General Cycling Discussion - 1980ish Specialized Rockhopper

Hi, I had been looking for a hybrid bike for around $600 when my dad found his old Specialized Rockhopper mountain bike. Its still in good condition, and I like riding it. How does it compare to new hybrid bikes? Can I switch to narrower tires without getting new rims?

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http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=543034

That's about as good as it gets.

For just general bashing around town I think that an old hard tail mountain bike is pretty hard to beat. If it's too old to have a suspension fork, all the better. If it was my bike I'd stick on some 1 1/2" slick tires.

I have a 1996 rockhopper and a 2009 Giant Cypress DX. They weigh the same and are about the same size but I can ride about 5mph faster on the cypress and go twice as far without feeling as tired. The gearing and tires on the rockhopper do make a difference. I was going to swap tires and maybe gears on my rockhopper and get a new seat but then I'm putting $200-$300 into a bike thats worth $100-$200 and caught the cypress on sale new for under $400 so in the long run I probably came out spending less to just buy the new hybrid.
I kept the rockhopper for a commuter then since it was scratched up already I don't worry about it getting knocked around on the bike rack at work and a couple guys at work bought mountain bikes so we may try a trail sometime.

Awesome. How much do decent 1 1/2" in tires cost? How can I find out the year and gearing?

Awesome. How much do decent 1 1/2" in tires cost? How can I find out the year and gearing?

Look here for tires. (http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/SubCategory_10053_10052_200518_-1_200276_200327) Compared to 700c road bike tires, 26in. tires seem like a huge bargain.

Old Rock Hoppers are great, great bikes. I found a late 80s RH at a yardsale for $40 for the purpose of pulling my kids' trailer. I gave the trailer and the RH to my cousin's husband for their little girl. Somedays I wish I'd kept the bike....

Great, great, do it all bike. I've pulled the kids, used it for grocery shopping, commuting, riding trails in Tahoe, you name it.

That's an excellent bike; I wish I still had mine...

As others have said, the best change you can make is to replace the knobbies with slicks. It makes a huge difference.

I rode that bike when I was car free (including a year I lived in Germany), and it was just excellent. It worked for regular biking; it worked for shopping; it worked for touring. It just worked...

It was easy to accessorize, too - I added slicks, a new seat, a rear rack, fenders, a bottle generator, and lights to mine.