Originally Posted by cyccommute

Probably not a good idea. I had one and it lasted about 6500 wonderful miles before it cracked. Great bike but the aluminum/boron frame isn’t a good choice for longevity.



There’s no such thing as “needing too much”. There’s only how much you are willing to spend. A lot of the things you are saying are “shot” are items which don’t really get “shot”. People only think they do. Derailer springs, for example, seldom wear out in my experience. People think they do but most of the time, the issue lies in the cables and cable housing. I have derailers that have 20,000 miles on them and still shift as crisply as they did when new. Bottom brackets are nearly the same. I have seen some wear out but very, very few of them actually fail. Square taper are also fairly cheap to replace.

The most expensive bit will be the shock. There are a few forks out there that can take V-brakes. Look for a used Fox or Manitou on Fleabay. Alternatively, you can go to a mechanical disc front fork and leave the linear brakes on the back. You’d need a new front wheel…fairly cheap…, rotor, and caliper. An Avid BB7 is a good choice and not terribly expensive on Fleabay. I’ve got the same arrangement…disc front/linear rear…on my bikepacking bike. It stops just fine.

I’m not sure what model XTR brakes you got but the only spring on any linear brake is the linear spring and I’ve never seen one “wear” out. Break, yes, but not get the the point where it wasn’t doing the thing it was designed for, i.e. “springing”. If you have the linkage type brake, those have a different problem. The linkage makes them too flexible and they tend to squeal a whole lot. They work well but they are annoying.

If you shop around…and check to ensure that the “worn” parts really are…, you can probably refurb the Rockhopper for around the same as the Stumpjumper. Alternatively, look for a newer Stumpy. They had cleared up the problem by about 2003, which is the year model Specialized replaced my 1999 Stumpjumper M2 with.