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Hello all, I’m new to the forum and somewhat new to mountian biking. It wasn’t until last year that I started getting interested in recreational riding. This was because one of my friends had gotten into it. I didn’t buy a bike and start riding until this spring. So typical to my personality, recreational XC riding has become my latest obsession, much to the dismay of my wife. ("Another hobby? Can’t you pick just one?") First though I needed to get a bike, and I trolled around the retail stores for awhile, until my friend pointed me to the LBS (Trailhead) here in Hunstville, AL. After test riding a few bikes, I settled on a 19" 2009 Specialized Hardrock Disc in black. So far the bike has performed great, although I have already managed to bend the rear wheel. 😳 For now I have limited my riding to single track trails in the local mountians. I am building skills and preparing for the more aggressive stuff later this summer.
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Cool man, welcome to the boards, the Rockhopper is definitely worth it. Specialized knows what they are doing. So hope you enjoy the time here, lot of neat stuff, so take a good look around. Also, ask questions, we all love to share knowledge when we can!
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Welcome aboard dude!!! Glad to have you!! Please let us know how those singletracks are in Huntsville and if you recommend them!!! And congratulations on The Specialized!! Great bike brand and great reputation!!! That bike will last you a long time!!
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Welcome to the world of mt. biking. The Hardrock is a great hardtail, but at the price you get a not-so-great wheelset. You may want to upgrade to a burlier pair. Azonic Outlaws for example run around $299 for a pair. Probably about the best deal you can find on a tougher wheelset.
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Welcome to Singletracks. You will find that the people here are friendly and willing to help you with any problems you might have (except for dealing with the wife; that’s all you 😆 ). I think you will find plenty of trails in your area and the surrounding states. If you have any questions feel free to ask…
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"Bigred15" wrote
although I have already managed to bend the rear wheel. 😳.
dang i seriously hate that. i destroyed so many cheap wheels on my first bike… a beefier wheel set is definitely a good investment to look into, as well as a dualie in a year or two.
but yeah, get out and ride that thing man!
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Welcome Bigred15. Sorry to hear about the wheel, man. I have an old rigid HardRock that I rode up until recently. It’s a solid bike, so I’m surprised to hear you trashed the wheel already. I guess you either dropped hard, or they are using cheaper wheels than they used to (or maybe a little of both). Anyway, good to have you aboard.
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Welcome aboard BigRed. When I started riding 5 years ago, I thought the "obsession" would eventually go away after the new wore off. Nope. Still got it. Hehe, could be a worse one no doubt. Kayaking, hiking, skiing, fishing and other things (work) I use to do a lot have kind of taken a back seat. Luckily my girlfriend rides and kind of understands, but she doesn’t have the bug like me.
Anyway, hope you enjoy riding. Sure theres a lot of good stuff in your area. Too bad about the wheel. I have a Hardrock too, but haven’t had any wheel issues yet.
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hey if you want to get that wheel fixed instead of dropping more money, getting a wheel trued up is really cheap. at the begining of this season I got both my wheels trued up and 2 spokes replaced for $ 28
I hope you’re ready for this adiction, it comes on hard and fast.
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If it’s not bent badly you can true it. But be warned if it’s bent pretty good, it will never be the same as far as strength. I taco’ed a Rhynolite really bad one time and the guys at the bike shop were magicians and were able to true it back to near perfection. They warned me that it would be much weaker and they were right. It taco’ed again in an urban race as I came down a flight of stairs while I tried to make a turn at the bottom. Needless to say the wheel did not want to roll through the fork any longer and pitched me over the bars onto the concrete…fortunately my ninja-like agility saved me from serious injury.
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"Asfyxiate" wrote
Cool man, welcome to the boards, the Rockhopper is definitely worth it.
hardrock not rockhopper
welcome to single tracks i also ride a hardrock and i love it im sure you will too kinda suprised you bent the rim already…took me a long time to do that. hey man its all about the fun so go do that and you’ll get better
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"NismoFreak69" wrote
[quote="Asfyxiate":edc3jryf]Cool man, welcome to the boards, the Rockhopper is definitely worth it.
hardrock not rockhopper
welcome to single tracks i also ride a hardrock and i love it im sure you will too kinda suprised you bent the rim already…took me a long time to do that. hey man its all about the fun so go do that and you’ll get better[/quote:edc3jryf]
You know, that was what I meant but for some reason was thinking of the rockhopper so that’s what I ended up typing. However I still stand by with what I said, being that all of their stuff is great.
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"garbanzo" wrote
hey if you want to get that wheel fixed instead of dropping more money, getting a wheel trued up is really cheap. at the begining of this season I got both my wheels trued up and 2 spokes replaced for $ 28
I hope you’re ready for this adiction, it comes on hard and fast.
see, when i had cheap wheels i actually put a big bend/taco/a bunch of different crap in about 4 different rims that couldn’t be fixed by trueing… i messed up a lot of different wheels a lot of different ways before i got a decent pair.
good call on the addiction…
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My first 4 years of mountain biking were on a Specialized Rockhopper. You can’t go wrong with a Specialized, although you did just find one of the differences between the hardrock and rockhopper (cheaper wheelset)
As your first upgrade, check out jensonusa.com/ as they have a pair of WTB freeride rims that are rock solid, and are only $89 with skewers!
Also, they are rim brake compatible (for current use) but have shimano disc compatible hubs, you know, for the second upgrade…
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"maddslacker" wrote
Also, they are rim brake compatible (for current use) but have shimano disc compatible hubs, you know, for the second upgrade…
straight up man, disc brakes make such a HUGE difference! i don’t think i’d want to ride without them now, or if i could. but i have met people with rim brakes that they claim work just as well as disc… and they seriously come close.
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Thanks for the welcome and all the feedback. I meant to post this weekend, but between riding, a bachelor party, and a bunch of other junk I just didn’t have time.
As far as the wheel goes, I had a friend look at it to tell me if it was that bad. It wasn’t, its just warped a little. It looks like it’s wobbling when I ride but most people can’t even notice. Maybe its just my @nal tendencies toward everything I own.
Ugrading the rims is one thing that will be in the books shortly. I had the foresight to buy a bike that already has disc brakes on it so no upgrade needed there. First, I’m getting together all the basic riding equipment a little at a time. A friend and I went to some local trails on Saturday only to have the ride cut short 2 hours in by him getting a flat. So we pushed the bikes back to the trucks and headed to the LBS. His snaffu promted me to buy a mini pump and spare tube. Sometime this week or next I will purchase a mini tool and some riding gloves.
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Yeah, a pump or CO2 inflator + spare tube are a must-have for all riding.
This is the multi-tool I carry:
[url:351i1tgh]http://www.rei.com/product/768257[/url:351i1tgh]It’s reasonably priced and has gotten me or a riding companion out of a jam more than once.
It’s also not a bad idea to carry some zip ties, maybe a long velcro strip, a Sram power link that fits your chain (8-spd vs 9spd), a spare chainring bolt and, if your disc brakes are hydraulic, the plastic wedge used to force your brake pads apart when needed.
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