Project Hecklersaurus

[steve jobs' pancreas]

It seems my boy has been growing, he is now 5'8" and he is looking like a praying mantis on his small adult frame GT.

I'm thinking my 1997 Medium Heckler may do the job for him for a while. I suspect that ultimately he is going to be pretty tall.

The works I need to do to the Heckler are as follows and I am looking for opinions as to whether its worth undertaking them or sourcing a new second handy.

Works required:-

1. Frame mod to allow for rear disc brakes (grip)
2. New front forks
3. New rear shock
4. Paint would be nice

What say ye ?

 

[Ultra Lord]

Dont worry about the rear brake, rim brakes still work fine.

Paint is just gonna get ruined anyway.

But throw some forks an shock on it and we've got a winner! Straight steerer 26 forks can be had damn cheaply.

He shoild have a ball.

Edit: quick google search shows some raw hecklers, and damn they look sweet. Personally I'd polish and clear coat over fresh paint.

 

[MARKL]

Agreed, I wouldn't worry about the rear disc and painting can be a father/son project (dad pays the bills son provides the labour under dad's expert tuition). Fork and shock seem like worthwhile additions. Rear suspension is a falling rate so should work well with an air shock.

And once he has outgrown it you will have yourself a sweet Heckler again without spending any money on yourself:whoo:

 

[99_FGT]

Go disc on the front, and stick with a good v on the rear/
The heckler's came out with disc in the later 90's, was either 98 or 99, so it may be possible to obtain a rear end off an updated model and swap it in.
Agree on a good fork, a lightweight air fork (sid, reba or at a pinch a fox) will be a good upgrade.

Al..

 

[BT180]

Well if I get my b'day wishes in early April, then there may be a good deal going on an '04 Heckler.

 

[steve jobs' pancreas]

Thanks for the responses, I didn't consider keeping the rear as a v brake, he is a light weight so that may be a very good option

the vanilla R rear shock is ok, but finding a spring with the right rate for his weight is difficult. I have a nuke proof that is correct for his weight but the inside and outside circumference are a tad wider than stock and doesn't fit on the shock body nicely.

Taking it back to nude looks like an awesome idea.

If it could do the job for the price of a front fork that would be sweet as.

 

[stirk]

V brake power is fine considering you don't want to lock up, its not too hard to do that either with nice long pads, jet black do nice set, not toooo bad in the wet either.

If you don't have an air compressor already good excuse to buy one for the paint job, cost as much as getting a pro to do it and with good paint should come up nicely.

Any excuse to buy tools...

 

[Soul-Rider]

What? I thought the disk was mandatory.

I rode v brakes and canti's long enough to know that I don't want to go near 'em again. Disk tabs can be found online and a local engineering outfit could stick them on. Call Grip sport for a quote (their add is at the top of the page as I write this)?

 

[steve jobs' pancreas]

I did try one of those "bolt on" disc brake tabs, alas it wasn't the best fit on the heckler and so I on sold it. I really wasn't happy with how it sat against the dropout, the chainstay kinda pushed it out a bit so it wasn't exactly hard up against the dropout.

the boy is used to hydraulic discs, what you say is a consideration.

 

[floody]

You want one of the brake adaptors with a torque arm to the canti mount, not one of those horrible A2Z things that clamps over the dropout.

That said I honestly think if you tot up the price of a fork, shock, stuff to make a brake fit vs the fact you'll end up with 1990s geometry and stuff...you'd find a complete bike from the last 15 years which will probably suit better and have more current component standards. Maybe even retire and sell your Heckler frame to some retro nerd, cough, cough.

 

[Ultra Lord]

Don't underestimate decent rim brakes, plenty of power can be had. Get a comfortable lever and stiff brake arms. Soft pads are easily had.

I can see you getting this built up for the cost of a fork, assuming the rear brake works satisfactorily and your happy putting him on a rear shock thats oversprung.

Maybe look at a cheap rs air can?

 

[Travis22]

The old top of the line Avid or XTR vbrakes are just as good on the rear as a disc brake imo. Both of my old bikes from the mid 90's have them and to be honest i was dissapointed the the modern (XT in my case) disc brakes werent more impressive.

I had a disc front for a little while on one bike and found im just to ocd to run one disc one vbrake, cannot stand looking at the different brakes / brake levers and wheels on the bike.

Travis.

 

[floody]

Problem with decent rim-brakes is there are few decent rim-brake-rims.

 

[Ultra Lord]

Probably not decent by todays standards, but you can pick up reasonable mavics pretty cheap from crc. Got some rim brake mavics on my on-one and theyve been fine. Nothing flash but they work.

 

[Flow-Rider]

Aaah, ditch the rims brakes that's old school.

I ran an A2Z adaptor for years with cable tektro brakes on an old GT Aggressor. I actually liked the firm feel of the cable brakes, If you run high quality cables and disk pads you will never have any problems. They are made from high grade aluminium as I found out when I drilled an extra hole in mine for another mount hole.

 

[steve jobs' pancreas]

Yeah, that's the thing I tried on the heckler, just didn't quite match up. And you are right, its gotta be discs all the way for him. If I don't opt for paint I guess I can just send the rear triangle.

So regarding forks how much travel should I be looking at. I note the original gear was a Rockshox Judy DH which had a travel of 83mm (although I think there were variants with the XC with less travel. I have no way of knowing what was on this bike originally or what is on it now unless I take it apart ?) . So should I just be looking at 100mm air shock or could / should I go for 120mm ?

The rear is a Vanilla R with 4" of travel.

The boy took it for a spin yesterday as is (v brakes, clapped out fork), he loves it. Its funny watching old dudes doing a double take as this 14 year old rides by on a bike older than him.

 

[bootsandall]

Brake Therapy

This is the other option on a conversion but at $175, be cheaper to get another frame


http://www.shop.therapycomponents.c...rake-Conversion-Kit-For-26-MTB-135mm-1001.htm

 

[Flow-Rider]

This is the other option on a conversion but at $175, be cheaper to get another frame


http://www.shop.therapycomponents.c...rake-Conversion-Kit-For-26-MTB-135mm-1001.htm

You may be able to pick one up on a retro forum cheap.

 

[pink poodle]

Yeah, that's the thing I tried on the heckler, just didn't quite match up. And you are right, its gotta be discs all the way for him. If I don't opt for paint I guess I can just send the rear triangle.

So regarding forks how much travel should I be looking at. I note the original gear was a Rockshox Judy DH which had a travel of 83mm (although I think there were variants with the XC with less travel. I have no way of knowing what was on this bike originally or what is on it now unless I take it apart ?) . So should I just be looking at 100mm air shock or could / should I go for 120mm ?

The rear is a Vanilla R with 4" of travel.

The boy took it for a spin yesterday as is (v brakes, clapped out fork), he loves it. Its funny watching old dudes doing a double take as this 14 year old rides by on a bike older than him.

The boy is 14...it isn't going to be long before he starts jumping everything. That leads to breaking bits. Which is expensive and frustrating...get in early and future proof it. Or start saving for a sweet dirt jumper.

 

[floody]

For f**ks sake do not put one of those piece of shit A2Z adaptors anywhere near the bike.