The bike....
Ok Ive been promising to post something about the bike project for some time now.
Late last year I was looking at getting a new bike. This was for several reasons. Wile I loved my old 'dale I was looking at something a bit more solid and I was getting a bit over not having standard, and thus easily changeable components. I was also looking at wanting to get a better shock in the rear. Any way, so started the research part of things.
Bikes are nearly always cheeper if you get them as a single, complete setup. Getting things as parts can be fiendishly expensive. So the bikes I was looking at were the new 'dale Profit (thy shalt not ride crap), one of the Konas, I think I looked at several others but I forget what they were. The criteria would be; mid level of travel (about 5 inches), solid build, easy maintenance, SRAM drive train with triggers. I also wanted to get something from Mal Adjusted. Mal's is the best bike shop in Canberra and the staff there have always looked after us.
Looking at what was going to be available, things were not looking that good. Mal had the Konas and some Scotts, Rock Mountain and Norco. Several bikes looked close but did not fit all of my creteria. I then ended up looking at the Santa Cruz stuff. I was initaly attracted to the Nomad, but this would have been way out of my price range. Anyway, SC had the Heckler. The Heckler seamed to fit the bill as far as a frame went and Mal was gong to give me an excellent price on a Mazzocci 66 fork. This was going to be the expensive way of doing things, but I figured that I could get all the bits that I really wanted as this was a bike that would last me some time.
So the frame and fork was purchased.
You can see the bottle opener on the rear drop out...8)
I started getting all the other bits to go with it.
So the list of bits. This was getting to be the 'dream bike', I was trying to be reasonable on the spending front (thus the X-7 drivetrain) but I did get rather silly with a few things (Cris King headset and Thompson stem).
I was given a set of Juicy 7's for Xmass to complete the total kit (I will upgrade these to 8 inch rotors at some point).
Frame: Santa Cruz Heckler
Rear Shock: Progressive 5th Element coil (I am so not going back to air shocks).
Forks: Mazzocci 66 RC (lush)
Headset: Cris King
Stem and seat post: Thompson (the finish on these are drool worthy).
Drive train: SRAM X-7 (the same as last years X-9s at a lower price, SRAM work so well, everytime)
Bottom bracket and cranks: Shamano Hone (OK these are the cool external BB and are very stiff and strong, I would recomeend these to anyone)
Brakes: Avid Juicy 7 (I managed to set these up in no time and then have spent several hours fiddeling with the adustments. Are they better than the Juicy Five? Yep, but I really have not pushed them hard yet...
Wheels: Syncros DS28 rims with DT Swiss hubs and Larsen TT rubber bits.
Peddels: Crank Bros. Mallets
The rest of the bits were fairly generic. I have become a total convert to lock on grips though, get some!
So here it is ready to go hit the trails...
All up the Heckler rides A LOT lighter than it feels. I am able to climb slightly better on the Heckler than on the 'dale despite the extra weight and travel. The front end feels lush and I realy have not pushed it to it's capability. This is a very fun bike to ride, and yes it does make me want to get out there more...WOOT
Late last year I was looking at getting a new bike. This was for several reasons. Wile I loved my old 'dale I was looking at something a bit more solid and I was getting a bit over not having standard, and thus easily changeable components. I was also looking at wanting to get a better shock in the rear. Any way, so started the research part of things.
Bikes are nearly always cheeper if you get them as a single, complete setup. Getting things as parts can be fiendishly expensive. So the bikes I was looking at were the new 'dale Profit (thy shalt not ride crap), one of the Konas, I think I looked at several others but I forget what they were. The criteria would be; mid level of travel (about 5 inches), solid build, easy maintenance, SRAM drive train with triggers. I also wanted to get something from Mal Adjusted. Mal's is the best bike shop in Canberra and the staff there have always looked after us.
Looking at what was going to be available, things were not looking that good. Mal had the Konas and some Scotts, Rock Mountain and Norco. Several bikes looked close but did not fit all of my creteria. I then ended up looking at the Santa Cruz stuff. I was initaly attracted to the Nomad, but this would have been way out of my price range. Anyway, SC had the Heckler. The Heckler seamed to fit the bill as far as a frame went and Mal was gong to give me an excellent price on a Mazzocci 66 fork. This was going to be the expensive way of doing things, but I figured that I could get all the bits that I really wanted as this was a bike that would last me some time.
So the frame and fork was purchased.
You can see the bottle opener on the rear drop out...8)
I started getting all the other bits to go with it.
So the list of bits. This was getting to be the 'dream bike', I was trying to be reasonable on the spending front (thus the X-7 drivetrain) but I did get rather silly with a few things (Cris King headset and Thompson stem).
I was given a set of Juicy 7's for Xmass to complete the total kit (I will upgrade these to 8 inch rotors at some point).
Frame: Santa Cruz Heckler
Rear Shock: Progressive 5th Element coil (I am so not going back to air shocks).
Forks: Mazzocci 66 RC (lush)
Headset: Cris King
Stem and seat post: Thompson (the finish on these are drool worthy).
Drive train: SRAM X-7 (the same as last years X-9s at a lower price, SRAM work so well, everytime)
Bottom bracket and cranks: Shamano Hone (OK these are the cool external BB and are very stiff and strong, I would recomeend these to anyone)
Brakes: Avid Juicy 7 (I managed to set these up in no time and then have spent several hours fiddeling with the adustments. Are they better than the Juicy Five? Yep, but I really have not pushed them hard yet...
Wheels: Syncros DS28 rims with DT Swiss hubs and Larsen TT rubber bits.
Peddels: Crank Bros. Mallets
The rest of the bits were fairly generic. I have become a total convert to lock on grips though, get some!
So here it is ready to go hit the trails...
All up the Heckler rides A LOT lighter than it feels. I am able to climb slightly better on the Heckler than on the 'dale despite the extra weight and travel. The front end feels lush and I realy have not pushed it to it's capability. This is a very fun bike to ride, and yes it does make me want to get out there more...WOOT