Clang

It's 1990 which is the only year they did that outlined Specialized lettering on the top tube. Also the base model Rockhopper that year came in black and was equipped with M400 stuff.

Congrats on the acquisition- I have a Sport and a Comp from '93.

ofajen

That is a great deal! One of my two bikes is a slightly older (late 80s) RockHopper. I got most of a bike for $50 about five years ago. At this point I’ve pretty much rebuilt the bike fron the frame up and it’s a great ride. It even taught the care and feeding of a U-brake, which I hadn’t seen before. Enjoy yours! Here’s a pretty recent shot of mine…




Otto

CrowSeph

Interesting! I had no idea about the lettering.
Did the serial was helpful or just for a few details you got the exact year?

CrowSeph

Nice bike! 😉

Korina

Is it cleaned up? Can we see?

jdawginsc 

I’m with most of the crew here. Plop a new saddle, pedals if you wish, and cables. Use a gentle polish and the paint will look brand new.

if the bars are Specialized pearl chromoly you can get the rust off easily. Bar keeps friend maybe. Careful with tin foil method on those...ask me how I know...

Check the pads. if the pads are worn, Dia Compe has Cantipads you can get for 8-10 bucks and they are actually very good.

There is a good seller on eBay that has Jagwire kits for around $16-18 if you wish to bling it up a bit.

Then have fun.

I think RSX brifters would work if you go drop bar...if bar ends, lots of options.

clubman 

U brakes take a lot of flack but I went all 'Marquis de Sade' on a DX version for 4 years in deep, salty, winter commuting and it just needed flushing when the the crud froze into every crevice. A few pad adjustments/replacements too.
It also ate a nice RM20 rim in that time, oh well. It. stopped. fine.

ofajen

I’d say they are a tad less convenient than cantis but work fine for road and easy trail riding. I did have mud on the brake cable freeze up once last winter when the ride started above freezing and then went below. Easily freed with water from my bottle.

But overall the brakes just work. In five years and 20+K miles, I’ve only had to pull and lube one of the arms. The other thing is they are more fussy when running SS because if you change gearing, the horizontal dropout means the axle moves the rim closer or farther from the brake pads.

Otto

CrowSeph

​​​​​​Nope , i have done nothing at moment.
I'm planning to start by disassembly it soon as first step and then the frame polish. The color reminds me the gun's barrel and i love it. I hope to accomplish the same shiny effect.

ofajen

Thanks! Clearly, I can’t criticize anyone for putting new parts on an old MTB frame!

First I don’t like straight bars at all. Also, I didn’t want the wide Q factor so I swapped in old road cranks.

Ran it first as a drop bar 1x but eventually decided to run SS and then found the drop bars didn’t give enough width, control and climbing leverage, so I switched to the touring bars.

Finally, I like really good tires. I wore out a set of Compass (RH) RTPs but found them hard to deal with so I replaced them first with Contact Speed 26x2.0 and now have a Race King in front and a Speed King in back which is just about perfect for our local trails.

Otto

CrowSeph

Today i disassembled.
not a single part was stuck.
Here how appears from the non-drive side with just a bit of soapy water.

Korina

Very nice! I can't quite tell; is it black, or very dark blue?

This has some good tips for shining up your bike:

CrowSeph

Yea i was planning the same process as explained in the video. Also that guy made a great dropbar conversion and honestly I love how his bike Turned.

Korina

It really did. FYI, he's since converted it back to flat bar and, shockingly, had fun taking it on trails.

CrowSeph

Yea i saw that video too.
About the flat bar video is interesting because he said a shorter stem will improve the bike handlings since the bike geometry is too long. For me the stock stem will help distributes the body weight and help climbing with the posture but a shorter stem will totally change the bike overall.

