Should You Buy the Specialized Rockhopper Sport 2022 Mountain Bike – All You Need to Know

What is it?

The Specialized Rockhopper is a beautiful framed lightweight mountain bike aimed at tackling flowy mountain bike trails.

This model is price at $800, exactly $100 more than the lower spec’d Rockhopper model.

You can get it as a 26, 27.5 or 29 wheel size. 26 and 27.5 being to go to wheel size it you’d like a more playful feeling bike with sharper cornering.  You’ll want the 29er wheels to easily roll over obstacles without being slowed down and to gain and maintain speed more easily.

The wheel sizes are based on frame size. You can get the 26 sized wheels on the XS frame only.

The 27.5 Being available on XS, S and M sizes.

29er wheels are available on frame sizes S – XXL.

Specialized Rockhopper Size Chart

Supple Specialized Frame

Specialized frames are particularly lightweight, soft, and supple compared to their competitors. This is no different here with the Rockhopper Sport using Specialized A1 Butted alloy.

In combination with the Suntour XCM Suspension Fork the ride feels pleasantly smooth along smooth trails, taking the pressure off of your ankles, wrists and hips.

It feels playful and handles well allowing you to flick it around with ease and lends itself well to practicing your core MTB skills.

What is it Meant for?

If you want a bike that’ll put a smile on your face each time you ride, the Rockhopper Sport may be the one for you.

Playful in nature this bike is made to be flicked around. If you want to improve your MTB skills such as wheelies, jumps, manuals and pumping this bike ticks all those boxes.

Its playful nature makes it a versatile companion and will feel at home on the trails, pump tracks, jump parks, and flowing single track trails.

The sturdy frame, wide handle bars and grippy tires make it most comfortable off-road for exploring nature or charging down your local trails.

Who is it Meant for?

• Great for those sensitive to joint or back pains
• Those who ride for fun and not time trails

The soft frame does a great job of dampening the vibrations coming from the road. This takes pressure off your back, ankles and knees as the forces loose their sting before reaching your body.

The 2.35″ wide tires can also be deflated to nice low pressures, further taking the edge off of bumps and rough spots.

If you ride for the pure fun and not to set record lap times, then the Specialized Rockhopper is meant for you.

It is built around fun days at the trails with friends with a specification built towards trail riding as opposed to an XC race style common with other mountain bikes at this price point.

The 15mm rise of the handle bars gives you a sturdy grip to confidently descend down trails and the 2.35″ provide plenty of grip making for a combination that provides great confidence when cornering in looser dirt.

2X Drivetrain allows you to ride at speed on the tarmac

The drivetrain uses a 2X front chainring. This gives you a better top end speed when compared to 1X drivetrain bikes such as the Giant Talon 2. You’ll have 18 gears to choose from to always be in a comfortable pedalling range.

With this is mind if you are planning to do the most of your riding on street and tarmac, then swapping the knobby tires for some slick tires will allow you to fly around the streets at speed without compromising the comfort that a MTB brings.

How Does it Compare to the Competition?

• Super comfortable ride
• Not the best value for money

No compromise on the ride quality here, it is top of its class when it comes to comfort on a trail bike at this price level. It is spec’d with Specialized own comfortable lock on grips and MT200 Hydraulic brakes.

The drivetrain being a 2X rather than a 1X chainring can either be an advantage or disadvantage depending on what you want out of the bike.

Most of Specialized competitors have a 1X drivetrain for pure off road trail riding with simplicity and durability being the top priority.

The Rockhoppers 2X drivetrain allows you to get up to higher top speeds. In addition, during sections that quickly move from flat to climbing, you can switch to the correct gear with just single gear change at the front ring.

Things to Consider Before you Buy

Warranty on the bike

Specialized give you a lifetime warranty on the bicycle frame if the bike has been registered and 2 year warranty without register. You must register your bike within 90 days of purchase as the original owner to secure the lifetime warranty.

Don’t regret your purchase

Think carefully about what type of riding you’ll likely be doing. If you think you’ll be doing long journeys in the city the majority of the time then this bike may not be for you.

In conclusions you should purchase based on the riding you’ll be doing 90% of the time and not the 10% where you may need something lighter, something quicker or something more robust.

Cool factors

Specialized are one of the top bike brands in the world and make some of the most recognised bikes around today.

Rockhopper Sports have a sleek minimalist design with a sloping top tube from front to back.

Specialized are great at eye catching paint jobs with 4 colour choices here that really pop out in direct sunlight:

1. GLOSS WHITE MOUNTAINS / DUSTY TURQUOISE
2. GLOSS BLAZE / ICE PAPAYA
3. SATIN FOREST GREEN / OASIS
4. SATIN SLATE / COOL GREY

Specialized Rockhopper Sport Specifications