2019 Specialized Stumpjumper - First Ride

Apr 18, 2018
by David Arthur  



The Specialized Stumpjumper has been through many changes since it was first introduced in 1981, and for 2019 it underwent another complete redesign as the Californian company attempts to keep pace with rapidly changing mountain bike trends.

Instead of pinning everything on a single model though, there’s now a choice of three bikes: Stumpjumper Short Travel (ST), which replaces the Camber, a regular long travel Stumpjumper, and the Stumpjumper Evo makes a return after being retired four years ago.
Specialized Stumpjumper Details

• Intended use: trail / all-mountain
• Wheel size: 27.5" / 29"
• Rear wheel travel: 150/140mm (27.5", 29")
• 65.5º / 66.5º head angle
• Aluminum and carbon frame options
• Boost hub spacing
• Size: S-XL - Men's, XS-L - Women's
• Price: $1850 - $9500 USD
www.specialized.com/stumpjumper


2019 Specialized Stumpjumper
The top-of-the-line Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper.


The Stumpjumper ST combines a 130mm fork with 120mm rear travel on 29” wheels while the 27.5” version has 130mm front and rear. The standard Stumpjumper has 150mm front and 140mm rear travel with 29” wheels, and 150mm at both ends with 27.5” wheels. The Evo has the same travel as the standard Stumpjumper but the key difference is in the geometry.

Each bike also has clearance for 3" tires, with 2.6" tires specced on the Stumpjumper and Stumpjumper Evo, and 2.3" tires on the Stumpjumper ST. Yes, that's right, there are no separate plus bikes in the range anymore.

The Stumpjumper is probably a bike you’re very familiar with. Many people will have either owned, ridden or come close to buying one over the years. Back in 2015, the range split between 29” and the then-new 27.5 Plus wheels, and the unique Swat Box concept was introduced, amongst other changes. But we also saw the retirement of the Evo, due principally to the regular bike having the longer travel and slacker angles that made the Evo model stand out.

Well, the Evo is back as a slacker and burlier option than the regular Stumpjumper it is loosely based on, with the same travel but more progressive geometry. At the other end of the range, the Stumpjumper ST replaces the popular Camber with the same frame but different suspension components and is meant to be a more trail capable package than the bike it replaces. And the regular Stumpjumper is the undoubted workhorse of the range.


2019 Specialized Stumpjumper
It was only a matter of time before the asymmetric frame design found on the Demo made it to a trail bike.
2019 Specialized Stumpjumper
A flip chip in the yoke allows the head angle to be altered by half a degree, and the BB height to raise or lower 6mm.


Frame Details

What’s immediately striking about the new bike is the all-new front triangle design. While the shock and linkage orientation are visually similar to the old bike, the top tube now bends around the shock in an asymmetric design first seen on the Demo. It naturally brings to mind Orbea’s Rallon. The key reason put forth by Specialized is to deliver the required frame stiffness, which is increased over the old design, without compromising the position of the shock and the suspension layout. This stems from one of the key development aims: to create a more balanced bike front to rear.

Specialized developed a stiffness test to benchmark the frames, and in doing so found the aluminum frame was stiffer and tracked better than the carbon bike. In fact, there was actually a small amount of flex of the carbon frame during compression that was acting as undamped suspension that they wanted to eradicate. The new frame design us said to have a 19% stiffness increase compared to the old carbon Stumpjumper, and every size has been tuned with a Rider First size-specific approach, resulting in different tube shapes and carbon layup to optimize stiffness and weight. That has led to improved stiffness-to-weight on the larger sizes and up to 140g savings on the smaller sizes.


2019 Specialized Stumpjumper
The raised portions of the chainstay protector are said to minimize chainslap more than a traditional protector.
2019 Specialized Stumpjumper
The SWAT box now has 20% more volume than before.

The swingarm has also been redesigned, with the reintroduction of the seat stay bridge bringing about a 100g weight reduction and 8% increase in stiffness. With the move from an alloy rear triangle to fully carbon, Comp/Expert frame sheds a sizeable 550g off of the previous edition. And it's out with press-fit and in with externally threaded bottom brackets. Specialized says press-fit offered a weight advantage four years ago, but that the latest bottom bracket and crankset design means it’s possible to develop a lighter bottom bracket shell while also introducing extra reliability. The other big change is the new bike is 1x only, there is no fitting a front mech to this frame.

