'97 Santa Cruz Heckler - m*dern build *Updated*

[MikeD]

I bought it in 1998. It's one of the first ones to have a disc mount on the swingarm (which is handy). The Pikes sit at 100-105 usually, any longer than that and it's all a bit wayward for my taste. I like the idea of sturdy short travel

Mine's got an aftermarket seatstay brace (from Upgrade, don't know if they still do them, it's been on there since about 2000) that gets you a bit more room on top where it's tight. Those are 2.2in Michelins, the clearance isn't massive but it's comfortable.

As for the back wheel, you can check the alignment of the frame with a length of cotton thread - run it from one dropout, round the headtube and back to the other dropout and measure the distance between thread and seat tube both sides. Should be the same.

 

[haribo]

Yeah - disk mount would be nice but the A2Z seems to work OK - would prefer one of those torsion bar jobbies if I can get my hands on one.

I'm actually not sure what travel my Rev is running :roll: - will have to check. Bought them s/h and was told they're set at 130mm via the internal spacers (dual air rather than u-turn). If they are I'll get the travel down at some point although it actually feels OK, esp on the downs

I'll look into the seatstay brace - it's actually width wise as well as up top that the clearance seems pretty tight. When I had a bigger tyre on the rear I ended up carrying half the mud from the trail round on the brace and stays!

What's your build and do you know how much she weighs?

 

[MikeD]

If the A2Z works for you I'd stick with it - torsion bars are pretty ugly things and not unlikely to do nasty things to your canti boss ;-)

IME 130mm forks make them a bit wayward unless you're doing 30mph. They were never built with over 100 in mind, although they're pretty tough so I'd not be _too_ worried about the front end falling off. Mine had 1998 dual-crown Judy XLs on it when first built

Tyre clearance on the sides is tight on the seatstays, there's not much paint on the inside of mine any more. The aftermarket brace helps a lot with clogging, though.

Build isn't very imaginative - Pike 426 fork, RS Pearl shock (mounted back to front because the air can's so huge), Syncros headset, RaceFace stem, Titec bar, Thomson post, old Bonty saddle and 2008 XT going/stopping bits. 30lb, so not light, but stout ;-)

 

[captain8track]

hmm

looks like my superlight acctually. But mine's gonna look ultra xc soon...

 

[Max P]

Really liking that Heckler. Not a FS sort of guy but the older more 'industrial' US made Santa Cruzs' look superb.

Reckon there are enough of us late 90's SC owners for a seperate 'SC lovers' topic???

 

[IbocProSX]

Nice upgrades Haribo, gotta love that Heckler

Reckon there are enough of us late 90's SC owners for a seperate 'SC lovers' topic???

Absolutely, and normally I don't insert pics in others' threads but since we have a theme going, here's my '98:

Haribo, I like the overall feel best with the travel up front around 110mm, but I do have the fork to change it quickly between 100-120 depending on terrain. I think the Heckler was designed around 85mm maybe 100mm forks. Forks did have little sag designed in them back then, Pace being the exception.

Enjoy!!

 

[MikeD]

I believe that 80-100 was the official range. Sag hasn't really changed in the last decade, though.

 

[IbocProSX]

I believe that 80-100 was the official range. Sag hasn't really changed in the last decade, though.

Respectfully disagree, these are 97 bikes, indeed over a decade ago. Physics hasn't changed indeed, but attention for sag as a design parameter in MTB suspension was not commonplace bitd. Pro's and cons of air vs coil and ever lighter forks were the hot topics IIRC. Set-up and stiction of the early air forks meant sag was to next to nothing. Pace was ahead of the field back then, recommending 25% sag on the coil RCs.

Back on topic. Haribo, really nice work with the blue-black & silver theme and I like the retrobike decal too. So how about some bling blue Hope details e.g. the caps in the calipers?

 

[MikeD]

Respectfully disagree, these are 97 bikes, indeed over a decade ago. Physics hasn't changed indeed, but attention for sag as a design parameter in MTB suspension was not commonplace bitd.

By 1997 you had Z1s, Judy XLs and others. The principle of sag was definitely established, it's just that the recommended amounts were proportionately less, mainly because apart from the "long-travel" newcomers there wasn't all that much travel to play with.

Anyway, I like your bike. Red for the win!

 

[haribo]

Back on topic. Haribo, really nice work with the blue-black & silver theme and I like the retrobike decal too. So how about some bling blue Hope details e.g. the caps in the calipers?

Cheers. Not sure about any more blue bits really, at least for the moment. Toyed with the idea of blue ano Hope bits (QR, seat clamp, stack spacers etc) but thought I'd go with understated black. I did see some really nice blue Yeti ODI lock-ons that matched the frame/tyres though. Going to do my best to stop messing with it now and just ride it! Although a Thomson post and stem would be nice...:roll: