I have had this myself and I have advised several people before who have had exactly the same thing…..and it was the Mech Hanger against the frame – I have since cut a rubber washer from an old inner tube and put it between the mech hanger and the frame – JOB DONE!! Worth a look and a fraction of the hassle of messing with bearings, frames, pivots etc!!!

Parcels2go.com seem pretty good?

To assemble a new bike in an hour is not impossible and especially when they are new….because everything fits (usually!) I tend to take a little more time (2hrs) as I am particularly fussy about cable ties being cut in the right places and all that 'stuff' – and yes I always check torque settings and apply thread lock on the appropriate places.

Try here buddy……. Giant bearings and if you just want a couple of bearings, get the number off the bearing case and go to this area "clicky" and select the right ones

Just a friendly pointer buddy….you might want to put this in the classifieds?

A bit of medical tubigrip slid over the knee first (supports the knees when riding too!)….

Mostly, yes. But it usually says.

Look guys to clear this up once and for all….

I have read my original post back to Al, re his comments and yes it was shirty (wrongly), but I can admit that. I did not have a problem with the pic, I actually found it quite funny, however….

cynic-al – Member

Seriously though, does anyone believe this question is even worth asking, apart from spotty 12-year-old Top-Trumps-playing boys?

^^^This is what I didn't like – It wasn't saying "Is it worth answering" – it clearly states "is it worth asking" – this makes it sound like Al is telling people not to bother answering because it was a question from a spotty 12 year old?

Reading mags is ok, but where do you get the experiences from there – usually just a load of 'marketing'? So I wanted peoples experiences/ opinions on a bike and not me.

Sorry if I have offended anyone – as I said I was just looking for any info I could get.

tracknicko – Member

you **** 'asked' me, you asked everyone on the forum.

I meant – who asked you to join in on the insults.

tracknicko – Member

boo hoo. read some magazines then if you cant take a bit of light hearted banter.
Who the **** asked you? It isn't the banter I have a problem with….I can take that….it's the first quote of 'why bother to answer the question' and the insinuation that I was a spotty 12 year old, which I am clearly not!

cynic-al – Member

What he said, with a dose of "get over yourself".

Anyway I will reveal my answer:

I ride a Heckler and IT IS TEH BE5T BIKE IN TEH WURLD INNIT. Gets ridden old school and gnarly, long and short, in the air and on the ground, Scotland and elsewhere, all my average skilz, I've even overtaken GLupton.

I tried something else then just bought another one as I missed it so much. So I say stay with the H.

As for the "get over yourself" – what are you talking about? I do not need to…I am in a forum looking for advice and it seems that it is not always that easy because people ruin your thread and quite frankly it can be majorly annoying! I can not believe how difficult it is to ask a simple question and get a simple answer on STW sometimes – when I respond I respond because I might be able to help in some way, if not I don't – simple is it not?

As for the after advice re the Heckler – thanks – I have always been worried about coming away from the Heckler after so long riding one, but just fancied a change and wondered what other peoples opinions/ experiences where.

Thanks for the advice everyone who gave constructive feedback – I have enough to be going on with now and this thread has gone not in the direction I clearly intended too. THREAD ENDED.

cynic-al – Member

OP my point is that your question is subjective and also depends on what terrain you ride and how you ride it.

Therefore the question, and any answer, that don't take into account these factors, is meaningless. I know I'm happy with my bike, but I'm intelligent and honest enough not to purport to have authority to put forward any answer to your question, and I would say the same even if I'd ridden lots of "AM" bikes, which I haven't.

cynic-al – if you had answered the question in anyway, I would have been happy to listen to your opinion/ experience – however, you didn't? You just poke fun as normal? With silly pictures & comments that puts the thread into some sort of spiral downwards – thanks.

I currently ride a Heckler & ride all sorts of different terrain – for example: From Dartmoor, to Les Gets, to California single track – the bike needs to be the true meaning of 'All Mountain' and cover ALL terrain.

I was merely looking for a wide range of 'opinion/ experience' led suggestions, from here I would investigate further as to which best suited – as I too have the intelligence and the experience of riding for many years too both, decide & research the best bike for me – but opinions & experience are great to have in your armory when deciding.

