Mountain Biking - Time to upgrade the 06 Rockhopper Comp

Have ridden my 2006 Rockhopper Comp Disc bone stock and its starting to show.

I either need to change out the coil in my forks or move to an airshock fork since I have gained nearly 40 pounds since I bought this thing and am now at 320.

So, can I get a set of springs stiff enough for my weight or would I be better off buying something like the SID so I can just pressure it up?

Also planning on upgrading to the BB7 Disc setup as well as possibly changing to SRAM X9 derailer and shifters. If I do the SRAM upgrade, should I also swap out the cassette and crankset?

Already have a thread in the Clyde forum for wheels, but I'll ask that here as well: can someone suggest a good wheelset that can hold up to the pounding I can hand out just by riding on the sidewalk :eek:?

Sorry for all the questions, never been much into modding bikes until I realized just how beat up my bike was getting :twitchy:

I don't know what OE fork you have on your bike but what's wrong with it? Not enough travel? bottoming out the suspension? You can't adjust the fork to accommodate your weight?

The SID is RockShoxs fork geared towards racers, not clydes looking to just ride on the sidewalk. Buy the right tool for the job - Lyric, Reba, or Revelation.

BB7 - run full housing. Drivetrain upgrade - I don't know how many miles you've put in since you got the bike. Are the chainrings and cassette teeth worn? chain stretched? Since you've got an '06, I'm gonna assume yes so new cassette, chain, maybe chainrings/crankset with the shifters/derailleur to get the performance you're looking for.

I don't know what OE fork you have on your bike but what's wrong with it? Not enough travel? bottoming out the suspension? You can't adjust the fork to accommodate your weight?It is a Tora, and according to Bikepedia it is the Tora 318 100mm. Main reason that I'm looking to upgrade is it is just getting plain worn out as well as bottoming it pretty regular, which I attribute to it not having stiff enough coils to handle my weight.


The SID is RockShoxs fork geared towards racers, not clydes looking to just ride on the sidewalk. Buy the right tool for the job - Lyric, Reba, or Revelation. Thank you for that info, I couldn't really find anything on the RockShox website to really tell any difference between their models other then their "suggested uses" area. Not really looking to "just" ride on the sidewalk. Sure that will be part of its use since this is currently my only bike, but I also only live 30 minutes away from Park City, Snowbird, Solitude, etc so mountain trails are definitely on the plate too once the high country finally opens up. Hell, there's still 170 inches of base on some of those areas.


BB7 - run full housing. Drivetrain upgrade - I don't know how many miles you've put in since you got the bike. Are the chainrings and cassette teeth worn? chain stretched? Since you've got an '06, I'm gonna assume yes so new cassette, chain, maybe chainrings/crankset with the shifters/derailleur to get the performance you're looking for.
The teeth aren't worn to the point yet that they are scary, but they are worn. The chain was just replaced due to wear and rust showing up. Will put that on the list of to do eventually but not immediately.

IMO it's a mistake to throw money at a worn out old bike, you'll end up spending the price of a new bike on it and it's still gona be a beat-up 2006 bike. Things have improved a lot since 2006, either buy a nice new one or a lightly used one if budget is a concern. Air suspension is great, you set it for your weight and off you go.

A new bike is in the works, but not until I've lost weight. Using that as the carrot. Have been eyeballing the Siren John Henry.

Talking to one of the guys at the LBS, think I've settled on a Reba if I do upgrade the fork.

I don't want to sound like a cockbag at all, but why not just lose the weight you gained? I found that after spending hundreds (maybe thousands) making my bike lighter, I got a lot faster and better at riding only after I lost my extra weight.

No offense taken. I am in no way trying to drop weight off of the bike because I fully know that the best way to make the whole unit (myself and bike lighter) is to lose weight myself. I am simply trying to make an older bike beefy enough for me to bomb on while losing the weight without feeling like I'm going to kill someone due to the lack of stopping ability or myself due to the lack of a suitable front fork.