Well Tweaked Hardrock? - Pics with new wheels

BoarderGreen

Is there a point when you think upgrading gets silly or is natural to stick with a bike that somehow you have grown attached to?

After a year break from mountain biking my wife got me a 2nd hand 2010 specialized hardrock comp for my birthday, god she is a great wife!!, who ever she bought it from hadnt even rode it! i know the difference between a very clean bike and one that that hasnt been ridden,
She was so worried about getting me a bike as she knows for years it was my main hobby and the bike i had before were not cheap! ......since i i met her she knows i had a Merlin Malt 2 fitted with fox float r's, hayes brakes & hope bits, specialized big hit expert upgraded a bit for racing and a giant glory 1.

The hardrock and i have somehow managed to cover more miles at more places than any bike i have since i started back in the early 90's!

But as to be expected with a budget entery level bike a few things have required changing since i got it, and i think it might be getting a bit daft for something that cost 250 quid off ebay.

2010 Hardrock;
Rock Shox sektor coils from TF tuning fitted with the custom heavy spring
Shimano SPD's
Charge spoon saddle
Shimano deore disc brakes
maxxis tyres (among others)
Specialized lock on grips
Superstar 780mm wide bars
Superstar stem

and the bike is currently in the shop getting a full drive train upgrade following a year and half of abuse, going for a 2x10 set up with a mix of SLX and Deore. Full overhaul though, shifters, mechs, chain, chainset, cassette and cables.

Will get some pictures up when i get it back later this week.

The bike hasnt let me down really, its done more laps of Cannock Chase than i can be bothered to count, sherwood pines, coed y brenin, nant ar aran, coed llandegla, dalby forest, cut gate/ladybower & the C2C coast to coast route and apart from the epic failure of the avid BB5's on 1 ride nothing major has gone wrong with it, bits have worn out for sure, im a big guy and bike maintenance isnt my middle name, buts its impressed so much I'm finding hard to justify getting another bike..so this one stays and gets more bits to turn it into my trail weapon!

I am starting to feel like Trigger from only fools and horses though..........I've had this brush for 20 years, its had 17 new heads and 14 new handles.....

SUPERSUTT

photos please

BoarderGreen

Will do as soon as I get the bike back from the shop

chez_m356

sektors on a 100mm travel bike ?

leaflite

chez_m356 wrote:

sektors on a 100mm travel bike ?

Was going to say that, I hope for your own sake that you arent running them at 150mm :shock:

BoarderGreen

They are 140mm travel..........I know, I know, the bike isn't supposed to have that much travel and when I first got them I ran them wound right down with the u-turn in low travel but eventually I thought b*gger that and ran it full whack. I'm a hefty guy and forks even with the heavy spring sit a fair bit into there travel. I also know that they should stuff up the geometry but to be honest it feels fine to me out on the trail. Also I know the frame isn't supposed to have that length of fork, chance of snapping the head tube.....yeah right!

The set up is working for me, I'm happy with the handling and if the head tube snaps off mid ride with no prior indication of impending failure I'm man enough to accept its my own dumb fault.......until then my budget beast and I will continue to assault trail centres up and down country!

When I think back to bodge job repairs and the bikes we rode in early to mid 90's, plus what we did on them I'm not too worried about the hardrock holding up.

chez_m356

i'd be more worried about this thread holding up without pics, hint hint, whats this bloody bike shop doing to it, didn't you make it clear to them that they had to cease work on all other bikes until yours was done

BoarderGreen

My friend is the manager of said shop and it's being done 'mates rates' so its pretty much done when it's done. I might be able to drag up a few pictures later showing the bike in various stages since I got it. Really hoping for a text to pick it up today I'm itching to get out on it again.....my back up bike just doesn't cut it!! That's a fully rigid 97 Marin nail trail.

BoarderGreen

A few pictures i have found on i-phone while i'm waiting for my bike to come back.

Its taking ages and i'm itching to get out and ride but i cant really hassle him as he's fitting the parts in his spare time at work and doing me a deal on the price. if only i wasnt such a cr*p mechanic :roll:

Better pictures will follow i promise......soon i get my hands back on my bike, well maybe as soon as i get back from a test ride afetr i get it back, cant post pictures of 'clean' bike can i!

70\ʹspenguin

Pic taking rule number 1: Stand the bike up!

BoarderGreen

Yup, but these are the only pics I had on my phone, the mrs is hogging the computer with work so I can't upload my decent older pictures :oops: and I still haven't heard when I will be getting my bike back.......just got to keep thinking it will be worth the wait! Proper snaps will follow.

In the meantime I keep pricing up new wheels on superstar but not quite pressing the 'buy' button........reading the reviews on the website I'm not 100% convinced on the bearings :?

Giraffoto

BoarderGreen wrote:

Is there a point when you think upgrading gets silly or is natural to stick with a bike that somehow you have grown attached to?

In my case at least, the latter is true. I've replaced . . .

• The wheels: Hope Hoops with DT Swiss XR-400 rims
• The Fork: Rockshox Recon

Those two between them have topped what I paid for the bike. Then there's . . .

• Brakes: Shimano Deore hydraulics to replace the Avid BB5s
• Bars and stem: Wider and shorter respectively. And lighter
• Grips: Fatter
• Tyres: S-works Fast Trak LK - brilliant in most XC conditions, even coped with the mud at Aston Hill in a slippery kind of way
• Pedals: Shimano M424 SPDs.

Some of the cost has been recovered by eBaying the original parts - I got £55 for the fork, £10 for the bars, things like that. I plan to stick with the frame until I wreck it, at which point I'll stop claiming that it's a Hardrock.

