Another MTBike build coming Santa Cruz full suss

[reanimation]

I got this beast earlier this year.


SC Bullit 2003? not sure of year. Or whether they are powdercoated or painted.

I need to do summat with the paint. What do people suggest?

• Rock as is scuffs, dullness, and bang and clangs? only my lazy side fancies that.
  
• Get someone local to powdercoat (Black to be predictable)? Who?
  
• Cough up and get Argos cycles to do it professionally?
  
• Borrow a compressor, buy a spraygun paint and paint meself (as a learner)?
  
• Get Notromors on it and get down to Alloy, to either half assed polish up, or cover in clear laquer?
  
• other?
  

While am at it it may be worth getting bearings renewed? my first full susser so new all this Mod con stuff ;D

Heres a mock up WIP before my mate robbed the cranks back on loan!!


Picked up a few bits for it now, not far off parts wise...

[Tim]

They were painted OR powdercoated - not sure which yours is - looks like paint though.

Possibly before 2003 (maybe 2001), as its the older swingarm design, although i've lost track of the changes to the design so i might be way out.

I'd leave the paint as is - bullits are hard as nails and it doesnt look too bad - spend the money on new bearings/bushes and a shock service from TFTuned- the Vanilla RC is still one of the best shocks around.

I had a Heckler of the same 'model', and it was an awesome bike - but was always a bit too big for me so it got sold on few years ago...

Cheers!

Tim

[reanimation]

Cheers Tim,

I do know that every time my bright white Dr Jekyll goes near kids they swarm which is cool but not when its the local scratbags! ;D I'm not inspired to go pimp on the paint job so perhaps polishing as is could be an option... works on cars doesn't it.
I think the shock is newer than the bike so may be ok and good to know it still cuts it with teh kids in teh modern world. . My mate had it set up on Monster T's and 24" wheels with FAT tyres, I knew it was a good bike but that set up was not for me felt well wierd. I'm yet to warm to FSers so building this a bit more familiar so I can see if it does work for me if not sell. Wheres best place to buy bushes and bearings from?

I'm 6ft 2 so size should be good for me, my mate downsized to a 'small' which IMO is too small but he likes the chuckability.

As said i got a few wombled bits for it, mostly known quality affordable bits saving wight if poss but failing! got this stem last week at 425g it could be a tad overkill, looks cool though!

[deathgaytothemax]

please don't do it bare alloy.they look so horrid.

[reanimation]

semi sold on working with the current paint job/patina, shining up somehow to make the best of it now

[tommymanta]

for bushes and bearings try stif, they're the biggest SC dealers i can think of;
www.stif.co.uk/index.asp

definitley don't bother building it up without doing the bushes and bearings. people never seem to bother changing them but it'll make a huge difference. maybe even the difference betweem you loving full sus or going back to a hardtail. so would a shock service if it's never been done.

as for the colour, i wouldn't try and bare metal it yourself. been there and failed. depends what condition of finished product you want, a home spray job will look like one but if you cough up argos money it'll come back looking like a brand new bike.

apart from that though it looks mint! nice forks. go out and enjoy, fs is so much faster then ht.

[reanimation]

Nice one Tommy, Thanks for that, a lot of useful stuff to think about there, and Stif are not too far away really

I still wanna keep a HT, and after yesterdays test ride I think I'll trade the Dr Jekyll for a Commencal Absolut 4x, awesome. wasn't even really looking for owt like that, So bruiser all mountain full susser for the hills, and light do it all HT funster for flat home.

[Tim]

aye it be worth doing the bearings, bushes (and possibly shock) anyway i reckon, makes a world of difference as said up there ^^^

build it lightish and it will be a fantastic trail weapon

i'm a hardtailer these days after breaking my mount vision, but have always fancied a bullit (small)

[surprisingskoda]

i stripped my powdercoated kenesis/coyote which was yellow, and gave it a camouflage paintjob. i did it in my shed and it looks like it rolled out the factory like that.

definitely i would paint it. it needs stripped for bushings anyway so why not. plus it looks gash in black imo

[Tim]

Aug 27, 2008 20:54:00 GMT surprisingskoda said:

definitely I would paint it. it needs stripped for bushings anyway so why not. plus it looks gash in black imo

BURN THE HERETIC ;D

[Geforce Junky]

