Marlin or Rockhopper? We have a winner.
Written: Oct 13 '06 (Updated Dec 25 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: New frame design, nice graphics, Rock Shox Fork (with lockout!)
Cons: Satin finish scratches easily, integrated shifters
The Bottom Line: hamster
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| Dargen's Full Review: Specialized Rockhopper |
For my senior year of college I finally decided to buy a commuter bike again. I live about a mile from the center of campus in a place where absolutely no buses run and I hate paying the meters. Time for a bike. Wait a second, I own a bike. A really nice custom bike that sleeps at the foot of my bed. Definitely NOT a commuter bike.
Originally I decided on buying anything but a Specialized. I figured that if I bought a bike that I actually like I would upgrade all the parts and dump a ton of money into a bike that would probably get stolen. It is MSU after all. So...I picked up a Gary Fisher Marlin off eBay for cheap and tinkered with that for a few months. The truth is, I hate the bike. I hate more than the fact that it isn't a Specialized. I hate the geometry of the frame, the way it rides, and how I feel like I have absolutely no control over the bike. I couldn't even ride it no handed. Very sad. I sold the Marlin and bought a Rockhopper. A brand new 2007 Rockhopper. Not that I can afford another bike.
Why Rockhopper over Hardrock?
A base model Rockhopper has an MSRP of $520 vs the base model Hardrock MSRP of $390. With either bike I had already decided that I would replace the derailleurs so these had absolutely no determining factor in my purchase. The Rockhopper is equipped with a Rock Shox Dart 3 fork, while that Hardrock has an RST. RST is a terrible leaky fork and I wanted nothing to do with it. Plus, the Rock Shox has a nice little lockout feature. I can lock my fork out to essentially make the fork rigid. For commuting this is a great feature and helps to boost my speed and the Rockhopper has a stronger, lighter A1 aluminum frame. And...for the 2007 lineup, the frame design has changed slightly. The 2005 and 2006 Rockhoppers had a weird indentation where the top tube connects to the seat tube. This has been removed for the 2007 models.
I thought it was M4?
Initially all the Rockhopper were supposed to have an M4 frame, since the Stumpjumpers now have an M5 frame. If you look at the early photos of the 07 Rockhoppers you will see that they all say M4 next to the seat tube. Not so. Only the Rockhopper Pro Disc has the M4 frame...and the really sweet mango paint. The rest of the 2007 Rockhoppers have an A1 aluminum frame. The difference? A1 is heavier than the M4 and will flex quite a bit more. For the novice rider, you won't notice a difference.
Components
Unlike the 06 lineup, Specialized has decided to go back to Shimano on its Hardrocks and Rockhoppers. The SX-4 shifter on most of the Hardrocks had to be replaced because the levers were one piece and had a tendency to break. These were then replaced by an X-7 shifter (about $65), which you can now find on their 07 Stumpjumpers.
Fork
The 2007 Rockhopper has a RockShox Dart 3 SL fork on it with 100mm of travel, 28.6mm Cro-Mo stanchions, coil spring, and rebound adjustment with lockout and preload adjust. I was thrilled to get a $500 bike that didn't have an RST fork on it. RST forks leak and have a tendency to lock up in cold weather. A Dart 3 still isn't the greatest fork, but with a lockout feature that actually works, you can't go wrong.
Wheels and Tires
For some odd reason, Specialized decided that they should have their name on the rims. Why so weird? The actual manufacturer, Alex Rims, still has their name right next to it. The Alex rims on this bike are your basic no frills double wall rims attached to a Specialized front hub and a Shimano rear hub. Another weird thing from Specialized. Even on a Stumpjumper they put a Specialized hub on the front and a Shimano hub on the rear. These wheels are rim brake only, so if you want to run disc brakes you need to invest in a new wheelset. Blueskycycling is my recommendation for a good set of cheap disc wheels. I picked up a set of Sun DS2-XC wheels with Shimano disc hubs for $85 once. Yes, both wheels.
The stock tires are Specialized Fast Trak 26x2.0". As with most stock Specialized tires I would never use these for serious trail riding or racing. The knobbies on the tire aren't substantial enough to track well in the corners. The tire, however, is great for fast rolling on pavement. The knobbies are very close together in the center part of the tire and provide excellent pavement traction even in wet weather.
Drivetrain
The stock components on this bike include a basic no frills Shimano crankset, a Shimano Alivio M-410 rear derailleur, a Shimano Acera M-330 front derailleur and a nice cheap 8 speed Shimano HG-50 chain. These derailleurs are not the smoothest, but definitely work well for a light duty trail bike. The Alivio would just as well, if not better than my old Deore rear derailleur that I had on my Gary Fisher Marlin. The only drawback is that the Alivio is slightly bigger (pulleys, cage) that the Deore. The shifting is smooth and responsive.
Brakes
While normally I'm opposed to the concept of Tektro brakes, but as long as they are a v-brake and not a disc brake I have no problem. These brakes work just as well as any other v-brake I have used, and as long as they are well maintained I anticipate having no problem with them. V-brakes, in my opinion, are a lot easier to maintain than disc brakes. My only gripe with the brakes on this bike would be the fact that the brake levers are a Shimano integrated shifter/brake lever combo. I had this exact same shifter, the Shimano EF-50 model, on my old Hardrocks and never cared for the cheap feel.
