oldsrocket1965

bradtx

The FD and RD will work with a 9S. Very likely the crank set will also. You'll need to replace the shifters, chain, cassette, and possibly the derailleur cables and housing.

Brad

Darth Lefty 

@oldsrocket1965 I'm sorry that your photo links aren't working, they look like they go to your email. You can put your photos on a hosting site like photobucket or flickr OR make them small enough to upload to bikeforums as attachments.

You can still get 8-speed trigger shifters, you just have to look twice.
Examples
Amazon.com : Shimano Acera SL-M310 Rapid Fire Shifter, left 3 Speed ; Right 8 Speed (3*8 Speed) : Sports & Outdoors
https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-SL-M36...n%3A3552332011
You can also get several levels of EZ-fire trigger shifter / brake lever sets for a little more.

Cassettes and chains are even easier to come by.

oldsrocket1965

oldsrocket1965

oldsrocket1965

oldsrocket1965

oldsrocket1965

Do the pictures help? Do the chainrings, cassette, jockeywheels look okay?

cyccommute 

The inner ring looks a bit shark toothy in this picture but that's normal for a lot of inner rings. This one could even be aluminum which wear faster on the inner ring. It's relatively easy to replace and relatively cheap. Get a stainless one in the same number of teeth. I'm not sure it needs to be replaced right now, however. If you are planning on a lot of off-roading, you will need to replace it sooner but even then it would depend on how much climbing you are planning on doing.

The other rings look fine and will probably serve you for several thousand miles yet.

Since you want to ditch the Gripshift, you can pick up a 7 speed Altus shifter set for around $20. You can get an Alivio 9 speed set for about $35. You probably don't need integrated lever/shifters since you have Grip Shift. The 9 speed system would require a new cassette and new chain which are going to add approximately $50 to $80 to the cost.

oldsrocket1965

It currently has an 8 speed. Would either of these work? Is one better than the other?

https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-Acera-...+shifter+acera


https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-SL-M36...+shifter+acera

cyccommute 

Oops. Sorry I thought it was a 7. Yes, either would work. I'm not sure if the M360 is a set, however. And functionally, there is no difference between the two. Go for the $20 shifter set.

Darth Lefty 

Clean that thing!

I agree with Stuart about the inner ring likely needing replacement. Once you replace the chain it's going to have "chain suck" where the new chain won't disengage from the ring, which leads to the drivetrain stopping hard as it folds up into the FD and your new chain getting bent links in the process.

FRANK CANNON

I'd say they flex but bend is probably a better word.

They'd mesh well with the rubber shifters being recommended here.

Seriously, if you are trying to build yourself a decent bike you need to stay away from these low end parts, buy some old XT 8 speed and you won't go wrong.

LesterOfPuppets

It would be nice to see this pic or the other crankset pic taken with the chain on the big ring.

Big ring is pretty much as new. Little ring is worn quite a bit. If it's a flat one (which I think it is), you can flip it over and get a lot more life out of it.

FRANK CANNON

All small rings are flat.
.
Takes a weak, weak rider to wear that out. Tell that fellow it's okay to stand up once in a while.

FRANK CANNON

But that crank is really soft, maybe that's why.

LesterOfPuppets

I've had a couple with a little offset. That one's definitely flat, tho.

cyccommute 

I spent many mountain bike hours on a Specialized crank like this one and never noticed it to be any more flexible or bendy than any other crank. The only problem I ever found with the crank is the chainring bolt that is located behind the crank arm but that's just inconvenient and not really a huge problem.

As for the shifters, they aren't "rubber shifters" nor would they make any difference in how the crank works or "meshes" with anything. The shifter move the derailers and that's all. They will work just fine although they won't be as light as a higher end but the higher end stuff isn't made anymore.

Sure oldsrocket1965 could go out and try to find some old XT 8 speed stuff but he's not likely going to find too many of those floating around nor will he find them for cheap. They are highly sought after and have a premium price.

Mountain bike rings take more abuse then road rings and mountain bike riders can't stand up as much as a road rider can. It takes much more effort and not a small amount of knowledge to balance your weight between the front and rear so that the rear doesn't lose traction and the front doesn't pop off the ground. Therefore, mountain bike riders end up pedaling in the low range more than road riders do. That's also the reason that inner rings on mountain bikes are more often steel than they are aluminum. The steel wears better.

