Has anyone ridden both these frames?
I had a Heckler and sold it for a TALAS switchblade. Reaalllly liked the heckler, and especially the tuneability of the 5th, and am thinking of going back to it or the Ventana El Chamuco. Really I didn't see a really dramatic difference in the horst-link 4-bar VS the single pivot heckler for my riding, and I DO NOT like the air FOX propedal performance. Too much spike over the small stuff, not enough ramp up in the end of the stroke for my tastes. The Switchblade feels a bit nervous over the stuff I ride, but at low speeds it's a great bike.
I am in the process of selling the TALAS fork (5") for a Nixon (6"). both are adjustable travel, if I cared to change it for geometry reasons.
The heckler inspired a lot of confidence in my riding and had me trying things I normally wouldn't do. The bike ate up most anything. My only complaints are the fairly minor but noticeable flex in the rear end, slightly low bottom bracket, and the fact that now my buddy has a heckler, so I'd like to be a little different.
My thought is that the El Chamuco is comparable in geometry to the heckler, has a higher bottom bracket, and has the link on the rear end which I would think would eliminate most of the flex issues of the rear end I mentioned. It does have about 1" more travel than the heckler, which wouldn't be a bad thing.
Any thoughts from someone out there that has tried both frames? Seems tough to find someone who has ridden an El Chamuco.
Thanks in advance!
-T
I had a Heckler and sold it for a TALAS switchblade. Reaalllly liked the heckler, and especially the tuneability of the 5th, and am thinking of going back to it or the Ventana El Chamuco. Really I didn't see a really dramatic difference in the horst-link 4-bar VS the single pivot heckler for my riding, and I DO NOT like the air FOX propedal performance. Too much spike over the small stuff, not enough ramp up in the end of the stroke for my tastes. The Switchblade feels a bit nervous over the stuff I ride, but at low speeds it's a great bike.
I am in the process of selling the TALAS fork (5") for a Nixon (6"). both are adjustable travel, if I cared to change it for geometry reasons.
The heckler inspired a lot of confidence in my riding and had me trying things I normally wouldn't do. The bike ate up most anything. My only complaints are the fairly minor but noticeable flex in the rear end, slightly low bottom bracket, and the fact that now my buddy has a heckler, so I'd like to be a little different.
My thought is that the El Chamuco is comparable in geometry to the heckler, has a higher bottom bracket, and has the link on the rear end which I would think would eliminate most of the flex issues of the rear end I mentioned. It does have about 1" more travel than the heckler, which wouldn't be a bad thing.
Any thoughts from someone out there that has tried both frames? Seems tough to find someone who has ridden an El Chamuco.
Thanks in advance!
-T