I picked up this Rockhopper f&f on the forum back in spring and built it up as another parts bin build. Then I converted it to 'touring' guise with Mary bars and Blackburn rack but, with a cycle tour unlikely until next summer, I've converted it again... to give dirt drops a try.
All the touring kit (wheels, forks, bars, stem, brifters, grips, all the cables etc.) has been stored away so I should be able to convert it back in under an hour.
Despite the original rigid forks having a whopping ~250mm steerer they still didn't give me the height I needed to I splashed out on some On-One 26ers which remain uncut at 300mm as the drops are almost the same height as the saddle now. Yes, I am a lanky s*d! The new forks have removable rim brake bosses which set the brake much further away from the rim than previously - I had to squeeze some washers onto the pad's threads but they still look odd... work well though.
Other new parts include the Midge bars, Dia-Compe V-brake levers & friction bar end shifters, the 40 dgeree riser stem, loads of spacers, white pedals and a bit of red bling. Also picked up the IRC Mythos skinwalls for about £13 delivered! Switching to drop bar brake levers gave me no adjusters, so I made my own (which sit inline between the end of the cable outer and the noodles) from a couple of rear mech barrel adjusters and stainless M5 nuts.
It's literally just been finished so needs a good test ride, and I'll admit it's funny looking, but I've been trimming and shuffling my fleet around recently and it's nice to have a bit more variety than I used to have. Plus it's just an hour away from going back to touring trim so serves the purpose of two bikes in one.
SPEC SHEET (touring set-up as shown in final photo is in brackets):
Frame: 1998 Specialized Rockhopper with Richey Logic Nitanium tubing and drop-outs
Fork: On-One 26er (or stock)
Headset: Ritchey Logic
Stem: Profile Boa 120mm x 40 degree (or stock)
Spacers: A2Z
Handlebar: On-One Midge (or Mary bars)
Tape: Charge U-Bend (or DMR Zip)
Brakes: Deore V-brakes
Brake Pads: unknown red
Brake Cables: unknown white outers with Fibrax inners (or black outers)
Noodles: Shimano with homemade cable adjusters
Brake Levers: Dia-Compe 287V (or M740 STI)
Barend Shifters: Dia-Compe Powershifters (or M740 STI 8 speed)
Front Derailleur: STX
Rear Derailleur: Deore XT M739
Cassette: Shimano 8 speed HG
Chain: KMC
Cranks: Specialized Strongarm
Crank Bolts: Truvativ
Chainrings: stock
Chainring bolts: stock
Bottom Bracket: stock
Pedals: Wellgo V8 copies (white)
Hub Skewers: Halo (or XT)
Rims: Mavic X517
Hubs: Deore XT Parallax
Tyres: IRC Mythos XC skinwall (for touring I have some Schwalbe Marathons and Bontrager Connections stashed away)
Saddle: Specialized BG
Seatpost: stock 30.4mm
Seatpost Binder: Brand X
Extras: red ano bottle cage & top cap bolts & cable crimps, Specialized bottle cage(s),
All the touring kit (wheels, forks, bars, stem, brifters, grips, all the cables etc.) has been stored away so I should be able to convert it back in under an hour.
Despite the original rigid forks having a whopping ~250mm steerer they still didn't give me the height I needed to I splashed out on some On-One 26ers which remain uncut at 300mm as the drops are almost the same height as the saddle now. Yes, I am a lanky s*d! The new forks have removable rim brake bosses which set the brake much further away from the rim than previously - I had to squeeze some washers onto the pad's threads but they still look odd... work well though.
Other new parts include the Midge bars, Dia-Compe V-brake levers & friction bar end shifters, the 40 dgeree riser stem, loads of spacers, white pedals and a bit of red bling. Also picked up the IRC Mythos skinwalls for about £13 delivered! Switching to drop bar brake levers gave me no adjusters, so I made my own (which sit inline between the end of the cable outer and the noodles) from a couple of rear mech barrel adjusters and stainless M5 nuts.
It's literally just been finished so needs a good test ride, and I'll admit it's funny looking, but I've been trimming and shuffling my fleet around recently and it's nice to have a bit more variety than I used to have. Plus it's just an hour away from going back to touring trim so serves the purpose of two bikes in one.
SPEC SHEET (touring set-up as shown in final photo is in brackets):
Frame: 1998 Specialized Rockhopper with Richey Logic Nitanium tubing and drop-outs
Fork: On-One 26er (or stock)
Headset: Ritchey Logic
Stem: Profile Boa 120mm x 40 degree (or stock)
Spacers: A2Z
Handlebar: On-One Midge (or Mary bars)
Tape: Charge U-Bend (or DMR Zip)
Brakes: Deore V-brakes
Brake Pads: unknown red
Brake Cables: unknown white outers with Fibrax inners (or black outers)
Noodles: Shimano with homemade cable adjusters
Brake Levers: Dia-Compe 287V (or M740 STI)
Barend Shifters: Dia-Compe Powershifters (or M740 STI 8 speed)
Front Derailleur: STX
Rear Derailleur: Deore XT M739
Cassette: Shimano 8 speed HG
Chain: KMC
Cranks: Specialized Strongarm
Crank Bolts: Truvativ
Chainrings: stock
Chainring bolts: stock
Bottom Bracket: stock
Pedals: Wellgo V8 copies (white)
Hub Skewers: Halo (or XT)
Rims: Mavic X517
Hubs: Deore XT Parallax
Tyres: IRC Mythos XC skinwall (for touring I have some Schwalbe Marathons and Bontrager Connections stashed away)
Saddle: Specialized BG
Seatpost: stock 30.4mm
Seatpost Binder: Brand X
Extras: red ano bottle cage & top cap bolts & cable crimps, Specialized bottle cage(s),