Once again, thank you to all those that have replied – I am just an MTB enthusiast that wants to build a great bike for myself to enjoy.

cynic-al – Member

Seriously though, does anyone believe this question is even worth asking, apart from spotty 12-year-old Top-Trumps-playing boys?

What it must be like to be the worlds leading expert on all things mountain bike eh? :? For your information Al I am nothing like a spotty 12 year old (although if they want my advice I would be happy to provide it!), in fact I'm 37 years old and looking for some constructive feedback, because unlike you I have not ridden EVERY mountain bike that graces this earth! Oh what it must be like to like in your world!!

cynic-al – Member

Someone's got to ask teh sensible questions!

And that's you is it? You really are deluded! All you ever do is seem to crash other peoples posts and act the fool, maybe its because you don't really have a clue and that's the only way you can get involved.

To everyone else except Al, thanks for your feedback, there a few bikes that have come up more than once, so time to go and do some research on them and see which would suit me best. But quite fancy the Mojo or SC Blur lt2c??

PS: In future Al, don't bother replying to my posts – your just wasting your superior brain power & time.

Pimp My Pedals on CRC, under a tenner as well!

Mmmmm….the Nicolai look a bit on the ugly side (IMO), but seem to pop up quite often???

Raddogair – I'll take a look at the 5 Spot?

ton – Member

nicolai helius fr
heckler

owned them both, sold them both………

but both very good………..nicolai edges it tho.

Ton…why did the Nicolai edge it? I have a Heckler at the moment and do love it, but it is the 3rd I've had and just fancy a change?

Link to F1[/url]

Spesh and Giro make me look like a mushroom.

^^^^Thought that statement was excellent – made me laugh out loud!

Back to the XC helment….I use a Met Parachute – I like to do some bigger stuff sometimes, so the chin guard comes in really useful for the inevitable face plant! And when riding without the chin guard on lighter XC it fits well, its well ventilated & light…

I had the same issue – (i have hope tech M4's) the hope tech levers are quite bulky and because of the double reservoir (top and bottom) its really difficult to get the spacing right. But as 'warpcow' mentioned the SRAM X0 have good adjustable settings on them – so I decided to combine X0 shifters with Hope Matchmaker Clamps and I certainly made the right decision!!!! The set up for the fingers/hands is excellent and feels completely natural (after a bit of fiddling with the X0 settings). I was very much like you and too'd & froo'd for ages, but this set up was well worth the wait.

It doesn't matter really, but you'll probably want – 1 & 2 as per normal and you just won't use the 3rd.

Should work on the front – I had exactly that combination on my Heckler. What is the issue with the indexing?

Genius!

The wallet….NO! But don't tell the missus! Yeah, the wheels are on the heavy side but I'm off to California for some single track in a few months, so going to keep hold of them until after then, as I'm told they will take a bit of a hammering over there!!

I should add this is my 3rd Heckler and I absolutely love em!!

Considering I am running XT Wheelset & Pikes its not bad, I could easily shift a bit more if I changed them, but I like the look of the bike at the moment so no changes planned yet!! :-) The rest of the bike I suppose you could say 'normal', here's some pics….

Not got either on mine (I run Pikes), but if I changed, which I am sure I will later in the year, it will be Talas. As timbercombe says – its just a preference (and I've had Talas before and they were great performers on the SC Heckler – gave me loads of confidence on the decents!!)

Latest weighing of my Heckler has come in at 26.5 lbs – didn't weigh the frame on its own sorry!

Foxy®ider – Member

Always worth knowing of insurance companies that actually pay up – good recommendation – cheers buddy.

It was actualy underwritten and administered all by http://www.europ-assistance.co.uk/ – they were great as sorting stuff out

Called them up – decent quote, thanks.

I am going to keep trying though, so keep the suggestions coming guys!

giantjason – Member

i use Sportscover top up facility.

I already have normal travel insurance and only need to add on MTB cycling.
Hadn't considered doing it this way, so will look into it – cheers.

Foxy®ider – Member

I use dogtag – cover mountain biking as STD – DH sport cover + we usually get it for a year worldwide and inclused skiing. They payed everything £15,000 + when I rutured my spleen in Canada on my honney moon skiing 2 years ago
Always worth knowing of insurance companies that actually pay up – good recommendation – cheers buddy.

Teetosugars – Member

Snow card & M&S Home insurance is my prefered choice.

