Specialized Rockhopper 29er SS

[d_douglas]

I bought this locally on a whim. I have wanted to have a SS bike (for no good reason) for years and this was so cheap that I thought I would try it out. Its an XL and fits me great (I have long legs, but more standover would have been better!)

It came with a Deore 9speed drivetrain in pretty good shape, so I stripped it off and am using that on my sons bike (recycling!). The fork is cheap but it kinda works. A local person was selling a set of SS dedicated 29er wheels for very little, so I bought those as well.

The rear has sliding dropouts that seem to work perfectly! The crankset and/or BB is creaking and annoying, so I will likely need to switch that out to save me sanity. The tires are Sworks Purgatory 2.3 and a Fastrak 2.0 rear - could use a wider rear, but keeping costs to a minimum.

It was dirt cheap and isnt very practical for offroading here, but I feel like it could be fun for tearing about with kids and/or the odd flattish offroad ride. I think I need a 32t ring to make it offroadable. Its a fun purchase for what it is worth.

[adamhell]

that looks simple and fun

[d_douglas]

Thanks - I rode it this weekend with my son and it is so great to hear nothing in terms of drivetrain noise. I love SS for that!

[Alistair]

SS is fun. I ride my old Niner SIR9 almost as much as my Fuel. Just upgraded mine from a rigid Whisky fork to a StepCast 32 - not sure why I ever though rigid was a good idea. lol.

What gearing are you running today? 32x18 is the "default" gearing, but can be pretty grinding on short punchy climbs and longer steady climbs. Out here (DC suburubs), I tend to run 32x19 for JRA and either 32x17 or 32x18 for races. As a mostly-roadie, I prefer to spin than stand and hammer, for better or worse.

[d_douglas]

ha - my gearing is 36x18t right now. Only light rolling trails. It was what I had on hand.

I actually have a 30t SLX crankset left over from another built and that would make it very offroad friendly, to the detriment of riding it anywhere in town!

There is a weird click every few pedal strokes that I assumed was the BB or similar, but my nerdy colleague at work said he thought that bad chainline could produce that. I must admit that I gave up on perfecting the chainline and got it close, then said, "good enough". Apparently, it isnt good enough!

[d_douglas]

Ive been riding this to work (not sure why) and then making little side diversions on the way home afterwards. It is a fun bike and the fit is great. I wouldnt want to put much money into it, so there are only three things I am thinking of:

1) a smaller ring - easy. Just sold an SLX crankset for nothing that I should have just kept. A new ring would cost as much as the entire crankset did! Oops.

2) better brakes: BB7s are horrible. They will eventually stop. I was ripping along a trail with my son and braked hard on a corner - flew off the trail and into some bushes because I just didnt stop!

3) a rigid fork - the Tora fork on here goes up and down but just sucks. If I jump off curb, I hear it clunk as I am airborne (for that millisecond of fun) and I think riding this OFFROAD would be scary with this thing. I saw a Carver 465mm rigid carbon fork for sale locally and I think that is the safest bet - I know what its gonna do when I turn corners!

Otherwise, its a blast.

[PJN]

A 32t surly ring should be $35 or so. Unfortunately you won’t find smaller for that cranks bcd.

I’ve been having a blast riding my vbrake 26er single speed this summer. Perfect woods and beach and coffee shop and grocery and bar cruiser.

[lorenbike]

Very cool! Agree that a rigid fork would be a blast. Also I've run BB7s before and always thought they worked great for the price. Somewhat finicky to set up though with the pad spacing, so maybe tweak the adjusters before you give up. Also, surly cogs are gonna be a cheaper way to change the gearing.

[PJN]

Looks like cogs and chainrings are the same price for 3/32 stainless single speed stuff from surly.

[Alistair]

I have a SS Niner. When I built it up, I used a Whisky No 9 carbon fork. Then added a custom Walt steel fork for bike packing (used a basket and fork bags). Both were fine for mellow riding, but scary at race pace. Just bounced all over. So I swapped to a Fox SC 100. It’s much better. But wasn’t cheap.

If you want the Whisky or Walt, I’d let either go cheap. Same specs. 100mm equiv, non-boost.

[TM267905]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

There is a weird click every few pedal strokes that I assumed was the BB or similar, but my nerdy colleague at work said he thought that bad chainline could produce that. I must admit that I gave up on perfecting the chainline and got it close, then said, "good enough". Apparently, it isnt good enough!

Curious, were you able to tell if the clicking was from a bad chainline? I set up my first single speed about a year ago and used a cassette hub with a Surly cog and spacers to take up the rest of the space on the free hub body. With that set up it seemed straight forward to get a good chainline because you could scoot the cog left or right by as little as 1mm by using the spacers. However I too had a click/clunk every so often from somewhere in the BB/Crank area that would lightly reverberate through the pedal and I never could figure out what it was. Now I am wondering if it could have been something to do with the chainline.

[d_douglas]

Originally Posted by TM267905

Curious, were you able to tell if the clicking was from a bad chainline? I set up my first single speed about a year ago and used a cassette hub with a Surly cog and spacers to take up the rest of the space on the free hub body. With that set up it seemed straight forward to get a good chainline because you could scoot the cog left or right by as little as 1mm by using the spacers. However I too had a click/clunk every so often from somewhere in the BB/Crank area that would lightly reverberate through the pedal and I never could figure out what it was. Now I am wondering if it could have been something to do with the chainline.

Mine was resolved. I didn’t have the chain tensioner tightly enough. I pulled the wheel back into its tightest position and never heard the sound again.

[TM267905]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

Mine was resolved. I didn’t have the chain tensioner tightly enough. I pulled the wheel back into its tightest position and never heard the sound again.

Oh interesting, so a tensioning issue. Good to know.

[d_douglas]

OK, so I am really liking this bike, but the things that I hate about it, I am hating more and more

FORK: want to replace with a rigid. the A-C is 490-500mm on this one, unsagged. I have no idea how to calculate the proper height for a rigid fork, but seems like a 465mm one sounds good - right? Does any 465mm fork work, or do I have to consider rake, etc. (I have never understood what this really means, other than my Banshee has a 'raked out' Fox fork on it to it can bail me out ...).

What would a cheap Rockshox be in terms of trail and rake? I notice that all the forks I am looking at state the rake/offset:

Carver: https://www.bikeman.com/CARV-FK465A-S1009.html
Kona: https://konaworld.com/en-ca/products...1399a8be&_ss=r
Surly: https://www.modernbike.com/surly-ecr...r-blacktacular
Bontrager: https://www.ebay.com/itm/35495098760...Bk9SR8642ue8Yg

Are these adequate replacements for this fine steed? I dont want to mess up the geometry on this bike, but I am pretty sure I dont want a 490mm A-C rigid fork and it ride like a chopper/.


Brakes are also going - but that is easy.

[d_douglas]

Or to simplify the above, what is an affordable, decent fork that is suited to this frame? Are the examples above good ones? I have a friend ordering a Carver and said he could toss one in the box and ship for free, so I am tempted to go light? Surly and Kona ones are cheap though!