IrishBrewer

Is that what they refer to as the Uni-Crown fork? If so, I've never seen one of those on a Rockhopper and the Spec reference doesn't show these on any Rockhoppers either, just selected Stumpjumper models. To be honest, it is hard to imagine the amount of force that it would take to trash one of the curved crown cro-mo forks such that the crown needed any more beefing up. Seems like your wheel would be way gone before doing much damage to those forks.

bikemig 

A biplane fork is different from a unicrown fork. If you scroll down this webpage, you'll see a number of pics of different biplane forks:

The Retrogrouch: Lovely Fork Crowns

DQRider 

Okay, yeah... the Unicrown is what you are referring to, and most MTB manufacturers switched to that shortly after mountain biking blew up in the mid-late `80s. That's what is on the nice red Rock Hopper in the photo.

IrishBrewer

That is a great reference. I could tell the type of fork you were talking about just by your reference to them as biplane forks as I have seen these on the old Stumpjumpers. I just wasn't sure if that was the name given to them by Specialized. Thanks for the info.

machinist42

Not to nitpick, but actually 1984 was the year the Rockhopper was introduced.

James McLean: "I was the promoter of the original 'Rockhopper for Lungs' races in Annadel SP in Santa Rosa from 1982-1986. I gave Specialized Bicycles the rights to the name under duress when I worked for the company in 1983. The 'Rockhopper' model was first sold in 1984. I have a pic somewhere of the prototype..."


James McLean: "I'm also the first person in the bicycle industry that showed a mountain bike at the US bicycle industry trade show in Jan of 1981. Most of the industry laughed at me and said it was BMX bikes for adults and that it would never sell. Especially Schwinn. Guess I showed them. 😏"



James McLean: 1980 Reseda to the Sea race. "I had the first skin wall balloon tire in the Western Hemisphere at this race. Marin boys were jealous. 😄"





James McLean: "This was the first mountain bike that was named a 'mountain bike' that I built with mods from Chris King on the sealed bearing Atom drum brake with a heat treated cro-mo axle. He rented a space in the bike shop that I managed in DT Santa Barbara."

The above is excerpted from the Facebook page for the group "Look At My Bike Leaning Against Stuff", from Mr. McLean's June 5th, 2016 post of his 1980 Ritchey leaning against his place in California.



(Note the fork crown. This is why Ritchey was asked to design the final steel Rockhopper, the 1998).

Repack Rider

Uh, hello? James was showing the touring gear. Gary Fisher and I were at the same trade show displaying Ritchey MountainBikes, as was Victor Vincente of America displaying his Topanga bike. McLean is delusional.

News to me, and I was there. Gary Fisher won that race.

Interesting claim, with no substantiation. The first time the term "mountain bike" appears in print (December 1979, City Sports), it refers to the company Gary Fisher and I started in a rented garage.

cooperryder

Shortly it will be two years since I picked up this 1990 or 1991 Rockhopper.

I have changed it up quite a bit over that time but it has proven to be a great 'urban cruiser' with fattish 60mm wide street tires. I like it a lot..

Here are some pics from when I got it.
It has changed up quite a bit.
I don't think I have any of those original parts left on it.

mrv 

are you talking about folding a fork on a RockHopper like this one (pics below)?
I suppose it could happen, but it seems like you'd crinkle the top tube / down tube first (at least that's what happened to me on a couple of other bikes with uni-crown fork when I crashed into something
- a Jamis Dakota when I .... stopped in a hole
- a Schwinn Paramount PRG-2 .... the Japanese frames from the early '90s - when I hit another racer laying in front of me
Anyway, I guess I'll keep abusing the bike until the fork folds -if I survive I guess it'll give me a good excuse to get a new frame/fork to hang all the components on.

mrv 

OK - I was going to ask if you had any pictures - but these bikes are so old, I would understand if not. So thanks for the image provided.
I would think that the fork would be REALLY difficult to bend / fold just braking and locking up the wheels. Unless there was a problem - something like I read about here at BANTAM bikes: Kinn Bikes (or why people who aren't bicycle designers shouldn't design bicycles) ? bantam bicycle works
- sorry to go a bit off topic

turky lurkey

Trebmal

Hello, thanks for letting me join. Recently I dusted off my old Rockhopper, the one I swapped for a Trek a few years ago. I have always been a huge Trek fan, but I love my RH!

