new bloke alert - and advice on my ride.

evening all, my name is Mark and i'm an alco...hang on, wrong forum, sorry.
no, seriously, i joined this place a few weeks ago after finding it by accident. i have an interest in older bikes, preferring them to snazzy new ones. i have a modern-ish Raleigh MTB, a really old decrepit Raleigh racer, and 2 Specialized bikes. i say 2, one was a Hardrock frame i bought off your very own 'Twain', and it's something like bike shaped just now. the other is a shabby old Rockhopper i bought for the princely sum of 27 english pounds [what do you mean, i was robbed?]. it was a bloke's daily rider for years before being dumped in the back of his garage for 3 years. it had no brakes, siezed gear cables & a rogered chain. it's still battered & rusty but it does have that special feel still. it won't be a serious off roader, more of a ride to the Spar shop bike.
what i would like to know is - how old do you think it is, and is it still original spec?

it's got 21 speed shimano gearing - Altus chainset, STX rear mech, shimano trigger shifters. Araya Rims on Alivio parallax hubs, wellgo pedals, and probably the only bit i'm sure isn't original - the Tranz x bars.
give me your opinions please.

why is there moss growing on the horizontal bars but not on the vertical bars on that gate?

I'm liking the post box personally. Any way welcome to the forum, if you want to catch a new addiction head to the for sale section.

Hi ,
Classic spesh ! i love these steel models looks around a 94 model ?
It would have come with cantis which if the levers are original wont pull the right amount of cable so could be the answer to your lack of brakes . What are your plans for it ?

Cheers Paul

yep not too much original left but who cares? if it works go ride it, I bought a 100% original bike from 1991 and it is now no where near original suffice to say it gets used every day. i loke the steel specialized bikes they were made when people hankered after them and yours looks as good as any other. 27 quid you got a bargain

I'd got with 1994 too! Nice, underrated frames.

cheers for the welcome guys.

i'm surprised no smartar5e said the 'beware of the dog' sign on the gate related to the bike!

shinobi":3uthx8px said:

Hi ,
Classic spesh ! i love these steel models looks around a 94 model ?
It would have come with cantis which if the levers are original wont pull the right amount of cable so could be the answer to your lack of brakes . What are your plans for it ?

Cheers Paul

Click to expand...

it's got v brake levers now, the reason it had no brakes is that the front pads were so worn down that the 2 arms met on full cable pull! neglected? absolutely!
just going to ride it, to the spar shop mainly, perhaps to the post office if i'm feeling adventurous!
no, more like an occasional trundle down the canal towpath with the kids kind of use.

mark_w":1sejryfu said:

shinobi":1sejryfu said:

Hi ,
Classic spesh ! i love these steel models looks around a 94 model ?
It would have come with cantis which if the levers are original wont pull the right amount of cable so could be the answer to your lack of brakes . What are your plans for it ?

Cheers Paul

Click to expand...

it's got v brake levers now, the reason it had no brakes is that the front pads were so worn down that the 2 arms met on full cable pull! neglected? absolutely!
just going to ride it, to the spar shop mainly, perhaps to the post office if i'm feeling adventurous!
no, more like an occasional trundle down the canal towpath with the kids kind of use.

Click to expand...

Oh i see !
Its amazing what a strip and clean plus fresh cables etc can do , go on give it a birthday

mark_w":14vjjebf said:

cheers for the welcome guys.

i'm surprised no smartar5e said the 'beware of the dog' sign on the gate related to the bike!

Click to expand...

You need to post pics of the dog too!