Awesome frames. I've dropped 25ft drops on a 2003 bullit and it hadled them well. Use ebay to get bearings, just search the bearing number (R8-2RS or something if I remember rightly). Not sure about bushings, they should be easy to find as its a fox shock, but buy a few ... Bullits are rubbish in that department ... mine would last a week or so before they had play in again ... they rear end on them flexes so much they wear the bushings in no time. I ran 2005 170mm 66's on mine which were mint, but quite slack. Depends what you want it for. I ran a TF tuned 5th element shock with a Ti spring which felt amazing. My frame happens to be for sale now as I want something with a bit more travel, only problem is its got a slightly ovalised headtube, £200 if anybody wants it with a steel spring, or £260 with a Ti spring.

[reanimation]

Sheeeesh, i Certanly wont be doing any 25ft drops not yet anyway seen too many gone wrong you tube clips of people jumping off cliffs and tops of houses! They really do soak stuff up though, so the terrain gets bigger scaled.

How much travel you looking for then? I thought this would be plenty for most stuff. If ya doing crayzee drops though every inch counts I guess.

---

My mate reckoned that the shock was only about a few years old, so might send it off might not. Also had a look at the paint this weekend, grottier than it looks so maybe I'll see about painting or coating we'll see.

[Geforce Junky]

Its amazing how well my Bullet has lasted considering some of the stuff I have done on it, considering it is hardly a dh bike. I wouldn't mind a new bullit, with a bolt through axle to try and make the rear end less flexy which is the main problem I had with mine, but the main reason I've had my Bullit so long is its been my only bike, so I have been riding xc on it aswell. Now I have a xc bike (Cove Stiffee) I don't need such a light dh bike so now I can by something good, like a 2009 Commencal Cupreme DH hopefully ... only 8 inches of travel but nice and stiff and designed for dh!

This was a drop I did the other day ... landed about 10ft down the landing lol ... Bullit handled it fine!



P.S. Love the orange Z1's :-) Maybe for the colour you should get the frame painted in matching orange. If you have a newish copy of mbuk/mbr there is a orange SC Hecker with orange z1's in the 'Mace' advert (guy I knows bike) and it looks mint.

[devilishdesigner]

painting bike frames is easy. with all that black in the components go a super loud green or orange

[reanimation]

Thanks Geforce Junky, you certainly got the skills. I'm really wanting to keep one modern HT in the family like a stiffee or 4x mobile again just cos its what I know and seem to like, but as I get more confident at modest drops, and descents I'll probs grow to love the full suss squish.

Glad you like the forks, I didn't like my mates set up with Long travel (190?) DC Shivas/ Monster T's and tittle wheels-fat tyres, mega lay back-squish so aimed to build a lighter free ride bike that can get about as well. realised the 150 fork travel would be controversial but got a good deal on em and thought it added some nice retroness to the whole package, mass use of Alloy steerer tubes is a bit crazy though, sure they know what they are doing like ;D
Matching orange was one of my early ideas, didn't know if it would look good or too much. :-)

devilish, I've painted a few frames with aerosols over the years, they have looked ok but never factory or owt. don't mind having a play at all but then with this weather maybe i should contact a pro with a proper booth.

[Geforce Junky]

When I first got my Bullit it has Shiver SC's for a year, which where 120mm. With them it still handled ok, was just a little bit too low at the front end, 150mm's should be perfect really. Monster T's on a Bullit is kinda missing the point of the Bullit frame lol! I bet it was a bit front end heavy!

[reanimation]

Yeah thats how it was when he bought it with the T's and he got some really neat DC shivas cheap, look sexy can't argue with that bit! now he's got em on a short/small Bullet frame, mega travel BMX or summat!

Thanks again, i'll keep ya posted with the build...

[Geforce Junky]

Talking of Shiver DC's on Bullits ... I did have them briefly on mine when I was out in Switzerland last summer as my 66's went pop ... they were infact 5mm shorter than my 66's lol! Kept on running out of steering lock though The were good at rock gardens, as they flex so much they pick their own line through the rocks! ... didn't stop me jumping off the odd roof though :

[gofasterpinch]

i have the use of a booth (both at home and at uni) so if you want it painting i can sort you out (as i work in a bodyshop in the holidays and have a full workshop pass at uni)