RIDING THE BEST E-BIKE OUT PART 2

Blake was gracious enough to let me borrow his bike while he was out of town now that we have it fully built up, minus Transmission. This thing is absolutely ridiculous. It rides phenomenal. Before this bike I was completely against mullet setup bikes but this one is so good, especially with the coil setup. The rear tire is absolutely glued to the ground while still being super easy to turn and get the bike leaned over. Something my Yeti is not great at. I find the 160 difficult to get leaned and trust on off camber edges. That might be my old tires but the Yeti is definitely a faster bike but not as confidence inspiring.
The Heckler SL is immediately easy to get along with and is super confidence inspiring. It holds lines and corners better than most regular bikes, let alone E-Bikes.
With these upgrades, the bike no longer blows through travel and stands relatively stood up through chunk and big hits which is great when you're trying to maintain a strong position. You don't feel that harsh ramp up on lips and big drops anymore and when you're hard on the brakes, the bike sits into its travel nicely and maintains posture. The fork definitely provides the support you need in the steep sections as well.
This bike is truly amazing. The grip, the braking traction, way the suspension setup, etc. This thing is a home run. Santa Cruz absolutely nailed the suspension kinematics and geometry on this bike.
The one and only thing I don't like about this bike is that the seat tube angle is slacker than others. I found myself having to really weight the front of the bike when climbing steep sections and the front still wanted to pop up and loop out. This only happened in the steepest sections but it definitely is a real thing. It will most likely be a non issue for most, especially if you do long fire road style type climbs but if you do find yourself in a super steep climb, you may run into this issue. To me, it is not a big deal, not really a deal at all since I don't really climb anything super steep most of the time anyway.

[@andreabuscemi1985]

Do you happen to have a direct comparison between the Heckler SL and the Kenevo SL? I am primarily interested in the difference in suspension platform and ride feeling. cheers

[@CarolinaMTB]

So I have only ridden a Kenevo SL once at Kanuga Bike Park but in my opinion, these are two different categories of bike. Kenevo SL is more like the long travel bruiser that you can ride anywhere but would be most suited for steep, chunky, and fast terrain.
The Heckler SL is more of a long travel trail bike that is more suited towards less steep terrain and slightly lower speeds but is a way easier bike to manipulate. Turning and jumping/popping/pumping is better out of the heckler but it’s not as fast or stable as the Kenevo SL.
That being said, both bikes are great and can really do anything but on the trails that I would ride an EBike on, I would prefer the heckler sl just purely because it feels more natural and most “E Bikeparks” are not insanely gnarly or steep like windrock is. For
The more proper DH stuff, I’d just take a DH bike.

[@JacobBulls-ue6dn]

Any recommendations on bike parks near Winston-Salem with good flow and jumps where I can ride my eMTB? Just moved here from Bellingham, WA. I ride a Scott Ransom eRIDE with 180mm front and back

[@CarolinaMTB]

I havent ridden anything up there myself but MTB Project and Trail Forks says theres some decent riding. Youre also up near Pilot Mountain which should house some good trails. Other than that, you may have to venture into western NC for Kanuga, Rock Creek, and some of the other parks during the summer.
We have a few really good spots here in Charlotte. Cedar Valley bike park being the closest one to you I think.

[@JacobBulls-ue6dn]

@CarolinaMTB Sweet! Any other recommendations in Charlotte? I've heard Airline is good.

[@Renroh]

How did you get on with the coil mate? Recommend?

[@CarolinaMTB]

Loved it. It is still fairly easy to get off of the ground but it handles the rough stuff tons better!

[@anthonytedesco8072]

Did you stick with 160/150 travel ?

[@CarolinaMTB]

Yep