Is a Specialized Rockhopper good for dirt jumping?

Question

I'm looking into buying my first mountain bike. I've been riding a bmx bike for about 4 years and have found that it doesn't do so well on dirt trails. I'd like to find a bike well suited for speeding through dirt trails and hitting jumps. I've got my eye on this years specialized rockhopper, the one with disc brakes ($700), would this be a good bike to get? If not, what are some other bikes i should look in to? Please keep in mind that I'm looking to spend less than $1000.

Answer 1

well im a big Specialized  fan and for the price the Rockhopper is a good bike, but i would not recomend doing any BIG jumps w/ this bike, but it will do good w/ speeding through dirt trails

Answer 2

ehh, it's not made for that kind of stuff... Try lookning into a specialized P. Series bike as thats what they are for, and only a about $100 more, depending on the model.

Answer 3

This is kind of open ended as "hitting jumps" is different than "Dirt Jumping." If all you will do is ride trails with the occasional jump on them, yes, the Rockhopper will do fine. If you are hitting trails that have a lot of jumps or is made as a Dirt Jump trails, no, the Rockhopper's components and Geometry is all wrong.

Look at this link to the "P Series" from Specialized if you prefer that brand:

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel...

or

Try Eastern's BIGMX's:

http://www.eastern26.com/Products/Comple...

This one is around $699 but there are a couple options wil Single Speed or Gears.

There are a lot of frame makers out there now that have affordable complete bikes or frames you could build up including: DMR, Azonic, GT, Trek, and on and on...

Remember that the Frame is the most important part of the bike for Dirt Jumping as the parts will innevitably break on you but the frame needs to hold. Have Fun!