Drunken Chicken

There's a 75 euro difference between them. I'd probably get a Specialized Hardrock Sport, but my two best mates have Bruiser 1s. My question is, is the Bruiser MUCH better or would an upgraded Hardrock reach it's level?
(oh yeah and whats the max. mm travel fork that you can get for a Hardrock? Just wonderin'...)

MadMan2k

I'd go with the specialized - mine has been really good so far. Some minor wheel un-trues, and the fork is crap, but a nice bike.

You'd probably want to stick with a 100MM travel fork... much more would make the handling kinda goofy.
An 80 or even 120 might be ok... ask your dealer first though.


If you do get the hardrock, I'd say upgrade the pedals and maybe the stem/bar.
You could get a rigid fork, which would probably be a good idea right off the bat, since it wouldn't deteriorate like the RST does.

Drunken Chicken

Yeah, thats more or less what I thought. Say I get the Specialized, I'd get new pedals, change the stem (wtf is up with that swelling?! lol ) and then I'd save up for a new fork. A rigid one? :S Dunno, I don't like the idea. For what I'd use it for I'm pretty sure it's good to have suspension.

MadMan2k

Suspension moves around when you dont always want it to... Sure it absorbs vibrations, but if you're like me and dont want to pay nearly $300 for a decent one, its not too bad

Then again, running the RST for a while wouldn't be a bad idea. Try to keep the stanchions clean before it compresses and gets dirt insidem, keep it lubricated, it should work for you.

It annoys me, when I'm practicing trials or just fooling around, the fork will compress when I'd rather it didn't. It doesn't really work that well for rough terrain either.

bikered

the frame is warrantied up to 130mm of travel, but as MadMan said, in most cases that much travel would rake out the bike and make the steering odd

Drunken Chicken

Thanks!

Errm... sorry for the stupid question but what are the stanchions? And where can I find some lube?