The Silver Surfer is a 1998 Specialized Rockhopper. It has an excellent modern rigid frame: the fork has a 1 1/8" straight steerer tube with modern threadless headset. Except for geo tweaks, that is a quintessential modern rigid bike frame, tech wise. These are solid platforms to build on, one that will be good to go for decades.
They raked the folk eleganly with nice long curving blades. Better handling and gets the front wheel away from the toes. They built this one well back in the day. 90s?
The picture with the silver saddle is how the bike was as-is when acquired.
Build
This was a standard job: full restoration, then a few choice bits to make the rider contact points more luxury. That and some good tires is all you need for a rock solid simple bike.
- Fully overhauled, every bearing had a nice spa day
- Brooks saddle
- MKS Gemma pedals
- Ortlieb pannier
- Classic Eco style rack
- Kool Stop brake pads
- Studded 2+" tires for snow season
- Comfortable handlebar
- Black silicon pads on brake grips (don’t want your fingers getting stuck on them in the cold)