This is "Chubs" my '89 Specialized RockCombo. Dirt drop bar standard. I bought this new when working in a shop. Being an old roadie that loved dirt this was my dream bike at the time. A drop bar Mt bike. Still is after all these years in many ways. At the time they said there was only 3000 being made but these days the 'net reports only 500 were made. Who knows for sure. Most folks have never heard of one let alone seen one. Ned Overend actually raced on one of these for a while.
The story at the time was that a product manager at Specialized had a 30 mile fire road commute to work and designed this bike for that. It excels at that. Geometry is basically road bike with a long rear triangle.
Originally it was equipped with a mix of Specialized house brand parts and Suntour XC6000 components. most long since worn out and replaced with mostly Suntour XC Pro grease guard componets,
Suntour Command drop bar shifters,
Mathauser brake pads,
Blackburn expedition rear rack + low rider front when needed,
Blackburn expedition bottle cages,
SR Low Fat pedals with Mt cages and Rhode Gear toe straps,
and a Brooks Conquest sprung saddle.
I have 2 identical sets of wheels that I built. 1 with 1.95 knobbies and one with 1.25 slicks.
2 sets of handle bars. 1 is the original Specialized Dirt Drop. The other is a Scott AT3LF.
Flat bars and knobbies.
Drop bars and slicks.
These little gizmos came from Bruce Gordon Cycles. They were made for His Rock+road bike. They allow you to have 2 sets of handle bars set up including cables so they can be changed in moments keeping the gears adjusted after the bar change. The brake cables bosses are slotted and that works the same.
The gear cables just screw together.
Having 2 sets of bars and 2 sets of wheels means I can make 4 different types of bike out of this one bike. The transition only takes a few minutes. Each configuration has it's own feel and rides very well.
Drop bars and knobbies. (off road touring)
Showing the command shifters. They work awesome and predate STI by a while, lighter too.
Drop bars and slicks. (road touring)
Flat bars and slicks (road hybrid)
Flat bars and knobbies (mountain bike)
I have a full set of Panniers I made many years ago from Frostline kits and upgraded them with compression straps and HD mounting for off road use. The Cannondale seat and handlebar bag were purchased in the late '70s before Cannondale made bicycles! All have had a good bit of use.
This bike has a blue bazillion miles on it. Many tours both on road and off. I've commuted on it. Done hard core mountain biking on it. When it was new I pulled my baby son in a bugger behind it while Mom rode behind and entertained him. He is about to graduate college now and I'm still riding this bike. It's special. When the Zombie apocalypse comes it will be loaded and on my truck. When the truck won't go any further I'll be on the bike!
Funny thing is I read reviews on the new Salsa Fargo and they say nothing like it has ever been made before. Only real difference is the wheel size! A Fargo will probably be my next bike.