Korina

I think it depends on your proportions; in the early-ish '90s everyone went to a longer top tube for stability going downhill; add a long stem and drops, and you need gorilla arms to ride the thing comfortably. Also, I despise flat bars with a burning hatred; they're great for bombing down hills, what they were designed for, but not for actual riding. I much prefer swept bars for the more natural shoulder/elbow/wrist position. YMMV, of course.

ofajen

I’m the same way. I have two straight bars, neither will ever be on one of my bikes. I keep one for extra leverage on hex wrenches like for a stuck garbage disposal. The other is extra, a take off from one of the kids’ bikes that now has sensible touring bars.

I really like the combination of the North Road style touring bar with a 150mm stem. The forward bend is about like the hoods position on a road bike, but the bars come back just behind the steering axis, a great reach for keeping your weight back and maneuvering, hard climbing in the saddle or easy cruising, depending on the need.

Otto

ofajen

I got my RockHopper about five years ago and for the first several years it was a drop bar bike. That was ok, especially with multiple gears and I ran it mostly as a 1x7 with 42 and 12-28.

However, I’m always riding it on one of our local trails and while they are fairly tame, it’s just a happier time for me with my touring bar rig. The brakes are easier to deal with using flat bar levers.

And once you go SS, it’s very nice to have the much more comfortable and useful bar locations for riding out of the saddle. YMMV.

Otto

CrowSeph

Swept bar , touring and other bars that let your back more straight definitely are comfy but for me kills all the aesthetic. Meanwhile a riser bar and a dropbar change the look in a better way. A already tried a riser bar but is in aluminum (that bar came up from a folding bike, on that bike i swap with a flat bar for a more low position since the stem can't be lowered, but looks kinda fragile since is very thin and as already mentioned in aluminum too).
i found very nice as aesthetic the bullmoosebar , but as comfort improvement is still the same, but the problem with that bar is that i must add a cable hanger for cantilever, and also adding a 800grams bat seems quite wrong since the bike is already not feather light.
for now I'll clean the original and repaint to make it looks new since i don't think only cleaning the rust spots will leave the bar perfect.

CrowSeph

After the polishing i finally can tell is a sort of midnight blue-purple with flakes.

I love it

Korina

Great googly moogly, that's gorgeous! You lucky dog. I'll enjoy watching you build up this beauty.

CrowSeph

I'm loving this project every second more i spent during the rebuild. But is not perfect as may appear.

The most damaged area is the fork...

Ps. During the crankset clearing ,when I removed the chainring some pieces felt. There was some little spacers on the crankset's bolts. Are those very necessary? May i have lost a few 🤣

CrowSeph

Bike is nearly completed , i still had to clear the brake calipers and the front mech and restoring the saddle. Everything else is completed and mounted.

I had a few parts standing by , those skewers are definitely not vintage but i like how they fit. I already ordered a few colored crank bolts to add a bit of details there and here.



Also I customized a bag , the logo may not be super precise since is handmade but is another detail that I'm proud.



What do you guys think?

mrv 

- possibly the previous owner added spacers because the chain ring bolts were not achieving a clamp force when the bolts were tightened. Kind of the fasteners were bottoming out and the bolts were still spinning around.
If you assemble everything, and everything stays tight, and there is no play in the rings, "probably" OK. (consider that free advice on the internets....)

I've received three free RockHoppers (one complete, one frameset, and the latest in a state of disrepair).
The first was all stock - a 60cm top tube with a REALLY long flat stem, just not gonna happen. So I went drop bar and riser stem to start. Then switched to Jones-risers. Very swept back, but pretty good for camping/touring/commuting/kicking around



- the drop bar mod


- approx. current set up with Jones bars


the riser stem was the first comfort mod.



- the freebie, spring project

That dark purple version cracked around the bottom bracket, which is when a friend gifted me his light purple version same size as mine. And I moved the parts over.

CrowSeph

Very interesting thank you. I found a nice handlebar called surly corner bar it seems to be the only handlebar with the feeling of a dropbar but with the compatibility of a standard mtb's handlebar (you can use mtb's shifters and brakes without any problem). But as another interesting handlebar (the bullmosebar) the price make it out of budget.