I have a '92 Rockhopper stashed in the back of my garage. Its still got all the original equipment and is in pretty much excellent condition. If I had to guess how many miles its done, I'd say less than a thousand. Is it worth anything?
If some of the adverts on here are to be believed, then about £1.5k.
In the real world, probably about a tenth of that, depending on spec.
Digging around on the Retrobike forum might give you some indication.
Is anyone going to buy it and put in a museum? no. Its worth a couple of hundred as a decent old bike in good nic - that is all.
Not heard of that site wordnumb, but shall ask on there....cheers!
Is anyone going to buy it and put in a museum? no. Its worth a couple of hundred as a decent old bike in good nic – that is all.
Well, I tend to agree....but it is a bit of an iconic brand and name, despite being a pile of crap these days.
Pictures please 🙂
90s MTBs are my favourite era.
Have a look on the Facebook group called "UK MTB Golden Era 80's and 90's appreciation group".
Loads of retro builds, pictures etc on there (although buying / selling is not allowed) but you could post some pics and a "what's it worth?" question. Chances are you'll be able to sell it via private message within about 10 minutes!
Maybe post it up as a "garage find" or something. In terms of what it's actually worth though, probably not a lot. Rockhoppers were 10 a penny in the 90's and it was a fairly entry-level MTB even then. Although as mentioned above - iconic name and brand.
My old 90's rockhopper with less than 3 miles on the clock, a few daft offers or can you post it overseas
It might go back in the body bag for another 25 years
My old 90’s rockhopper with less than 3 miles on the clock, a few daft offers or can you post it overseas
What do you consider a daft offer mate? Can't imagine you will get anywhere near £650 as it's not a desirable late 80's to early 90's model. If you were offered half I'd snap their hand off.
have a ’92 Rockhopper stashed in the back of my garage. Its still got all the original equipment and is in pretty much excellent condition.
Saw this on retrobike. To get a proper valuation you'll need to add some pictures on there. Shame it's not got the original tyres as they would have probably been Ground Controls and in good nick are worth more that the rest of the bike! Condition is key but if it really is in excellent condition it could be worth a few hundred quid but spec and condition will have a huge effect so pics are necessary.
I’ll dig it out and take some pics but in the meantime it’s this model:
https://images.app.goo.gl/Cc8cmFn9GzqmwhJ39
What do you consider a daft offer mate? Can’t imagine you will get anywhere near £650 as it’s not a desirable late 80’s to early 90’s model. If you were offered half I’d snap their hand off.
I’d completely agree with this - these were £400 new I believe. It’s an old bike so newer mountain bikers would look for something more suitable (a voodoo bizango for example for £550 would be far better for most plus brand new, warranty etc) and the retro crowd tend to know their stuff so wouldn’t be paying that kind of money for a common base model rockhopper (no offence). It is nice bike just worth significantly less than you want for it.
OP £100 would probably shift it, bad time of year to be selling though (Christmas / weather).
I paid £130 for my 88 in used condition.
I doubt it's worth a lot TBH, just not desirable (to the masses).
I bought a vgc unadulterated ‘98 Rockhopper (Ritchey Logic ‘Nitanium’ frame, Ritchey dropouts, hubs etc.) for dad and it cost £110. Pre-Covid hikes
My old 90’s rockhopper with less than 3 miles on the clock, a few daft offers or can you post it overseas
Worth maybe £150-200. But that'd be top price for it unfortunately.
£650 is way, way overpriced.
For the OP, probably £100 would be a fair price.
I sold a '91 Saracen Traverse Hydrotech (better spec + magura brakes) in great condition for £150 a year or so ago.
Unless it's a high spec, iconic model/brand, it's never going to be worth big bucks.
For that your looking at Yetis, Fat Chances, Mountain Goats, etc.
