As per post, am looking for a full sus bike that would suit someone of my build/weight. I hear good things about the Santa cruz heckler, but what are my other options.

I am also unsure about coil v air shocks so any advice would be welcome.

Nicolai Helius

Don't think i'll ever break my Kona Coiler DeeLux. 😛 while not as big as you I'm still no lightweight

heckler is the best 26'' susser i have ever ridden
i kept it for a year, so it must have been good.
and i am considering getting a new one.
i ran a dhx5 with a 800lbs spring.

Ive got an orange alpine with a coil shock on, im 6ft and weigh 15.5 stone, I think its lovely, it might be a little over kill for what you want, my recommendation would be if you dont such a long travel bike maybe look for something with a coil shock?

Orange 5. I've got one and I'm big.

6ft.
18stoneofidiot.
Heckler.

As Tony says' Its an awesome bit of kit….Oh, and if your anywhere near the Manchester, your welcome to try this one out for some ideas..

alpine or a 5 depending on how and where you ride x

Cheers for the offer teeto, but am in the midlands so sadly a no go, out of interest what size is yours ( oooeeer) I am guessing but XL would suit 6 ft 2

Mines a Large Run with 36s, and a 50mm stem..

Spot on IMHO..

Yup, i reckon an XL might be better- depends on how you like it- the TT is very short on the Heckler…

Large Heckler here for 6ft 2" and 16+ stone 😕

Chumba XCL, one of THE stiffest, toughest and over built 'normal' trail bikes there is 🙂

Five mate lush Bike beats the pants off the complete cack that is the heckler!!! ….IMHO 🙂

is off to leisure lakes for a chat this week, I usually ride cannondale and like the stiff lefty fork, need to find out what my options are for the heckler, something thats stiff but fit for purpose.

I'm surprised that so many people recommend the Five for bigger riders. I'm the first to agree that they are brilliant bikes, but the one weakness that all Orange frames seem to have is that they have been known to crack/break.
Anecdotally, I've spoken to at least a dozen people over the years all of whom have broken either an ST4, Five, Patriot or 224 at some point (The Apline 160 is too new). I don’t think it’s a design flaw and any bike manufacturer will have breaks, even Nicolai have had a few chainstays break recently which is why they redesigned them slightly. But I hear more stories about Orange breakages than I do say Santa Cruz or Nicolai (Intense and Ibis are the other brands I’ve heard more stories about breakages). Plus Orange’s warranty isn’t the most comprehensive; the guy who broke his 224 had to buy a new one at factory cost even though it was only a year old because he broke it in a race rather than just general riding.

The level of supposed breakages of Oranges may be due to there being more of them in the UK than say an Intense or Santa Cruz?

I also don't subscribe to the fact that single pivots are better for heavier riders, it is surely more than how many pivots a bike has (apart from less bearings to wear) and more to do with construction and general quality?

Si it's a good point – think the technical term is sample bias. Ironically, Intense is one of the brands that I've heard/seen more stories of breakages than other brands. This is also from looking on international forums like MTBR.

All this is anecodtal, it's not desperately objective. Nevertheless, if you consistently here anecodtal stories of one brand's frames breaking more than others, then there is some inherent truth in that.

How do Chumba rate in terms of reliability?

Don't worry so much! The only SC with a weight limit was the superlight! I have a Blur LT2 and it is a real blast! Oh, and I weigh more than you (although I plan to be less of a man soon)(13st by october)

21 stone when i had my heckler.
fitted with a 800lb spring, as advised by mr flooks and the guys at mojo.
i rode it off a few biggish for me drops.
and i hammered it downhill and it never gave me any problems at all.

Hustler xl

5 Spot xl

Both brilliant trail bikes and tested with 20 stone of phat

pete, wheres the newest one?????

Helius FR – stiffer and more wooooooooo ha

I'm a bit of a fat (heavier than you) and by all accounts clumsy rider and I have always ridden Cannondales, Jekyl and Prophet recently and I have a v1500 hardtail for years. I always smile when I hear people call them Crack 'n Fail because although I have battered them the only things that have caused me problems are broken back axles (Hope) so I'll be sticking with a 'dale although i am intrigued by Big Petes posting and enjoy the fact that it seems i'm not the only fat bloke out riding!!.

You will probably be ok for the 5 and other offerings with an RP23 shock. You will be about 18.5 stone with a full camelback & gear on.

I have had trouble as 6'4" 20.5 stone – say 21.5 with gear on. I've tried Orange 5, new spesh enduro, lapierre spicy, cube fritzz, mondraker dune & some others. All of these bikes i need to pump the shock over the reccomended max 300psi (about 360) to get the sag right.

The only one that would suit was the Orang Alpine 160 as the travel ratio means 260psi & I'm good.

As the whole point of this was a lighter bike (current 05 enduro with coil is 36lbs) I decided to stay with the enduro as the alpine was only about 2lbs lighter.

I recon the cutoff between "normal" and fat boys bikes is about 19 stone.

+2 for helius.

+1 what Si said about Orange – I've had many and never broken one.

If anyone remembers Steve from Simba racing who used to run the xc races in Dalby forest, he's no slouch on a bike and he's done about 6 years as a guide in Morzine, raced domestic DH, and done the last 3 Megas on his 1st generation 224. It has just developed a crack at the shock mount on the swing arm. This is not a weak frame.

I've done the last 3 Megas on my Patriot 66 and broken just about every component except the frame. I've never, and neither have any mates, had a warranty claim with Orange. They can't be criticized on strength, and they ride fantastic – don't discount them on grounds of one failure that you've heard about, or internet claptrap.

mildred, what if you have had one, it broke and you had problems getting it sorted.
have you got grounds then??

Just lost a load of weight but was your height and size. Have two 20" Orange 5's, both with Fox RP23 rear shock. Both are fantastic bikes, roomy, light and agile. Selling my 2006 black frame shortly if you're interested.

Ton, one bad experience doesn't mean that a whole brand and range of frames are weak, though being miffed is certainly justified. From who did you get a bad experience? was it Orange, the dealer, was it sour taste left after a frame breakage?

I had a problem with one of the original sub-5's; it was so out of alignment that the shock and mech hanger used to come loose after 15 mins of riding. You could see the swing arm was half inch too far to one side and the wheel crabbed sideways. I went back to JE james on numerous occasions until they eventually sent it back to Orange for assessment. Orange immediately refunded me direct. I was happy with that, and gave them another try. No issues since.

Any Ventana FS frame.

All frames have a failure rate, just depends on how high it is 🙂

How do Chumba rate in terms of reliability?

A very few (one or two!) of the early XCL frames broke at the bottom of the seat stay, since rectified. The XCL should really be considered for big blokes, i know i keep banging on but it is very difficult to get heard over all the Orange noise 😉

I do like the look of the Turner Sultan

I love Si's championing of his Chumbas. So come on then, how much would one run to with a reasonably sensible build then?

Oh dear that nicolai has made me go all funny……. Mrs is on nights this week she'd never notice the new frame would she!! 😈

as long as you stick with the same colour frame, they dont notice in my experience 😆

Weight wise I took a Five down red routes in Les Gets with my son on the front (on a LOCT since you ask) – rolling not jumping to be fair.

All up weight of around 20st between me, him and the seat.

It was fine blinking good.

That said I'm only 6'

weve sold over 200 fives and not had one snap or crack…ive dealt with a couple of warranty issues (2 to be precise) and orange were very prompt and didnt quibble at all…

i guess it depends on your lbs…we've got a great relationship with them which helps.

ive got an ex-sbs oppo on a 20" five se which he thrashes.he's 6'2" and about 18 stone…not a problem! 😉

Nicolai Helius FR.
End of thread.

I love Si's championing of his Chumbas. So come on then, how much would one run to with a reasonably sensible build then?

I thought everyone was sick of me!

Chumba full build for £2150, nice build too, or rolling chassis for £1699, Frame Fox fork Hope wheels etc 🙂

http://www.progressive-bikes.co.uk/xcl_build_kits.html

@si. will an XS fit a female @ 5'2" ?

si, i wish you would stop posting that bike.
my palms are sweating now…………how big in inches is the largest.