Borderline bike hoarding.

It rides really well considering it looks like it's had plenty of use. So well it might replace the giant, or I might just have 3 bikes. Atm I'm busy robbing parts off it.

First, brakes. The marin and the specialized both have v brakes. The marins are black, and the rockhopper's are silver. Well they were.

Marin with marin brakes



Marin with silver brakes off the rockhopper. As a bonus the black set look better on the rockhopper

After I'd pinched bits for the marin I decided to have a go at the rockhopper. The brakes are still mental (even with the marins pads) so it must be the rims which are Arayas, which my bmx mate says is rather cool. The tyres were knackered so I put the marins road tyres on it, and the pedals are shot so I swapped them with the Giants new ones.


The front end was loose and had a knock so tightend the bearings and now it rides perfectly. It's more like a big bmx than a mountain bike and is so smooth. Until you touch the brakes. They're almost too good.
Once I'd got it riding right I started on the chips on the frame. There's quite afew. The worst of it was this

So I got a tin of red humbrol enamel out and set to it with a brush.



The lighting makes it look different but it was a good enough match, not perfect, but the following day I found another tin which is a perfect match, I literally can't see what I've painted and what I havnt.  When I bought this one I got it to pinch bits off it, but it's 10 times better than the giant, which is now pedal-less and tyre-less. 

Quick Update on the bikes. The rockhopper is still in one piece but is a little small and bmx-ish for a decent run, and the marin still needs forks which I and finding difficult to get in the right size at a decent price. Long story short I decided to treat myself to a new bike which I then found was 20% off, so I upped my budget and got myself a betterer one. No pics as its not retro, but it is brown. Instead have some retro countryside pics from last weekend. Finding this sort of stuff is what's keeping me going 🙂

OK then, as you asked. It's a specialized rockhopper xl. In brown. Apparently no one else wanted a brown one. When I picked it up my mate said it was too nice for me, describing it as 'feeding truffles to a pig'. Choice words. So it's now been christened 'Truffles'

It's certainly brown. It's actual colour name is doppio, which is posh coffee. The paint is quite an unusual finnish.
It's metaly, but not exactly metallic, and with a satin finish it just looks like brown metal.



I've added afew bits up the first thing I had to change was the seat, which to be honest was a joke, but not a very funny one. Its now got the squishy specialized tip bike seat on it, along with the sram foam grips which makes it soo comfortable I can ride it for miles with ease. Last weekend I did about 35 miles on it, on Tuesday I woke up feeling like I'd fallen out of a tree.

A little bicycle update. Over the past few weeks I've set myself afew half decent challenges. 2 local hills, one being box hill, and a couple of local distance runs down footpaths in the countryside and across fields, some muddy. All very fun but this led me to thinking about doing a decent road run, and even bought a skid lid for the occasion. In the end I decided to go a little further than intended and totalled 36 miles in one day. That's 36 miles on the road with knobbly off road tyres. When I got home I was absolutely spent.

I realised that I'd probably give it another go, so needed some more suitable tyres. And the gearings really low. Then when that's done the geometry isn't quite right and I'd have to convert it all back for some muddy fun. So I needed a road bike or a hybrid. I looked at new ones but didn't want to spend out all that again for something decent. Buying secondhand can be a gamble when I don't know too much about bikes and some of the more obscure names are sometimes decent, sometimes not. But looking on marketplace and finding a specialized carbon pro at a decent price just round the corner from me very much happened within 24 hours of me starting to look. So I did. Just now.



The front forks are carbon and the black on the rear is all carbon.

Hmmmmmmmm carbon fibre 🤤


It's tatty in places but it all functions perfectly. It's an xl too which seems to be unusual in older bikes. And I've just looked to see if there are any other for sale and it seems I may have got it for a bit of a steal 😊

If I were you I would clean it up, make sure it all functions as it should and sell it on for a few extra ££.

If you’re on the weight limit and don’t have confidence in it you probably won’t enjoy riding it as much.

Went to tip looking for some bike bits. Lots of bikes but nothing worth getting so I came back with this.


Also not really worth getting. But the patina on the frame is amazing😁

Got the red rockhopper out today, decided to rebuild the hubs and give them a polish. No before pics but they were filthy.


Then I looked at the minibmx, removed the handlebars and put them on the rockhopper. I was going to sell the rockhopper as it's too small, but the bmx bars matke it the right size, and quite a comfortable riding position, like a shopper but not. Can't ride it as it needs a different stem. Gave it a bit more bmx with some white pedals.


I think it looks OK but not quite. Mates got white bars so might try them. White Wall tyres🤔

I used to be a bicycle hoarder but I think I'm cured now I'm down to onky 12.