not to pricy and can handle the abuse
The avalanche DHS probably has the best chance of holding up, but it's a loosing battle beacuse the design of the Heckler is not conductive to resisting side-to-side flex. The elevated-seatstay monopivot, or as I call it, "swingarm-post"-type designs do not resist side to side flex when you hit something off camber. The post that the shock mounts to does not resist flex, and the only way to really reinforce this design is to add a scissor/swing link.

For this reason, it's kind of a loosing battle.
 

jackalope

Mental acuity - 1%
Jan 9, 2004
7,596
5,894
in a single wide, cooking meth...
^^
Hmm, I've obviously heard about the tendancy for Heckler style singles to be hard on shocks, but I personally haven't found that to be the case with my Heckler or my Bullit...In fact my Bullit, which has been beaten to snot for 2 plus years, has been fine with the ol'5th on it...I changed the shock out b/c it was feeling REALLY dead (which is saying something for a 5th) and needed a rebuild - but was still working OK (not great), never leaked oil, and no air leakage...That said, after slapping a DHX on the Bullit, it's a significant upgrade in performance IMO...So back to the original question, I think you should just drop the coin on a DHX...Worth every penny IMO...
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Jm_ said:
The avalanche DHS probably has the best chance of holding up, but it's a loosing battle beacuse the design of the Heckler is not conductive to resisting side-to-side flex. The elevated-seatstay monopivot, or as I call it, "swingarm-post"-type designs do not resist side to side flex when you hit something off camber. The post that the shock mounts to does not resist flex, and the only way to really reinforce this design is to add a scissor/swing link.

For this reason, it's kind of a loosing battle.
Kind of pessimistic, no? Are you saying all heckler owners need an Avy or we should just give up? :)

Seriously, I've been beating on my heckler since the newer version was first available. I'm 200 lbs and use it for everything from trail to DJ to freeride to light DH (downieville, pacifica, sand hill, sea otter DH, etc.). I've had 5th coil, 5th Air, and three different Fox air shocks on there and have never blown a shock seal or bushing, and the pivot bearings have never needed replacing. It may not be as stiff laterally as some multi-link bikes, but there are tons of hecklers out there with no problems, and the same is true of the bullits. I suspect the pivot and swingarm structure are stiffer than you think. There may be some impressive and valid engineering reasons why those bikes shouldn't be so solid, but I probably wouldn't understand them anyway, and the real world results are different.