£150/£200 these are the sort of daft offers I occasionally get and not worth a reply, I've no need or haste to sell it but you try buying decent 26"tyres eg if you can find them £££££
Price is always negotiable
A restoration of a scabby one what's a proper paint job not powder coat,with delivery etc can't get much change out of £150
Albeit in poor condition, our Rockhopper was a hedge find...
Ours was a lovely silver colour, perhaps '98 from memory?
It was used on paper round duty before going into a skip.
£150/£200 these are the sort of daft offers I occasionally get and not worth a reply, I’ve no need or haste to sell it but you try buying decent 26″tyres eg if you can find them £££££
Haha, no they're sensible offers, and you're hoping for far too much money.
It's a low-to-mid range bike from a not particularly fashionable time in mtbing (this looks like a 96 or 97 model, so too late for most retro enthusiasts).
I've got a shed full of decent 26" tyres. Haven't we all?
£650 for a late 90s Taiwan made rockhopper?
Clearly you don't actually want to sell it, are you listing it to keep your wife happy?
"I tried to sell it dear, but no one would pay what's it's worth"
I feel like some of the more optimistic folk on this thread are confusing the Rockhopper with the Stumpjumper.
How many bikes weren't made in Taiwan ? I've a couple of early Cannondales made in USA , Titus Supermoto and Modena probably USA but nothing wrong with Taiwan stuff
I'd rather gift it to someone than sell it for what think it's worth
I’d rather gift it to someone than sell it for what think it’s worth
Do that, cos you'll never get what you obviously think it's worth 😆
Gift it to someone who needs a bike, that would be nice.
I had that exact bike that Redmex has posted. It cost me £400 in 1998. It was the absolute base model Rockhopper. It was a nice frame with Ritchey branded dropouts. Those cranks were the flexiest things in the world. Everything else was pretty basic. Ground control and ground master tyres. It was, I think, the last steel Rockhopper. I'm pretty sure all the models above it had gone to Alu.
I've got a lot of fond memories but even as someone who has history with it I wouldn't pay £650. Maybe £300 if I was feeling flush.
How many bikes weren’t made in Taiwan ?
The posh ones. The M2/M4 Stumpys - I know this as I have a 1998 A1 rockhopper and an M4 Stumpjumper in the basement. The Rockhopper is Taiwanese, the stumpy although newer is USA.
The 1998 stumpy was M2 iirc, which is a really nice frame. That rockhopper unfortunately isn't old enough or niche enough to be worth much at all - it's just an unused old bike.
£150/£200 these are the sort of daft offers I occasionally get and not worth a reply,
Well you won’t sell it then and you’re living in cloud cuckoo land.
I’m a veteran of the Retrobike scene and if someone had offered me £200 I’d have snapped their arm off.
Things going for it:
Reasonable condition (not that you can tell easily as it’s filthy)
Reasonable but not exciting brand. Even Stumpjumpers don’t go for much unless they are really special versions or very old 1980’s models but they have to be original. S works can fetch decent money or an FSR you can make a Jason McRoy replica from.
Saddle looks in good nick which is rare. But don’t confuse rare with valuable - I just sold a reasonable condition Selle Italia Flite for £30 and they are actually sought after.
Things against it:
V brakes. Labels it as post 97 so it’s the wrong side of that value cutoff. A headset doesn’t help.
Basic model with rubbish tube set.
STX is deeply uncool, you can’t give it away sometimes. Same with those brakes.
Unfortunately you’ve believed the hype that old MTBs are all gold mines. They aren’t. Just because it costs a lot to restore doesn’t mean it’s worth much either. My keeper Retrobike cost me £900 to buy and restore and it’s worth about £500 but it didn’t matter to me as it was something special to me.
£650 for a late 90s Rockhopper best laugh I've had in a while.
Have a guess why you are only getting offers for less than a third of that.
It might go back in the body bag for another 25 years
And it will still be worth **** all. Just ride it, that's what they're for.