Didn't know I had a classic until I started looking online to see if I could determine how old it is. My best guess is mid-90s, but I haven't seen one exactly like it. I was going to post a couple photos and ask for help, but apparently I have to have ten posts under my belt before I can post photos. Since I currently have only one topic I wish to address I guess I will just lurk.

If anyone can help without visual clues, my bike has the purple paint with bright yellow decals. Full Sun Tour, CroMo lugless frame, and shock fork. I prefer a traditional fork, but at least it's a hard tail, very light for a steel frame. As far as I know it is 100% stock except for the toe clips which I added, and possibly the saddle.

This looks like a great forum. I'm glad I found it.

jetboy 

HI @Trebmal

does it look a bit like this: 1996 i think. purple but slightly understated decals:

due ruote 

Here's my workhorse:

tiredhands 

I put this ol' 88ish RockHopper together for a friend. I'm jealous, as it's cooler than any bike I own.

jetboy 

its also cooler than any bike I own.

Trebmal

Mine has a completely different paint job but the fork is the same.

DQRider 

What a beauty! Well done. You know what you have to do now? Build a better one for yourself.


.

Sir_Name 

Here's a more recent pic of mine from this past winter.



And more recently.





This bike's a ton of fun.

mrv 

i undropped my Rock Hopper and Jones'd it. I got the loop bar bag now too.

Glennfordx4

Just finished putting together a 85 RockHopper that was given to me a bunch of years ago, been sitting as found in my shop ever since. This was in my keeper pile but I have decided to let it move on. It was missing a few original parts when I got it like the rear wheel, RD, handle bars and one brake lever, the first thing I picked up for it when I got it was a used front wheel so I could rob the X28 rim and build up a rear wheel which I did using a Sansin sealed 6spd hub & DT Double Butted spokes, all used parts that built up better then a lot of new wheels I see around. Next I got a set of Bullmoose bars for it off the Bay, they were new but not like the original then I just let it sit for 3 yrs, in that time I got 6 pair of Nos Bullmoose bars from the shop I help out at that my boss found cleaning out his garage and & low and behold there were two new Specialized Cromo Bullmoose bars that are just like the originals, yaaay! While I also picked up a used Mountech RD for it when the time came I decided instead to use a NOS Suntour SVX RD that I've had as I wanted this bike to be ridden by the new owner and don't trust the Mountech's as I didn't no it's history, I did use the Mountech FD though as the original AG tech was trashed, it was missing one of the original Shimano brake levers and I had a set of 4 finger Lee Chi's with covers hanging around so I just used them.
I built it up two months ago but never got a chance to test ride it or get pics of it because of the weather and other pressing projects until yesterday. One of the first things I did to it after the ride was change out the 26x2.40 tires I put on it for some new 26x2.125 tan sidewall tires. It is sporting Koolstop brake pads and a Nos pair of Tomac clear Slim Line grips also. Bike rides great and it fits me better then I thought it would with the bars on it. I really didn't know what to ask for it as a pair of used original bars just went for $148 on Ebay which is more then half of what I was thinking the whole bike was worth, the Flag triple cranks on it are also clean with no major rub also which also sell for a pretty penny, I want this to be enjoyed as a whole by someone and decided get her over to the shop and for sale before I change my mind lol. The only reason I am cutting her loose is I also have a 85 StumpJumperSport that has 99.9% of it's original parts on it that is the same size as the Hopper I am going to rebuild and keep.
First pic when I got it, then the after shots before I changed the tires.

Glennfordx4

I am also wondering what the biggest tire that will fit on the 80's Hoppers & Jumpers because there was still plenty of room around the 26x2.40 tires I first had on there in both the front & rear.


Glenn

tiredhands 

There's not a lot of clearance on my '85 Stumpy. 2.25" Nobby Nics will rub if I put the hammer down. Not a lot of room under the fork crown either, as you can see. I think that's an exception, though, as I believe that year's model deviated a bit from other years.

Glennfordx4

Thanks tiredhands, I was hoping that the Stumpy would be just like the Hopper I just built. You can see how much room there is at the crown on that one and it has room for wider on the rear and between the fork blades.I have some Ground Pounders that will fit on the Stumpy but was hoping I could go with something a little bigger.

Glenn

Glennfordx4

Got some pics with the new sneakers on it, I think it looks much better & it does ride better with them.

gorillimo