Cheers buddy – I've heard of snow card before so thats a defo quote, but M&S Home Insurance….not come across that before. Cheers.

I've got the Shimano XT M776 (AM) wheelset & Shimano XT hubs on my Heckler, love em! Are tubeless compatible too!

Its a 68mm BB & it was originally spec'd with a Truvativ Hussefelt ISIS 113mm crank. Hope this helps?

qwerty – Member

"shake it like a polaroid picture"

Funny enough I know exactly what you mean! :D

tod456 – Member

My only advice is take it easy ….i had my cast off last monday and my ankle still hurts like **** and i 'only' had a cast on for 6 weeks after breaking my fib, so i wish you luck!!!

Gutted for you too buddy….because I know exactly how it feels! Quick recovery to you too mate. Thx. :-)

Nope! Haven't see a physio yet, I have been referred but the pain is happening now, so want to start getting things moving asap.

Right on the border buddy – 6' 2" is the change over size from large to X-Large, so depends how you like the feel of your bike? I prefer them slightly smaller so would go with the large rather than the XL…..no real help I know, but perhaps a trip to a local SC dealer to see what you prefer??

Haha! no worries mate…..we all do it!

I'm not sure how much of an upgrade X9 to X9 is?? :D :? But you will need a long cage for 27 speed? Some will say you can get away with a medium, but long would be best….hope that helps.

I've got sunline lock-on's and they're 125mm – if that helps?

Mmmmm? I have had both and I would go for the RP23….the reason? Well, I find the difference of the Pro-Pedal positions on the RP2 to be too far apart, i.e. from too soft to complete lockout (or that's how it feels anyway?) – with the RP23 i find it 'more tunable' through the 3 pro-pedal settings, which allows me to set up for the terrain in advance and therefore makes it a pleasure to ride – rather than having to stop/start all the time and switch between the two settings, of which neither would be suitable really for what I am doing.

I am going to add (because I know people will disagree with what I am saying) – this is only IMO…

Try getting a ride on a bike with the RP23 and try it out.

I have the Thule ProRide 591 on the roof of mine and its superb! I drove from Plymouth to Les Gets with 4 DH bikes on it and have been all over the country and it has been faultless – loading unloading is easy as pie!

Can't go wrong with XT! Run them on all my bikes!!

I am the 15 stone Heckler rider! :D And it does everything for me – been to Les Gets and handles my bridle tracks here in Devon….so the Heckler gets my vote!

james – Member

"26.8lbs that my heckler weighs in at is pretty damn good considering – brakes, forks, wheels"
Is it though? Heckler frames aren't light? You could have something like an ibis Mojo with Lopes Link and it'd be lighter and be similar (eg same HA)?
Air/Coil U-turn Pikes are heavy. 2.2(ish)-2.4+kg. RS RVL Air U-turn (20mm) are 1750g. Magura Thor (20mm) are a touch less. I think manitou minutes (20mm axle also) are less again?
M4s? Could you not 'make do' with Marta SLs, perhaps with ventidiscs?
I can't remember but I thought XT wheels weren't super light?

Some good suggestions buddy – but as I said I am happy with the weight vs. capability of the bike for what I use it for….I still like the bigger stuff and can be seen taking this one down Les Gets/ Morzine without issue, i.e. brakes over heating or the bike being rattled apart – I suppose it is simply a question of whether the rider is happy with the weight of the bike, its capability and its intended use – which I am.

Some of the parts that you mentioned don't really give me that much gain when I take certain things into consideration, i.e. spring weights….if I run RS Rev's I only lose 18g (I'm a heavy old man!) and the weight with correct spring for me is 2095g for the Rev's and the pikes are 2113g.

With the wheels it is completely subjective, but I have to again go for something a bit more sturdy due to my weight and discipline (AM) – yeah I could save some weight here, but will they stand up to the hammering I put them through? (experience in the past says no – split rims & flat spots).

As for the brakes Marta SL's come in at about 330g with 183mm rotors & the tech M4's come in at 410g with floating rotors (I have matchmaker clamps too, thus cutting weight from shifter mounts) – so the saving is 80g, but how much do the shifter clamps weight? But I know which I would prefer in terms of both performance and replacement parts.

I totally agree with the IBIS Mojo and I did look at them….but unfortunately I am not a millionaire!! 8O and the price is somewhat restrictive!! :(