Like I said earlier it will go back in the body bag , leave it to grandkids
There seems to be a fair bit of snobbery towards the Rockhopper so sought after back in the day, I bought my first one in '86 rather than the rival muddyfox courier, I wonder if anyone admits to buying one of them.
Muddy fox back then was a very different brand to today. Pushing the start of our MTB scene
I’ll dig it out and take some pics but in the meantime it’s this model:
That's actually a desirable colour, so id think value was closer to £200 if it's in good condition.
The retrobike market is a strange one. It's quite small and most people have the "mass market" bikes they want so the focus for collectors is on niche items and "unicorns"
People who aren't collectors/into the scene and just want a decent bike are going to think more than £100 for an old bike is a rip off.
Re non Taiwan spesh:
stumpjumpers were made in Japan up to 1995/96. I bought one a couple of a years ago (with ground controls) for £150.
The s-works steel stumpy was made in the US as were the mmx bikes until 97/98 ish.
That red rockhopper is nice but all the value is in the frame and it's not worth £650
And since we're talking retro bike s, if any one wants to buy a very nice 1996 bontrager privateer, get in touch 🙂
I wonder if anyone admits to buying one of them.
Me. ‘88(?) with biopace and u-brake. Loved it.
There seems to be a fair bit of snobbery towards the Rockhopper so sought after back in the day
I don't think anyone's being snobbish, it's just not worth as much as you think for it.
Rockhoppers were good bikes, but not what I'd call sought after. People wanted what the Pros rode - the Stumpy or the Epic.
I bought my first one in ’86 rather than the rival muddyfox courier, I wonder if anyone admits to buying one of them.
My first proper MTB was a 1990 Muddyfox Courier Comp with 400LX. Loved it!
I then had a Raleigh White Lightening - lightweight, lugged Reynolds 653 🙂 bit of a gate though.
Then a Kona Explosif Pro - loved that bike.
...and after that was nicked 🙁 a '95 (maybe 96?) Specialized Stumpjumper M2 with Judy SLs.
I bet most of these M2 etc superlight Al frames from 22 years ago if no visible cracks on the head or seat tube then look carefully underneath the almost hidden fractures. A powder coat will soon have it looking great again
At least a Taiwanese Tig steel frame can go on and on unless internal rust gets to it
There seems to be a fair bit of snobbery towards the Rockhopper so sought after back in the day
@redmex - No snobbery at all, they were easily (by a very considerable margin) the best seller on the shop floor around that time, late 90's). We'd probably sell 3 Rockhoppers for every one bike from any other brand combined.
As mentioned above though, they were £400 brand new and even with inflation that has not made it's value £650. £200 would be a very good price and you'll get that if you actually clean it up a bit. It might have only done 3 miles but that chain / cassette is filthy.
£200 max for a rockhopper
Sadly the stx one above probably less as nobody wants 96 on bikes, they are in that meh middle ground. Although stx works well it is just meh and ten a penny.
Threaded headsets and canti brakes may be awful but they define a vintage MTB.
When you talk of snobbery of course it exists, it's whats desirable not what's the best bike. Look at the value of crappy old ford escorts Vs actual decent cars of that era.
Rockhoppers although ok bikes are low range fodder sold in their thousands. Stuff worth money are the halo bikes or anything that came with xt or above.
I'd absolutely agree that no one is being a snob. What would be comparable to a Rockhopper? Saracen Tufftrax/Traverse, Marin Palisades/Bear Valley, base spec Orange Clockwork (at a push), GT Avalanche? Any of those sell for between £50-200 in good nick with only really the Orange making more if it's the right colour and condition.
I dreamed of owning a Rockhopper, Palisades, Clockwork or Tufftrax as a child and still have a soft spot for them all now but 13 years on retrobike has taught me what they are worth and that isn't anywhere near £650.
How many current or ex Retrobike members on this thread then? 😆
I only pop my head in every few months after being a keen member up until about 6 years ago (kids + some knobbers on there did it for me).