SWAT was first introduced four years ago, and for 2019 this unique cargo feature has been refined even further. It’s now a little lighter, with a sleeker, easier to use interface, and provides 20% extra volume. There’s still space in the front triangle for a water bottle, with the lid of the SWAT acting as a bottle cage holder. A hidden feature Specialized was very proud of is the internal routing for the rear brake hose, and the result of considerable development time. A channel is integrated into the down tube and routes the hose cleanly through the bottom bracket and main pivot into the chainstay, which saves a ton of time and frustration when building bikes. You can literally just push the hose in at the head tube and it pops out next to the brake caliper. Easy.

Making the bike quieter has been a focus too. A shaker machine and high-speed camera were used to determine what the chain was doing when you’re bumping and grinding down a steep descent. It found a lot of the noise was created by the chain making a wave and impacting the chainstay in the same places, so Specialized developed a rubber chainstay protector with raised knobs that are aligned to these waves to dampen the noise. The bikes really are very quiet, a fact that's especially noticeable when everyone around you is on the same bike.

The Stumpjumper ST and Stumpjumper share the same frame and swingarm, though the 29” and 27.5” frames are slightly different, while the rear triangle is the same. Specialized says it looked to use the same frame for both wheel sizes, but felt it was too much of a compromise. These two models are available in carbon and aluminum, but the new Evo is only available in aluminum, allowing Specialized to test the water with this bike before committing to a carbon version.


2019 Specialized Stumpjumper

Suspension

At first glance, the FSR suspension looks pretty much the same as the previous bike, but there have been some considerable changes aimed at providing improved suspension performance. Autosag is gone, due to the limitations it imposed on the negative spring and transfer port location, and Specialized found it could get the suspension performance it desired with the latest Fox EVOL and RockShox Debonair shocks, with easier tuning setup. To aid sag setup, all bikes will be supplied with a small sagometer.

The leverage curve has been made more progressive. This helps provide a more supple action at the beginning of the stroke, more support in the midstroke, and increased bottom out resistance, a change which moves it close to how a coil shock performs according to Specialized. And due to the revised leverage curve, every bike has a shock with a lighter tune than before, with less reliance on volume spacers for more aggressive riders due to the extra support in the midstroke.

The linkage is all-new as well, the result of multiple prototype testing. It’s fully compatible with standard stroke and eye-to-eye metric shocks, and in a move that will win it many fans, there’s space for a coil shock. Standard eyelets are used for easy shock swapping and a flip-chip provides a 0.5-degree head angle and 6mm bottom bracket adjustment.


Specialized
Stumpjumper S-Works: $9500 USD.
Specialized
Stumpjumper Expert: $5500 USD.

Specialized
Stumpjumper Comp Carbon: $4200 USD.
Specialized
Stumpjumper Comp Alloy: $3000 USD.



Frame Options / Build Kits

There are a wide range of builds to choose from, with aluminum and carbon choices. The Stumpjumper ST gets 2.35” tires, the standard Stumpjumper and Stumpjumper Evo get 2.6” tires, although there's plenty of room to go even wider.

Specialized has developed a new version of its Command Post dropper with 160mm of travel, which is used on the larger frame sizes, with a larger air volume to make dropping the saddle easier and a smoother return, along with increased bushing overlap for improved durability and 16 positions of height adjustment.

Prices range from all the way up to $1,850 up to $9,500 for the S-Works bike. And all bikes are 1x only.

Stumped
Stumped

Geometry

Geometry is the hot topic in mountain bike design right now, and the Stumpjumper has, as you’d expect, gotten longer and slacker. Shorter stems have also been specified across the range, and short seat tubes to allow for longer dropper posts.

You won’t find Geometron worrying lengths here, but the numbers are where you’d expect a modern trail bike to be. The geometry is slightly different between the two wheel sizes, but the standard Stumpjumper with 27.5” wheels in a size large has a 455mm reach, 65.5-degree head angle and 432mm chainstays.

While the standard and short travel bikes are perhaps more modest in the numbers, the reintroduction of the Evo has allowed Specialized to push the boat out, with the longest of the two 27.5” sizes offered measuring 490mm reach, 63.5-degree head angle and 440mm chainstays.


2019 Specialized Stumpjumper
The Stumpjumper EVO is back, with DH-oriented geometry numbers, including a 63.5-degree head angle.


Five Questions With Jason McDonald, Specialized Mountain Bike Design Engineer


What was the key design aim with the Stumpjumper?


The key thing we were trying to achieve with this new bike is really getting a bike that’s very well balanced and tracks in all conditions down the trail. So really working on connecting a rider's hands and feet and making sure that the message that your bike is sending from the ground up through the wheels, into the bike, suspension, and into the frame, matches between your hands and feet. If you get a different message between your hands and feet then your body gets confused, it feels unstable and bad things happen. So we really wanted to work on that connection.

