I never understood those dropouts. You find them on a few other frames out of Japan. It gives you the look of a horizontal dropout without the functionality. Shoulda just gone with vertical dropouts, IMO. I took a grinder and a file to one of my daughter's bikes, which was an old Hardrock as well, since I was converting it to an 8 speed Nexus IGH, and needed the ability to adjust chain tension.
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If someone tells you that you have enough bicycles and you don't need any more, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.