Words & Photos | Tony Hutcheson
Six months before my daughter Olive was born I had her bikes planned right through to 26” wheels. Beyond that would be hand me downs for sure.
Up to 20” wheels was easy enough to develop a firm plan. I knew what I wanted to do for 24”, I just didn’t know where I would find the frame I was looking for. Eight years is not nearly enough to plan for such an important project.
The idea of 24 inching an extra small Santa Cruz is nothing new. It’s a standard retrofit, like a 5 speed Celica gearbox in your ’64 EH Holden. Overly zealous dads have been doing it for years, which was the problem. Finding an extra small OG Santa Cruz frame proved too difficult for me. I heard rumours of their existence but an actual sighting was never confirmed.
Olive on her rebuilt Santa Cruz Juliana Superlight
The new ‘Juliana Maverick’ with the original ‘Juliana Superlight’
Mike and Sandra (purveyors of fine bicycles and any coffee you like as long as its black) have been high on my crisbo card list since the early-mid ‘90s, or thereabouts. Visits to their various abodes have been semi-regular as time and geography allow. Somewhere in the dark ages of the early 2000’s we were all on sabbatical from the land of Auck sampling the outstanding trails of the Nelson/Marlborough region which included a snowy Wakamarina, an experience I have not been able to replicate in the last 16 years.
Mike & Sandra riding a ‘snowy Wakamarina’
Crikey my bikey. It must have been a cold day with these fashion choices.
On that trip south Sandra was riding her apple green Santa Cruz Juliana. Yep, for all those groms out there, once upon a time Juliana was a model name, not a brand name. It was effectively a Santa Cruz Superlight but a bit smaller. I believe it’s referred to as the Superlight Juliana these days, but my gin and tonic hazed mind seems to recall that back in the day it was simply Juliana.
Anyway, that trip south inspired Mike and Sandra to move to Nelson, which suited me just fine as Nelson/Marlborough riding is among the best in the world so the more friends that lived there the better.
Years went by and during my numerous sofa occupations, the ride that inspired the move south and the bike that carried her was oft regaled with Sandra as the frame remained “on display” in the “office” of Hyperformance Hardware. It had never occurred to me to ask if the frame was for sale due to its historical significance for Sandra and that it was a small, not an extra small.
Then it happened, the 2019 perfect storm of coincidence. I was in Nelson, Mike and Sandra needed to clear out the “office” for renovations, Olive decided to grow and I realised that in the early 2000’s a small SC Juliana was about the same size as an extra small Santa Cruz (these days Juliana and Santa Cruz share the same size & geo).
Sandra was understandably reluctant to part with the frame on a permanent basis but a long term “loan” was negotiated on Olive’s behalf and the task of restoring the bike to its former glory was bestowed upon me.
If you like a good yarn but have no interest in MTB geekiness then you’d best stop reading now.
My two key challenges for the build would be suspension and crankset.
Suspension
The frame had been hanging in direct Nelson sun for more than a decade so when the shock was inspected the seals were literally crumbling in the hand. Enter the good fellows at Goat Cycles. Dave tackled the restoration and custom tuning of the shock and I was comfortable enough retuning an old 26” Rock Shox Recon.
Crankset
Still at Goat Cycles, while Dave revived the shock, Sam took on the challenge of cutting down and re tapping a crankset to my 155mm specifications.
Seatpost
A 27.2 dropper post was found in a pile of old stuff at Goat Cycles and traded for a few beers and a cubic metre of tacos. An old XT front shifter was butchered to become a seat post lever allowing easy, lengthy throw for little hands.
A slightly smaller than normal Fabric saddle was located in a friend’s garage and duly acquired.
Wheels
Olive wanted blue wheels. Fortunately Spank have a 24” blue wheel set that comes with adaptors that will take the hubs all the way from old school QR through to Boost. From 24”, the plan would be to move to 26/24 mullet and eventually on to 26/26 using the same hubs.
Blue Spank handle bars were acquired to match the wheels at Olive’s request.
Drive Train
No messing around with front derailleurs. That is so passé. I had some old 11 speed bits in garage and Olive was gifted a new XX1 derailleur from one of her favourite non-blood uncles.
Brakes
I spent a good few hours in the shed restoring a set of Guide brakes but threw in some new rotors. The reach has been adjusted for wee hands. I reckon Sram brakes are better for kids, more modulation, less grabby.
Tyres
I went with Maxxis 24x2.0 Sniper. I’m not a fan of fat tyres on kids bikes.
Pedals
I went with Hope Kids F12 pedals. Partly because they had a really nice red, partly because they actually made a pedal for kids and partly because they’ll last for ever. Far from the cheapest option, my one true extravagance for the bike.
As a final nod to its ancestors, we fitted Juliana grips. A bit narrower than the Santa Cruz grips and they had the colour that Olive wanted.
And there it is. One kids bike.
---
If you are thinking about resurrecting or handing down a Santa Cruz or Juliana bicycle in your family, Santa Cruz Bicycles has a handy archive with sizing & geometry charts as well as exploded diagrams of all the parts. Almost all parts for almost all models are held in stock in NZ by Hyperformance Hardware. If it is not on their website, drop them an email for a deep dive into the parts department.