To mod a 1995/6 hei hei into the 2000 or not

[Neil G]

I believe you can still get new SIDs with V mounts and 80mm travel...expensive though but would be great on the Hei Hei

Another alternative brake wise could be Maguras. Never tried them myself but the fact they are a 'closed' system could make mud/dirt use less of a problem

 

[Pickle]

Not all, but most modern stuff wouldnt suit an older bike.

And be careful if putting modern forks on an older bike as you'll ruin the geometry.

If you want long travel, lockout and disk brakes, you'd be best buying a modern bike thats already set up to handle these things.

If you want a light weight and cool bike, stay old school

 

[Neil G]

Modern XTR hangs well on the Hei Hei

 

[letmetalktomark]

I've got a disc adapter for my hei hei.

Allows me to run discs without damaging the frame.

I also run a 100mm fork on my Caldera that original came with 63mm forks and the handling is fine.

Do what you want with it.......

 

[Augustus]

The idea is to shave as much weight as possible

why weld disc mounts on then? And add weight with heavy rotors and calipers. ?


personally I'd flog it and go and buy a modern giant carbon hardtail or something as is sounds like that's what you really want perhaps. ?

 

[Augustus]

Any suggestion on replacement forks ?
The pace look really nice but weigh a ton !

IIRC, these were about 3.5lb forks. I think unless you go for SID's, you'll be surprised by how little fork weights have reduced since older forks like these.

Mostly decent XC forks hover around the 4lb mark anyway. SID's tend to be about 3lb. There were the odd Marzochi forks that were SID level (sub 3lb) forks, but many were 3.5-4lb + to be honest.

Maybe stick rigid Pace RC31 on, that way you'll really notice a weight drop in one go.

 

[Neil G]

I'm also surprised at fork weights...they're still bloody heavy! I think Manitous are lighter than RS forks but generally they don't offer great performance/reliablity.

I'd say stiffness/tracking in a fork is more important than loosing 0.5 of an lb or so

Mark, what sort of adapter are you using on your Kona? Any pics of it set up?

 

[Anthony]

I also run a 100mm fork on my Caldera that original came with 63mm forks and the handling is fine.

I don't think anybody doubts that the handling will be 'fine' Mark, the issue is whether it's the kind of handling you want.

A 100mm fork on a 99 Caldera (or a 95 Hei Hei) will give a static head angle of about 67 degrees, but more realistically assuming sag of say 30mm you would have a just-riding-along head angle of 69 degrees. And it then gets a bit steeper still with the additional forces you produce under hard cornering. Compare that with the 71 it was designed for and it is as you say 'fine', although some people might prefer it a bit steeper.

I suspect that some of the issues people have with longer forks have to do with the handlebars becoming too high, which is obviously a different issue from geometry, even though it's a handling problem.

 

[llamedos]

Ok some of you guys scare me a little

I kind of missed the early days of MB's being a roddie (I got treatment in the last few years)

The Hei Hei was converted to single speed as I have Spe Epic 09 already to play with so after reading the replies it's going to stay unmolested other than the fork upgrade but keep the v brakes but would of never guessed I would have to drop the lenght to keep the angle

Thanks for all the input

 

[Neil G]

Good shout leaving it as it is