mikey - can I ask which shock your friend had on his Hectik?
if it was a 2009 or previous year - the Fox DHX air?
I had a hectik ltd. last year (2009) with Fox DHX 5 air shock and there was a pronounced tendency to squat and bob under pedalling, unless used with pro pedal and even then it compressed under power; it felt mushy and quite unpleasant when accelerating!
after borrowing a 2010 Fox RP23 XV BV shock for my Hectik, I sold my frame off and bought a 2010 Hectik with the new shock and its a night / day difference under power, especially climbing, and also when descending at high speed into berms and big compressions - where the RP shock sits up in its travel with a supported "mid stroke"
if you speak to the guys at Mojo (fox uk) about the DHX Air shock, they'd admit its a "lost product" as the RP series shock does everything better for trail and all mountain bikes, and the DHX Coil or newer RC Coil series is the premium choice for freeride and downhill
as an example, many Mythic Rune owners preferred the DHX Coil shock to the DHX Air shock, despite the virtual pivot suspension!
the only bike I liked the DHX air on was my Mythic Wildcard, which was a faux-bar with very progressive leverage ratio, the shock worked well on that particular suspension frame

my Hectik is sub 29lb with the build seen above, and I spend all my time using it as a trail bike (long climbs, singletrack and long descents)
I certainly have no complaints about its climbing prowess (as an aggressive, flat pedal rider) and only use Pro-Pedal on long fireroad or tarmac climbs to make the back end more "numb"
I've had multiple customers test ride my bike at Esher and buy a frame / package on the strength of the climbing prowess on the steep tarmac driveway leading up to the shop
(these are customers with Yeti 575, Orange 5, Commencal Meta 5.5, etc.)
its currently £1600 for the "package" and we sold 2 of these packages today...so there will be more riders popping up on the forums who can answers any questions first hand, rather than my horribly biased opinion
cheers
rob @ esher