Talk to me about Specialized FSR
Discussion
Can anyone help, surfing around for a new 2nd hand bike and have found a few of these about:
Ebay number 270377944544
Can't find much about the older fsr models if I google it, only the newer ones. What are these like.....what exactly are they....I was looking for Rockhopper but these seem better value as they are full suspension bikes. Any idea where I can see reviews for all types of FSR's over the years?
Any info would be much appreciated!
Thanks
Matt
Edited to ask, what is this one?
Ebay number 270377944544
Can't find much about the older fsr models if I google it, only the newer ones. What are these like.....what exactly are they....I was looking for Rockhopper but these seem better value as they are full suspension bikes. Any idea where I can see reviews for all types of FSR's over the years?
Any info would be much appreciated!
Thanks
Matt
Edited to ask, what is this one?
Edited by MattW on Sunday 26th April 00:09
I had an FSR ground control, albeit one with a betd linkage (giving 5 or 6 inches of travel) and much slacker head angle due to a longer fork. I'm not sure of all of the differences (or all of the models anymore) but the extreme had a beefier head tube design.
Standard you would get 4 inches of plush rear travel, but it did seem very bobby and heavy going up hill by todays standards. I would have a good look for frame fatigue around the shock mount, headtube and chain/seat stays. Many of these bikes were put on downhill duties, tyres tended to rub on the chainstay and the rear dropouts wore out, especially if someone fitted an aftermarket disc adaptor, the earliest FSRs required a hole to be drilled in the dropout to fit this, so be wary if some one has. The bearings and shock bushings and shock bolts will also need looking at - and will most likely be screwed.
If you want the retro bike experience and can find one that has spent most of it's life in a shed, then an FSR could be quite fun. If you want to hit the trails hard, I would be looking for a more modern second hand hardtail.
Standard you would get 4 inches of plush rear travel, but it did seem very bobby and heavy going up hill by todays standards. I would have a good look for frame fatigue around the shock mount, headtube and chain/seat stays. Many of these bikes were put on downhill duties, tyres tended to rub on the chainstay and the rear dropouts wore out, especially if someone fitted an aftermarket disc adaptor, the earliest FSRs required a hole to be drilled in the dropout to fit this, so be wary if some one has. The bearings and shock bushings and shock bolts will also need looking at - and will most likely be screwed.
If you want the retro bike experience and can find one that has spent most of it's life in a shed, then an FSR could be quite fun. If you want to hit the trails hard, I would be looking for a more modern second hand hardtail.
Edited by Beyond Rational on Sunday 26th April 11:10
join www.retrobike.co.uk if you'r wanting any info/advice on older bikes .
correct me if i'm wrong (its very often the case 
) but isnt FSR a rear-suspension/pivot design as opposed to a particular model? There used to be an FSR XC which was a short travel full sus err.. xc bike! And over the years various Stumpy's have had FSR stamped on the side too.
General rule of thumb is that for a given price point a good hardtail is better than cheap full susser. Cheap full sus bikes tend not have the best rear pivot design, are heavy and have cheap components that wear out quickly - please dont take this as gospal and there are exceptions that prove the rule - but as a general point i think thats fair, non?
) but isnt FSR a rear-suspension/pivot design as opposed to a particular model? There used to be an FSR XC which was a short travel full sus err.. xc bike! And over the years various Stumpy's have had FSR stamped on the side too.General rule of thumb is that for a given price point a good hardtail is better than cheap full susser. Cheap full sus bikes tend not have the best rear pivot design, are heavy and have cheap components that wear out quickly - please dont take this as gospal and there are exceptions that prove the rule - but as a general point i think thats fair, non?
new bikes, the boy moon has a valid point and its not really worht looking at ful lsus bikes under a grand but second hand there are bargains to be had but it depends entirelly on what sort of riding you intend to do.
looking at the one listed on ebay, it looks like a good bet and things like the rear shock cover hint at a well maintained bike, its fairly well modified form when it left the factory and the fact that the seller describes the rear shock as "rock shocks" suggests he/she isnt the original owner and hasnt made the upgrades like the pedals, wheel skewers etc etc
for general off road riding, forest trails etc it will be good fun and a nice bike to ride. the riser bars will be quite comfy though its only a 17" so probably ok if you are under 5"10 or so. i would suggest anything upto £600 would be ok but someone else might be better placed to comment on what an acceptable hammer price might be. if you really want a full sus you could do a lot worse for that money put it that way. dont worry about the spec too much, people seem to think that you must have a minimum of XT to go fast or far these days.....
looks like a good bike. good luck.
