Hi. I'm new here. I've been ogling your bikes for a month or so but just made an account. I just picked up a Specialized Rockhopper A1 Comp FS off Craigslist for my girlfriend, who wants to get into riding with me but doesn't have a lot of money. The bike cost me $109 USD. (I live in California.)
I'm not sure of the year but I think it's a '97, based off of Bikepedia. Here are the pictures the dude on Craigslist took (I haven't taken any pics yet, I just bought it last night). In the pics it looks grey, but in person it's more of a champagne-y color. It's in pretty good shape. The tires are brand new, the cassette isn't too worn, and the grip shifts work probably as well as they ever did. It's a 16", the perfect size for my girlfriend. (Incidentally, here's a picture of my decidedly not-retro MTB, which I also got off Craigslist, for $350. I've blinged it up a tiny bit since then with a red bottle cage and red QR seatpost clamp, and am probably going to get red chainring bolts, red pedals, and locking grips with red locks next. Maybe a red bashguard? Anyway. Not retro.)
So, the reasons I'm posting are firstly, just to confirm what year this is, and secondly, it needs new chainrings. The chainrings on there now are EXTREMELY worn, to the point where it skips just pedalling leisurely on flat ground. Bikepedia says it came with "SBC Son of Strongarm, 22/32/42 teeth", if it is a '97, but what can I replace that with? It doesn't necessarily have to be a retro chainring set, I just need to know what I should look for besides the number of teeth. Like, does anyone know the bolt diameter or whatever, etc. I see that it needs to be a five-bolt pattern (unless I get a whole new crankset?). I don't know a ton about bike repair, and this bike is kind of my chance to learn it! Also, what about that, uh, open hole in the stem? Any sort of...thing I can put on there?
Thanks.
I'm not sure of the year but I think it's a '97, based off of Bikepedia. Here are the pictures the dude on Craigslist took (I haven't taken any pics yet, I just bought it last night). In the pics it looks grey, but in person it's more of a champagne-y color. It's in pretty good shape. The tires are brand new, the cassette isn't too worn, and the grip shifts work probably as well as they ever did. It's a 16", the perfect size for my girlfriend. (Incidentally, here's a picture of my decidedly not-retro MTB, which I also got off Craigslist, for $350. I've blinged it up a tiny bit since then with a red bottle cage and red QR seatpost clamp, and am probably going to get red chainring bolts, red pedals, and locking grips with red locks next. Maybe a red bashguard? Anyway. Not retro.)
So, the reasons I'm posting are firstly, just to confirm what year this is, and secondly, it needs new chainrings. The chainrings on there now are EXTREMELY worn, to the point where it skips just pedalling leisurely on flat ground. Bikepedia says it came with "SBC Son of Strongarm, 22/32/42 teeth", if it is a '97, but what can I replace that with? It doesn't necessarily have to be a retro chainring set, I just need to know what I should look for besides the number of teeth. Like, does anyone know the bolt diameter or whatever, etc. I see that it needs to be a five-bolt pattern (unless I get a whole new crankset?). I don't know a ton about bike repair, and this bike is kind of my chance to learn it! Also, what about that, uh, open hole in the stem? Any sort of...thing I can put on there?
Thanks.
