1988 Specialized Rockhopper

Trebz: Thanks for the tips - i will follow your recommendations.

SIMONFREESE: Cheers - i'm hoping it's going to turn out ok, i don't really know what i'm doing - just making it up as i go along!

The new tyres and tubes turned up today - I've gone for the cheapest tyres i could - cheng shin / raleigh 26 x 1.95.

I know that skinwall tyres would be more period correct for the bike, but i'm not a huge fan of them.

Also need to get some rim tape for the front wheel.

I'm sure the tyres will be fine, it's easy to forget that your bike has to work in the real world, and your tyre choice is pragmatic. No point in sorting this out and being scared to use it!

Very true - i was debating over road or knobbly type tyres for ages, but finally decided on the knobblies, may not be so good on the road but we have a few cycle paths round my way which are mud / gravel so went for a compromise.

With enough air, the tyres you are fitting will roll fine on the road and give you some extra confidence in the wet. I have similar tyes on my commuter, 1.9 cheap kenda knobblies, and keep them fully inflated, they don't hold me back!

They say on the sidewall inflate to 40 - 65 psi. Would they be better inflated towards the higher psi?

For the road, yes!

OK mate, thanks for the advice. Next job will be the cleanup. i also lubed the front brake cable earlier and adjusted the brake so it's central and works correctly.

I was also having a good look around the crank and chainwheel area and as i spun the crank backwards i noticed the 3 front chainwheels are oval....

There is a sticker that says "biopace" so i did a little reading up on it...

At first i though there was something wrong with it as it wasn't round...

I hsd the same thing the first time I came across biopace!

I'm sure you'll make it awesome... I love this Specialized era

There are some who would say there is something wrong with it not being round.