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MTB nostalgia, leading to build

onm

Sep 2, 2009
5
0
Evening

So, when I was 17, I had the following bike...

-Specialized Rockhopper A1 FS frame. Chrome.
-Marzocchi Bomber Z2. Red
-XTR brakes
-XTR F and R mech
-UN52 BB
-Middleburn RS3 cranks, with Middleburn rings. Silver cranks, anodised black outer ring, anodised purple middle ring, anodised black granny ring
-X-lite riser bars, anodised red
-Hope XC front hub, DT swiss rev. spokes, Mavic 231 rim
-Hope XC rear hub, DT swiss rev. spokes, Mavic 521 rim
-SRAM SRT800 Xray shifters
-Specialised stem
-Chris King headset. SIlver.
-Avid speed dial 2.0 (none of your gypo 1.8 shite, thank you very much)
-Ringle titanium bottle holder
-Ringle seat post, black
-Flite titanium saddle
-WTB Velocoraptor tyres, f and r
-Yeti after market gripshift grips in yellow
-X-Lite end plugs
-XTR cables
-XTR pedals.

Was WEEEEEEEEELL good.

Managed to get all that with a combination of very hard work down Halfords, and crashing my original Specialized into a car, and the woman driving being found at fault. Took my totally totalled bike up the the local bike shop, who were all very concerned for a 17 year old little Owen, with tears in his eyes, and decided they would give me a 'comedy' insurance quote on a bike to make me feel better. Hence, a week later when I came out of hospital, I went up the shop to be presented with that bad boy. The grin on my face as I rode that down the road was a sight for all to see.

I have been thinking about about this a lot recently, as I am approaching middle age, and I have decided I want to rebuild something like this.

Looking at that list, can any of you suggest nowadays versions of any of those parts for me to get my grubby little hands on?
 
You can find a LOT of NOS MTB stuff on E-bay, that might be a place to start :D
 
You can get almost all of what you have on your original build.

Modern forks and, especially, brakes are a million times better than vintage stuff.

What kind of riding do you want to do? There's not that much singletrack around Tokyo.....downhill all day long at Fujimi Panorama if you've got a DH/full sus bike.
MTB Prices are mental these last couple of years though - it will not be cheap :eek:uch:
 
Thanks for the replies.

So, I can get most of that stuff still? Great!

Well, the thing about that bike, was that I could do pretty much anything on it! I would be up for anything really. Singletrack is where I am most happy though. Swiping round the tracks, deep into the trees.

Wow.
 
^and good video, that, Alan.

Defo going to get myself back into the forest ASAP. Been too long.

I grew up in Hertfordshire, UK, and riding there was amazing. Took it for granted at the time, of course.

Do you just right a full suss rig, or do you have other rides?
 
Nice selection of components, is that Rockhopper frame the one with the coil spring behind the seat post? New fast XC Frame S Works Epic with E100 fork. Middleburn RS8 will still do the job with matching rings but for more bling Rotor 3D with Q rings. Brakes go the Formula R1. Crank Brothers Cobalt wheels. XTR Cassette . Shifters and Derailleurs Sram XX. Seat post, stem and bars Carbon Easton. Seat, pedals and tires personal preference.
 
is that Rockhopper frame the one with the coil spring behind the seat post?

This is all from back in 1997, so no. Frame was a hardtail.

I did have a couple of full suspension rigs between 1997 and 2000 (Santa Cruz Heckler in bright yellow being my favourite), but hardtails were always my favourite.
 
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