Santa Cruz Heckler - Rear suspension performance and tuning

[MXLNK]

Hello everyone,
I own a SC Heckler 27.5. Bought the S-Kit with the RS Super Deluxe Select+ damper.
I like the bike and the performance of the rear suspension in general. But I think there is still a lot of room for improvement.
For example, the comfort / traction over square edge bumps like roots could be way better. When riding over over a big block of roots, the rear feels quite hard und jumpy.

What have you done to improve this? Has anyone changed the damper? I thought about trying a coil damper, but due to the narrow shock tunnel, this isn´t an option as you all know. Has anyone tried a different (brand) shock? A Fox, or maybe a DVO ? Did that work out better?

Cheers

 

[RustyIron]

I'm riding an MX X01 Reserve, which comes with a Fox Float Factory DPS. At first I thought it was a piece of šhįt, but I worked with it, and now I think it's great. In a nutshell, I'm running the recommended pressure, changed the volume spacer from 0.6 in^3 to 0.5 in^3, got the compression adjustments all the way out, and the rebound substantially faster than recommended.

Your shock doesn't have much adjustment. Lower pressure will reduce the symptom you describe. But that will increase the tendency to bottom out on bit hits. If you have a lot of travel left over after your big hits, then you can take out some volume spacers. Be conservative with your initial adjustments, watch your sag, watch your bottoming out. Your slow speed bump compliance might improve.

 

[kidsnare]

Are there any rear shocks that don't fit in the Heckler at all due to the design? A Fox Float X2 could be way too massive I guess.

 

[steve_sordy]

I fitted a DVO Topaz T3 to a Focus Jam2 that I had. I had concerns about whether it would fit and DVO sent me a dimensioned drawing.

 

[RustyIron]

Are there any rear shocks that don't fit in the Heckler at all due to the design? A Fox Float X2 could be way too massive I guess.

Yeah, the tunnel is narrower on the 2021 than it is on the 2022. No chance of getting a coil in there.

Update to my post from last year:
Now I'm running a homemade volume spacer that comes in at about 0.25 in.^3
It's pretty good now.