# 2012 Rockhopper 29er ...first 24hours



## brostar (Jul 6, 2011)

I picked up my new bike yesterday and I've got to say I'm happy with it for the price point. I put on a shorter stem and cut the handle bars down 1.5" this morning at the LBS. Made all the difference!

I rode out on a trail by Irvine Lake today and within 45 minutes both tires were full of goat head thorns and going flat. I had too pump up and make a B-line back to the truck. 2 fresh tubes and 2 more spares I'm ready to ride tomorrow... just not in the thorn trail, maybe blackstar canyon instead. 
EDIT: I'm stoked to have a decent frame and I love the paint job, I thought it was just 'meh' online but in person it looks great.

I'm wondering what the best upgrades are to shed weight, any thoughts would be appreciated


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## austanian (Jun 15, 2011)

Pedals, Fork, and tires. Some of your tubing (Handel Bars and Seat post) may be heavy as well. Other then that losing LBS gets really expensive. 

How much you spend?


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## brostar (Jul 6, 2011)

austanian said:


> Pedals, Fork, and tires. Some of your tubing (Handel Bars and Seat post) may be heavy as well. Other then that losing LBS gets really expensive.
> 
> How much you spend?


Probably spent too much as I was excited to place the order for my size, I'm 6'4" and I ordered the 21 frame size. I paid under MSRP but not a great discount being a 2012 n all.

My pedals are cheap and heavy, the fork is a suntour that I won't miss if get a rockshox fork.
I should hack down the end of the seat post I suppose...
Wheels are ... pretty expensive from what I've seen. I would not be able to spend more than $400 for the set


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## Ganymede_Illusion (Mar 12, 2011)

Those are nice bikes! 

I saw one in person here at my bike shop...it's also a 21" and he had me lift it.....Wicked light compared to my Diamondback Response, I couldn't believe it.

That's what worries me about those light tires though..... My Diamondback came with Kenda Klaws....Not once have I lost air. Saw a thorn sticking in the side of it, but it never punctured all the way... However those soft/light tires would hook up a lot better.


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## jaycee74 (Jul 10, 2011)

Nice rockhopper 29er!


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## tyler71385 (Jun 8, 2011)

Great looking bike. Been contemplating one myself.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I race on $200 wheels. Figuring out what you get for what money leads to some surprising discoveries - within the group of alloy rims, most nice rims cost under $100. Maybe all, but I'm sure if I say that, someone will find a $109 alloy rim.  The reason people obsess about the weight of a set of wheels is that when the rims are spun up, they have a disproportionate effect on the handling of a bike.

So here's an experiment - get some bottle cages for your bike. Ride around with two full water bottles - that adds about 3 lb. Now, drop the water bottles somewhere and ride around. Can you tell the difference? I'd be lying if I said I could. You can probably lose a lot of weight changing out that crank, but you're unlikely to notice much change from it.

Get some tires that are a lot lighter, and some lightweight tubes. Ride around with your OEM setup. Ride around with the lighter stuff. Can you tell the difference? Honestly, it would be pretty hard to separate the difference from the swing in weight of the tires from the difference due to stuff like a more flexible tire casing and a different tread pattern. But those are nice differences too. 

There are some other places where I think that weight is disproportionately important. The fork and the saddle spring to mind. IME, the further a component is from the crankset, the more I feel a difference from adding or removing weight. Also, the higher above the ground a component is, the more I feel a difference.

If you can afford more bike right now and the LBS will let you, you might want to start by exchanging for something that's at your real budget. Specialized gets better deals on parts than you or I ever will, and the deal on complete bikes is almost always much better than what you can get on aftermarket parts.

The bad news is that taking weight off your bike has a pretty subtle effect. For someone who competes, in a race of hours, it might save a few minutes to have a bike weighing a couple pounds less. So, better to focus on things that have more functional effects - like some better tires, or switching to a tubeless setup. You can usually lose a little weight while you're at it, and while not all that good, it's definitely not bad.


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## brostar (Jul 6, 2011)

AndrwSwitch said:


> If you can afford more bike right now and the LBS will let you, you might want to start by exchanging for something that's at your real budget. Specialized gets better deals on parts than you or I ever will, and the deal on complete bikes is almost always much better than what you can get on aftermarket parts.


*All very insightful, thank you for taking the time to post !
*
I'm considering bringing the size 21 back in for an upgrade to a RH COMP in a size 19 After a 3 hour trail ride yesterday it's clear this big frame isn't quite right for my reach and posture. Plus my stand-over is right at my groin... no safety room for the boys.

RH Comp 29er is $1100 MSRP... a tubeless setup on it would then push my budget _over $1400 and at that point I'm in Specialized Carve 29 price range._

Only problem is the paint job a Carve Comp 29 is soooo f*cking horrific  I would not buy one. For me, paint graphics don't have to look great, it's just has to not make me want to vomit.

Thanks again!


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## brostar (Jul 6, 2011)

Ganymede_Illusion said:


> Those are nice bikes!
> 
> I saw one in person here at my bike shop...it's also a 21" and he had me lift it.....Wicked light compared to my Diamondback Response, I couldn't believe it.
> 
> That's what worries me about those light tires though..... My Diamondback came with Kenda Klaws....Not once have I lost air. Saw a thorn sticking in the side of it, but it never punctured all the way... However those soft/light tires would hook up a lot better.


