Rock Combo

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had everything stock from its 1989 creation tires were dry rotted and it had a nice layer of dirt!

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its got 26" wheels and pretty much fell to the wayside when 700cc took over as more popular wheel

>>908984
>$20 at goodwill

goddamn im jelly, regardless of how many were made thats just a neat looking bike. The only thrift store around here that regularly has bikes doesnt have room inside for them so they just sit out in the elements all the time. I did get a nice, old, cruiser style bike from the Goodwill though, still working on getting it fixed up though.

nice find, OP, im digging those handlebars

collectible/rare bikes thread! anybody know about that one super rare bike that was supposedly the first bike with full suspension? i think it was a cannondale. super rare. very collectible.

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Slapped some new wheels and a seat (ignore the angle it has been fixed) as well as a set of clipless to replace the pedals

still could use some tlc but what can i really do with this old dinosaur??? can it be a cyclocross bike or is it to heavy? i mean i guess i can just use it to commute but I've never had anything other than my fixie so i just want to try to do something different with it

>>908992

Rigid MTBs make excellent touring bicycles, with a few notable down sides...

The bb height on mtbs tends to be a bit higher, which reduces stability in certain situations. Some bicycle companies built their MTBs with rather short chainstays. This can cause your heel to strike pannier bags you have mounted in the rear.

The 26" wheels are actually a benefit when touring, because 26" is pretty much still the standard wheel size around the world, except in very rich countries. So if you're planning on touring across Asia, South America, Africa, basically out in the wild, 26" is the way to go.

Good find, though. Looks like a nice sturdy bike.

>>908999
Except that OP's bike has a big plus that it was actually designed for drop bars.

That' being said, there's a reason they're rare. That kind of mixed use bike was pretty damn niche. It would be a godsend to someone that wanted a retro 26" tourer or a drop-bar MTB, but so few people want those anyways.

Can you please post a decent picture of it? (good light, drivetrain side, not fucking upside down)

It's a nice bike.

That's pretty cool OP, I was aware of these combo bikes previously and would love to find one myself, I like slack 80's style MTB frames for practical/winter use, but unfortunately I have a strong preference for drop bars.

Put some nice 26" slicks on it and make it your ultimate gravel road bike, or keep the knobbies and make it an offroad touring bike.

I like it, it would be really fun to ride in the trails. very challenging, i am supper jelly /n/egro

that paint scheme is schway

would cop/10

>>909031
Sure, and while it can basically double as a Surly, it's even more niche than a Surly if you use it for off-road like it was designed for.

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>>908989
>its got 26" wheels and pretty much fell to the wayside when 700cc took over as more popular wheel

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>>908984
It was a MTB made by Specialized in the late 80s with modified geometry to accommodate drop bars. One of the first "Dirt Droppers" to be commercially available in fact.

I think the uniqueness of it is pretty neat. Nice find OP.

>>908984
I have a similar bike from the around the same period. There are many positives to your bike:

I'll guess it can fit 26 x 1.75 or maybe 26 x 2.0 tires, so you have many choices from slick city tires to knobby tires.

Looks like the frame has posts for mounting a rear rack. Using the rack to support a large saddle bag or using pannier bags is so much nicer than carrying around books or groceries in a back pack.

Perhaps the bike just needs some pedals, new rubber (tires, tubes, and fresh brake pads) and a tune-up and you're ready to ride.

The negatives, if you care, are:

Heavy! I'll guess just a little under 30 lbs. Won't really matter unless you like to ride up hills fast.

Suntour 7-speed - probably has a 126mm rear hub with a threaded Suntour freewheel. Original replacement parts will be expensive.

(controversial): Drop-bar MTBs are more difficult to ride on technical terrain than flat handlebars. So despite having aggressive knobby tires, unless you are an expert rider, this bike is best suited for non-technical fire roads, gravel roads, and paved roads.

ITT: retards think surly makes only one bike.

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>>909126
>probably has a 126mm rear hub with a threaded Suntour freewheel. Original replacement parts will be expensive.
Meh. It's steel. He could say "fuck it" switch to an old Shimano 8 or 9 speed MTB groupset and throw an older 130mm 8/9/10 cassette freehub body road hub in there without having much to worry about.

6500 Hubs are a pretty bomb-proof and they're pretty cheap and easy to find.

>>909181
>Meh. It's steel. He could say "fuck it" switch to an old Shimano 8 or 9 speed MTB groupset and throw an older 130mm 8/9/10 cassette freehub body road hub in there without having much to worry about.
>6500 Hubs are a pretty bomb-proof and they're pretty cheap and easy to find.
I agree that switching to Shimano Freehub/Cassette (hyperglide) makes a lot of sense. But if you want shifter indexing then we're also upgrading derailleurs and shifters. Speaking of shifters there's still bar-end shifters and of course brifters (I know Shimano 9-speed MTB derailleurs are compatible (or close enough) to work with 9-speed Ultegra brifters.) I'll assume the cantilever brakes were setup to work with the shorter cable pull of road brake levers, so newer brifters should work. Otherwise you could upgrade to V-brakes, like the TRP CX 8.3. Now we've bought a lot of parts to put on our $20 bargain. 8-)

>>909186
>TRP CX 8.3
I meant to write: TRP CX 8.4

>>909126
What's a fire road?

