'05 Rockhopper - upgrade route?

If you want to start with brakes you can keep your stock levers and keep the costs down by going with the Avid mechanicals. The operate very well and don't cost much. I've seen them recently for under $100 per wheel. If you don't have disc hubs (?) already then you can factor in +/- 75 per wheel for new inexpensive hubs and the rebuild of the wheels themselves. It doesn't look like the hubs you have are disc (not sure though) so it's possible you could do the switch for under $350 and have some very nice components (Avid mechs, XT disc hubs, DT spokes). If you shop around it's possible to get that down to "near" $300. Check-out Performancebike.com, Cambria, Bulltek sports, ebay, et al and see how cheap you can get away with.

Since you are upgrading a new bike just be sure not to get too cheap and "cheese" out on some ill-performing parts just to save a buck or two. The bike you have will work fine. I do definately understand the "need" to upgrade and spend the money though! Good luck.

K.

I have an 05 Rockhopper as well. Before I even rolled it out of the shop I started throwing XT parts on it.

Are you 100% sure you want disk brakes? They look cool, but seriously, a set of XT or XTR v-brakes really does work just as well and is considerably cheaper.

aTmSpectre said:

I have an 05 Rockhopper as well. Before I even rolled it out of the shop I started throwing XT parts on it.

Are you 100% sure you want disk brakes? They look cool, but seriously, a set of XT or XTR v-brakes really does work just as well and is considerably cheaper.

While it's true that a "properly" set-up/equipped "v-brake" system can perform very well in many conditions I wouldn't go so far as saying they "...work just as well..." in a universal way. That assusmes one has their brakes aligned properly, have pads in good condition and the rims are in good shape (doesn't hurt if they have the ceramic coating as well). In dry "typical" XC riding XT brakes are *absolutely* sufficient. In more "challenging" (extreme?-hate that word) riding or riding which would include water, mud, sand, other debris then the short-comings of the "v-brakes" really become obvious.

If I lived in a dry location and only did the typical XC riding (no long DH sections) then *maybe* I would live with v-brakes. Neither of those are true for me or many (many, many) other riders so...

I hear you about the price though. It costs a bit to get in the game. That's why the Avid mechanicals are a good call for those on a budget or don't need an insane brake (most of us don't need "insane" brakes). You can keep the levers/cables from the stock v-brakes and they are cheaper than XTR v-brakes, typically. What I don't get is buying a rockhopper and upgrading it the day you buy it when there are Specialized offerings that are not much more than it and have some of the equipment you are upgrading to (pay retail-or close-for bike, pay near retail on upgrades=(?)more $ than just buying the higher end bike?

I hope you got a great deal on both bike and bits so you don't waste any $. It doesn't grow on trees around my house anyway! Take care.

K.

thanks for the info. I bought mine with the intention of maybe upgrading a little of this and that as I got better on it (more of a road bike enthusiast up to this point) but after test riding the rockhopper, I decided it was such a different experience from the road bike that it would add some serious variety to my usual routine.

the shifters are causing me a little concern as they are a little clunky - don't get me wrong, they do their job but they seem a little clumbsy about it. hopefully, they will smooth out a little after they are nicely broken in.

thanks for the heads-up on the avid mechanicals - I'll definitely give them a look. I did the math and figured out why the LBS' disc upgrade estimate had so much of a 3-steps backward price tag - they were figuring in for 2 complete disc-compatible wheels as opposed to just a hub swap out. 😕

it rains quite a bit here and the ground here is often nothing more than soaked muck so I am seriously considering discs

overall, I like the rockhopper a lot -- it just needs some tweakage here and there. that might be more of a case of upgrade fever than anything else but it's always fun to personalize your gear by modding it. 🙂