2010 Santa Cruz Heckler build with pic's finished 10/2/12

T.Howler

Ok, first proper post... i have a motocross background, but over the last couple of years have primarily road biked "Cube Agree gtc pro" and XC on "2008 Scott scale 50" which has been spot on but been whaning for something more AM lately, and caught a deal on a Large 2010 Santa cruz Heckler Green frame. so the build begins on a uni student budget !

so far i have the Frame with hope headset, fox RP2 shock, and in the process of Receiving F & R avid elixir 5's on 160 mm rotors, Rock shox pike 409's, XTR rear mech, SLX front mech, SLX double crankset with bash. working on a set of hope pro 2 wheels, and yet to purchase the rest.
First bike build so will see how it goes, with the luxury of plentiful welsh/border terrain to test ride on.



to be continued... started collecting the parts on 21/1/2012 and finished the build on 10/2/2012. the parts list has changed quite a bit since the initial planning process, here is the finished product although there are more pics on page 2. Enjoy !



plus top tip nip to B & Q and buy wall repair tape, its identical to heli tape is clear and pvc, fractionally thinner than 3m heli tape, but you get 10meters of 50mm wide for £5 and i've taped up the heckler where necessary including the ghetto chain protector

DCR00

that frame was on eBay eh ?

liking the colour and the sound of the build

T.Howler

Yeah Best offer, was local to me too so very handy, colour is v.good although difficult to think about what to match or contrast to it e.g green and red ? hopefully my wallet will eventually like the sound of the build too

Cheers

DaveBickers

Green and purple go well?

SpeedWeasel

Love it, love it, love it...

Well, I love my recently built Heckler. My frame was also an eBay purchase. An almost mint 2008 large in orange. Check out my sig for pictures.

Good luck with the build, I'll keep an eye out for this.

By the way, there was an ad on STW today for some hope hubs with mavic 317s. One year old and roughly £150 IIRC

DCR00

T.Howler wrote:

Yeah Best offer, was local to me too so very handy, colour is v.good although difficult to think about what to match or contrast to it e.g green and red ? hopefully my wallet will eventually like the sound of the build too

Cheers

green and gold ?

MountainMonster

I second the green and gold, thing red would clash too much as they are both very strong colours.

1mancity2

Hmmm I'd go green and black with a few parts gold to jazz it up.

T.Howler

Cheers for the comments people,
i will bear the colour schemes in mind, throughout the build i intend to keep an eye on the scales through the build to as best as i can. cheers for the heads up on the wheels will see if there still around dont know what the 317 rims would be like as AM ?

some parts are in transit atm so will soon be coming together

T.Howler

Ok WIP continuing,
just a small update. the bottom bracket and cranks are fitted brakes should be here tomorow, undergoing trouble with a postal order for my xtr rear mech :evil: soon as paypal clears wheels and forks will be purchased, and finally pay for the xt shifters i won whay.
Once the parts have all arrived i will complement the thread with pic's.

delcol

hi just been reading your comments in the other heckler thread..

i had a heckler for 3 and a half years.. when i built it i ran it with fox 32 talas r forks 140mm , i then briefly had marzocchi 55 atas (5 months) 165mm travel i then put fox 36 talas rc2 on with 160 forks the bike came alive slacked the head angle off perfctly still climbed but decended better. it really did make the heckler better..

i have 317 on my hardtail had them over 2 years and they been faultless...

both my sets of fox 36 talas rc2s are 08 models the ones that wereon my heckler now on my butcher have been abused in whistler 7 trips they only been serviced once and still work fine.
the 36's on my hardtail came off our kids knolly they to have been abused in whistler twice then i put them on the pace rc305 then onto my chromag. these have never been serviced, they still work fine but the talas system sometimes wont wind down, but they still perform perfectly...

