Santa Cruz Heckler

[metalpossum]

Re: Re:

I just picked up a red 1996 Z1 Bomber this weekend. I there any way to reduce the travel/height? 470 mm is pretty tall for the era.

Yes! Replace it with a red Z2 Bomber instead. You'll find those available for not much, there's a pair on ebay right now as we speak that are going for a song. The internals are much the same, just the amount of available travel is different (80mm).

Edit: I just thought about modifying a Z1, and it would be possible. There are some aluminium spacers that sit inside the stanchion, held in place with a circlip, that have a spring resting on them for the "negative travel" to lessen the effects of topping out. You could speak to a machinist and have some longer ones made to pull the entire fork down lower. This will have an effect on your preload settings, so you may have to go for a lighter spring, or modify your existing springs in some way. For what it might be worth though, you're probably better off just keeping them at 100mm and finding an 80mm Z2 instead. Those Z1s in an unmodified state will always hold some value, especially if they're in good shape. Just because you don't need 100mm, somebody else probably does. Perhaps they'll trade a Z2 for them?

 

[metalpossum]

Re:

Here's what you didn't see in the previous photos. Surprisingly, it's dead smooth to the touch, it just looks awful. I can't understand how they got this bad, other than the bike was stored badly, or travelled badly, at a point when it was no longer of much value to the original owner. That coating is incredibly hard, (Ti-Nitride?). I'd understand just one or two minor nicks, but for both stanchions to look like this, definitely makes me wonder.

Great to see everyone else sharing photos or future plans of/for their old Hecklers. I am very partial to these earlier full suspension bikes, there's just something about them that keeps me more interested than a modern bike. The original owner said he'd still give the other guys on modern bikes a run for their money. I think suspension wise, with the Z1 up front and the Rockshox Super Deluxe out back it's about as modern as it got for the 1990's, so he might be speaking some truth.

I had to fit a helicoil for one of the handlebar bolts on the stem, it doesn't feel very confidence inspiring... What would be some suggestions for stems if I were to start looking? I thought about Tioga with their internal steerer clamp, or one of those typical CNC block-shaped stems (I can get an 80mm NOS from a distributor here for ~$15) , but the 4 bolt pattern doesn't look quite right to me on a bike of this age...

 

[metalpossum]

Re: Re:

I just picked up a red 1996 Z1 Bomber this weekend. I there any way to reduce the travel/height? 470 mm is pretty tall for the era.

The Z2 bomber was the same as the Z1 but with reduced travel (80mm rather than 100mm).

The heckler is a great bike. I have a 96 with a blue frame and polished rear triangle. Unfortunately I broke the derailleur hanger last year and I haven't tried to repair it yet.

Have you considered an emergency hanger? Most of them slip over the QR skewer, some include a stepped nut and allow some varying amounts of adjustment. It might be a good short-term fix. Ultimately seeing a welder would probably be your best bet, or cutting, filing, and drilling to allow you to fit some kind of suitable replicable OEM hanger. Try the Wheels Manufacturing website, there might be something in a suitable shape that could work out for you.

 

[shogun]

Re: Re:

I just picked up a red 1996 Z1 Bomber this weekend. I there any way to reduce the travel/height? 470 mm is pretty tall for the era.

The handling with a Z1 is more or less perfect, I think you'd do well to leave it as is. As all coil Bombers sit low in the travel and dive quite a bit, the Z2s are a bit sketchy to ride by comparison, especially with rear suspension.

 

[Lhatch4]

Re: Re:

Have you considered an emergency hanger? Most of them slip over the QR skewer, some include a stepped nut and allow some varying amounts of adjustment. It might be a good short-term fix. Ultimately seeing a welder would probably be your best bet, or cutting, filing, and drilling to allow you to fit some kind of suitable replicable OEM hanger. Try the Wheels Manufacturing website, there might be something in a suitable shape that could work out for you.[/quote]

I bought a replacement bolt on hanger that goes to a different bike with the intention of drilling holes into the dropout and bolting the new hanger on. I'm a little nervous to do it but I'll give it a try sooner or later. I did look into having a new hanger/dropout welded on. I was told it would cost more than the frame is worth and most welders do like to mess with aluminum. I've also had an eye out for a replacement rear triangle.

