Santa Cruz Heckler Epic Enduro E-Mountain Bike Live Ride Review. 

Crotalus_ 420 congratulations on your new job 👊🏻

Sorry for late reply David. Is the Cod Beck descent the rocky one that drops down to the ford and the Swainby one the stepped descent on the bridleway or are there other ones I should know about?

@@GuyKesTV hey Guy..yup, cod beck to Ford. Just over the Ford take the steep bridle way to the right... it goes all the way up behind the woods overlooking Swainby. Follow up and around till it flattens. Keep eye open for a big old gate on left next to woods. Over gate. Straight into Swainby DH... well worth it! Comes out near the gate at the road that drops into village. Hope this is helpful.. great review btw.. 2 battery ride..WOW

We had an absolute blast. We were properly busted by the end.

Cheers for the feedback Matt. I have been thinking of doing more ‘ride guide’ style stuff but making a test feature out of it. I’ll have to give one a go 👍🏻

Thanks Josh

mehukatti123 not sure what they’ll do battery wise but it’s definitely EP8 ready.

It’s still pretty savage. Heckler was fine as i knew what was coming. First time I did it I came in hot in the middle of the night (summer solstice overnighter) on a 100mm travel XC weapon. That was proper sketchy! It’s certainly a ramp up in drama compared to the rest of the red loop 😳

Thanks Sam, I 'think' (😜) you might be seeing an update on the Heckler sooner rather than later

@@GuyKesTV Once again Guy I'm really impressed with the channel and this review in particular. How much does a spare battery cost then? That's it I'll buy the next one they release - just the bloody shape of them that puts me off at the moment. Aesthetics count for a lot - as with many things in life - If it looks right you're gonna wanna ride it! Tried a Specialized Turbo Levo and was Impressed - but Santa Cruz all the way for me these days.

Yeah Danny takes his on 3 battery rides!

Yep, they pretty much made this bike exactly for older you 🤣

GuyKesTV don’t think the wife would like the price though lol she had kittens when I bought the cc bronson 😂😂😂

@@Wildernessoutside Just explain to her that you'll be out longer and more often and she'll realise that she'll have a lot more peace and quiet. That would sell it to Mrs K for sure 🤣

Whyte is 3kg heavier and comes with heavy duty WTB tyres so there's more heave needed if you're riding beyond the motor. The BB is super low too which can be a pedal tapping pain if you're powering through/up tech sections. If you were OK with that on your test ride though the super low BB, dropped battery and those grippy tyres means it's insanely planted. Reach is longer too so it's more stable even though the angles are similar. The latest Bosch software update (retrofittable) makes it significantly more powerful and battery is bigger so range is still similar. Whyte is also a lot cheaper but then you don't get lifetime warrantied carbon frame and wheels. Sorry, I've gone on: Short version is Heckler, lighter, more hop and pop responsive and faster if you're going beyond the motor under power. Whyte, more planted, but still very easy to flick through corners because of the low COG, cheaper and more powerful.

@@GuyKesTV Cheers guy for the reply. I'm probably leaning towards the whyte as I enjoyed the test and my current trail bike is an S 150 which seems a good fit for me. The heckler looks mega but I'm doubtful that I would benefit from the performance advantage it gives but it is tempting! The E 150 is currently sold out so waiting to see the 2021 spec before I chuck some money at it 💵💵

James Turner thanks for the feedback, I’ve definitely been thinking of doing some ride guides so that’s good to hear. What would you want a ride guide to look like? I’ve done some stuff like scrolling maps in the corner before and I know some cameras can superimpose a load of ride data. Would you be into some drone sections or 360 camera stuff? Information on places to eat, how to get there etc?

I think we got about 55km out of the first full battery but we were going pretty hard at a lot of elevation.

Started at Kilburn, blast up sutton bank bridleway, along the tops to Boltby down Paradise descent, road to Nether Silton, down old DH course, back up and over east of Osmotherly, drop into Scugdale, up over the top of the old glider station at Carlton, down to Lord Stones, up to top of old Carlton Bank DH course, along the front to Bilsdale, up onto the spine, down to Chop Gate. Then I cut the bits going back up onto Bilsdale and then across back to osmortherly, along the tops above Kepwick then hidden valley descent and climb back out of Arden Hall back over to Boltby, down Paradise lane, up onto the tops again, as they're great riding but not as good from a visual thrill point of view. The crash is on the Bridleways descent down to Gormire which is actually really long, then we came back up Sutton Bank, dropped back down to the White Horse car park then up the road for the final descent. Ave temp around 30 degrees so it was quite a day out!

GuyKesTV - I thought bits looked really familiar. I’ve ridden up there before, but obviously not uncovered all those gems! It’s only 30 minutes away from me. Time to get back out there and have another nosey round. Thanks Guy!

@@paulmulryne8405 wheres this trails at ? im looking to do this route..

Just replied above. Yes Ard Moors uses a couple of the sections and adds 'event only' sections. I stuck to mostly legal bits as they're still ace and Joe and the team work really hard to keep the locals happy and I want it to stay that way.

GuyKesTV awesome I know I recognised a few of the trials. Think I have a visit and try some of the legal trail..... I wouldn’t tread on ard moor toes I respect the event too much too

There's some great stuff up there that's all legal, esp if you go across the other side of the Stokesley - Helmsley road too. The DH in Silton was mint as well, not ridden that since 95/96 🤣

For me, Bullit or Heckler MX, but they all have their pros and cons.

@@GuyKesTVThanks. Do you think it is a lot harder for a less experienced biker to ride and manoeuvre compared to the Heckler or Heckler MX?

I've had an absolute blast on it, but at the moment it's more power than I need. Kept it in ECO 90% of the time so I'd personally go for something slightly lighter with less power while my legs and lungs can still hack it.

GuyKesTV some people complain that the Shimano motor isn’t powerful enough.

@@rw7269 It's not got as much grunt as Brose or the latest Bosch update but it's still plenty unless you're drag racing up cliffs!