Today's Forum Topics
Set as homepage
|
View
New Forum Topics Today's Forum Topics Set as homepage |
 |
|
|||||||
Welcome to CyclingForums.com You are currently viewing our website as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions. You will have to register before you can post to this thread. By joining our free online community you will have access to post new topics, communicate privately with other cyclingforums.com members (PM), respond to polls, upload photos and access other special features like product reviews and classifieds. |
 |
|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread | Display Modes |
05-12.-2003, 04:01 PM
|
#1 |
|
Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sherman, Texas
Posts: 34
|
Hardrock Challenge - help guess my bike's age
Below is the info. For fun, or whatever... see who has the knowledge to help me determine the age, or approximate age, of my used bike. All I have to go one right now is, the previous owner said he "thought" he had it about 6 years. My guess is anywhere from 3 to 9, lol, because it is hard to tell when someone you do not know is exaggerating or underrating.
I am new to the forum, and just getting back into biking. I recently aquired an older, used Specialized Hardrock FS with all original components. Which arent even worn out yet due to lack of use. I was surprised because I had read so much about the brakes, gears or other parts being low quality. I do plan to upgrade those as needed. But back to the info: This is a random list of all the descriptive wrting on the bike itself: Direct Drive Custom Cr - Mo FSF tubing Future FS Shock Geometry It has the Sr Dou Track 7001 fork The black grips have raised lettering spelling out "Grip Shift" repeatedly all the way around it The body is some sort of very dark metallic color. Sort of looks black and yet at close inspection in bright light it tricks me to thinking it is super dark blue one time or super dark green another. Specialized is written in a two tone orangish color Hardrock is written the same, with a a teal bluish shadow. It has grip shifts(do they all?) and Shimano brakes Metallic purple Avenir bar ends(were these included, or added accessories?) Onza tires I think mine is the steel frame and from what I gather they are aluminum now? That is all I know about, but I will go now and see if I can find my digicam to get a pic. |
|
|
|
05-12.-2003, 05:21 PM
|
#2 |
|
Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sherman, Texas
Posts: 34
|
Re: Hardrock Challenge - help guess my bike's age
Here is a side view of the bike. ( I have changed the wheel reflectors from the originals which were quite small.)
Last edited by Jade : 05-12.-2003 at 05:29 PM. |
|
|
|
|
05-12.-2003, 05:22 PM
|
#3 |
|
Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sherman, Texas
Posts: 34
|
Re: Re: Hardrock Challenge - help guess my bike's age
A little closer up now.
|
|
|
|
|
05-12.-2003, 05:24 PM
|
#4 |
|
Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sherman, Texas
Posts: 34
|
Re: Re: Re: Hardrock Challenge - help guess my bike's age
View of handlebars from above.
|
|
|
|
|
05-12.-2003, 05:28 PM
|
#5 |
|
Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sherman, Texas
Posts: 34
|
Re: Re: Re: Re: Hardrock Challenge - help guess my bike's age
And finaly, a picture of the logo.
|
|
|
|
|
08-12.-2003, 05:43 PM
|
#6 |
|
Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sherman, Texas
Posts: 34
|
Re: Hardrock Challenge - help guess my bike's age
Darn. I was afraid no one could help me. Makes me wonder why the companies dont just mark the year of manufacture somewhere on the bike.
 |
|
|
|
|
09-12.-2003, 06:48 AM
|
#7 |
|
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 15
|
I dont think I would trust that enough to ever take it on a trail... but for the year, 3 years.. 9 years.. does it matter?
6 sounds like a good number to me though. |
|
|
|
|
10-12.-2003, 11:48 AM
|
#8 |
|
Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sherman, Texas
Posts: 34
|
LOL. Is that supposed to be funny, or what? Could you please specify why you claim... just from a few pics by a poor quality digicam... that you would not trust this bike on a trail? It is in excellent, barely used condition and has been through a thorough cleaning, as well as being on its way to a LBS mechanic for a checkup. I know you cant be knocking the brand here. I have done my research and know that the Specialized Hardrock is a well favored proven model by many, even if it IS at the moderate end of the price scale.
Plenty of people have older bikes cleaned and restored and some now in better shape than the same model being sold new today will be 6 months after purchase. It comes down to the old cliche, "They just dont make 'em like they used to." I estimate some of the time that's a good thing, but more often than not, it is a bad thing. Too many products are made more cheaply today and sold at higher prices as if they are better, then they fall apart sooner. This is so we have to spend more money replacing them more frequently. But I am getting up on a soapbox about one of my pet peeves as a consumer. So will stop rambling and get back to the point.  Yes the age of my bike is very important to me. Why should it not be? You wouldn't buy a car without knowing the year for certain. And here I sit after buying a bike for which I can only estimate the age. That bugs me a great deal. Thus this thread was born in effort to remedy the situation. Successful or not, I HAD to try.
__________________
|
|
|
|
|
10-12.-2003, 04:36 PM
|
#9 |
|
Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 7
|
Just an idea send an email with the pics to specialized and ask them i could only find there online store customer question address but i am sure they could send you the right way
store_customerservice@specialized.com |
|
|
|
|
10-12.-2003, 05:20 PM
|
#10 |
|
Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sherman, Texas
Posts: 34
|
Well the first try there was no reply. Perhaps I should try again. I dunno.
__________________
|
|
|
|
|
11-12.-2003, 04:00 PM
|
#11 |
|
Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 4
|
Hey Jade,
Thanks for the response on my GT Road Bike age question. No luck yet, but I'm still hoping that someone will have heard of the bike. As for your Specialized, it may be easier to date it based on the component mix. What name appears on the crankset, and front and rear derailers? This info combined with the name on the suspension fork should help establish the year of manufacture. I'm thinking that it is probably a '97 or '98. The HardRocks were made for "light-duty" trail use and yes, the bar ends were probably added by the previous owner. Also, your frame material is steel. As for it being safe to ride on a trail, have a tune-up done on the bike by your local bike shop and it should be good to go. Congratulations on your bike and welcome back to the sport! It's always good to have another cyclist in the world. TxBike |
|
|
|
|
12-12.-2003, 08:06 AM
|
#12 |
|
Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Sherman, Texas
Posts: 34
|
Thanks.
I finally got an answer from a part of the company not even geared to such inquiries. Go figure. It was just some individual who ventured an estimate as well though. No special knowledge to contribute for certain. My crank set says Sakae xr100 Front derailleur Shimano Altus Rear derailleur Shimano Alvio The guy seemed to think the bike had been modified. Perhaps it has better components than I expected because the originals were replaced with better versions. I dunno. Finding out it's year of birth is not an absolute necessity, but I do love to try and solve a good mystery. I also sent a detailed inquiry to a gentleman with a website on vintage bikes which includes a history of mountain bikes. Even though my bike isnt that old, his knowledge seemed vast and I thought he might contribute something positive. He seems to think it may have been made in 95 or 96. I believe I feel better about that than if I had gotten one of the newer ones as a used bike. Here is a link for you to a page full of links about old bikes. http://www.keithsbikes.com/link.asp Its more about older bikes than ours but perhaps you will find something of use among the links there.
__________________
|
|
|
|
Linear Mode