Handlebars, Stem, Grips
The included handlebars are alloy 640mm wide riser bars. I hate riser bars. I can't say that enough. I don't like the feel, look, or smell of riser bars. Yes I said smell. I think my Fisher had riser bars. I hated those too. The grips are a dual density compound Specialized grip. Nice looking. Another nice thing about the Rockhopper is that it has a normal two bolt alloy stem. The Hardrocks have a Specialized Mobius stem which looks like a wanna be but failed downhill stem. Not to mention it feels like a brick.
Seatpost, Saddle
I was very pleased to see that Specialized started to put its Rival line of saddles on the Rockhoppers and even the Hardrocks instead of the cheaper, extremely uncomfortable saddles. Normally I would replace any stock saddle but decided to keep this one because it fit me nicely. Holding this saddle to the frame is a generic Kalloy seatpost. I broke one of these once. Not a pleasant experience. Granted, I was doing something stupid that I now realize my bike was not designed for.
The Ride
A shorter top tube and stem give this bike more of an upright ride than my Stumpjumper. This isn't necessarily bad if you consider that these bikes are designed for two different things. Unlike my Fisher I can ride with no hands and feel that I have enough control over the bike to not get killed by one of the crazy drivers on campus.
Why go V-brake instead of Disc?
For $120 more you can have the exact same component package with disc brakes instead. The wheels have the same rims but in the disc version and the hubs have been upgraded to Shimano Center Lock. Center lock hubs mean Shimano disc brakes only. The disc version has Shimano 415 center lock disc brakes, one of the cheapest Shimano disc brakes available. From previous near car crashing into experiences with cheapo disc brakes I have learned that cheap disc brakes are actually worse than v-brakes. With either bike I would still have to buy a new wheelset and decent disc brakes if I intended to get rid of v-brakes. In the end, the only thing I would gain from the disc version is the cleaner appearance of not having v-brake bosses on the frame.
What I replaced and why
My bike came in so fast that my new parts hadn't even arrived. As with any other bike, I immediately replaced the handlebars. I can't stand 640mm wide alloy riser bars. These were replaced by a Sette flat bar. Sette is the house brand from Pricepoint, making it so much cheaper than other brands. To be honest with you, I would consider putting these handlebars on my Stumpjumper too if I wasn't currently fascinated with carbon fiber handlebars.
The next thing I replaced were the integrated shifters. Unlike my Stumpjumper (full XT setup) I decided to go with SRAM. These shifters were replaced by SRAM X7 shifters which could be compared to Shimano's LX series. I decided not to even have a front derailleur so I pulled that and only put the right, rear shifter on the bike. I figured I don't use it on my Stumpjumper, why bother with the commuter bike. Since the shifters were integrated before, I had to replace the brake levers as well. I chose Avid FR-5 brake levers for their price ($20 from Pricepoint) and because I have used quite a few of their levers before.
Now, since I have SRAM shifters I had no choice but to go for a SRAM rear derailleur. SRAM rear derailleurs have a 1:1 actuation ratio and will not work with Shimano shifters. I got bored and tried to connect my X-7 rear derailleur to my Shimano integrated shifters and found that only half my gears worked. You can, however, use a SRAM front derailleur with Shimano shifters (and vice versa).
Next of my list of things to replace were the grips and chain. Due to an angry nerve in my hands I have to be very careful with my choice of grips. I decided to go with Salsa Juegoes de Fuegos just like my Stumpjumper and I bought a SRAM PC-58 chain from a local bike shop. The PC-58 has a nickel plated finish and a silver powerlink connector. I wanted a better chain for the bike so that it would last longer and be less likely to rust when I ride in the rain or snow. If I had some extra money I would replace the pedals, but a flat platform pedal is just like any other when you only use it for commuting.
More bike shop horrors
Compared to other terrible shop experiences I thought I did pretty well with this one. I avoided the young stupid salesperson and went for the older guy. Instead of waiting 7-10 days (actually 2 months), I only waited 4 days for my bike to come in. The shop had absolutely no 2007 Rockhoppers in stock and if I wanted a 2006, I would have to settle for some extremely ugly color choices. My only gripe is that the handlebars were extremely crooked when I got the bike. Crooked as in my right hand was about 2 inches in front of my left hand. Bad mechanic!
Colors and Sizes
The 2007 Specialized Rockhopper comes in three different colors, Candy Blue Swoosh, Flo Red Swoosh, and Satin Black Swoosh. Swoosh does not mean Nike, it just refers to the graphics on the bike. I opted for the black swoosh because I have had too many blue bikes in the past and still haven't worked up the nerve to move onto red. My only gripe about the black bike is that it is a satin finish which means no clearcoat. The paint is prone to scratching more than a bike with clearcoat, so if you are picky about your paint scratching you should avoid the black satin finish. Frame sizes are available in 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, and 23". At 5'9" I can ride either a 17 or a 19 with no problem. When buying a bike make sure you talk to a salesperson to get the right size frame for you. Make sure they aren't an idiot, as I have seen a salesman try to sell a 5'6" girl a bike with a 19 inch frame. 19 inch frames are better for people who are about 6 feet tall.
Random Thoughts
For a $500 bike I can't really complain. A nice fork and a solid frame round this out to be a nice bike. If you're wondering why I gave this 5 stars and replaced half the components you really don't know me. You can't just go from a $4000 custom built absolutely beautiful bike to a $500 bike and not upgrade something. Plus...I finally bought a repair stand and felt the need to use it.
Note: The picture is of a 2007 Rockhopper Pro Disc with an MSRP of $1100. The color is mango. Mmmmmmmango.
Recommended:
Yes
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