So the sidearm is all about increasing the frame stiffness first and foremost?


Yeah, I would say increasing the stiffness to a point. Stiffer isn’t always better, and so with this we did develop a new stiffness test and we were able to really focus on that connection between the rider's hands and feet and figure out where the sweet-spot really was. We benchmarked about ten different frames and various sizes of those frames, some of our own and some of our competitors, and we went and rode all of them and said “Okay what do we like, what don’t we like about these different frames” and characterized them. We also did that with respect to suspension performance as well, but with regard to stiffness and the way the bikes handled, we found that as long as we got to a certain plateau basically, going stiffer than that just meant the bike was overbuilt. And we didn’t need to go there. So we were able to optimize it and get the best ride quality, which in my opinion ride quality also includes weight. Because if your weight is too high, then it detracts from your ride quality. So if you can have the best handling bike, but it’s also one of the lightest bikes, then you’re going to have one of the best all-round bikes. Which is what we were going for.


2019 Specialized Stumpjumper


Was the sidearm the only way of achieving your stiffness goals? Did you look at other design solutions like a twin tube approach?


We could have, but I don’t think you can achieve the same frame efficiency meaning that the shape of the frame isn’t as optimized otherwise. So with this layout it gives us a much more optimized frame shape that we’re able to make get the stiffness we want at a lower weight basically. I actually think if you put another tube on the other side and made it symmetrical I think it would just end up being heavier, because you have a minimum wall thickness that you want to have for impact resistance. And so you could go under that and make it lighter, but then you’d have a brittle frame that could break. And you don’t want that. So if you add that additional tube you’re just adding weight, and so yes you could make it stiffer but it really doesn’t help you.

At the end of the day, with all of this, we look at tube shaping and tube sizes, and we do go in and optimize tube shapes based on the particular stiffness and strength we need out of a tube. And so what that allows us to do is get us the lightest possible setup that is not brittle, not overly built and dead feeling, whereas if you just designed the shape and threw a layup at it, you could be overbuilt meaning when you hit your minimum wall thickness, it’s way too stiff, stiffer than you need it to be, or it could be way too thin as well. That’s why the shape really comes into play with making sure everything’s optimized.

And also keep in mind the rider first approach. Everything I’m talking about, we apply to every single frame size with very particular targets for each size to make sure everything tracks perfectly. Much like with the Epic and the [Stumpjumper] hardtail, it’s the same philosophy but different application of that in this sense. This stiffness test I keep talking about, it’s very trail orientated because it only focuses on a rider's hands and feet, whereas the Epic, for example, pedaling is a huge part of it, but that’s not something we focused on here with the new Stumpjumper.


2019 Specialized Stumpjumper
One of the early carbon prototypes for the new frame design.


This stiffness test takes into account the differences of a light rider on a small bike and a heavier rider on a large bike and results in different carbon fiber layup?


Yes, the layup of the carbon, and if you look at it the shape of the tubes are scaled accordingly. If you look at the top tube in particular or a large or XL frame, you can tell it’s a little taller and rounder to make it stiffer, the sidearm is also beefed up, taller and thicker on the larger sizes. So it’s really a matter of optimizing the shape of it, that’s what really matters, it’s not just going and putting in some awesome carbon layup, that’s part of it, but you have to have a good foundation to lay the carbon up in. The bottom bracket being 100g lighter than the old one is a great example of how optimized shape can save you a ton of weight.



As well as the new front triangle, there’s an all-new linkage and swingarm. What were you trying to achieve with this part of the new bike?


Making sure everything is well connected. We do see an 8% increase in rear-end stiffness. Comparing carbon to carbon, it’s not only 8% stiffer, it’s also a 100g weight loss in the chainstay and seat stay carbon parts, which is massive, especially given this chainstay only weighs a little over 200g. It’s actually the lightest chainstay we ever made.

So compared to the previous Epic or any of those, it’s lighter, except the new Epic with the no Horst link, you can’t really compare that. So super light rear end, being able to have the seat stay bridge in here does help us optimize that as far as the weight goes, and also getting a bridge in the link behind the seat tube really helps. If you figure the whole purpose of the bridge is to connect the two sides of this link, and if you’re really concerned with the link which connects the seat stay to the seat tube pivot, then you might as well connect it in-between those two pivots. So your most efficient use of the material is in that link behind the seat tube versus putting it in front. Historically we haven’t been able to put it behind and so here it’s kind of a necessity because you’ve got the sidearm but you actually end up with a lighter linkage.







