Am thinking of getting a Rock Lobster 853 to replace a 2004 Rockhopper comp. the reviews seem good and they seem good value for the spec, any suggestions?
thanks

any suggestions?

Erm….buy one?

Had one for about 6 years now, and the fact i still have it and ride it most weeks says all i need to say about it. Others have come and gone, I can't see me parting with this one.

Only minor gripe I had was that paint quality wasn't the best, however had it stripped and powder coated for £50 3 years ago and that's also been £50 v. well spent.

Yeh, i have one too. Cracking bike but as above, the paint gets chipped easy.

Go on, join the club!! 8)

I have had mine since 06 and ride it every week. Paint on mine is okay too ! They have always been good value, although the spec has come down a little to keep the price point for C2W etc. I would certainly reccomend it -)

ditto

had my frame for five years, my full suss comes out about twice a year now :O)

buy it (and a roll of heli tape)

and another here – had mine for about 6 years and ride it most days. Buy one

Me too. My Rock Lobster is my winter bike. Nice skinny tubes and nice
red colour, but mine is newer batch without that built in seat clamp, pity. It is more comfortable frame than my previous alu ht, so i can definitely feel the steel feel. (Build with same components and wheels/tires).

Paint chips, but not from every item hit. With my frame came little paint
bottle, so my frame is like new.

I must say, that i considered just to buy Cotic Soul, because of possibility to use burlier tires and longer forks. But would Soul be better after all? I decided not to spent alot of cash to try it, so my Rock Lobster stays with me as long as it last.

Thanks for the above, I found a 2nd hand Kinesis XCpro2 today which I may go for but everything I have read says the Lobster will probably be the more comfortable even with the carbon rear stays on the kinesis. My old bones prefer comfort to speed these days!I am still inclined to go for the Lobster. Any comparison comments will be greatly received.

Rock Lobster frames tend to be about half an inch shorter in the top tube than most. Recently sold the Tig Team SL I'd had for six months; lovely frame but very poor paint.

I suspect the two would be quite different, the Kinesis is an out and out XC frame and would therefore probably be a longer more stretched position than 'normal' (whatever that is). And then the RL as above tends to be a bit shorter than normal – supposedly more akin to Kona type geometry so I've been told

Where are you (apart from your profile = Surrey) I'd happily take you out for a test ride on mine if you want to try it out (and 19" is a decent size)

I've got a rock lobster

…and I used to have an XcPro

The Lobster is shorter in the top tube making it nippy and agile, the geometry is more relaxed than the maxlight being steel it is a comfy ride. The maxlight on the other hand is pretty much a race bike, firm, quite harsh but very precise. I've never ridden a bike which handles as well the maxlight but it really is nowhere near as comfy as the rock lobster, although I don't know how much better the carbon rear stays are on the pro2. The two bikes are quite different really.

Kev

Thanks for the suggestions have just ordered an 853