I ride this bike some 13 miles per day over mostly smooth dirt/paved terrain. First the sizing, I am 5'8 and the medium is too large for comfort in stand over and basic geometry. First thing I had to swap was the bars for a 1.5"" riser. I weigh 175 (the bike is also heavy) and the shocks always seemed too floaty with sticky/slow rebound no matter how they are adjusted; good thing there is a lockout but having to switch this lockout all the time without a remote switch is a pain. This leads me to the the biggest gripe: the drive train. 9 gears ended up being a liability, it rarely feels like you are in the ""right"" gear and after 1.5K miles the gears started slipping. The chain, derailer, and rear cassette all needed to be replaced and it still sound terrible after being in the shop a few times. This drive system can't take sustained abuse but worked well when new; deteriorated quickly from there. The good: seat is fairly comfortable, the Shimano disc brakes stop excellent, the tires roll well (almost no tack to these). I was hoping this bike would last me some 2 years before an upgrade but it lasted 9 months and I am done with it. I think its a good daily rider for most people less hard on things or a good back up bike. I'd recommend the Rockhopper Expert with the lighter and adj. rebound XCR fork and 10 speed Shimano drive train for the additional $245 and pass on the X1 Comp

First off, the idea of this bike is spot on.....with a 1x drivetrain, hydraulic brakes, internal routing....it checks all the boxes. Obviously the forks are junk if you actually plan to ride. Another draw back is the straight neck stem on the frame, a tapered on the comp woulda been nice. As far as problems, I've encountered quality issues since day 1, The preload adjuster broke on the forks, but I planned to upgrade the forks anyway. However, the bigger problem, this bike would ""slip"" under heavy load....and after 5 knee surgery's, that's a huge unwanted problem. I had 6 different bike shops work on it before finally figuring out the cogs in the cassette body couldn't handle the load an were beginning to strip out. It's been frustrating to say the least. I do wanna note, specialized has been good about warrantying and even upgrading the rear hub and cassette thus far....but I'm only 2 months in. Now....for the good, this bike is awesome. I have a motocross background so I like to ride it hard, an when this bike is ripping, its an absolute blast.......nimble handling, great stability and climbs like a mule. Overall I would love to give this bike 5 stars, esp considering the price, but I have been disappointed in the quality of the components. There are very few options for a xxl hardtail, so I chose this....an thank you specialized for offering a 23"" in the rockhopper for us Clydesdales. It would be wise to find a higher dollar bike if you plan on seriously riding, but being a big guy, my options are limited....so I'm gonna throw whatever money I have to just to make it work. However, Specialized, if anyone is reading this, pleease build the Epic Hardtail in a xxl for us big guys that wanna rail!

been riding this thing for 10 months now.I use it as a trail bike, all day adventure bike, and around town too. I love it. It took a while for me to better assess my personal geometry issue with the bike, and some minor gripes, but i ended up making myself very comfortable on this thing, and im absolutely stoked on it now. I got a new short stem, riser handlebars, and better saddle position in order to make myself not feel so far hunched forward just to hold the bars (also narrowed bars a bit). I put a wtb vigilante as the new front tire and moved the original front tire to the rear because I never liked the fast trak sport tire that came on the rear. Lastly, a manitou markhor fork instead of the suntour xcm that was stock, this dropped a substantial amount of weight off the front and overall performs better than before. This rockhopper rocks now. I dont have much experience with mtb frame geometry, but the bike feels comfortable and nimble, easy to climb, and totally stable. 29"" wheels are a blast on the trail or pavement, stock saddle is nice, 1x9 drivetrain work well. I'm really enjoying this bicycle.

Wonderful bike. The single shifter is nice and clean. Matte finish sexy. Seat is uncomfortable like most so I bought a cloud9 cruiser seat. Overall great bike.

Tremendous value for a solid bike. I upgraded the fork by utilizing SunTour's upgrade program and added clip-less Shimano SPD pedals. After several months of riding, I couldn't be happier, particularly with the quality/performance of the rear derailleur and overall ride comfort for green ways, nature trails and light technical riding.