Wonka

Oh, I must have expressed myself badly. I know what Santa Monica is, I spent some months there two years ago.

I was wondering if the picture was taken in Santa Monica as I'm European and not overly familiar with whether they build similar looking boardwalks elsewhere, like Florida or something.

Lov2hurdle

Yes! just Finished mandavile cyn so yo know I’m not lying, the gate at the top is green. Thanks for the encouragement

curbtender

Okay, I once was talking to someone here and they said they were from CA...which turned out to be Calgary, Canada.

Wonka

Haha, classic internet stuff right there.

Lov2hurdle

Yes Santa Monica thought you were familiar that last week nice riding weather for winter from there mandaville cyn popular 7-10 mile grade wannabe cyclist out here do

rhender 

Hi Goosecheck

I have been bitten by the retro-mtb-to-dropbar-conversion bug and have been looking for a frame that matches what I'm looking for. Your Rockadile is exactly the kind of build that I had in mind and I would love to see some more pics if you have them.

Was wondering if you could give me some more details about it? Did you have to do any frame modifications to get it fit 2.8s? Is that the stock fork or did it originally have a suspension fork? Do you think you could go any bigger with the tires?

You might not know this off hand, but do you know if there is a significant difference between the Rockadile and the Rockadile SX? There's an SX on my local CL, and I might jump at if I thought I could achieve something like what you've got here. From the pics on the ad, it doesn't seem like it would take 2.8s but it's difficult to tell.

Thanks!
Ray

Goosecheck 

Hello Ray! I’ll hit your questions best I can.

-No frame mods required to fit the 2.8s.
-Current fork is actually a Surly 1x1 fork I put installed with the drop bar conversion project.
-The original stock fork was a Tange Cro-Mo standard fork. However, sometime in the late ‘90 I swapped that out with a Rockshox Indy C and ran with that up until I did the drop conversion.
-There is absolutely no more room in the back for more rubber! It’s a few millimeters of gap on the chain stays (pix below)
-Assuming the Rockadile and Rockadile SX are from the same year, the only difference should be that the SX has the suspension fork. The rest of the components are the same between the two, and I would be confident that the frame geometry/spacing would also be the same. But if comparing between different model years then I would not be so sure.

Below are a few more pix of my Rockadile. Athens first two are from a couple years ago. The rest are current. It’s racked out right now and a bit dirtier than the original pic you saw. Here is the primary parts rundown involved with my drop conversion: Kept the original Front/Rear Shimano STX derailleurs and crankset. Installed Tektro Canti brakes, Cane Creek levers, Shimano bar-ends, SOMA Junebug bars, and Ritchey Comp stem. I also swapped out the original Araya wheelset for a set of Vuelta Zerolite clinchers from Bike Nashbar. A quite decent, inexpensive set that has been outstanding. I actually have two sets of Vueltas for this bike; one wearing 26x40mm Vittoria Randonneurs for streets/trails/gravel, the other wearing the 2.8s for more rugged/nastier surfaces. I switch between them depending on riding.

I’m curious to see the bike you are looking at to see if it’s the same year. Can you send a CL link or a screenshot of the picture from the listing? Hope this info helps, let me know there is anything else I can provide. Follow up if you pull the trigger.

Michael

rhender 

Goosecheck Man, that thing is badass. Thanks so much for the info and pictures!

The CL photos are not great, but I will post some better ones when I get the bike or post the link if it falls through. I am almost positive it's the same year. It looks like it has the STX drivetrain and I'm hoping that I spot a Tange sticker on the tubes as well. But for some reason, the paint is a weird purple-pink? Your green looks much better, but I don't really care about that point all too much.

Sorry to keep asking so many questions, but if the fit isn't right or the deal doesn't work out for some reason, I'm wondering if you know of any other frames of a similar or older vintage that take 26x2.8 or bigger? From the digging I've done, the Rockadile is the only frame I've found from the early MTB era with that classic frame geometry and HUGE tire clearance, but if there are others I would definitely keep an eye out.

Ray

Goosecheck 

Ray,
I did a quick CL search in your vicinity. Is this the bike? If so then it all looks right. Drivetrain, frame and tubing are identical. The seat, bars and stem definitely are not original though and would, I think, need to go (looks set up for very upright paved riding) along with the fork. The purple color would look great actually with a seat/bar tape in black or dark blue. Even dark brown. I don’t specifically know of any other bike of that era that would have any greater chainstay clearance; I would think the odds would be slim. As far as the purple SX goes, that frame is solid, and it will give you a very nice ride regardless of the tire set up. I've ridden and enjoyed mine summer/winter commuting on crappy pavement, centuries, gravel and single track. It's truly a jack-of-all-trades and I never have to worry about it holding up.

The only potential issue I can think of related to clearance for you to consider is that using the original Araya rims to run 2.8s might compromise the clearance. My Vuelta rims are narrower than those Arayas, probably 1/4 to 1/2” narrower. The rule of thumb is that mounting the same tire on a wider rim tends to increase the inflated width at the sidewalls as compared to mounting the same tire on a narrow rim. So the Arayas may take up some of the gap that I have. But with all the natural variations in actual vs nominal widths for different tire and rim manufacturers, there is no practical way to calculate what the exact inflated width would be on a certain rim in advance. If it doesn't work, you can try another narrower wheelset. It’s a judgement call based on experience, and simple trial and error. But that is truly part of what is enjoyable about projects, right?

When I swapped out the wheels on the Mongoose it was well before I was thinking of fat tires. Aside from an aesthetic refresh to go with the drop conversion project, I wanted to gain an extra gear in the back (original had 7 rear cogs). The newer wheel set would have a slightly wider rear hub, nominally 135mm vs 130mm, allowing me to squeeze in at least one additional gear versus the original. Even though the frame was built somewhere around a 130mm rear hub spacing, there was still enough natural flex in the rear stays to install the wider hub easily without any need to “cold set” the frame. Later, the fatter tires came along, I eyeballed the fit, did some measuring and estimating, ordered the tires and crossed my fingers. It all just worked out great! I hope your project turns out. Have fun with it, post any updates and good luck on it!

Michael

Jmpierce

Me at a much healthier time with my painted Trek 710, sometime in 2008. It's now blue.

What it looks like today...

rhender 

Goosecheck Yep, that's the one! Thank you for looking into it and for the words of wisdom. If I do end up getting it, it might be a near replica of your build because I don't know what else besides a surly fork I could use, but I'll post pictures either way.

Thanks again for all your help!

DQRider 

.

Bogester 

obrentharris 

DQRider Bogester Nicely done!
Brent

polymorphself 

Downtown Phoenix, AZ. ‘85 Miyata 310.

Wildwood 

OMG - after you changed its’ color - it grew bags and lost the death bars. It looks a versatile frameset.

Jmpierce

And I changed the gearing, a lot.

EnjoyinTheRide

72 Raleigh LTD 3, Syracuse, NY

zachleft

That's a very lovely shade of blue

Starting a New

An old guy stuck at home trying to figure out who made serial number P5504427 which we thought was a Schwinn Deluxe or Phantom maybe.

shanlon

the sci guy 

*waves*
<--Syracuse native here as well. Currently in Houston wearing the right shade of orange:



My two current classic bikes:
84 (i think) Raleigh Sportif (as a single speed - daily commuter)



and a '74 Raleigh Super Tourer

clubman 

New job posted by government.
'Bounty for Killer Asian wasp. $5 each.' It's a job.

billas

squirtdad

Lunch time WFH commute.....ride close to work and back

not a great pic as i am running back for the selfie timer