bdinger

Seriously, after this weekend I wonder what it would take to actually break one. I did 30 offroad miles between Friday and Sunday afternoon, not one of them would I consider "easy". My 360+ pound butt got air, did some hard log crossings, battled with rocks and roots.. but not with my Hardrock. I have a bone stock '07 Hardrock Sport, FWIW.

When I say "did some hard log crossings" and "got some air" I'm putting it mildly. I beat the *tar* out of my 'rock over the weekend. I thought I had been mean to it before, but I've never done anything like this. Even with air and hard landings, log crossings, and everything I threw at it - it didn't pop a spoke. The rear wheel is true. Nothing is busted. This is *after* almost 900 previous miles under my large behind.

The only failure was the front wheel, but I don't blame it. Doing around (I'm ballparking BIG TIME here) 15mph it caught a tree root/branch in the ground and sent both of us flying. It got thrown out of true pretty good. I unhooked the front brake and kept going, over more logs and crap, and so did it. Thankfully a marshal had a multi-tool with a spoke wrench, so I heaved it back into true. Not a single busted spoke, and with some work last night it seems to be true again.

Seriously, if you are considering a new bike that you don't want to brake, get a Hardrock. Forget the Hoss, I hear you can actually break them, and you can buy THREE hardrocks for the price of a Hoss. This thing is in-freaking-destructible.

It's earned a permanent place in my stable. The stock fork is crap, but it dampens out the trails quite well. I'm concerned about the plastic stanchions so I'll replace it. The Acera group is pretty heavy, so it'll get replaced too. Ditto on most parts. But the frame and the wheels, they're sticking around. One must reward a loyal steed, and reward it well.

Dr_Robert

I've tweaked my rims a bit, blown tires (blew a 1.5" hole in the sidewall one time), pretty much obliterated my front suspension, and destroyed a crank arm and a bottom bracket (2 seperate incidents). But that frame is freakin' amazing - 3 years on a Hardrock has made me a Specialized fan for life.

My next hardtail MTB is probably going to be a Stumpjumper Comp, unless I get crazy at the last minute and grab the P.3 instead...

-DR

*Disclaimer - I'm pretty hard on bikes. Repeated drops onto flat concrete will do that.

Tech4man

I love my '07 Hardrock Sport. They can be alittle heavy, but they are awesome.

Stujoe

I love mine. They probably are not the flashiest or the lightest but I think it is a great bike and have little doubt that it will hold up to my use. A great, solid bike.

Mudu93

Eventhough I am now pretty much 100% road, I still love mountainbikes. Back in the early 90's I lost 70 lbs riding a used Giant Boulder. I spent the summer at college going to summerschool, drinking beer and riding the vast amount of trails around Columbia Missouri. I started around 260 and 3 months later was 190. I beat the hell out of that bike and the only thing that I ever broke was the front fork. Great job and I am glad you love your Hardrock. I wish I still had that Giant.

SpecRider

at my LBS the store manager convinced me to get the hardrock over the trek 3700 or 4500 due to better overall strenght and the stress i'd be putting on it with my weight. glad i made the right choice even after my brother was giving me the 'specialized are crap' talk LOL

brodie

BDINGER, THANK YOU.
i tacoed a wheel about a month ago. then i had 2 tubes blowout on me. I DIDNT KNOW WHAT TO DO.
I wasnt gonna give up. i was still riding. but i was - SO - tense. always staying on guard IN CASE I WAS ABOUT TO EAT PAVEMENT.
then i read what you said about weighing 360 AND, going racing and,it clicked for me.
GET A MOUNTAIN BIKE.

So i looked on ebay ,then craigslist and,there it was --MOUNTAIN BIKE $20 FOR TODAY.

