Upgrade bike or fork?

jaredholdcroft

Hi,

I have a 4 yr old Specialized Hardrock - 19" frame with pretty average tektro v-brakes and shimano gears and a garbage RST Gila fork.

I'm thinking about upgrading the fork to something usable (I have about £200 too spend) and putting up with the brakes and noisy gears as I am a fairly fair weather trail rider. One thing that bothers me is that I'm not sure if the frame is a little big. I'm 5'10" and the frame sometimes feels a little on the large size - are there any tell tale signs for have a too big frame? If it so too big I'll put the £200 to one side and look to upgrade to a new bike in the new year...

Cheers,

Jared

supersonic

if it feels too big, it is too big! Corect size is a combination of a few factors, the main two being the reach and the standover height.

£200 will buy a great fork which will transform the bike, but add another 2-300 and you could get a much better bike. Either option would be a worthwhile improvement. You don't have to spend 200 on a fork either: 100 gets an RS Tora.

jaredholdcroft

Thanks for that.

I'm pretty sure that I've got a very poor riding position so i'm going to work on that and see if that helps. The bike has the stock 80ish mm stem and riser bar so I'm guessing there is some room for adjustment there too.

Shortening the stem will have an effect on the steering right? Will this be dramatic if I dropped to a, for example. a 50mm stem? Moving to a flat bar from the original riser bar will bring everything in too - aside from personal preference are there many pros/cons to using a flat bar for trails/XC?

Ta,

j

supersonic

The shorter stem will quicken the steering up, make it more lively. Thing is you can habe your hands in the same positiom with a flat bas as a riser bar depending on stem, stem spacers etc so it is all relative. A higher position will take a little weight off the front end, and riser bars tens to have a little more rearwards sweep.

jaredholdcroft

Sorry - i know this sounds brand new but what's the point of a riser bar and what did you mean by rearwards sweep??? This bike + bar is all i've ever ridden so i'm nothing to compare too.

J

ride_whenever

risers put you in the same position as flat bars with a slightly longer stem with a bigger angle, they should be lighter than the equivalent stem and flat bar combo, but it is a fashion thing too.

Backsweep is how much they bend backwards from being straight!