T.Howler

Hi, delcol
i appreciate the advice, i like the sound of how the 36's slackened the head a little but thats bound to change the steering arc. i dont really want to compromise the heckler's all mountain attribute of climbing well knowing it performs well with pikes. ive been offered some 2010 32's rlc fit at a great price so think ill try them and if my riding demands more ill upgrade to 36's later on. the 317's are a pretty good rim from mavic in fairness. pretty impressed by both life times on your 36's and wheels especially the trips to whistler and back. how come you went back to the hardtail (chromag) after having the heckler ?

delcol

i got the heckler in sept 07 (frame only rp23 upgrade) got it for a decent price on offer.. i built it up to my spec, that gradually evovled over the years,
i also had a pace rc305 hardtail again i specced it out custom build jobby got this in july 08. so i had 2 bikes.

then as i started to progress and get more confidence and skill riding bigger terrain (whistler bike park) i got a spesh demo 7 this was in 09.. so i then had 3 bikes.

i sold the heckler in oct 09, and got a butcher frame and cutom built this to my spec.
then when we were in whistler in september last year our kid got a good deal on a couple of chromag frames.

so when i came home i stripped the pace and sold the frame and built the chromag up..

so i still have my santacruz my demo (which is about to be sold) and the chromag oh and a cheap crappy road bike..

the heckler will still climb just as good with 36s at 160,, i never found i struggled from the geometry change on both my heckler and my butcher, the only thing i struggle with on a climb is my lazy ar5e being unfit..
if any thing imo the 160mm 36s improved the handling of the heckler..
i also ran my heckler with a coil shock for the last 8 months i had also have a coil shock on the butcher..
coil shock made a huge difference especially in the bike park and on the steep teccy (rooty rocky) trails of whistler and squamish..

antop34

Look forward to seeing the finished article.

I too bought an 09 Heckler frame off ebay and apart from getting the RP23 TF PUSH tuned, it was in perfect order. I have built it up with a range of parts to create an awesome trail bike, perfect for welsh trail centres, FOD and local riding round the Cotswolds.
I opted to keep my Pikes and find the bike loves the 140mm setting but dives through travel on 100mm under braking.
I was toying with a new frame but having had the Heckler for over a year now I am a convert and will be spending all my hard earned cash on a new groupset and possible wheel upgrade. Spec so far is:

Heckler 2009 Medium - TF PUSH tuned RP23 - anodized black
Rockshox Pike 426 U-turns
Mavix 321 on Hope Pro 2s (gold)
Maxis High Rollers or Panaracer XC
SRAM X7 groupset with Hone Cranks (needs updating badly!)
Hope Mono Minis with floating rotors and carbon levers
Chris King Headset
Easton Haven carbon bars
GAP stem (needs upgrading after my Thomson stem went walkabout!)
Crank brothers joplin 4 seatpost
Charge Spoon saddle
Shimano SPD or DMR V12s

T.Howler

Hi ant,
i like the sound of your build, i was initially going to fit pikes but some fox 32 talas rlc fit's appeared with a 15mm maxle should fit with the hope pro 2 hubs on dt swiss 5.1 rims. did you consider 160mm forks for the heckler ? either lyriks or fox 36's ? i'm gonna see how it handles at 140mm and go from there, jealous of the fact you got rp23 especially tf tuned. what colour scheme you gone for other than gold hubs ? wouldnt mind the havoc bars but went for xtr rear mech, xt front and slx cranks with xt shifters and see how that all runs "slick"

hopefully everything arrives by wednesday it will be built up, and pictures posted accordingly. another 2 of my friends have since converted from hardtails to full sus, during me building this so should be a laugh on rides when its finished.

would appreciate if you have any tips on cable routing, and suspension pressures. i'm 11 n half stone at 5'11. i know i've gotta adjust the forks as there a bit soft at the mo but how about your shock ?

cheers Tom

chopchop

Tom , I have a RP23 for sale that I have swapped over for a coil on my Heckler.
http://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/1018329/

The cable routing is relatively straight forward on the Heckler, front gear under TT in between shock mount and the rear and brake along the other tube. You can fit full outers on the gear cables and it looks very neat- great design of the cable mounts by SC.

delcol

chop chop good choice on the coil shock for your heckler i think it rides much better with a coil shock especially on really rooty rocky ground..
Tom to give you an idea of cable routing i still have pics from when i sold my heckler..


click on link to my photobucket page i cant get the pictture to fit this site with out resizing them..

