Classic & Vintage - 1986 RockHopper

The frame says Specialized Touring Double Butted Steel. I am assumimg Tange anybody venture otherwise. Also it takes a 26.4 seatpost - does this us a clue. I am intending to cold set the rear from 126 to 135 anybody any problems with this. Older mountain bikes angles seem perfect to make this a touring bike. I am assuming this qualifies as vintage? First year they were made?

The frame says Specialized Touring Double Butted Steel. I am assumimg Tange anybody venture otherwise. Also it takes a 26.4 seatpost - does this us a clue. I am intending to cold set the rear from 126 to 135 anybody any problems with this. Older mountain bikes angles seem perfect to make this a touring bike. I am assuming this qualifies as vintage? First year they were made?

I certainly thought of mine as vintage. If the frame on mine was larger, I might have considered it as a worthy candidate for a drop-bar, skinny-tire set-up. I just sold mine, but here are some pics:

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u92/epicurean_rider/Rockhopper1.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u92/epicurean_rider/Rockhopper3.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u92/epicurean_rider/Rockhopper4.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u92/epicurean_rider/Rockhopper5.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u92/epicurean_rider/Rockhopper7.jpg

The frame says Specialized Touring Double Butted Steel. I am assumimg Tange anybody venture otherwise. Also it takes a 26.4 seatpost - does this us a clue. I am intending to cold set the rear from 126 to 135 anybody any problems with this. Older mountain bikes angles seem perfect to make this a touring bike. I am assuming this qualifies as vintage? First year they were made?

Congratulations on the bike. Is it a complete bike or frame only? 1986 probably means u-brake on the chainstays. Spreading the stays on a u-brake equipped bike would result in a major screw up. Think about what will happen to the brake. Not a good idea IMO.

If the bike is cantilever, then try using a road hub spaced at 130mm for the rear wheel. Good luck

Tim

Tim,

As you can see from pictures posted above, the 1986 is prior to the U-brake, so it's canti's only. It's a frame only. I built up a lugged 1986 NOS Koga Miyata Valley Runner last year into a touring bike, but my wife took it for her commuter. I like steel like you do - I see you are a Waterford fan as well. My main steeds are a RS 22 and a Waterford 1900. I'll keep you posted on the build.

I have never ridden mine long distance, but I could see it as a touring bike I guess. This one is as comfortable as any road bike I have. I threw some cheapo tires on it just to see if the drop bar thing would work. It really does!! The tires are scary while turning on pavement. They make that odd "squeaky" sound that makes you think they will lose grip at any moment. Once I change the tires, it should be perfect. If your frame is large enough you should have no problems. If it's too small, a riser stem may take care of it to a point.

I LOVE this bike! It's a Hard Rock of course, but close to the Hopper in frame style, etc.

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n267/Kustombyker/HardRoad2.jpg

here's what i did to mine

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1364/1020873417_6616c24432.jpg

The frame says Specialized Touring Double Butted Steel. I am assuming Tange anybody venture otherwise. Also it takes a 26.4 seatpost - does this us a clue. ...

What is the outer diameter of your seat tube? It is presumably at least road-standard 28.6mm. My normal calibration for road frames goes something like this:

Seat tube O.D. = 28.6mm, I.D. = 27.0 or 27.2mm: butted moly steel
Seat tube O.D. = 28.6mm, I.D. = 26.2 or 26.4mm: straight gauge moly steel

For French road bikes, reduce all dimensions given by 0.6mm.

I hope someone else can chime in on the question of whether mountain bike frames of the 1980s tended to be built with heavier-gauge steel than their road counterparts.

John,

I hope someone chimes in, because that is exactually my question. The bike is built double butted Specialized Touring steel. 1986 was the first year the Hopper was made and the 4th fourth the Stump Jumper I think. The Stumpjumer at the time had lugs. Both bikes had XT components and similar otherwise - and I think both had the label Specialized Touring Steel - thats why I think Tange?

Mike

I certainly thought of mine as vintage. If the frame on mine was larger, I might have considered it as a worthy candidate for a drop-bar, skinny-tire set-up. I just sold mine, but here are some pics:

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u92/epicurean_rider/Rockhopper1.jpg


That is a really nice bike.

Tim

Tim,

As you can see from pictures posted above, the 1986 is prior to the U-brake, so it's canti's only. It's a frame only. I built up a lugged 1986 NOS Koga Miyata Valley Runner last year into a touring bike, but my wife took it for her commuter. I like steel like you do - I see you are a Waterford fan as well. My main steeds are a RS 22 and a Waterford 1900. I'll keep you posted on the build.

It's been a while since this post was active. Just picked up a nice Rockhopper. http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=460144

http://members.aol.com/cs1sales/myhomepage/ebay/Rock4.jpg

I hope someone else can chime in on the question of whether mountain bike frames of the 1980s tended to be built with heavier-gauge steel than their road counterparts.

Oh yes, most definitely. Most of the early ATBs (from the mid-1980s) tended to use plain gauge CrMo. It was similar to the situation in Grand Touring models where common sense (sic) told the designers they needed plain gauge tubing for the extra strength. Then somebody tried some of the heavier gauge butted tubesets and found that the frames weren't bending and breaking.

By the end of the 1980s, manufacturers were offering tubesets designed specifically for ATBS. During the U-brake era there was Ishiwata MTB-D and Tange MTB. In general, these sets used tubes that were 0.1-0.2mm thicker than the heavy gauge roadsets. For instance MTD-D used a 1.2/0.9/1.2 downtube versus the 1.0/0.7/1.0 found on Ishiwata's 024 tubeset. Tange MTB was avaible in two gauges, the lighter version being roughly equal to Tange #2 but using heavier stays and fork blades.

As for the Rocknopper, early models did use Tange tubing but since the tubing label bears Specialized's name it may have been custom drawn and therefore may not correspond to any specific Tange tubeset.

I got all excited when I saw this thread, since my "main ride" is an 86 RockHopper, aka "Ol Red".

Seat tube sticker says CR MO Double Butted Tubing.