Mountain Biking - FINALLY GOt A New Bike (First)

Finally got myself a new bike and it's a blast, I have ridden it on some mild trails and I can't wait to get out on the better trails. Fits so well and I love it.

2006 Specialized Hardrock Pro Disc


FRAME Specialized A1 Premium Aluminum, disc only, tig welded, double-butted ORE DT, externally machined head tube, forged disc D/O, w/06 replaceable derailleur hanger

REAR SHOCK None

FORK Marzocchi MZ-3, 100mm, 30mm stanchions, coil/MCU w/ preload adjust

HEADSET 1-1/8" threadless, sealed ball retainer

STEM Specialized Mobius, alloy, 10 degree rise

HANDLEBARS Alloy, 38mm rise, 6 degree upsweep, 8 degree sweep, 640mm width

GRIPS Specialized Enduro, Kraton dual compound

FRONT BRAKE Avid BB5, mechanical disc with 6" Roundagon rotor

REAR BRAKE Avid BB5, mechanical disc with 6" Roundagon rotor

BRAKE LEVERS Avid FR-5

FRONT DERAILLEUR SRAM X-GEN, 34.9mm top clamp, bottom pull

REAR DERAILLEUR SRAM X-7, short cage

SHIFT LEVERS SRAM X-7, triggers, 9-speed

CASSETTE SRAM PG-950, 9-speed 11-34t

CRANKSET Truvativ Blaze PS 6066-T6 w/ 24/36t/poly bash

CHAINRINGS 36t heat treated Cr-Mo x 24t heat treated Cr-Mo w/poly bash guard

BOTTOM BRACKET Truvativ, 68x113mm, Power Spline, sealed cartridge bearing with double crank stops

PEDALS Specialized alloy platform with 9/16" Cr-Mo spindle

RIMS SUN Singletrack disc, double wall, 36h, eyelets

CHAIN SRAM PC-951 w/ power link

FRONT HUB Joy-Tech, disc, 36h, ground race double sealed loose ball w/ alloy QR

REAR HUB Joy-Tech, disc cassette, 36h, ground race double sealed loose ball w/ alloy QR

SPOKES 2.0mm stainless steel, brass nipples

FRONT TIRE Specialized Enduro Sport, 26"x2.2", wire bead

REAR TIRE Specialized Enduro Sport, 26"x2.2", wire bead

TUBES Specialized 26x2.2", schraeder valve

SADDLE Specialized Body Geometry Sport MTB

SEAT POST Alloy 30.9mmx300/350mm, micro adjust

SEAT BINDER Alloy collar with Q/R

Will get pics up when I get home from camping!

What do you guys think? -I think it's perfect for what I will be doing :trail riding (singletrack, fire roads)

Congrats. I love mine, and I am willing to bet you will too. And yes it is perfect for what you are wanting it to do.

Yeah, you'll grow sick of that fork but otherwise thats an excellent bike with a great component package (gotta love SRAM), great brakes, about as low as you should go for disc brakes since they are the only competent ones (I have them and they are AWESOME), you will enjoy this bike very much.

Photo?

I will have photos up as soon as I get home from camping, this is my work computer, and my camera is not with me.

Couple Questions:
-I am not to fond of the 5+ spacers underneath the stem, how can that be fixed?
-I would like to upgrade the bars to thicker ones
-Pedals seem ok for now, but would like to upgrade them as well.
-is the x-gen front derailler fine?
-im trying to make my hardrock very durable with NICE components, and the bike left me with some leftover cash, and i LOVE the hardrock line, so I had to get the top of the line one! :)

I would suggest you get some pedals with traction pins like Crank Brothers 50/50s (I recommend the extra dough for the XX version) or Azonic Fusion pedals (I have them and for the price, they are A-MAZING).

You can remove the spacers, ask your LBS to do it if you don't feel like doing it yourself, why do you want thicker bars? Just get some really thick grips like ODI's Ruffian grips, the X-Gen derailleur is fine, its not like there is much front chainrings shifting going on anyways, I would only replace it when its damaged OR when you become a weight weenie and are dying to lose 100 grams.

The best upgrade you can do to that bike is fork, I wouldn't change anything else, in fact I wouldn't even change the fork, just ride the damn bike until things start breaking or you feel the need for a higher performing component.

+

Thanks Chone, yeah I figure I will just ride the piss out of it and then when something breaks I will just replace it with a higher end component.

awesome i have an 06 hardrock pro as well... gettin some new stuff as well
new rims(since I destroyed the rear one) and shifters (I broke the shift up lever for the rear derailleur) and new grips. but anyways nice buy and congrats on your new purchase!

yeah, the only unanswered question on your list:

the x-gen rear derailleur is used with x-7's, x-9's and x-0's: SRAM has just that one "higher end" front derailleur (last time I checked), so you really don't need to upgrade it, because that's SRAM's best FD. Some people convert back to shimano for FD though, like say deore xt FD's. I personally don't know why... actually this would be my next question...

FF.6800, did you not destroy your rear single track? And how did you do it? Those are pretty strong wheels, I don't understand how you could have destroyed it so fast.

I just got a Hardrock Pro a few days ago too. I'm liking it.

I have a Hardrock Sport and really like it alot. I'm curious as to why you stuck with a hardrock when getting up into the 700- 800 range instead of going with a Rockhopper Comp for instance? Was it basically a better bang for the buck component-wise with the Hardrock vs. the Rockhopper or is there something about the Hardrock frame for instance you liked over the rockhopper? I suppose I could find people who do prefer the Rockhopper over the Hardrock but I'm just interested in what was the reasoning in sticking with the Hardrock..

YAYYY!!! i love your new bike, it only took us what? going to 15 stores and u a month or research :) haha i cant wait to go riding finally.