looking at the one listed on ebay, it looks like a good bet and things like the rear shock cover hint at a well maintained bike, its fairly well modified form when it left the factory and the fact that the seller describes the rear shock as "rock shocks" suggests he/she isnt the original owner and hasnt made the upgrades like the pedals, wheel skewers etc etc
for general off road riding, forest trails etc it will be good fun and a nice bike to ride. the riser bars will be quite comfy though its only a 17" so probably ok if you are under 5"10 or so. i would suggest anything upto £600 would be ok but someone else might be better placed to comment on what an acceptable hammer price might be. if you really want a full sus you could do a lot worse for that money put it that way. dont worry about the spec too much, people seem to think that you must have a minimum of XT to go fast or far these days.....
looks like a good bike. good luck.
pablo said:
the fact that the seller describes the rear shock as "rock shocks" suggests he/she isnt the original owner and hasnt made the upgrades like the pedals, wheel skewers etc etc
Given that he also talks about "Suspention" and "Pedles", I'd suggest it rather more suggests that he just can't spell, and has actually managed to mistakenly spell "Shox" correctly! 
On a more constructive note, FSR is indeed the suspension type rather than a specific model. I've got an XC FSR Pro, for example, which, as the name suggests, is an XC bike, but Spesh do somewhere in the region of 40 different FSR models, which also include the likes of the Demo 7, which is right at the opposite end of the spectrum, so make sure you're bidding on the sort of bike you want!
The other point you might want to be aware of, but isn't really relevant if it's an old bike which has lots of non-standard components anyway is that Spesh generally have three spec levels on their bikes, with Comp being the lowest, Expert the middle, and Pro the top.
pablo said:
it does make me laugh when anything pre-millienium is considered "old school" or "retro"...
anyway, back to the point, yes it will be fine off road, lubricate the bits that move frequently and enjoy....
To be fair, with the speed technology goes, anything older than about 5 years is quite retro!anyway, back to the point, yes it will be fine off road, lubricate the bits that move frequently and enjoy....
Compare my Stumpy FSR 2006, against the 2009 models and it looks totally ancient!
I may be wrong but I was under the impression that FSR is the designation Specialized give to their full sus bikes, hence it being on everything from the fsr xc pro thingy right up to their donhill bikes too. Thought it stands for Front Suspension & Rear. I also thought that back in the day the bikes with just front suspension like the rockhopper had the designation fs. But I may well be wrong. Certainly, the type of suspension link they have a patent on in the US is the Horst link, pivot on the chainstay not seatstay, not an FSR pivot.
Edited by chrisga on Sunday 26th April 22:13
chrisga said:
I may be wrong but I was under the impression that FSR is the designation Specialized give to their full sus bikes, hence it being on everything from the fsr xc pro thingy right up to their donhill bikes too. Thought it stands for Front Suspension & Rear. I also thought that back in the day the bikes with just front suspension like the rockhopper had the designation fs. But I may well be wrong. Certainly, the type of suspension link they have a patent on in the US is the Horst link, pivot on the chainstay not seatstay, not an FSR pivot.
Edited by chrisga on Sunday 26th April 22:13
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_suspension#FS...
I have a fsr ground control in green with carbon spin wheels looks very nice does turn a lot of heads,
I bought a new bike and my old fsr has been in the roof and could not bring myself to sell it.
Now the time has come to sell, its to nice just to sit in the roof!!!
I will get some pics of it up, and if someone knows a good place to put it up for sale im all ears.......dont really want to put it on e bay.
I bought a new bike and my old fsr has been in the roof and could not bring myself to sell it.
Now the time has come to sell, its to nice just to sit in the roof!!!
I will get some pics of it up, and if someone knows a good place to put it up for sale im all ears.......dont really want to put it on e bay.
mobil 3 said:
I have a fsr ground control in green with carbon spin wheels looks very nice does turn a lot of heads,
I bought a new bike and my old fsr has been in the roof and could not bring myself to sell it.
Now the time has come to sell, its to nice just to sit in the roof!!!
I will get some pics of it up, and if someone knows a good place to put it up for sale im all ears.......dont really want to put it on e bay.
There is a 'pedal powered' classified section on here that might be useful, or I might be interested....how much do you want for it?I bought a new bike and my old fsr has been in the roof and could not bring myself to sell it.
Now the time has come to sell, its to nice just to sit in the roof!!!
I will get some pics of it up, and if someone knows a good place to put it up for sale im all ears.......dont really want to put it on e bay.
This is what you call a good looking FSR love it
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v339/MikeyPetts/...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v339/MikeyPetts/...
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