Awesome bike man. I had bombers on my Heckler, '05 AM2's then '08 55ETA's. Tried some early brown 36 Talas and thought they were sh!t, no comparison to Zocchi. I resent that mtbr.com don't fullly cover Zoke's new products and leap at anything Fox, simply because they're paid to. Interesting to see how much you use the dropper post. Guess I'm oldschool, maybe just old, but they seem a bit of a gimmick to me, and not very reliable yet either.
Loved my Heckler, hammered the crap out of it for years, took unbelievable punishment. With it's long legs and short body, with a well balanced, upright seating position, it takes the big hits superbly, much better than a lot of more complex linkage.
I had an '03, developed a bit of slop in the swingarm which caused the shock bolt holes (on swingarm) to round out. The new design looks more durable, but make sure you replace the main pivot bearings as regularly, like every season. Had an '06 Foes FXR 2:1 after the Heckler which had a swing link connecting the top of the single pivot swingarm which significantly reduced flex, was noticeably stiffer than the Heckler.
Check this out:
Heckler Rear End Flexing - YouTube
Edit: I just rewatched this video (after a couple of years) and I can barely see any flex in the rear triangle. The rear wheel is flexing it's guts out, but not the frame.
Now, I'm not dissing the Heckler, it's a great bike, but it is an inherently flexy design. Honestly, you don't even notice it when you're bombing down a hill, I never did, and I had the old model. But some lateral flex is there, and it's stressing the main pivot and shock hardware, something to be aware of. SC introduced the Butcher in order to address these issues, but it's not the classic the Heckler is, perhaps even
the most classic mtb of all time, has one of the longest and impressive lineages.
In regard to the "VPP hype", I used to think the same, hardcore single pivot, even had a Bullit as well (great DH, pig of a trail bike)... until I rode a VPP bike. I'd always wanted a VP-Free, a DH bike you could actually ride to the top of the hill, and it's been a revelation. I mean, it's ridiculously overbuilt, heavy as hell (Saint cranks, 66 Evo Ti, DH parts), and the VPP design has since been revised several times, but man, it rides sooooo well. VPP farken rocks dude, it's really good, super plush yet has great small bump compliance, climbs really well and descends even better (it is a DH bike).
The single pivot design, although great, super stable and bombproof, relies a lot on the shock platform to prevent pedal bomb, mushiness. The trade-off for this is that the bike lacks a bit of small bump compliance. Takes big hits like a champ, but you do feel a bit more through the chatter, imo anyway. The beauty of VPP is that you can have your shock all the way open and let the linkage design take care of the rest, which it does without fuss, very impressive.
Anyway, have fun on your awesome new Heckler, and maybe VPP's something to think about in the future. Personally, I'm saving for a carbon Bronson.