older rockhopper
 

So a friend of my parents found out I was looking to get a mt. bike and told them he had an older bike that he would give me. Luckily he is also about the same height(6"4') so it should be the right size as well. They got it today and sent me the pictures(attached). I won't get to ride it until I go home in about 1.5 weeks. About all I know about it is that it is an older Rockhopper. Does anyone know what year it is or have any other info on it?
Thanks

Here are the pics:
http://xs125.xs.to/xs125/08100/img_0870-2828.jpg
http://xs225.xs.to/xs225/08100/img_0869-2580.jpg

Judging by the cantilever brakes and threaded stem, my guess is early 90's.

Edit- I see it has Gripshift, which would put it '95 or so, although THAT could have been added. All just guesses, though.

looking at the the high res pics and on bikepedia.com (jut found that) i am thinking 97 because of the colors listed but 96 has says AceraX component group and it says that on the crank arms. they both say grip shift. 97 says threadless so I guess that eliminates that because you said it was threaded.
I don't know a whole lot about bikes so I am not exactly sure what to look for. I can host the high res pictures if that would help.

http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...pper&Type=bike
http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...pper&Type=bike

I'm not sure which year your is, but if I had to guess it would be a 1994 Rockhopper Comp. I have a 94 Rockhopper Sport. These are very light bikes for old steel MTBs. Mine weighs in at under 25lbs. No matter what year yours is, the Rockhopper was and still is a very capable bike. Yours looks to be in really nice shape.
Ride the crap out of it.

I'm digging it. Nice bike.

Very nice.

Thanks for the info so far. it has got me going in the right direction.

So I got my mom to go look at it more closely. It says A1 on the frame so that makes me think it is Aluminum.
rear derailleur is Shimano STX
breaks are Shimano Altus brakes, Dia-Compe PC-3 levers
grip shift(couldn't find which one)

now I am thinking it is the 1996 rockhopper A1 by looking at http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...1+FS&Type=bike

does 1 1/8" sealed mechanism mean threaded?

edit- anything else I should look for that would give away the year? I cant wait to go home for spring break and ride it!

Yup, that would be aluminum. I think you've got the wrong bikepedia listing. I think you meant to post the non-suspension listing. It came in red. From the pics, it looks like it could be 1 1/8 head, hard to say. If it is, you may want to check to determine if the frame was designed for a suspension fork. I had a 97 Gary Fisher Tassahara that had a rigid fork, but was actually designed to have a suspension fork. Installing a suspension fork with around 80mm of travel did not create a problem with that bike's geometry.

yeah I must have copied the wrong one. I was looking at both of them at the same time. That was the main reason for figuring out the year/model was to see if it could use a suspension fork when I got the money to get one. It looks like the exact same bike but one has a suspension and one doesn't.

here is the rigid one
http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...r+A1&Type=bike

Well it's at least a '94, because before that there was no Shimano STX. And if you go too far back into the early '90s, I think all the Rockhoppers would have been steel. But I would guess it's more like '95+, as others have said. Definitely not a bad bike, especially for free. If it were mine, I'd probably put some basic Sugino or Shimano square-taper cranks and V-brakes on it, and then ride it until I started breaking things.

I like it. And throw the frisbee for the dog!

In my family we have a couple of old, rigid Rockhoppers and one rigid Stumpjumper. They're all sweet bikes. The threaded stem makes suspension forks problematic (doesn't it?) but they're great ride-around-town bikes just as they are. They would also make excellent touring bikes if you didn't have money to buy a real touring bike.

Better brakes are on the list of things I thought should be changed. I am pretty much a bike noob. But wouldn't it be a good idea that if I do find a suspension fork for it to wait to get brakes until then?
Would this bike be ok for doing some trial riding? That is why I wanted to get it. I was originally looking to buy a hardtail but free is a better price and if I could upgrade this to a hardtail for inexpensively all the better.
I have read that bikes can be changed to threadless. would that be worth it for the more options and is it hard to do? I want to learn how to do it all myself. This seems like it will be a good starter bike.

V brakes would be a good upgrade for sure. You could go ahead and get them now, a suspension fork will have to come with cantilever/V-brake studs (like the bike now has front and rear), unless you want to end up with a disc brake in front and a V in the rear. I would recommend V brakes all around just to keep it simple.