FRANK CANNON

Nope.

You did not ride those cranks and find them acceptable. Stumpjumper crank looks the same but it's a different animal, maybe that is where we are getting confused.

And nobody rides a 22, man. Never. That ring might see 10 miles in a year and that is a stretch.

FRANK CANNON

I'm sorry Cycommute, is this thing going to be a mountain bike?

This was a commuter bike new, you'll kill yourself coming down hill on that. Look for something else if you want to have fun in the woods.

cyccommute 

We don't really know what oldsrocket1965 has in mind for this bike.

There you are completely wrong. The Rockhopper has always been solidly in the middle of Specialized's mountain bike line. Not a commuter bike but a "go into the woods, ride over roots and rocks, fly down hills at scary speeds" mountain bike. It's a better mountain bike then the Miyata Ridge Runner I had as my first mountain bike and, as a 1998 mountain bike, it even has better geometry than the 1992 Rockhopper I had and put nearly 10,000 hard miles on...about half of them with the stock rigid fork.

Yes, there may be better bikes for off-road but this one is fully capable of being ridden aggressively off-road for many, many miles.


I'll see your "Nope" and raise you one.

How do you know that I didn't ride those cranks? How do you know that I didn't find them acceptable? I've actually had more than one set of them and not found them to be at all wimpy. One of those was on a Stumpjumper. I know my parts. The Stumpy version was essentially the same as the Rockhopper version and neither was "weak".

Really? Nobody rides a 22? How much mountain biking have you done? I spend a lot of time on my local mountains in a 22. I spend about 10% of my time in a 20 or 22 tooth ring on my touring bikes, perhaps even more in those damnable hills of the eastern US. I recently did a 1500 mile trip around Lake Erie and easily spent 10%, or 150 miles, grunting out climbs in a 22 tooth chainring and a 32 tooth rear cog while wishing that I had left the other crank with the 20 tooth inner ring on the bike.

...And, just to address your upcoming comments, I'm not a weak rider. I'm a smart rider who knows how to use his gears and when.

LesterOfPuppets

Yep. I couldn't see racing with a 22 but it's nice to have on longer rides in the mountains and crucial when you're loaded up!

Unless you're running one of them newfangled cassettes with 40-45T big cogs.

cyccommute 

The question I have to ask is how many people really race? Even with road bikes where racing by the "common" person is more widespread, racers are a pretty small percentage of riders yet everything in both mountain bikes and road bikes is aimed at the "racer". I'm not a weak rider and there are fewer people who do the kind of foolishness that I do but the general populous would reap more benefit from my kind of gearing than the "racer" gearing.

And the current 1x systems go right up my nose! They are great for racers on a course where they know every twist and turn but if you are riding around in the woods where you've never been before, you are either stuck with a gear that is great for climbing but horrible for downhill or a gear that is horrible for climbing and great for bombing downhills. With a triple...that is supposedly for "weak" riders:roll eyes:...I can build a drivetrain that is superior to just about any 1x system. I can have a range of from 17 gear inches to 108 gear inches. The best an 11-45 1x system can do a 17" to 70" range or 25" to 108" range. It simply can't do both.

In the early days of mountain biking we used to have to run 13-34 freewheels or, a little later, 12-34. A 44/13 tooth cog gives you a 90" high and a 44/12 give you a 98" gear which can be frustratingly low for smooth trails or paved roads. You spend a lot of time coasting. I couldn't imagine having a 70" high. You run out of gears around 20 mph and that's really slow.

LesterOfPuppets

1x11 setups usually have a 9T cog on the high end of the range but I'm not a big fan of tiny cogs, either. I'd be perfectly happy with cassettes that start at 13T

As for racing, I see quite a few people racing STXC and CX with older MTBs, but yeah, that's still a niche thing.

My favorite for those events is 42 up front, 11-32 (8speed or 9speed) in back turning 26" wheels.

cyccommute 

Most of the ones I've seen are 11 tooth highs with a smattering of 10s. I think 9 tooth highs are still rare.