I called the guy up he said -yeah its hear,but you should hurry up.. ----MAN, i flew out there.
it was perrfect,just my size and,in like new condition and, ONLY $20.
I didnt even test ride it.paid the man,in the car and,gone.

i have ridden it sunday and ,today and,it is just awesome. i can actually just ride and,enjoy the ride.
im not just constantly surveying the street for ruts,glass,potholes or something else.
i came down a hill today and,actuallypedaled down the hill and,it felt like i was going 100 miles an hour. i havent felt like that since i was 20 probably. I OWE IT TO YOU BDINGER AND, your racing mountain bikes.
i figured if your 360 and going downhill all out and,over trees, maybe i should try this mountain bike thing.

its a huffy that the guy upgraded and,put new wheels on,the whole shifting system,saddle.
AND ITS SOLID STEEL.Im not going offroad,so as long as it holds me up,its all good. i just moved the seat back,let the seatpost down ,maybe 2 inches and,adjusted the brakes.anyway,heres a pick.
AGAIN,thanks bdinger,for going mountain biking and,giving me an idea.

bdinger

Hey brodie, you are very welcome! Looks like a nice clean ride, espescially for $20! I'd imagine you are quite the happy man . Keep riding and enjoying it, from the pic it looks setup well for your needs. And steel, as they say, steel is real. I'd love a steel MTB, in fact I think that may be my next one..

Keep pedalin and having fun!

bdinger

Now for an addition, if you have upgraded.. what have you changed? I think stock this bike works great, but as others have hinted, it's quite heavy. The stock Acera group is kind of clunky. The fork is, well, a basic suspension fork .

I'm planning on pretty much rebuilding my HR over the winter. I figure if I hit my 300 goal, I'll pick up a singlespeed 29er MTB. But until then, I'm going to focus on beefing up my HR.

My list of things to change, in the order I'm doing it:
-Tires: Stockers are quite tough, but *HEAVY*. Going to siwtch to WTB Nanoraptors, those things scream

-Fork: Stock is, well, a fork . It has plastic parts that make me nervous. I'm going with either a Rock Shox Tora or Reba. Both are built much sturdier, and have lockouts.

-Headset: Stock is absolutely fine, but I'm going to be doing more trails, so I'll upgrade to a King. Excessive, yes, but I heard some unpleasant stories. I'll spend the moolah.

-Pedals: Going clipless, injury is certain, but I think it's worth it!

-Deraileurs: Shimano LX on both. The stock Acera is *tough* stuff, but man is the LX stuff smooth at a great price. And I'm a glutton for bling

-Shifters/Brake handles: Deore XT shift pods (I *love* those things) and Avid levers. Some excess there, but oh well

-Saddle: Brooks B-17. Heaven. The end.

-Seatpost: Thompson Elite. Again, nothing wrong with stock, but I want to make sure I have *tough* covered in this respect.

-Stem/handlebar: Easton EA70 on both. I'll be a glutton to weight savings here.

-Brakes: Avid single digit 7's. Stock are *GREAT*, I just want to pillage them for another project bike .

-Bottom Bracket: Shimano XT. My stocker is getting rough with almost 900 miles on it, I hear the XT BB's are pretty much bombproof.

Overall it's going to be.. an investment, but I feel like I'm putting it to a good bike. I've enjoyed the offroad thing far too much now.. there's no stopping me!

Dr_Robert

I've pretty much just upgraded the control surfaces - cranks/BB (TruVativ), pedals (Snafu platforms), grips (generic?), seatpost (Thompson), saddle (WTB), and tires (Bontragger 26x1.5's). I was going to switch out the bars, but my stem is the wrong size for the bars I wanted to get, and I didn't feel like swapping the stem too. I have some bar ends (Cane Creek) on right now, but I'll probably be taking them back off now that I have a more suitable road bike.

If I was going to put much more cash into my Hardrock, I'd probably get a new front fork first - my suspension is pretty much shot. A decent fork (Reba, Talos, or similar) would cost almost as much as the bike is worth though.

The stock drivetrain, surprisingly enough, has worked pretty well for me. Not flawless, but decent. I'd prefer better components, but again, that's not cost effective from my point of view.