Specialized boldly pitches the new Stumpjumper as “the ultimate trail bike” so it makes sense to test the new bike on the ultimate trails. But where to go? Ainsa in Spain, host of a round of the Enduro World Series in 2015, proved to be perfect, with some truly fantastic trails and a good mix to put the new bike through a thorough initial shakedown. While a couple of rides is far from enough to really get under the skin of the new bike, it did provide a decent first ride.

A little note on Ainsa: it’s an incredible place to ride a bike. If you get a chance to visit, you must. It’s not as well-known as other riding spots across Europe, perhaps, but hidden in the hills and trees are some truly stunning trails, some of the best I’ve ridden in a long while. The region is steeped in history, medieval trails crisscross the hills, snaking up through dense woodland, along river valleys and through abandoned villages. There’s variety on the menu here, everything from steep, tight and buttock-clenching rocky chutes to roller coaster lunar landscapes, with a side-serving of loamy, woodsy singletrack. It’s a real mix and a good place for a trail bike to strut its stuff.

It’s a shame the weather wasn’t in our favor, serving up as it did plenty of rain and cold temperatures, but that didn’t stop us getting a couple of good rides in on the new bike. I was able to ride the S-Works Stumpjumper in both 27.5” and 29” wheels in a size large, which provided an interesting comparison between the two wheel sizes when you remove most of the other variables.

Both bikes felt right at home on the challenging Ainsa trails. With lots of climbing on the first day, the Stumpjumper’s climbing ability shone through. It’s comfortable and composed, with the suspension providing plenty of support to give the bike a very efficient feeling. We climbed for well over half an hour solid and it didn’t feel like a chore at all. On the smoother trails, I was able to leave to leave the shock in the open mode most of the time, only switching to the middle setting for more support on a rocky, stepped climb that had me wishing I had the trials skills of Danny McAskill. Rocky trail 1: Dave 0.

2019 Specialized Stumpjumper

On the descents, the Stumpjumper was a hoot. And definitely very fast. I felt right at home on it immediately ,and that helped me focus on riding and enjoying the awesome trails and not worrying about the bike between my legs. Specialized has hit a nice sweet spot with the geometry, providing that playful characteristic I personally look for in a bike. I was able to easily lift the front wheel and move the bike around the trail, yet there was plenty of that fabled stability for those ‘let it loose’ moments. Add in the sorted equipment, from handlebar width, stem length, suspension components, tire choice, and it’s a bike that works extremely well in all situations I found myself in.

It’s probably cliche to say it, but riding both bikes really highlighted the difference between the two wheel sizes. 27.5” had the edge when it came to pure agility and carving tight turns with precision, while the 29” had the extra stability at higher speeds that made mainlining fast rooty gullys a blast. I’d normally lean towards the 29”, but a day spent on the 27.5” had me reassessing that.

The Ainsa trails were a highlight, but it was the new Stumpjumper that really impressed. It comfortably tackled long and draggy and steep and techy climbs, fast and loose and tight and technical descents, confirming it has all the capabilities required to be a good all-round trail bike that can handle a wide range of trail types. The trail bike category is heating up at the moment, has Specialized done enough to ensure its Stumpjumper makes it onto your shortlist? First impressions are good, but we'll reserve judgement until we've spent a lot more time on the bike on trails that we're a bit more familiar with.






Author Info:
davidarthur avatar

Member since Apr 12, 2015
73 articles

370 Comments
  • 257 25
 The american Orbea Rallon
  • 70 1
 Sooooo, hey Specialized, what happened to Ohlins?
Looks like they are all spec'd with Fox
  • 5 4
 @Waldon83: The are only work with OHLINS at the race team only, it seem all production model will not be using since MY19.
  • 44 2
 @Waldon83:
But who cares? My opinion is that even though öhlins may be as good or better than fox factory series stuff, they are pita to service (DIY). Hard to find spare parts tips for tuning. Fox and rockshox both have official guides for every part of maintenance and what tools and parts to use. For me thats reason enough to not to buy a product if I can’t just keep it fresh by myself. As here in europe, suspension products cost alot and still, service prices seems to be 1/3 of the new product.
  • 28 12
 The word has it that öhlins air units aren’t on par with RS and Fox while they cost more. Not to mention production capacities.
  • 5 1
 Understandable I use the Cane Creek Helm and DBCoilCS on my SB6c, I have no preference for Ohlins, just interesting as their Enduro came with the Ohlins stuff for the last couple of years.
  • 6 0
 @WAKIdesigns: Well, aside from TTX22M, all of their MTB products seem like a half-ass job in a pursuit of quickly cashing in on their fame.
  • 5 26
flag thunder-nuggets (Apr 17, 2018 at 0:40) (Below Threshold)
 @Waldon83: huh looks like a Polygon
  • 22 1
 @Waldon83: youre using ohlins and you dont even know it.
  • 2 0
 @WAKIdesigns: A friend of mine bought the 2018 Enduro 29 and said "as nice as the fork is, I just can't for the life of me get it to feel good. I've got the HSC all the way out and it still feels too harsh, and I'm running 28% sag"

He has since put a 36 on and said he is going to put an X2 on there to pair it.