 

[Timoth27]

Re: Re:

Have you considered an emergency hanger? Most of them slip over the QR skewer, some include a stepped nut and allow some varying amounts of adjustment. It might be a good short-term fix. Ultimately seeing a welder would probably be your best bet, or cutting, filing, and drilling to allow you to fit some kind of suitable replicable OEM hanger. Try the Wheels Manufacturing website, there might be something in a suitable shape that could work out for you.

I bought a replacement bolt on hanger that goes to a different bike with the intention of drilling holes into the dropout and bolting the new hanger on. I'm a little nervous to do it but I'll give it a try sooner or later. I did look into having a new hanger/dropout welded on. I was told it would cost more than the frame is worth and most welders do like to mess with aluminum. I've also had an eye out for a replacement rear triangle.[/quote]

I was thinking the same as I wanted disc mounts but ended up buying a whole frame when 1 poped up on here.

 

[metalpossum]

Re: Re:

Have you considered an emergency hanger? Most of them slip over the QR skewer, some include a stepped nut and allow some varying amounts of adjustment. It might be a good short-term fix. Ultimately seeing a welder would probably be your best bet, or cutting, filing, and drilling to allow you to fit some kind of suitable replicable OEM hanger. Try the Wheels Manufacturing website, there might be something in a suitable shape that could work out for you.

I bought a replacement bolt on hanger that goes to a different bike with the intention of drilling holes into the dropout and bolting the new hanger on. I'm a little nervous to do it but I'll give it a try sooner or later. I did look into having a new hanger/dropout welded on. I was told it would cost more than the frame is worth and most welders do like to mess with aluminum. I've also had an eye out for a replacement rear triangle.

I was thinking the same as I wanted disc mounts but ended up buying a whole frame when 1 poped up on here.[/quote]

A welder you know will always do the job for cheap. I know it's supposed to be heat treated etc. before it goes into service, but given it's a very tiny part of the bike, and given that it's already a write-off otherwise, you don't really have much to lose. Since the dropouts are just one large plate, you could probably go a step further and get them both replaced, one with a replaceable hanger and the other with the disc caliper mounts you desire. It might be expensive if you take it somewhere, but someone you or a friend/family member knows can usually do it cheap. You're only really paying for their time, the materials would be minimal If you're handy with a hacksaw, files, etc, then I'd suggest maybe cutting out your own parts (at their suggestion) ready to go.

If you do find a replacement swingarm, don't throw away the old one. Keep those above ideas in mind for a day when it does become viable.

 

[metalpossum]

Re:

After some many months (or even a year?), this bike is still an ongoing project that just hasn't had the budget or attention at all times.

Anyway, here it is with some Magura HS22s I picked up for $40 NZD, I'd have preferred HS33s with two-finger levers but the clutch-sized levers of these is actually growing on me for this bike, and the colours are less obnoxious.

Front and rear XT Parallax hubs, both absolutely mirror-finish bearings, cups, and cones with some fresh grease. DT double butted spokes laced into 27mm Rhynolite rims.

Oury grips, because.

And I've got a fresh Shimano HG40 chain (because I wanted something dull-coloured that didn't look too flashy) on its way.

Tyres I have in mind are Panaracer Fire XC Pros, unsure about pedals, seat.

Stanchions still need to be replaced, the NOS Z1 stanchions I found were from the BAM model, and are around an inch longer, so they don't work with these rebound catridges. I have found some stanchions from Marzocchi Parts (.com) but they're out of my budget right now.

Oh, and as for the date, it's 1996 exactly, confirmed by the previous owner and a few details regarding the swingarm and pivot brackets on the frame.

 

[boxxer]

Re:

By the way, the non window drop outs on the swing arm make this a MK 1 Heckler frame, all the other pictures are MK2 as they have the slotted window drop outs....

SC we’re fluid with model changes but that’s a definite!

 

[metalpossum]

Re: Re:

By the way, the non window drop outs on the swing arm make this a MK 1 Heckler frame, all the other pictures are MK2 as they have the slotted window drop outs....

SC we’re fluid with model changes but that’s a definite!

Yup, I have that much figured. I prefer these dropouts, they just look more old school. But even more so MK1, or (MK0?), is the pivot mount, which is welded to both the downtube AND seat tube, the latter being omitted soon after.