Yeah it was weighed at 32 pounds stock. I'm not sure what category that falls into but it seems like being under 30 pounds would be a good goal?


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## Spartan14 (Aug 17, 2010)

AndrwSwitch said:


> The reason people obsess about the weight of a set of wheels is that when the rims are spun up, they have a disproportionate effect on the handling of a bike.


What do you mean? Rims are spun up?


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## brostar (Jul 6, 2011)

Spartan14 said:


> What do you mean? Rims are spun up?


I think he's referring to how much you can feel the wheels and tires when you ride... in proportion to how the other components feel. When you get new rims there is a massive noticeable change as opposed to something like a new crank might not be as obvious.

Feeling to upgrade$$ ratio 
aka bang for your buck


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

^^^
Yeah, this. There's a lot of debate about whether the rotational inertia carried by spinning wheels on a bike is important or if you can even quantify it that way. But people's subjective experience is generally that they have to work harder to toss around a bike with heavier wheels and tires, and get quicker handling from a bike with lighter ones.

I think part of people's willingness to pay a ton of money for fancy hubs is that they're lighter, and reduce the total weight of the wheel. However, if we believe that the reason for the importance of weight at the wheel over weight at the crank or frame is that it's spinning, the hubs are not that important - part of finding moment of inertia of an object is distance from the axis about which it's spinning. Hubs are at near zero distance, so in terms of weight, it's unimportant. That's not to say that there's no reason at all to get nice hubs - they usually last longer, maintenance may be easier, and there are some different freehub designs on the market, some with some clear advantages over the others. I think it's interesting that when wheels are only available as the complete system, only the weight of the whole wheel, or sometimes the set is advertised - never the weight of the rim. Meanwhile, a lot of superlight rims are only available in relatively high spoke counts. It makes me quite skeptical of superlight system wheels, beyond the maintenance problems.


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## brostar (Jul 6, 2011)

AndrwSwitch said:


> ^^^
> Yeah, this. There's a lot of debate about whether the rotational inertia carried by spinning wheels on a bike is important or if you can even quantify it that way. But people's subjective experience is generally that they have to work harder to toss around a bike with heavier wheels and tires, and get quicker handling from a bike with lighter ones.


Ok so here is my sensible wheel plan: Going to keep the stock 29" 2012 Specialized Alex wheels. 
Purchase a Purgatory 2.2 tire for the front and a Captain Control 2.0 tire for the rear. Then get the tubeless kit.

Since the wheel design is new for 2012 there are no known tests of this rim for tubeless conversion. Unless there is thread I don't about


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## SpAgetttt (Jul 19, 2011)

just rode with a fellow that has one of these


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## ldollard (Jul 13, 2011)

brostar said:


> I picked up my new bike yesterday and I've got to say I'm happy with it for the price point. I put on a shorter stem and cut the handle bars down 1.5" this morning at the LBS. Made all the difference!
> 
> I rode out on a trail by Irvine Lake today and within 45 minutes both tires were full of goat head thorns and going flat. I had too pump up and make a B-line back to the truck. 2 fresh tubes and 2 more spares I'm ready to ride tomorrow... just not in the thorn trail, maybe blackstar canyon instead.
> EDIT: I'm stoked to have a decent frame and I love the paint job, I thought it was just 'meh' online but in person it looks great.
> ...


I thought the same thing about it looking aight online, but your picture really makes me want one now. is that just a rockhopper or the comp version?


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## Ericmopar (Aug 23, 2003)

You're definitely going to feel the tires and wheels the most when trying to lighten a bike. 
The most improvement will be from lighter tires and rims. The hubs are close to the center of rotation, which means you won't feel them too much when pedaling. That means you can look for a wheelset with relatively heavy hubs like Shimano XT, but with DT Swiss spokes and a light XC rim. 
Those types of wheelset are usually the best bang for your dollar. Light where it counts and durable.
Go tubeless as well. With a little Stans tire sealant added you won't have to worry too much about the thorns anymore.


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## brostar (Jul 6, 2011)

ldollard said:


> I thought the same thing about it looking aight online, but your picture really makes me want one now. is that just a rockhopper or the comp version?


This is the base model 29er. The comp version comes in a super nice Silver color. The comp has a better fork, crankset, brakes, rear hub and rear derailleur. Same frame. I don't think those components equate to $200 more bike.

I will post pics tomorrow with the new tire setup


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## brostar (Jul 6, 2011)

Ericmopar said:


> You're definitely going to feel the tires and wheels the most when trying to lighten a bike.
> The most improvement will be from lighter tires and rims. The hubs are close to the center of rotation, which means you won't feel them too much when pedaling. That means you can look for a wheelset with relatively heavy hubs like Shimano XT, but with DT Swiss spokes and a light XC rim.
> Those types of wheelset are usually the best bang for your dollar. Light where it counts and durable.
> Go tubeless as well. With a little Stans tire sealant added you won't have to worry too much about the thorns anymore.


Thanks, yes that's my plan to rock a stans tubeless conversion... not sure if the Specialized tire im getting is considered light or not ? 720 grams in front and 670 grams rear tire


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