Breathing life into a Specialized Hardrock - carbon forks?

Goudgey

Goudgey

Likes Dirt
Hi all,
I've got an old 03 Hardrock that's still going strong but the original 100mm travel Rockshox Judy fork is stuffed. I'll be replacing it with a new steed mid next year but in the meantime I'm considering changing the forks to rigid carbon forks for sh#ts & giggles.
I'm thinking these might do the trick.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=64389

The idea would be to make as much as possible a fun XC oriented machine, given the inherent limitations of the Hardrock frame and mostly stock components.
I've played around with building up road and track bikes but never with mountain bikes so I'm a little unsure of the traps and pitfalls. Is what I propose doable, a bad idea?
Thanks
Goudgey
 
C

cobba

Likes Dirt
$200 will get you a 2012 80mm version of the Manitou Minute Expert which can have the travel changed internally to 100mm.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=92191

32mm Stanchions, Air Preload, Rebound Adjustment, Compression Adjustment with Lockout which can be upgraded to remote.
The Absolute+ damper is adjustable with different shim stacks, you can read about how someone was changing the way their fork worked here.
I've read several good reviews of this fork on some forums and I'd say the difference between this fork and your old Judy would be like night and day.

If you were to buy it you should probably check that the one in stock has 1 1/8" steering tube as it isn't mentioned in the description.
 
D

dusty_nz

Likes Dirt
I built a SS out of a old bike with Carbon forks (Ebay for like $170)

Bike came out really lite and is really fun offroad, Would not race it but it demands a totally different ride style and brilliant for polishing up on skills.

Climbs like a deamon, Tends to top out at around 25km/h but it has helped heaps with tech sections as I am now heaps better which shows up when riding my other bikes. Faster and better lines and less dependency on suspension.

eg I ride a lot lighter and smoother and use my arms and legs more.
 
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crasherX

crasherX

Squid
I have the same bike that I've been doing up as a bit of a thrash bike. The only thing left to do is a fork upgrade but I'm having trouble because I'm still running V brakes- they work fine and I can't see the point in spending the money to upgrade to disks! Any suggestions?
 
Goudgey

Goudgey

Likes Dirt
Thanks for the replies guys. Some food for thought there. Those Rockshox look great for the price but how dependable is Merlin Cycles? I haven't come across them before. Are they in the same league as CRC, Wiggle etc with customer service, delivery times, etc?

As for a cheap disk brake upgrade, there are plenty of mechanical disk setups that could be had for cheap, surely?
 
silentbutdeadly

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
Merlin are cool. I've used them before. Perhaps not quite as rapid dispatch wise as the bigger mobs but if they say they have them in stock then that seems to be the case so far. No complaints.
 
harmonix1234

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
I did just the same thing and turned my XTC2 into a nice nimble little streeter/commuter.

Good fun.

Do it.

One word of advice when looking for carbon rigids.
A lot of them say 'Replacement for 100mm travel fork' or 'Suspension corrected for 100mm travel fork' but ignore that statement and ALWAYS check the axle to crown measurement.

I knew that my geo was suited perfectly to me with the geo of my Rock Shox fork when it was locked out.
When it wasn't locked it has a heap of sag.
A lot of the axle to crown measurements on carbon rigids will be suspension corrected including the sag.
The trigon was the only fork that gave me the exact 100mm correction for a locked out Rock Shox Tora. Everything else was too short.

If you get a shorter one, you can always make up the extra few cm's with headset spacers but that just looks shitty.

But do the build up. It makes your hardtail really snappy and light. Zing!





 
silentbutdeadly

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
crasherX said:
I have the same bike that I've been doing up as a bit of a thrash bike. The only thing left to do is a fork upgrade but I'm having trouble because I'm still running V brakes- they work fine and I can't see the point in spending the money to upgrade to disks! Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Given that you can get a full Shimano M595 front disc brake set in hydro for about $40 without the rotor...its not a big hit on the fork budget.
 
workmx

workmx

Banned
There are some aluminium forks that are almost as light as carbon out there, like the Kinesis Maxlight XLT.

Depnds on the primary usage of the bike (road, bike-path, off-road or a mix), one of them might be worth considering.
 
Goudgey

Goudgey

Likes Dirt
Guys,
When replacing the fork with either a rigid carbon or suspension fork, can I reuse the old crown race and headset from my old forks or should i install a new crown race and headset?
If I can reuse the existing, how easy is it to remove and reinstall?
Cheers,
 
D

dusty_nz

Likes Dirt
Goudgey said:
Guys,
When replacing the fork with either a rigid carbon or suspension fork, can I reuse the old crown race and headset from my old forks or should i install a new crown race and headset?
If I can reuse the existing, how easy is it to remove and reinstall?
Cheers,
Click to expand...
Re-use unless knackered
 
harmonix1234

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
Goudgey said:
Guys,
When replacing the fork with either a rigid carbon or suspension fork, can I reuse the old crown race and headset from my old forks or should i install a new crown race and headset?
If I can reuse the existing, how easy is it to remove and reinstall?
Cheers,
Click to expand...
Reuse. Just be careful not to damage the crown race when removing from the fork.
I have switched forks multiple times and used the same headset and crown race.
 
Goudgey

Goudgey

Likes Dirt
Alright, I'll have a crack at reusing my current headset and crown race.
I've decided I'll be going with suspension forks instead of the rigid carbon forks. Want to have a bike thats a little more flexible than what the rigid forks would make it.
 
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