Yes, you can go to threadless on this bike, a necessity if you get a suspension fork since virtually all suspension forks come threadless now. The important thing here is to find out the steerer size (diameter) that the fork needs to be to fit this frame. From the picture I'm gonna guess that it is a 1 inch steerer. I suggest that you take it to a good bike shop to determine this for sure (they can help you with an initial evaluation of the bike, too). If it is indeed a 1 inch steer tube, you fork choices will be limited quite a bit since most forks now use 1 1/8 inch steerers. Try to find a Marzocchi MX Comp w/1" steerer, that would be a good match for this bike, they are usually under $200.

You guys are awesome!

So I got some more info on it from my mom that confirms it is a 1996 A1(as long as the info on bikepedia is good).

it has
Shimano Altus brakes, Dia-Compe PC-3 levers Would these levers work with v-brakes?
Grip Shift SRT-300i
Shimano Alivio Front Derailleur
Shimano STX Rear Derailleur
3x7

according to bikepedia it is 1 1/8!

http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...r+A1&Type=bike

any brake/fork suggestions? something not expensive, I am in college. It will probably be a while for the fork but knowing what to watch for would be good.

Good on the 1 1/8" steerer! Sorry, I didn't notice it on the bikepedia listing.

For V-brakes you will need V-brake specific levers, different pull ratio than those for cantilevers. On a budget I would suggest any of the Tektro brakes and levers.

The Marzocchi MX comp in 1 1/8" would still be a good choice on a budget, if you can find one. If it were me, I would try to find one with 80mm travel.

Thanks. Now I just need to figure out how long the steerer is and get some money.
There is one of those forks on ebay right now with an 8" steerer. 04 Marzocchi Bomber MX Comp with a 85mm coil spring. is is only $25(with $19 shipping) right now.
For the brakes I plan on going to the LBS here in Oregon because there is no Sales Tax so I will save a bit on that.

I can't wait to go home and get this so I can actually ride it!

Of course if you get a new fork you'll need to get a new headset and stem as well, since that one is threaded instead of threadless.

yeah, that didn't look to be to expensive if I found the stuff on sale.

The first thing my girlfriend said when I showed her the picture was we need to swap those brakes lol. So I have been looking at brakes and levers and saw some brake levers that had built in trigger shift
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...Lever+Set.aspx
would those swap with the grip shift?
with these brakes
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...0+V-Brake.aspx
before shipping it is ~$60
I am going to check out the lbs here maybe tomorrow to see if they carry them so I don't have shipping/sales tax.

I have always been a fan of separate brake levers and shifters/pods. What if you like the grip shift? What happens if you switch to 8 or 9 speed? Things to consider. And, yes, the shifters/levers you found will swap out just fine. For the $60 it will be hard to beat the cost.

I know I don't like grip shift, probably should have put that in earlier. I have had them on an older trek(820 I believe) I had when I lived in Hawaii. I had triggers on the bike I had before the trek but that got stolen(the reason I bought the trek) and I loved those. I see your point about swapping to an 8 or 9 speed though. I hadn't thought about that or knew it was possible. If I do that it I don't think it would happen until the 7 speed stuff needed replaced. I will have to look around to see if I can find a good deal on the separate type ones.

for brakes, try to find a deal on some Avid SD7 v-brakes and levers. They are great V-brakes.

Those shifters should work fine as long as you already have a 7 speed cassette. Actually, they would also work with an 8 speed cassette (and maybe 9?) you just wouldn't be able to use all the cogs. Also, I've had very good luck with Deore V-brakes.

I have this exact bike, although a few components are different. the frame is pretty good, nice and light and the lack of suspension makes it even lighter. I have used it for several loaded mountain bike tours and it faired pretty well, although i did have to change the rear derailleur a few years ago.

the v brakes would be great as they would still keep the weight nice and low and provide better stopping power. I'm considering a carbon front fork because the current forks are damn tough on the arms when you take it anywhere rough, and it would shed a load of weight. do you really think the geometry could handle a suspension fork?? Maybe less than 80mm?

Great thread, i tryed mentioning this before but didnt much of a response.