I think a 66 would be a bit much for the Heckler...
Heckler & a 66?
Is anyone running their Santa Cruz Heckler frame with a 7” Marz 66 fork? Just wondering if it would make it too slack, and I know the Heckler specs state it’s OK to use up to a 150mm fork, and the 66 is 170mm. Should this cause any problems? I’d like to put on a 66 SL so that I have adjustable travel. Thanks.
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take the 66 SL down to 150 and put it on the heckler. you can run it down to like 40mm safely.
I use my Heckler for everything, from XC to freeride (not DH however because I have my Devinci Wilson for that). Love taking it off jumps and drops, it’s such a tough versatile bike. I think a 66SL is exactly what I need, however I’m just wondering if running it at 170mm is bad for the frame as it’s only recommended for a max 150mm fork. Don’t want a broken/ovalized head tube. Has anyone else put a 66 on a Heckler?
Personally, I'd put a Pike on there instead. Reducing the travel on the 66SL is a good option, though.
I already have a Sherman Flick Plus on there, and am looking for something a little more burly. I don’t think the Pike fits that bill. I want something that I can put up to 160-170mm for big drops, jumps and hucks, but can reduce down to 130-140mm for XC and All Mountain riding.
170mm should be alright coz there are number of people riding it with dual crown fork with no problem
What's the HA with a 150mm fork? That's going to be the big factor here. As your HA slackens it puts more pressure on the HT on impact. If the HA is around 68 deg with a 150mm then you might be OK with another inch of travel on the fork and the HA at 67, maybe. I'm just not sure on how thick that HT is on the heckler. A deep cup headset would prob be a must for longterm durability. One thing nice about the 66 SL is that the quality of travel is very high and with it's tunable compression and air chamber for bottom-out resistance you can hit some big stuff and not blow through all the travel to bottom out. You may find that you can run it at 150mm but have the feeling of much more suspension since you can tune it for exactly your weight and riding style. It's a heck of a fork, I'm lovin' mine!
SC warranties the frame up to 160mm now that they spec the Fox 36s in their build kits. I run a 66 SL on mine at around 150-155mm and it does pretty well. It gets a little light in the front end on real steep climbs but other than that the fork is a real good match for the frame. Also, SC does not recommend a deep cup headset for the Heckler because of the internal machining of the headtube. You could get one in there but you probably would never get it out.
For the combo of weight, stiffness, and suspension quality, it can't be beat....no matter what travel you set it to.
You need to look @ the axle to crown heights on forks when you condsider them - the Heckler is based on a 500mm a-c height. A 170mm Sherman slider DC has a 550mm a-c height , a 170 mm 05' 66RC has a 200mm a-c height. Personally I would stay around 550 a-c and less. Anymore height puts the HA below 65 deg's.
I second the Fox 36 Vanilla
I second the Fox 36 Vanilla. I have one on my Heckler and it is awesome. I have a 66RC on my Bullit and I can tell you that is would really screw up the ride on a Heckler. The Bullit is almost too slack with the 66.
The Heckler is rated for up to 160mm forks if I am not mistaken. I had a Z1FR1 150mm fork on there which has the ETA feature which is really cool. The Z1 and the Fox 36 Vanilla are within 5 grams in weight. The Vanilla 36 is only 1/4" taller than the Z1even though it has 13mm more travel. The Vanilla also tracks better than any fork I have ever ridden. It is amazing how the bike just floats over everything with the Vanilla.
Speedgoat is closing out their 2006 Vanilla 36's and was selling 36 Vanilla R's for $549. That is a pretty incredible deal.
I second the Fox 36 Vanilla. I have one on my Heckler and it is awesome. I have a 66RC on my Bullit and I can tell you that is would really screw up the ride on a Heckler. The Bullit is almost too slack with the 66.
The Heckler is rated for up to 160mm forks if I am not mistaken. I had a Z1FR1 150mm fork on there which has the ETA feature which is really cool. The Z1 and the Fox 36 Vanilla are within 5 grams in weight. The Vanilla 36 is only 1/4" taller than the Z1even though it has 13mm more travel. The Vanilla also tracks better than any fork I have ever ridden. It is amazing how the bike just floats over everything with the Vanilla.
Speedgoat is closing out their 2006 Vanilla 36's and was selling 36 Vanilla R's for $549. That is a pretty incredible deal.
I've been running the Jr T on my '04 Heckler and have had no issues thus far and I do hit the occassional big drop with it...
instead of an 05 get the 06 66....it has a loweraxle to crown hieght and will fit the bike better......if you are hucking less than 3 feet....maybe you should look into a Z-1 lite
66 Sl
You'll be fine with the 66 SL. It's a-c is 555mm (in 7 inch mode), only 15mm more than the a-c of the 2005 Z1 (6 inch travel). It's not so much the travel you have to watch, but the a-c which puts stress on the head tube.
You'll be fine with the 66 SL. It's a-c is 555mm (in 7 inch mode), only 15mm more than the a-c of the 2005 Z1 (6 inch travel). It's not so much the travel you have to watch, but the a-c which puts stress on the head tube.
I posted a similar thead in the Santa Cruz forum. Here's the link to it http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=207149
that is pretty sick, how does the heckler do with that set up on the gnarly stuff? just wondering
SuperKat7 said:I do...
Here's a pic. It's awesome.
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