Upgrades for Specialized Rockhopper Disc 08

Philgr

Im new to Mountain biking and my fitness is just reaching the level where i am starting to enjoy my trips out.

I bought a specialized rockhopper disc 08 in december, and i am told its a good bike to upgrade from.

i am hoping as the weather gets better i get out more, and enjoy the bike more, and although the bike is more then adequate for my needs now, i am curious as to the potential for upgrade this bike has.

Obviously i could throw cash at it and effectively have a new bike. but can i make big improvements to it with small incremental changes.

i guess what i am asking is what is the bikes weak point

thanks in advance for satisfying my curiosity

Phil G

supersonic

Basically there isn't one! A well balanced bike, with no weak spots.

If you don't feel it is letting you down, I'd just wait until parts wear out. If money is burning a hole, new forks such as rebas would drop some weight, and lighter wheels are always beneficial.

stumpyjon

Depends why you want to upgrade and how much you want to spend. To be honest it looks a fairly decent spec anyway.

I don't know but I guess the wheels will be heavy (the rear cassette certainly is compared to an XT one) and I'd probably start with new wheels as it will make the most immediate difference. Wheels also include tyres, they're often heavy wire bead jobs as OE.

After that possibly the fork although the Tora 302 is fine, a better fork (REBA?) would be lighter.

Cassette & cranks could be lighter but I'd wait until wear requires a replacement.

Grips, some nice locks ons would be a bit of bling for little money.

Personally I'd also swap the shifters for XT as I much prefer the action of XT shifters (swapped out LX ones on my own bike).

Philgr

Thanks for the quick replies guys,

Im hoping some of the answers will give me a better understanding of my bike and the bits that are on it.

But i am more curious as the the bikes potential for upgrades.

If i get into it (i hope i can) then i will upgrade the bike as bits wear out, but i will prob also get a new bike and spend some ££ on a better bike.

supersonic

What we usually mean by 'potential to upgrade' is that it has a good frame that is found on more expensive models. Of course, you can upgrade any bike!

Problem with a bike with no weaknesses (are bizarre as that sounds!) is that upgrading it to the next level is expensive compared to say a bike with a mix of good and poor parts - obvioulsy less to upgrade on the latter.

Think carefully about what you want. A lighter more adjustable fork will be noticed, but is expensive. Tyres are cheap and easy to replace.

My column in this months (March) WMB is on upgrading!

Philgr

Cheers Supersonic

What your telling me is that i bought the right bike.

If i out grow the bike then a new more capable bike is the only reasonable route.

Of course if bits wear out then i will replace as and when.

Cheers

stumpyjon

Philgr wrote:

What your telling me is that i bought the right bike.
If i out grow the bike then a new more capable bike is the only reasonable route.

No what we're saying is you have a decent bike, but go but another one as well as you can never have too many bikes

No seriously, you made a good choice in the first place, upgrading is therefore going to be quite expensive for the improvements you'll get (but that's never put me off, recently replaced a perfectly good LX front mech with an XT just for the hell of it).

I think you're in the realms of making a good bike better rather than getting to the good standard in the first place. Think about the things that annoy you most, are the shifters cluncky, does it accelerate slowly (heavy wheels & cassette), are the forks as plush as you'd like etc. and then focus on those areas.

Iain C

Just a thought, if you are new to MTBing as you say, the only benchmark you have is your Rockhopper as you probably have not ridden much else. Ride with some mates and swap bikes, you will be amazed how different other bikes feel, and it will give you some pointers in terms of "thier brakes are much better" or "my tyre would definitely have lost traction there".

But as the others say good bike, would be easy to waste lots of cash not really making it any better unless it's serious wheels/fork upgrade, which is a big chunk towards a new bike!

llamafarmer

Things like tyres, pedals, grips, saddle are all fairly cheap and easy to fit yourself and can make a reasonable difference to your ride. But tbh honest you sound like you're looking for upgrades rather than feeling a great need for them. As Iain says, the more you ride it and other bikes, you will start to find bits you don't like - lack of grip, sore arse, whatever.

If you really fancy spending, then maybe some bits of colour coordinated Hope bling....

Anderzz

Spend money on yourself and wait until something knacks up on the bike before replacing it.

Get yourself some good kit, shorts, leggings, gloves, jackets, helmet, glasses, camelbak.. tools, etc

Philgr

Cheers guys all good advice 8)

Im not looking to deliberately spend any cash on it, as the bike in its current spec is more then capable for my level or riding.

TBH i was not expecting people saying the bike is a ok as is, i was expecting people saying for example the rear mech is pants get shot ASAP and replace it with 'xxxxxx' or bin the tyres and replace with "xxxx"

as i stated above, if i get into this biking lark then i will keep the current bike and buy a better bike, and prob relegate this bike to winter / reserve.

Phil G