BCATC

Hi everyone, apologies if this is something that has been addressed before. I am interested in getting either of these bikes to use as a daily commuter or potentially set up for touring, but I'm having trouble figuring out frame sizing before I go hunting on Craigslist. I'm about 6'0" with a 31.5" cycling inseam. A 56cm road bike fits me pretty well. Am I correct in thinking that an 18"-20" frame would be ideal for me? From what I understand, standover height might be a bit taller with these older bikes? I'd like to avoid crushing my nads.

katsup

Around 20" is in the ballpark. It is unlikely that you will find a size of each to try before buying. It will come down to riding the size that comes around first and hope for the best.

wrk101

Just realize design and proportions changed over the years. So its not just the models.

On size, I find if I use a MTB as a traditional MTB, I need an 18. As a tourer/drop bar conversion, I tend to be from 19 to 20 inch. Top tube length is really more important than seat tube length. So some 20 inchers are fine for me, others not. I tend to ride a 56/57cm road bike.

jetboy 

19.5 plus would be my take. some of those older mtb had SUPER long stems. like really really long. which made them terrible mountain bikes but real comfortable commuter/touring bikes. I had a rockhopper like this- it was 19.5 (I probably need 20.5) but it was fine because of that stem.

higgins617

Also just another thing to toss in. Vintage mountain bike sizing vs. Modern is also different. My full suspension ride is an 18" and fits great, my vintage Hardrock turned cruiser is around a 20" and is comfortable. I'm also right around your height.

BCATC

Thanks everyone, I picked up a stumpjumper FS for $50 that appears to be in pretty good shape. I’d like to do the rigid fork conversion, though my only options online so far appear to be the cheap $26 Sunlite fork or wait until May for Nashbar’s rigid fork to get back in stock... assuming they are even the appropriate suspension corrected forks. I’ll be going to a few shops or co-ops tomorrow to see if I have any luck there.

I also got too obsessed with the chase for a bike in decent shape and didn’t realize that the Stumpy only has an eyelet at the dropout but none at the seatstay... so this is another slight speedbump for my desired setup of a rear rack/fenders/front rack. I’ll need to dig back through threads on here since I’ve seen some mentions of “p-clips”.

I would post pictures of the bike but I still have less than 10 posts, so I’m not allowed to just yet.

SJX426 

@BCATC - Welcome to C&V! So what size did you find? getting a Stumpy at that price is unusual. Although a slight step down, a RockHopper would have all you need for a reasonable price.

[IMG]1997 Specialized RockHopper, on Flickr[/IMG]

crank_addict

For the OP, suggest a 20 inch frame.

I've been enjoying my junker mashup build 92/93 Stumpjumper, 18 inch frame and where I typically ride 56 / 57cm road bike. But as you might reconfigure the atb, consider having an array of stems to play with.

BCATC

The size I ended up getting was a 20”, so I got very lucky finding this stumpjumper for $50 when the market price seemed to be about $200-400. It seems to be a case where the owner didn’t really care to know what he had. I was set on seeing a Rockhopper, but it was $150 and a 2 hour drive away.

After some searching, I found out that seatpost clamps with rack mounts exist. I’ll most likely get one of those to swap out the quick release clamp once I find out what the diameter of the seat tube is. Then I’m thinking of mounting the rear fender by sharing the same eyelet at the drop out and using a p-clip at the seatstay bridge.

jetboy 

go post a bunch of responses around the forum so you can get to 10 - as we want to see some pics.

BCATC

I'll try to speed up the process. Other than my circumstances with a lack of eyelets, I'm also currently on the hunt for new tires since there's an Ebay coupon for 15% I can use. Does anyone happen to know what's the narrowest tire I can run on the OEM Specialized X23 wheels? If I had to make a guess, the "23" means a rim width of 23mm, and according to Sheldon the narrowest tire I can fit is 40mm or 1.57"...So I should probably opt for a 1.75 tire instead of 1.5. The knobby 1.95 tires currently on the bike make it a headache to pull the front wheel off to squeeze thru the cantilever brake.

katsup

Are you removing the quick release?

SJX426 

My Rockhopper has one eyelet on the back which is shared between the rack and the fender. The rack is closest to the DO for minimal leverage by the weight on the rack and the fend is outboard.

BCATC

You know, I thought I did it correctly but after thinking about it I think only released it halfway if thats even possible. The knobs on the tires kept hitting the brake pad.

That makes sense, I'll keep that in mind when I get both pieces in the mail.

I'm still working to 10 posts so i can post pics of the bike, sit tight people.

BCATC

Finally, 10 posts. Pictures.

jetboy 

for $50 I say Score!! great shape and looks original- get that rigid fork and you are golden.

I am a fan of those "direct drive" frames from the day. had a rockhopper and a Allez and both were great rides.

BCATC

Thanks! So far it's been fun trying to shop for this bike on a budget. So far I've picked up a used Blackburn MTN rear rack, currently on the hunt for cheapo semislicks. Next up will probably be either a Nashbar Sixer or Sunlite Goldtec front rack, some kind of foldable basket, and maybe OURY grips. Not sure what kind of platform pedals I want yet, I know I want to get rid of the cages it came with ASAP. For fenders, I'm currently thinking about SKS Bluemels.

BCATC

Question for you guys... How bad is it to run a front V-brake with cantilever levers?

Long story short, the person I took my bike to swap out to a rigid fork could not remove the original front cantilever off the suspension fork without possibly breaking them. Instead, he installed a V-brake in its place for the time being and warned me that it doesn’t exactly work with the original lever and I would have to tweak the barrel adjuster to minimize the sponginess of the brake feel. I can’t exactly swap out the brake lever either, it’s integrated with the Deore shifters.

I was hoping to keep everything original except the fork but that probably won’t be the case anymore. If using a front v-brake is not the best idea then what’s a decent cantilever brake I can upgrade to?

2cam16

It's doable BUT you won't have 100% stopping power.
As to the canti brake question, I like older brakes from the 80's-90's. But I believe there are also some good brand new ones still out there for sale.

BCATC

Some updates, managed to keep the original front canti brakes. Swap to a rigid fork complete. My next question is potentially stupid and about this seatpost clamp. I wanted to swap out the quick release with one that has rack mounts... but is it just me or is it part of the frame itself? The paint from the frame is fairly continuous with the seatpost clamp...

2cam16

It looks like it's part of the bike. So basically you can only replace the qr.

BCATC

That's a bit problematic... I'll try to purchase a similar one as a backup in case. What I did meanwhile out of curiosity was line up the rear rack arms with the QR skewer on the seat post... and it seems to work, though I don't know how potentially hazardous this could be if I loaded the rack. It is angled up slightly but it seems pretty stable otherwise.