There is a Rockhopper under there, honest guv

rmwesley

Retro Guru
I realise this won't be everyone's cup of tea, but might peek someone's interest. If it doesn't sit well on the forum then no issues for the mods to remove the post. I'm starting a period correct restoration of an 80s Muddy Fox Courier in the New Year so hopefully the yin and the yang will cancel out.

Frame: The frame is a 1993 18" Rockhopper Comp from a pub / beater bike I picked up on eBay a while back. The respray was done by Dave Crowe at Colour-Tech. It is impossible to see in the pics but it is a lovely pearlescent grey colour with the decals airbrushed over the top. Dave did a fancy black shadow on the Rockhopper decal to make it stand out a bit more. In homage to the original bike, it does retain the original cable guide and bolt underneath the bottom bracket.

Wheels: I built up the wheels with 32h Kinlin XM-250 rims, Hope RS4 hubs and Sapim Race spokes. Rims were OK-ish especially for the price, but needed a fair bit of work to get them in shape. Tires are Continental Race King 26" x 2.2".

Drivetrain: Picked up the Shimano bits piecemeal from various European websites. I know there is a shortage of components in general, but bizarrely managed to get most of it at pretty good discounts over the course of a year. All the Hope parts came from Spa Cycles as usual.

- Derailleur: Shimano XTR RD-M9000-GS
- Cassette: Shimano CS-M8000 XT 11sp 11 - 46T
- Shifter: Shimano XTR M9000 11sp Rapidfire
- Chain: Shimano CN-HG901
- Cranks: Hope EVO 170mm Spiderless
- Chainring: Hope 36T Spiderless
- Bottom Bracket: Hope Stainless 73mm shell, 30mm Axle

Brakes: Magura HS33R rim brakes. Absolutely love these. Piece of proverbial to fit and adjust and feel like they would stop a horse. Super simple to bleed as well. The brake lever mount also utilises a Magura Shiftmix clamp to position the rear shifter nicely under the grips. Required a bit of filing to take some lumps off the clamp to get it to work out though.

Cockpit: The headset is nagging me a bit. The only 1" JIS model with sufficiently low stack height was a Tange Levin CDS. Could only get it in chrome so powdercoated it to try and match the purple Hope parts. The colour is way off though. Wish I'd just gone for black. Can't for the life of me figure out why I didn't. Think the purple tester card looked a good match at the time. I've used a 1" -> 1-1/8" PZ quill adapter with a Funn Funnduro 35mm stem which both came from the bargain bin at CRC. The Surly Sunrise bars make me forget the headset. Love them, although will need to take a few inches off the ends. Also squeezed a Garmin mount onto the quill adapter so I don't get lost as much.

Bum and feet: Deda Zero seat post with a Brooks Cambium C15 saddle. Pedals are Nukeproof Neutron EVO.

Also picked up a couple of nice bits from the classifieds on here to finish it off... an Odyssey Svelte QR seat post clamp and a Velocity Velocage.

Pics to follow...

P.S. It isn't going to be wall art. I'm going to ride the bejeezus off it.
 
That bike is what any bike built with newish parts should look like. Fantastic job. BTW, your wheel truing stand is another piece of art, wow! Never seen that one, is it your creation?
 
Looks like alot of fun. Nowt wrong with new bits on older frames. Am also interested in the wheel building jig. It looks ace!!
 
Very nice. I've done something similar with an old Explosif, but mines a wee bit more heath robinson. Yours is classy af. Well done x
 
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