Newbie!

Combat-Wombat

Hi,

After some major roadworks in my area, on a whim I bought an old bike off a colleague for £25 with the intention to ride the 1.9 miles to work

Now as far as I can work out it is a 1998 Specialized Rockhopper Comp FS. It needed new tyres, innertubes and new grips. I bought this from wilikinsons for another £25.

I'm really enjoying riding and want to actually take it off road at the weekends. Is this bike going to stand up to it?
as I understand it, it was a good bike 15 years ago but how does it stack up now? I read reviews on the Manitou Answer Spyder Fork which weren't very good.

So my main question is, could this be upgraded fairly cheaply or should I cut my losses and buy something else?

The Rookie

If everything is in good working order then it will cope offroad just fine, the forks aren't great and I presume you have V (rim) brakes not discs, but they coped just fine, I still take my 1997 Fuji (V-brakes and rigid forks) offroad when the mood takes me.

You could swap the forks for something better, or just ride it and enjoy it and then decide!

markhewitt1978

As long as it's in good mechanical order there's nothing about a bike from 1998 which wouldn't be up to the job.

Combat-Wombat

Cheers,

Everything else seems ok, in my limited experience. I might just pay the £25 for it to be serviced

markhewitt1978

Combat-Wombat wrote:

Cheers,

Everything else seems ok, in my limited experience. I might just pay the £25 for it to be serviced

Good idea. You should also check the brake blocks are not too worn. And when you take it to be serviced they may need to fit a new chain.

The Rookie

Combat-Wombat wrote:

Cheers,

Everything else seems ok, in my limited experience. I might just pay the £25 for it to be serviced

Or learn to DIY leaving you £25 better off.....