SHEEP IN WOLF’S CLOTHING
People in traffic stop and stare when you have this bike on your rack. Petrol attendants cluck and comment about how expensive it must be. Indeed, the all-black colour scheme makes it look like it means business.
What you actually get, if you go beyond the stealthy veil, is a forgiving beginner’s bike with good components and a frame that you can improve with.
Like the Trek Marlin 7, it’s available in six sizes, and the geometry is consistent across the range. Also like the Marlin, the frame is super-slick, with fetching lines and neat internal cable routing, including routing for a dropper post.
The tyres are a combination of Specialized’s own Ground Control up front and a Fast Trak at the rear, both 2.3 inches wide (the widest on test). The Ground Control has an aggressive tread pattern – just what you want on the front of a mountain bike – and the Fast Trak does what its name implies. Mixing and matching tyres is what you do once you’ve been riding for years; it’s nice to see Specialized taking out the guesswork for firsttime buyers.
The drivetrain is 1x11 Shimano SLX, similar to the Titan Drone Comp, but the Spez has a more forgiving 30-tooth chainring up front. The Suntour cassette has been totally blacked out to match the rest of the bike, which looks great.
The let-down here – if you’re nitpicking – is the RockShox Recon RL
fork. It has boost spacing like the Judy Gold on the Cannondale Trail, but it has a quick-release axle, not a throughaxle, which introduces a little bit of flex. It’s perfectly adequate, but if you get serious about your riding, you might want to upgrade to a more robust fork like a RockShox Reba RL. The brakes are also a few rungs down from the Deores on the Titan Drone, and the stopping power isn’t as good. Generally, when you look at a Specialized bike, something about the slick, minimalist design makes you want to get on and ride. The Rockhopper Pro is no exception. It’s a quality offering at a good price, and it’s just waiting for upgrades.