Specialized Rockhopper 1995 dropbar gravelgrinder

[Bart_75]

It's been a while since i've been here. Picked this bike up a while ago from somebody who was resting this lovely Rockhopper in his garage, he only used it for some sunny sunday roadrides with his family. Then he bought a more modern Mtb and this was left forgotten in the corner of his garage for many many years. Glad he would sell it to me. I had some ideas with this bikeand was very curious what it would be to convert this into a gravelgrinder and now.....to be honest..... i do not regret this for any moment.
I kept it simple, i had some stuff and parts left in my garage to slap it on to this beauty. Shimano Sora 9 speed shifters, 9speed Xt derrailler , Deore crank Square tapred, 34t wide narrow chainring, Xt spd pedals, Pro wheels with xtr hubs, Schwalbe racing ralph tubeless tyres , Gravel grinder steer from Decathlon and some better and more modern cantilevers brakes.
Maby i'm hurting many people here to convert this bike to gravelgrinder and not leave it in it's original state but for me it was worth it.
I have enjoyed this bike so much, this steel bike is a blast on the trails, very comfy in combination with the tubeless tyres. In the future i will keep upgrading it with Sram shifters because i more like the shifting feeling from Sram.

 

[CassidyAce]

Re:

I like this. Black and green go well together. Good to see that the bike is being used and enjoyed for its intended purpose. To me, for gravel riding, it makes more sense to have 26" wheels and fatter tyres rather than 700c wheels and skinnier tyres: more grip and better soaking up of the bumps.

Now, I haven't been on a road bike since about 1998 and my shifters were on the down tube back then so I want to ask about the shifting: are those the newfangled shifters/brake levers where you tap the brake lever to one side or another to shift gear? And is that pretty much standard for road bike shifters these days or is it just certain types/brands? Just wondering about a potential project for next year.

 

[Bart_75]

Re: Re:

I like this. Black and green go well together. Good to see that the bike is being used and enjoyed for its intended purpose. To me, for gravel riding, it makes more sense to have 26" wheels and fatter tyres rather than 700c wheels and skinnier tyres: more grip and better soaking up of the bumps.

Now, I haven't been on a road bike since about 1998 and my shifters were on the down tube back then so I want to ask about the shifting: are those the newfangled shifters/brake levers where you tap the brake lever to one side or another to shift gear? And is that pretty much standard for road bike shifters these days or is it just certain types/brands? Just wondering about a potential project for next year.

Like you said, it's pretty much standard for any roadbike shifter. Some (brand)shifters works a bit in a different way. Like the Shimano's for upshifting you have to pull the whole brake lever to the left en for downshifting there is a little lever attached wich you have to pusch. Sram have the double tapp system, you don't have to pull the whole brake lever to the left , they have just one lever attached to the brake, for upshifting you have to pull it to the left for downshifting you have to touch the same lever just a little bit , sounds funny but it works great. My favorite kind of shifter. You also have Campagnolo and Microshift , i never used them but i think they also work like the shimano's.

 

[1bhp]

Love this!
I saw someone in West London had built something almost over lock-down, but he'd gone for a drop bars and barend shifter, bit more chilled look and road touring vibe...

Having ridden a 'gravel' bike off road for the last few years I'm really intrigued how a 90's MTB will compare - I half expect it to be a bit of a disappointment and I'll be inclined to immediately convert to 1x and drops like this!

BP

 

[K_50]

Cool bike!
Are the roadie shifters directly compatible with mtb derailleurs? I've been wondering about that, as I have a lugged US Trek frameset lying around, which would be a good candidate for a drop bar conversion.

 

[Bart_75]

Cool bike!
Are the roadie shifters directly compatible with mtb derailleurs? I've been wondering about that, as I have a lugged US Trek frameset lying around, which would be a good candidate for a drop bar conversion.

Most 8- and 9-speed Shimano mountain bike and road kit is inter-compatible because they both use the same cable pull ratio. This means that you can use an 8 -or 9-speed mountain bike derailleur with road shifters or vice versa , in my case i used the Shimano Sora 9 speed shifters and a 9speed Xt rear derailleur and it works perfect. But i don't think it works for the 10 or 11 speed RoadShifters/Mtb derrailleurs because of the indexing is not correct in that case, i read that couple of times if my memory is correct.

 

[CassidyAce]

Re: Re:

Like you said, it's pretty much standard for any roadbike shifter. Some (brand)shifters works a bit in a different way. Like the Shimano's for upshifting you have to pull the whole brake lever to the left en for downshifting there is a little lever attached wich you have to pusch. Sram have the double tapp system, you don't have to pull the whole brake lever to the left , they have just one lever attached to the brake, for upshifting you have to pull it to the left for downshifting you have to touch the same lever just a little bit , sounds funny but it works great. My favorite kind of shifter. You also have Campagnolo and Microshift , i never used them but i think they also work like the shimano's.

Ah! Thank you. The Sram system makes sense to me.

 

[Frankenorange]

I have posted this link on other threads as it has been so handy in working out what will work with what

http://blog.artscyclery.com/science-beh ... atibility/