more pics

T.Howler

Hi, Del
appreciate the pics they will definatly help whilst doing the build, it appears you had the same gear cables as me, jagwire L3 with a double liner ? im gonna convert the front hope hub from 20mm to 15mm now but waiting for the bars then i can apply everything pretty much just gonna be short of grips and pedals wont take long to sort those out. so happy with the components, someone has a pimped heckler on ebay at the mo going cheap considering the spec list.

and cheers for the offer chop chop, currently scraping the barrel funds wise i'll see how the rp2 goes first and conclude from that whether an rp23 would be worth adding to the spec .

delcol

the gear outer i use are these, got them on my hardtail and my santacruz. they seal up well and cables lasts ages to...

inner
outer

T.Howler

Hi folks, well success all parts except the bars/stem which have temporarily been adopted from the hardtail/friends bike have arrived and attached. gear shifter cables were a doddle with jagwire kit and super smooth, including helpful pics of delcol's bike and speedweasal's pic's hellping locate cables in the right places.

The Front and Rear mech still need fettling, but it's rideable, gonna order my pedals and grips now. However the rear hope pro 2 hub is not free wheeling = chain droop which when being test rode lead to snagging on the front derailleur or pulling the rear mech excessively and nearly causing damage, so with the help of hope's youtube vid i may strip the hub myself or just take to LBS, see if the freewheel bearing/pawls need regreasing ?

So Spec list is approximately:

Frame: Santacruz Heckler (L)
Shock: FOX RP2
Forks: FOX 32 Talas RLC FIT 140mm 15QR
Bars: FSA Maximus 710mm (when they arrive)
Stem: FSA Gravity Gap 60mm (same as above)
Headset: Hope 1-1/8th integrated headset
Grips: superstar excels custom (ordered)

Front Brake: Avid Elixir 5
Front disc: Avid G2cs 203mm
Rear Brake: Avid Elixir 5
Rear Disc: Avid G2cs 185mm

Shifters: Shimano XT
Front Mech: ShimanoXT
Rear Mech: Shimano XTR 9 Speed med cage
BB: Shimano SLX
Cables: Jagwire PRO L3

Seat: SDG Bel Air
Seat Post: Control Tech Scandium 1
Clamp: Santa Cruz

Cranks: Shimano SLX
Chainring(s): 22, 36
Chain: Shimano XT with SRAM powerlink
Cassette: Shimano XT 11-34
Pedals: Exotic black (identical to superstar)

Wheels: Hope Pro 2 Hubs
Rim: DT Swiss 5.1
Tyres: Continental Rubber Queen 2.2 rear, Continental Mountain King MKII 2.4 Front
Tube: Airwave (CRC deal)

Weight: unbelievably light for a full sus, will weigh once complete

Pics will be available from tomorow maybe ? need to get some decent ones in daylight ... the suspense.

delcol

you say your pro 2 wont free wheel is it locking up... sounds like the washer is missing that goes on before the freehub... there should be a washer that goes on the axel infront of the freehub if this is missing it causes the freehub to lock...


see here

T.Howler

Ok folks i promised Pics and now i have some although in iconic welsh rain unfortunately the build was done during the night so pics of the build process were a right off :roll: , thus these pics are of the complete build

everything is on except for pedals which are due to arrive tomorow morning, plus currently borrowing my friends head spacers until i order some. now to go for a play and set up the suspension as best i can. i Hope you like the finished product and i will get a weight at some point but for now all i know is its not much more than my hardtail.

SpeedWeasel

Looking good! Same stem as me

You'll love it, such a capable bike. I just look at mine and it makes me want to ride!

Is that the new XTR rear mech with the tensioner? Let us know how you get on with that, I'll be interested.

And start saving for a dropper post, so useful it's hard to understand life before one

T.Howler

Hi speed weasal,

its not the new xtr shadow sorry but it i dont know whether its the rear mech or the rear triangle tubing nto being between the chain (sorry if that confused anybody?) but there is no where near as much chain slap as my hardtail.

taken it for a ride today on some little muddy singletrack and its an awesome bike to ride love the spec, but definately need to play with the suspension more and the gears were a nuisance only when climbing either i nthe granny ring or middle ring (outer ring is a bash) so guessing with more tension applied to the revolution it wants to skip gears :evil: but might be riding penmachno on sunday where it will be tested considerably more :twisted:

heres today's grittiness -




Excuse the pedals there off the fixie, my exotic ones should arrive tomorow AM. - delcol i got ther rear wheel sorted by LBS for a tenner they stripped the hub and the previous owner had put the spacer in the wrong place between the free hub and wheel hub bearings, now its so smooth but not very noisey think there might to much grease on the pawls.

delcol

nah it's a pro 2 they sound like a rattle snake on steroids..

i did penmach on my heckler and loved it..