Sold one two months ago for £175
Got to agree with the comments on the rockhopper price. For me (a bit like toys) stuff sells if folks wanted it as a kid and can now maybe afford it. So for example, if that was a near mint 1992 kona fire mountain, which was a bottom of the range kona at the time, I'd offer you 400 quid for it in a heartbeat. Because it's a bike I wanted as a nipper and couldn't afford. It would be shit as a bike, but it would bring back great memories.
Maybe im wrong but I'm just not convinced any kid ever lusted after a 97 rockhopper...
As for snobbishness.. I bought the 2010 rovkhopper when I took up riding again. Was a cracking wee bike.
I’ve got to say (as a Rockhopper late ‘80’s owner) I don’t see much value in this bike since it’s far from a high end rare Specialized. Yes a nice Stumpy steel or S-works might be worth something more.
I have two retro bikes one of which is purely sentimental value (completely refurbed Orange Aluminium O - XT groupset - which I’ve owned since ‘91) and a Pace RC100 (Suntour XC Pro) which has some more value. Although both are more “worth” to me than the £££ value.
Me. ‘88(?) with biopace and u-brake. Loved it.
Same here, and I re bought one 18 months ago.
A late 90s one has even less value tho, I remember working on them, spec'd to a price, crap brakes and hubs, but some still believe the Ritchey droputs are special 😂
Seeing as I've been getting ripped a wee bit on this thread with my inflated estimation I wonder what any of you reckon my old steel fillet brazed white spider frame and forks bought in Stockbridge when McMoonter worked in the shop, a while ago
Will it be classed the same as a Diamondback Sorrento rather than handbuilt in Croydon
Quite a few on here probably haven't even heard of it
what any of you reckon my old steel fillet brazed white spider frame and forks
£1-200
Pete worked there summers 86-88 I think @mcmoonter will confirm.
White Spider is Roberts...never felt the love TBH, some Scots in the day preferred Alves. Pretty rare as you say but also little known, I think Simon is right.
Did you work there cynic-al ?
Frame cost £450 headset,BB,cables etc brought it up to a rounded £500
Full xt with proper old school thumbshifters
Yup, various times 88-93, I expect we might recognise/know each other.
Your handle is giving me no clues tho...I was Fat Al in those days...
Guess my '99 chromoly rigid Hardrock won't fund my retirement then. I could do with it out the way and it's still a better bike than supermarket dross for the same price as it'd make. It's got a XT shark fin too if anyone's interested.
My handle is my favourite car Mk1 Mexico in Sebring Red
I remember McMoonter from the few times I was out with the moonters did he have a Stumpy ?
There was only the two shops on the East of Scotland back then Williamson's and the coop
He had a Stumpjumper Comp, and its warranty replacement.
I don't remember anyone coming out with the moonters in a red Mexico, I was getting lifts with them in Porsches, Minors, Sambas...
I remember doing a run from either Aberfeldy or Kenmore big climb and around the south side of Schiehallion with a descent down to Fortinghall, nae suspenders back then, the guy that has the shop at Pitlochry was he a moonter too ?
Chas Robert’s frames have a bit of a following (see Retro bike for threads) but it’s the Dogs Bollox that is the most sought after rather than the Spider’s. Still nice frames.
I worked at Williamsons from 85-88 while I was a student. Basically all I earned went straight back into the till!
Yes, Kevin Dangerous that has the bike shop in Pitlochry was one of the original Moonters. We met him and Stuart Dangerous - some say they weren’t brothers - on a ride up Mt Keen in 85. We thought we were hot shot riders, but they were in another downhill league. Kevin had an inflatable parrot on his shoulder. I have photos somewhere
I had the first of the first Rockhoppers in the country. My Colnago road bike got stolen, I had my eye on a Saracen Conquest, but Phil W had just seen the new Rockhoppers at a trade show and said they were the business. I bought it unseen
We had a great friend who worked for Chas Roberts. That’s a whole other tale for the morning