BoarderGreen

Toying with the idea of new wheels as well, at which point the original parts left would amount to;
Hardrock 2010 frame
Headset
Seat Post
Seat Post clamp
Quick release skewers.

BoarderGreen

Finally got the bike back last night!!! after going on a 22 mile road ride with my mate :oops: , never been on a road bike before, pretty good fun :shock: , very odd gears though. my friend let me take one of the shops demo bikes out, a 3K plus Trek Madone with electronic shifting, the geeky part of me loved it but the rest of me kind of wondered what the point of electronic shifting was..........for a start your bike has to have small battery fitted :?

a little different to how i thought it would be, but never mind.

Pictures will follow tonight !

Shimano deore cranks (triple)
Shimano deore shifters (10 speed)
Shimano deore front mech
Shimano chain (10 speed)
New rear cassette (10 speed)
Shimano XT 10 speed rear mech.

so that adds to the previous list of upgrades:

Rock shox sektor forks (coils, 110-140mm travel via u-turn, with the heavy spring set up by TF tuning)
Deore Disc brakes
Shimano SPD's (cant remember the model number)
Superstar Am stem (black)
Superstar 780mm low rise bars (white)
Specialized loc on style grips
Charge spoon saddle
Maxxis high roller xc front tyre
Maxxis high roller dh rear tyre

Very very pleased i have my bike back and cant wait to get it out on the dirt!

BoarderGreen

Finally, if this works, some pictures of my bike. havent had the chance to ride it yet so the seat height and angle of the brake levers may change.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83411182@N06/7639208860/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83411182@N06/7639217352/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83411182@N06/7639222242/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83411182@N06/7639216386/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83411182@N06/7639214644/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83411182@N06/7639212396/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83411182@N06/7639218624/

leaflite

Am I right in saying that you have a bigger rear than front tyre?
Why?

BoarderGreen

Im a big guy and kept getting snakebites on the rear, plus its a hardtail.

Larger volumn rear tyre more cushioning.

chez_m356

BoarderGreen wrote:

Im a big guy and kept getting snakebites on the rear, plus its a hardtail.

Larger volumn rear tyre more cushioning.

so am i, but i run mine the other way, 2.2 on the front 2.0 on the back, nice bike tho

BoarderGreen

New wheels have arrived, went for the budget route of superstars, just swapped the cassette over from my old wheel should have the wheels on the bike tonight/tomorrow. Looked well pimp when i checked them out without the rotors and tyres on to make sure it all bolted together after swapping from normal QR skewers to 6&9mm skewers.

White hubs and rims with red skewers on with the bikes colour scheme looks 'spangley' but still in keeping with bikes original colour scheme.....bling without rubbing your face in it.

Hopefully, time permitting, pictures should be up tomorrow.

Who else has a upgraded Hardrock on here?

tod-tony

I'm just about to strip mine down ,as i started collecting parts for an On One Inbred build but at the last minute I decided not to ,as I hovvered over the the 'buy' button for the frame .
My Hardrock has served me well and never let me down and I just can't part with it ,so its getting a refit ready for winter.

Current upgrades
Rockshock Recons
Raceface Ride Stem
Raceface Ride Bars
Raceface Evolve Seat Post
Avid Juicy 3 160/160mm G3cs Rotors (will be changed when budget allows as I hate them)

Upgrades ready to go on
SLX 675 Rear Mech
SLX 670 Front Mech
SLX Cassette
M552 Crankset (off my Cube)
Mavic EN521 rims on XT 785 Hubs
Deore Rotors 180/160mm
Cane Creek 40 Headset

So should keep me busy and out of the missus's way

BoarderGreen

cool, itching to get my new wheels fitted tonight.

my mate asked me why i didnt just buy a new bike or get a different frame, the reply was that so far the Hardrock frame has handled and done everything i have asked of it and Im starting to get attached to it, i would feel guilty casting it aside when it hasnt let me down, it would be like kicking a puppy.

BoarderGreen

Finally some pictures with the new wheels fitted, shame they are off my phone.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/83411182@N06/7739307404/&quot; title="IMG_0725 by boardergreen, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7246/7739307404_e2e2abd3a8.jpg&quot; width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_0725"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/83411182@N06/7739309000/&quot; title="IMG_0723 by boardergreen, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8433/7739309000_b87431f0eb.jpg&quot; width="375" height="500" alt="IMG_0723"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/83411182@N06/7739309602/&quot; title="IMG_0721 by boardergreen, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8434/7739309602_99f7ac9f26.jpg&quot; width="500" height="375" alt="IMG_0721"></a>

Looking a lot better now i think, definatley felt better when i went around Llandegla last sunday, looking forward to Dalby next week!

mcnultycop

Don't know what you've done there, but here are your pics properly.

BoarderGreen

A few rides in since I upgraded (Llandegla, Dalby and a few trips to Cannock) and I'm loving it! Could do with a slightly louder hub but the gentle clicking is ok for the money :roll:
So far no signs of any of he bearing issues you sometimes hear about superstar wheels, up to this point their service and the wheels have been simply fantastic!

Will have to get out more and improve my riding and fitness seeing I can't blame the bike for a while

Russellhizall

I have a 29er hardrock disk and I've been on the fence about upgrading for a while. How much does your bike weigh after all the upgrades? I understand they'll be different due to the wheel sizes.

Super Dee

Nice. I have done a few bits to my 13 yr old son's Hardrock Disc.

Wider bars (wider but much lighter than stock ones!) Easton EA30. A pair of Maxxis HR 2.35" tyres and then a WTB saddle and some Kona wah wah pedals that I had in the parts bin!

He wanted a Hardrock for some time as we'd once visited the old Freeborn site at Eshershore and the guy there told him how tough some of the older Hardrock's were and we saw loads of young guys with them modded to the hilt!