I picked up the Specialized Hardrock GX mountain bike that I bought on eBay. It was advertised as a 1999 Specialized Hardrock with an 15 inch aluminum frame. But it turned out to be a 17 inch Chrome Moly frame. And looking pictures of the 1999 Specialized Hardrock bikes, they are different. They have the name Specialized displayed on the down tube. Where the bike I bought has Specialized displayed on the top tube, and the downtube is label “Hardrock”. I have looked for pictures of 96 and 97 Hardrock’s, but I haven’t found any that are labelled as such. I have found some photos of a couple bikes that look like what I bought, but they aren’t labeled with the year.
The brakes need to be adjusted. I think they are too tight. The pads rest kind of near to the rim. The rear brakes are unbalanced, where the one pad moves more than the other. I rode the bike around my driveway, and played with the indexed shifting. I think it needs to be adjusted too. I considered taking the bike up to the local bike shop and having it tuned. They charge I think around $40. I still might. But since we are unlikely to be using the bike in the immediate future, I decided to try and tune it myself. I ordered a book titled The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair: For Road and Mountain Bikes by Todd Downs. It got pretty good reviews. There was another book titled Barnett’s Manual: Analysis and Procedures for Bicycle Mechanics by John Barnett. The Barnett book is a actually a set of books, and is much more expensive. So I decided to go with the Downs book. I can always take it into a bike shop later.
if it’s dark grey with red lettering, it’s probably a 96 model. Look underneath the bike where the pedals come together… there’s a serial number there…. it’ll end in 96, 97, 98 etc. deciphering the year of the bike. also the shifter would be a grip shifter… not a thumb shifter.
Comment by christine — April 8, 2008 @ 9:01 pm
I have been looking for one.
The dark grey with red lettering, chromoly but with a 15″ frame. Anybody got one for sale?
Comment by Hal — March 14, 2011 @ 5:27 pm
I have one in a 17″
Comment by chris — April 9, 2011 @ 5:29 pm
I have the exact same bike. It was my moms. I am looking to sale it. I am in Utah. Anyone want it
Comment by Jill — June 18, 2011 @ 11:29 am
Yes I do I’m not sure the year I’ll have to look but it’s exactly what u r talking about.
Comment by zach — June 7, 2014 @ 5:46 am
Mine is brand new maybe road once still has the original tires
Comment by zach — June 7, 2014 @ 5:48 am