[TrailWoof]

I recently got a 2004 Rocky Mountain Slayer 30 for free. It was going to be scrap, so i took it. It was upgraded with 2005-07 Fox F100RL (I'm not 100% sure what year, but its somewhere around there.) & Fox Float R shocks, but that was a long time ago. It needs basically new everything, but I think the shocks can be rebuilt. There's no frame rust or cracks, the bike was just like... Not serviced or taken care of for years. Dirty as heck & some rusty replaceable bolts & screws.

To be ride able, It needs:
Rear derailleur
Shifters work, but need replaced(old Shimano Deore) I can throw them back on if needed they don't look good, but shift buttery smooth.
Brakes
26" Rims & tires
Petals
Rebuilt Shocks
Seat
Fork bearings (the ones inside the frame to help the fork turn, I don't know what they are called.)

I am fairly new to riding & I don't have a huge budget, ~$300. but I want to get into trail / enduro riding. If i do it, it'll be my first build & I don't have any friends that ride or could help me out with it, so I'm on my own with it. The Slayer is like... Half the weight of my current bike. Do you think it would be worth it, or should I stick with my HEAVY 2014 Giant Talon 5?

 

[life behind bars]

Repost here:

https://forums.mtbr.com/bike-frame-discussion/

 

[TrailWoof]

xD They have about as much experience as i do, basically none. but I called them a few names for not knowing more than I do. lol

 

[iduckett]

I owned a 2004 RM Slayer 50 for about 4 years, great bike! I can't speak to the suspension service or the headset (fork bearings), as I never touched the internals (shame on me!). Front was 125 Fox Vanilla RL coil I believe, while the rear was air sprung. I had a medium frame that weighed 30lbs on the nose. I'll speak to things I upgraded/fixed over the years.

Drivetrain:
Not sure which direction you want to go here... I converted mine to 1x with the existing cranks - my Slayer was a 2x drivetrain to begin with (though yours looks like 3?). I'll preface this by saying I'm a shimano fan. I had a 30T front x 11/36 rear, with a 10 speed XT M786 derailleur. It was considerable work on the climbs, but was simple. The downside of an M786 derailleur is that the max cog without a goat/drop link is 36... I recommend an 11spd M8000 or M7000 derailleur to have the ability to run a larger rear cog without a drop link. You can run a 10 or 11 spd shifter with it, which gives you flexibility if you find a good deal on a 10 or 11spd shifter and cassette but it has to be one or the other. On my current bike (Process 134) I run a 10 spd Sunrace 11/46 cassette with 10 spd shifter and 11spd M8000 derailleur.

Brakes:
This thing was pure frankenstein when it came to brakes, shimano lever, hayes calipers. Front lever was flipped over for the rear. But Hydraulic at least. I changed the pads and that was it. Run whatever you can find on pinkbike, or maybe buy new non-series shimano brakes (M3xx, M4xx, M5xx, or M6xx) - those should be reasonably cheap.

Suspension-Front:
Your current 100 fork def increases the HTA significantly, which is OK for XC, but not great for all mountain downhill stuff. You could ride it as is or look for the 125 Fox Vanilla RL, or maybe look into increasing its travel. It is a straight steerer tube (non-tapered), most likely 1-1/8". Another option might be an SR Suntour 26" air sprung fork. You MAY be able to save the headset bearings with an extreme cleaning. Take the stack assembly apart, pull the fork if necessary, pull all the bearings, degrease them and look at the races. If they are pitted at all or corroded, it's time for a new headset.

Suspension-Rear:
The aluminum eyelet bushings on the rear shock wore out, had a ton of play. It required new reducer (Float RL 003-01-001-A) and new aluminum eyelet bushings (Fox Rear Shock Hardware 803-03-030). Although the aluminum bushing was the culprit, I also changed out the bolts with the rocky mountain slayer bolt kit (Rocky Mountain 3D Link Bolt Kit 2004-2006 Element/Edge/Slayer 2003), for good measure.

Tires:
I fit 2.4 Maxxis Ardent EXO tires on it, though I soon came to realize that they had less side knob than a minion or high roller. Braked decently, but cornering was less than stellar.

Odds and ends:
I had to do a few spoke repairs due to the chain gouging and breaking some spokes on the rear - make sure to set that high screw correctly on the derailleur! Also make sure to snug up any loose ones (but also make sure that doesn't pull the wheel out of true). I replaced the grips as well and added wider bars (720 vs 640), and that inspired a lot of confidence with that bike.

All in all it was a sweet beginner bike, I think you've got the right ideas to get her back up and running. Lemme know if you have any questions!