Mountain Biking - Time for an Upgrade - stock Rockhopper

I've been looking around the site and decided to join. So here's the deal, I've had my Specialized Rockhopper Pro for a couple of years now and I think it is time to upgrade a few things on it. The specs, everything stock, are Deore shifters and front derailleur, rear derailleur is Deore LX, Shimano disk brakes(front and rear) with Shimano V-brake levers, Truvative FiveD crank, unknown bottom bracket, Manitou Axel Elite front suspension and Mavic MX 117 disk wheels front and rear. Any ideas on what would be a good thing to upgrade and a suggestion to what, I plan on more biking and more challening cross country terrain. Thanks!

The fork.

I would upgrade the fork and brakes.

Marzocchi MX Comp ETA with BB7s should be under 350-400$ and a pretty good combo, or you could step up and get Juicy 5s with new levers which should bring the total price to 500-600$ roughly.

Brakes and fork.

I've been looking around the site and decided to join. So here's the deal, I've had my Specialized Rockhopper Pro for a couple of years now and I think it is time to upgrade a few things on it. The specs, everything stock, are Deore shifters and front derailleur, rear derailleur is Deore LX, Shimano disk brakes(front and rear) with Shimano V-brake levers, Truvative FiveD crank, unknown bottom bracket, Manitou Axel Elite front suspension and Mavic MX 117 disk wheels front and rear. Any ideas on what would be a good thing to upgrade and a suggestion to what, I plan on more biking and more challening cross country terrain. Thanks!

You might want to explain more specifically how you intend to ride. It makes a large difference in what is recommended. If you are wanting aggressive XC then the advice you have received is spot-on.

My personal philosophy is to not upgrade anything I don't find myself complaining about. Don't upgrade just to upgrade. Only do it if you feel something truely needs replacing.

Wheels, a nice set of King's would do.

My personal philosophy is to not upgrade anything I don't find myself complaining about. Don't upgrade just to upgrade. Only do it if you feel something truely needs replacing.


Or if your personal philosophy is that cycling is a hobby, and you like to try different things, than by all means upgrade. It doesn't always have to "make sense."

I've been looking around the site and decided to join. So here's the deal, I've had my Specialized Rockhopper Pro for a couple of years now and I think it is time to upgrade a few things on it.

Why do you want to upgrade? Are some of the components giving you issues or you just want to change.

I've changed most of the parts on my 04 Rockhopper Comp and the ones that resulted in the biggest difference were:


Fork - the Axel Elite was heavy and didn't perform very well, went to a lighter air fork and got much better perfomance. I went to a Marzocchi Marathon SL...I also went from 100mm to 80mm of travel to gain slightly more aggressive geometry angles.
wheelset and tires - went to a lightweight wheelset and tires and the bike was noticeably faster and lighter. A strong lightweight wheelset, something like the American Classic Disc 350 MTB wheel or something from here (http://www.oddsandendos.com). For tires, you'll have to find a good folding tire that works well in your area.
crankset - the Truvativ 5D is heavy and very flexy. I went to a RaceFace Deus crankset.
saddle - the stock saddle was extremely heavy and okay for comfort...the new lightweight saddle is 100x more comfortable. I swapped it out for a Selle Italia SLR but with saddles, what works for one person may not work for the next.


I've changed other parts but you probably won't notice any significant changes on their own unless you use the to change your positioning (i.e., stem, bars). Your shifters and derailleurs are fine, you won't get a significant difference by upgrading. I'd keep them until they wear out/break. I only upgraded mine because I was building a backup bike and it was a good excuse to put better parts on the Rockhopper.

most likely you will notice an improvement in shifting with a new set of shifter and new cables. if you have mech. brakes then i would replace the cables on those too(if you arent going with new ones) a marz mx is a pretty nice xc-ish fork. if you havent replaces your tires yet, do so. new tires will really make your bike feel better.