Nice project!
I have a rockhopper from around the same age but it's the FS (front suspension) I had some rigid forks from a hardrock that work really well on it. I don't think these bikes where ever designed around suspension forks, the head tube dropped a cm at most with the hard rock forks so accounting for fork sag I'd say they didnt design the frames differently for suspension or non suspension.
I have an stx 7 speed group on another bike, seems pretty solid!
Yeah I think you’re right, this frame definitely seems as though it’s made for a rigid fork. Absolutely solid frame. Glad to hear that the stx has worked well for you, the shifting felt really nice when I rode the bike shortly when I first got it!
Nice project!
I have a rockhopper from around the same age but it's the FS (front suspension) I had some rigid forks from a hardrock that work really well on it. I don't think these bikes where ever designed around suspension forks, the head tube dropped a cm at most with the hard rock forks so accounting for fork sag I'd say they didnt design the frames differently for suspension or non suspension.
I have an stx 7 speed group on another bike, seems pretty solid!