SANTA CRUZ HECKLER CC X01 RSV

£11,699 / 29in / santacruzbicycles.com

When Santa Cruz first stepped onto the world e-bike stage two years ago with the first Heckler, the response was more muted than it probably would have liked. With an off-the-shelf Shimano motor (that was superseded a few months later) and a small battery, it was an e-bike that only really moved the game on in terms of price. The Heckler became the heckled.

And it wasn’t just the old motor and limited capacity battery that drew criticism; the Heckler didn’t have the slick integration of the Specialized Turbo Levo or the intoxicating, dextrous handling of bikes like the YT Decoy and Canyon Spectral:ON. It was safe, but boring. At the time, my hunch was that a mullet version might inject some much needed excitement into the handling.

Available with either 29in wheels front and rear or a mullet-wheel MX option, big 720Wh internal battery as standard, Shimano EP8 motor and a range of other updates and improvements, on paper version 2 answers all of the