-DR

hr2510

Glad to hear the hardrock holds up. I was given a OOOOLD hard rock with no suspension and 18 speed Saturday. Looks like a decent bike. I rode it for about a mile this morning before the shift cable broke(again) and it went to high gear. I'll have to wait until I can get to the LBS 45 miles away to get a replacement cable.

bdinger

Interesting notes, and yeah, I have struggled with the "why upgrade a $350 bike!?" thing myself. It all comes down to the fact that it's such a dang tank, and all the upgrades will be about half the cost of a similarly equipped complete new bike. I figure if I'm still into offroad after a year, and I'm down to my "target" weight, I can get some leightweight XC machine.

My only gripe with the stock drivetrain really isn't a gripe at all. I just got spoiled riding bikes with higher-level components that are oh so smooth. The rear der also keeps coming out of adjustment, which is pretty annoying but live-able.

And that front fork.. I'll give it credit, it's survived. But that's about it /

Fleet

Glad to hear about your success with your Hardrock Sport. I have an 02 Hardrock base model that I'm getting back together. I destroyed the front fork and put it away. I bought a new bike, but missed the Hardrock, so I ordered a new Tora Air 318 Fork last week. I should have it at the end of the week. For me, the fork was the only thing that failed. I'm a little worried about the cranks, but I'm not sure I want to start upgrading the drivetrain. 8 Speed is pretty solid. Everything I can buy seems to be 9-speed, and once I start down that path, I need to replace everything.

Anyways, the Hardrock is a Hoss bike no doubt. I can't wait for my new fork.

andymac

I think you will find that there are very few hardtails mountain bike frames from the better known manufacturers that will not hold up to a larger rider. I have had Giant, Trek, Marin and currently Norco mountain bikes and have never had a frame failure. The things that usually fail are cranks, wheels, forks, pedals, bars etc. The frames will eventually fail in some respect if they are always ridden hard and you keep them for a long time but usually it is something like an ovalized head tube rather than some catastrophic failure. I fully expect you would have the same success with any number of frames.

clearwaterms

i have been riding a Scott Relfex 50 (comparable in component and price level to the hardrock sport) THrough research I have discovered that my frame is the same as an Iron Horse frame as well as a few other people use the same frame. It is supposedly a fairly rugged frame, with fairly cheap components around it. Knowing what andymac has said, I am confident now that I made the right choice.

Thanks

KingTermite 

I've never really done mountain biking myself, but I heard the Kona Hoss (and deluxe) were the sturdiest bikes (mountain bikes) ever made. Designed for big clydes.

Stujoe

My HR is mostly stock. I replaced the knobby tires and the pedals. Added a rack and a trunk bag, a wedge pack, a couple water bottles and cages and a computer.

I probably won't replace components until they fail. I don't ride many trails or hard use. I have an MTB mostly because I have never been comfortable on a road bike, especially drops, and I like not even thinking about what I might ride over. I am planning on lightening the bike by losing some more weight however.

mjolniir

I upgraded my '06 Hardrock Sport

I upgraded the wheels, tyres, brakes and stem/bars. Wheels are now XT 32H Disc Specific on Sun Single Track. Tyres are Maxxis Larsen TT (OR Vittoria Randonneur) Brakes are Avid SD7 levers and BB7 calipers, 160mm rotors. Stem is 100mm 31.8mm OS Cannondale XC and bars are FSA FR270.

I've just gone through my first chain - so its now got an 8spd Sora Cassette/Chain on it while I decide whether I want to put 9speed MTB or 10 spd Road stuff (with drops) on it.

I've just ordered a rigid front fork. I'm also after a 700C disk specific wheelset.

Next to go is F/R Derailleur, Chain, Cassette, cranks - I'm kind of angling towards 105 3x10speed.

It's going to be a supersized rigid 29er touring bike - it'll be awesome. Also the only thing that will be stock is the frame, headset, seatpost, seat. Lets face it - I'll probably change the seat.