>>909233
It's like when you were a kid and played the floor is lava.

>>909239
Sounds fun. Do painted lines on the road count as safe space?

>>909233
'Fire road' is a generic term for any low traffic, dirt road, it specifically refers to firefighting access roads found in mountainous areas.

correct me if i'm correct but i hear that if you pump tired hard you're rolling resistance will be lower

>>909268
correct,

>>909268

Come again?

>>909267
We call those logging roads.

>>909268
>>909270
False
http://www.schwalbetires.com/tech_info/rolling_resistance

>>909272
Only makes sense to call it a logging road if it's actually used for logging. In parts of the USA with a lot of open wilderness, there are just straight-up service roads for fire trucks in case of wildfires. Hence, "fire road".

>>909186
>Otherwise you could upgrade to V-brakes
I don't really see that as an upgrade though. Something about cantilevers is special.

>>908984
>googled it and found out only ~500 were made
source?

>>909348
Apparently Google you dummy.

>>909350
Haha whoops.
This one. >>909349

>>909186
>Otherwise you could upgrade to V-brakes, like the TRP CX 8.4
>>909348
>I don't really see that as an upgrade though. Something about cantilevers is special.
Cantilevers are harder to setup, but maybe that's part of their versatility. Cantilevers brake pads need to be re-adjusted as they wear, where as modern V-brakes have pads that remain parallel to the rim even as they wear. V-Brakes work independent of cable hangers - or in the case of this Specialized bike, stems that are drilled so they act as cable stops.

The CX 8.4 V-brakes are designed to be compatible with the amount of cable pull that modern drop-bar brake levers/brifters have.

This Specialized bike might already have brake levers (e.g. some DiaComp models) designed to be used with cantilever brakes.

>>909350
>Apparently Google you dummy.
srsly, where do you lookup how many bicycles of a particular 1989 model were made? If you just answer "google" then you obviously don't know and just like to pull numbers like this out of your arse, kinda like that weird Cannondale that we won't mention.

>>909330
Canada is MOSTLY open wilderness. Forest fire fighters go in by helicopter and the only roads up there are logging roads.

>>908984
that's a fucking cool bike op - you scored.
didn't realize that came with barend shifting.

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>>909427
>barend shifting
Speaking of Suntour shifters, in the early 1990s they made "Command Shifters", which had both Index and Friction modes.

Their mounting location was less prone to damage (or impaling your leg) than barend (aka barcon) shifters.

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>>909430
It's a shame no one makes them anymore.

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>>909434
>It's a shame no one makes them anymore.
Kelly Takeoffs are still available, very similar

>>909441
>>909434
isn't there also a (lowish end looking) shimano paddle type shifter out there ? # for it if you have it pls

>>908991
hmm, pls tell me more about this mythical beast

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>>909451
SL-A050

>>909451
yeah, that's it

>>909441
>Kelly Takeoffs are still available, very similar
nice! thanks for the info.

>>909353
>where as modern V-brakes have pads that remain parallel to the rim even as they wear.
Fairly certain that only one model of XTR V-brakes ever had this feature.

>>909558
The XTR BR-M950, -M960, and -M970 all had the pad on a sweet little 4-bar.

Avid's Arch brakes used a different mechanism to achieve a similar effect.

I can't recall offhand any other V-brakes that do this.

>>909456
These are hilarious and I love them.

>>909430
A lot of Shimano downtube and barend shifters have both friction and indexed modes. The placement/shape of the Suntour Command shifters has always interested me, but never enough to find a pair and test them out. I looks a little more awkward than the old WTB dropbar adapters for M73x Deore XT shifters, or the Kelly Takeoffs. Gevenalle seems to be the most readily-available method of putting friction shifters up near the brakes on a drop-bar bike, but you can only shift them from the hoods - not the drops.

>>909434
It's an overglorifed design, mostly hyped by retrogrouches who never used them.

>>908992
The new tires really make a big difference. Did you save the turbo seat?

>>909430
>>909434
>>909441
>>909456
apropos of nothing: IRD offers an adapter to run dt shifters as stem shifters

just sayin'...

>>909453
>>909453
There were only about 500 of those made as well.
1992 i think , the next year they made a bunch more.

>>909181

I've stretched 127mm to 135mm no problem, as long as the chain stays aren't so short that the dropouts get so splayed you can't properly tighten the axle. There are people doing this on tandems. I wouldn't worry at all about it

>>909456
These are actually pretty good. Don't stick out like stem shifters, you can use them on the tops, not awkward to use like commands, not full retard like grip shifters

>>908984
I thought this was another instance of that "collectible bike" thread that's been chasing around the board lately.