Mountain Biking - New Member

Hi all. My name is Chris and after riding the roads for the last few years I needed a change and bought a mountain bike. Hopefully with a little help from everyone here it will be a good experience. I bought an 09 Specialized Hardrock Disc. What is everyone's opinion on this bike. Bought it two days ago and fixing to order xt front and rear and replace fork. Thinking about the dart 3.

Hi Chris dude.

The deraillers just push the chain left and right.

The fork keeps your face out of the dirt.

Save the derailler funds and get a Tora with motion control.

Can anyone get behind me on this?

Here, Chrisser I went out and got this for you:

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/jacobhohn/0627092023.jpg

It's MY xt derailler. Maybe it's 15 years old. I don't know. I got it out of a junk pile. It works fine and it's hard to think about a less important part of my bike. I worry about my tube choice more than I do my rear mech. And the front (when I run one) even less so.

One day your derailler will break or maybe you won't have something more important to spend money on and you can buy a snarky one. But right now I'd put the money towards a good fork.

And good platforms ;)

I agree with TC, get a better fork be it a Tora or what ever before you spend money on a RD.

Dude I had a complete no-footer loss of pedals early in the ride today. Came down right on the ol gooch. I blame the heat getting to me. It happened over some fast chop. Replaced my tootsies without touching the brakes and kept hauling ass. After that I thought about you guys!

Dude I had a complete no-footer loss of pedals early in the ride today. Came down right on the ol gooch. I blame the heat getting to me. It happened over some fast chop. Replaced my tootsies without touching the brakes and kept hauling ass. After that I thought about you guys!

This belongs in daily ride reports.:lol:




gpss: (what's that stand for anyhoo...a cross between gps and epss?)

+1 on the info posted. The Rockshox Dart is no better than your Suntour. Save the money for a rockshox Tora with "Motion Control" damping. (there are different configurations of Tora) You can get one on eBay for around $150-$200. The derailleurs on your bike will serve you well for a while.

It seems that some new people rate the level of their bike by the level of rear dearailleur that they have. It's like the first thing they do is get an XT or X.9 RD.


With the road riding you're accustomed to...your shifting performance probably would be fairly crucial, but on a mountain bike...there are probably "more important" components to emphasize. For now, I'd say just ride the heck out of it and enjoy. If you don't like the fork's performance...think about the Tora. If it really doesn't bother you right now...don't worry about it.

Gpss stands for "grand prix single speed" because that was my first single speed. A little more about my road riding it's all been either single speed or fixed. Thanks for the advice on the fork. After a few adjustments last night the rd is shifting much better but the chain is rubbing the front when I'm in the middle chainring and the two outside cogs. Other than that I'm good. Thanks,Chris

That'll happen a smidge. With your "roadie legs" you should consider going 1x9 and getting rid of that goofy contraption otherwise labeled "front derailleur". :lol:

Though I got mine to work eventually w/o rubbing...I hate 'em.