(I guess that makes me what the road cyclists would call a Fred)

bdinger

Wow, sounds like a sweet setup! A pretty dang tough commuter, most definitely. You may check in to swapping out the front gearing for something a little taller, say a 48t big ring for added speed. Or just regular road gearing, basically it'll give you the same ratios anyway .

Also, be careful with the 700c wheels. I think they are too tall, it's built as a "26 inch" bike, I don't think you can fit 700/29ers under it, but if you can, that'd be weird/interesting. DEFINITELY keep us posted on that one.

andymac

The Kona Hoss, that King Termite mentioned, is just marketing in my opinion. The frame and components are nothing special, in fact a Kona Cowan is probably a sturdier frame than the Hoss.
In the unlikely event that you were prone to frame failures you would be much better off looking at dirt jumper style bikes or high end hardtail mountain bikes.
If I were able to buy any frame I wanted I would probably opt for either a Norco Torrent or a Cove Stiffee. These are both incredibly solid frames with slack head angles that lend themselves well to downhill riding. Unfortunately they are also very pricey.

PS - a friend of mine runs 700c road wheels, built to mountain bike disc hubs, on his Norco hardtail. The clearance on the front fork is fine but the clearance between the front derailleur and the tire is really tight with 25's for tires, I doubt he could go to 28's without rubbing. He can haul ass on that thing but it looks pretty wierd.

Fleet

I too am caught up in the upgrade syndrome for my Hardrock, but I'm trying to keep it realistic. I am real real tempted to go all out and strip out the cranks, derailers, chain, shifters, brakes, fork. But I priced it out, and it's a bit expensive. Much much more than I originally paid for the bike. I was looking at about $700+. THat's a lot of cash to invest in a $350 bike.

The frame is wonderful, and I do have great memories of good times on the bike. It was my "first" mountain bike, so I hate to abandon it. So, I'm upgrading the fork for $200, and will give it a shot.

Those of you doing the massive upgrades, why did you decide to go that route instead of getting a new bike? Is it emotional or is there some financial aspect I'm missing here?

Stujoe

That is one change that interests me. I wish the fork locked out on it at least. I have it as stiff as it can go but I still feel awkward getting out of the saddle to pedal. Feels like I am bouncing too much. lol I think it may just be one thing I have not become used to on the new MTBs. The last ones I rode had rigid forks.

I don't get out of the saddle much anyway and it is a little nicer going over some of the bumps but I am not sure I like the trade off for my usual rides.

bdinger

I agree on the Hoss. The components are nice, but at the same time they make me scratch my head. 32h wheels on a bike for clydesdales? That's probably the biggest thing.. that and the pricetag. But seriously.. I've heard of Hoss riders much smaller than I busting spokes, in fact when I was looking at them the shop recommended I upgrade the wheels right away. But.. I thought this was a clydesdale bike?

Anyway, to answer other questions, I'm upgrading mine because it fits me well, it's served me well, and it really has a nice frame. Sometime compare a Hardrock frame to a Hoss.. it just looks tougher. I'm sure it's heavier than some, but so am I .

Stujoe

With upgrading, you can put exactly what you want on it. And, it is easier for a lot of people - myself included - to come up with $100 every once in a while than $1500 plus for a new bike all at once. I can't see putting a lot of money in my HR anytime soon but I don't see myself with a $1000 plus bike for a long time.

Also, it can be fun and statisfying to work on a bike yourself and can give you useful skills. Right now, I am stripping and overhauling a 1982 Schwinn Super Le Tour in my basement and it is a fun little project. Probably not 'worth' the time, effort, or even the very little money I will spend on it for cables, degreaser, lube, new grease and tires...but fun, none the less. And I can guarentee I will know more about, and feel more comfortable, maintaining and adjusting my bikes in the fuiture.

Fleet

As for upgrading as they break, I can see that...in fact I'm doing that now! I just question when I see people change everything out on an entry level bike all at once. I do see the value of learning how to wrench, and customizing your own ride. Financially, it just seems out there to me. Good info here for future upgrades though as they break! I'm a little worried about breaking my crankset - not many 8-speed cranksets out there for replacements.