T.Howler

delcol wrote:

nah it's a pro 2 they sound like a rattle snake on steroids..

i did penmach on my heckler and loved it..

did Penmachno yesterday on the heckler with the uni club, and must have been the worst ride i've had. spoilt as the non drive side crank arm kept coming off its splines and falling off as there were to many spacers on the BB leaving no thread for it to lock on to, as well as the gear cables still stretching consequently after many mechanical stops i launched it into a bush in temper, only to fish it out after and roll down the fire roads back to the car where the BB tool lived :evil:

However i was impressed by its climbing ability for the most part apart from the open rocky section, it needs properly setting up or i should say the forks do. the gear are also now working correctly, i managed to get a run in down the last section and it was much improved but my mood stayed lacklustre. :?

so hopefully things will be better next time im out.

ilovedirt

Hopefully you'll have all the issues ironed out by the time we hit snowdon then eh?! Was a good ride yesterday regardless of the stops (made funnier by you chucking your bike in the bush, i've gotta admit :P )
Should definitely go single ring at the front though! Would solve your front mech issues.

antop34

That is gutted that the first outing wasnt top notch. But persevere with it, once set up the Heckler rides SO sweetly but it is a simple suspension feel, especially when comparing it to a Quad Link marin as I had before.
It is well worth getting someone to tune the forks and shock for you, giving riding style, weight, preference on soft etc they can really do wonders! My Heckler was a bit touch and go at first, got it TF PUSH Tuned and have never looked back.
Climbing will get there, the rear wheel wont track too well as standard, tweaking the shock helps but its obviously a big jump from a hardtail, stick with it.
I will get some pics up of mine once i can be faffed to set up a picturebox account or something. What a pain!!!

funkybaj

T.Howler wrote:

plus top tip nip to B & Q and buy wall repair tape, its identical to heli tape is clear and pvc, fractionally thinner than 3m heli tape, but you get 10meters of 50mm wide for £5 and i've taped up the heckler where necessary including the ghetto chain protector

Nice bike!

Does this B&Q stuff really work? Is this the one you purchased?

http://www.diy.com/nav/decor/decorating ... 0m-9254491

T.Howler

Cheers for the advise Sam "single ring" may come at some point for now ill stick with the double not at to much of a disadvantage

Antop, i'm going to properly set the suspension up today done some research etc, if i could afford for TFtuned to tweak both front and back i would but home DIY it will be this time. but as you say ill persevere for the time being and see if the performance of both myself and the bike improves.

And that is the tape from B & Q cheap and cheerful, but make sure you clean the bike surface with meths etc first, so its really clean as you dont want the edges peeling, you want a needle to get rid of any bubbles after and a steady hand whilst applying but as of yet i've got no marks on the frame so pretty chuffed. and still have more than half a roll left for future applications or to replace any sections.

ilovedirt

Genuinely, single ring is one of the best things I've done to my bike, but I guess it's a personal preference. Was a bit of a pain to get right though.

If you're not too happy with the suspension feel, maybe try a new shock, the float r isn't fantastic. I have an RP3 on my slayer, and the propedal feature is something I probably couldn't go without! It makes climbing so much easier, whilst still retaining a bit of spring so that you can get that extra grip on the tricky climbs that you wouldn't be able to get on a hardtail. Then Whack it off a bit for the rocky pedally parts, and fully off for the descents, it's great!

If you want to change the compression rate etc, you can get some internal spacers that are really easy to fit (unscrew air can, slip over the shaft, screw air can back on). Basically what they do is take up extra volume in the shock, essentially making the shock ramp up more quickly. What I found on my old patriot (and is probably a similar thing with the heckler, as they're both a basic single pivot) is that it blew through the travel far too quickly. A couple of air volume spacers could help make the spring rate more progressive if you find you have the same issues. Much cheaper than a push tune, though that would be better if you could afford it.