Didn't have anything to say about the Ohlins air shock on the back.
  • 34 7
 @luhtiis: Im all about DIY service...but.... do Specialized owners service their bikes ????? ; )
  • 12 12
 @jollyXroger: @Waldon83 - I know a fast dude who swears by RXF36 Coil. I also know their test riders complained on harshness on initial models. Finally it's not a surprise that Öhlins sucks at the air thing. I hear d that EXT refused to make one too. Talking straight out of my arse I just think that as far as these companies have all the capacity in the world to make any suspension feel great, they would need to spend lots of time tinkering with air to catch up with what bike companies are doing since many years.
  • 6 1
 @whitebullit: Just like telling a Fox x2 user they're riding a Double Barrel.
  • 47 10
 @WAKIdesigns: Word has it that you spend all your free time on Pinkbike and that you have no life.
  • 11 10
 @Lagr1980:
I don’t own specialized and for a good reason. No more proprietary part for me thnx.
I did even change a few peoples mind about buying spez bikes and yes I’m proud of it!
  • 5 0
 @luhtiis: damn straight.. If I can't service my own stuff, forget it!
  • 42 8
 @Yahtzeee: 100% correct.
  • 3 0
 @Lagr1980: I can service my complete bike, but I wouldn't service a rear shock. That is, I currently have a Magura MX shock in my fully. I can take it apart and put it back together, but there is nothing to service in there. I've got other rear shocks for the same bike and they have a high pressure nitrogen charged air chamber behind the damper (to push oil back through the rebound circuit). I don't service these. And I don't think I've got the equipment to even try to.
  • 4 0
 @vinay: i wouldnt service these type of rear shocks with N2 chambers, but.. you can stay away of them. i had to service my dvo topaz.. and its as easy as bleeding your brakes.. no vacuum pumps, just orings and oil..
  • 5 0
 @fuwafuwa only on looks alone. This doesn’t match the Rallon for geo at all, it doesn’t have the reach, STA, or reduce fork offset (unless I missed that somewhere) of the Rallon. The only close competition to the Rallon is the Ripmo. Those two are in a league of their own right now and both are awesome. (Some would include the Sentinel, but that is so slack it’s in its own league)
  • 3 1
 @fuwafuwa only on looks alone. This doesn’t match the Rallon for geo at all, it doesn’t have the reach, STA, or reduce fork offset (unless I missed that somewhere) of the Rallon. The only close competition to the Rallon is the Ripmo. Those two are in a league of their own right now and both are awesome. (Some would include the Sentinel, but that is so slack it’s in its own league)
  • 11 15
flag fecalmaster (Apr 17, 2018 at 6:12) (Below Threshold)
 At least I know I won't be buying a Specialized for many years.
  • 20 9
 If orbea had come out with the rallon after this, you can be sure the big S would've sued their pants off
  • 4 0
 @Waldon83: The fork might have an issue with the lower-leg bushings - Ohlin's had a tolerance issue with some of their forks and the bushings have to get replaced or reamed out. Affected forks feel very stiff and crappy until they get re-worked. After that they feel great!
  • 18 4
 I think they did and it was called the Demo? And no lawsuit soooo .......???? @manchvegas:
  • 4 2
 @Khayes: First generation Specialized Epic had a single sided shock too (next to the rear wheel). Merida had something similar. I'm not aware of any lawsuits between the two.
  • 6 21
flag JRadical (Apr 17, 2018 at 7:41) (Below Threshold)
 Specialized ripped off Ritchey in 1980, now Orbea in 2018. Oh any those "classic" bike photos in the middle of their commercial, used without permission. Shocking!
  • 1 0
 @Lagr1980: sure did...
  • 1 3
 @Waldon83: @Waldon83: twin tube oil recirculation is not a Ohlins patent, it exists for long in motorbikr/automotive industry and their can be as well succesfull or unsuccesfull implementation of it.
A tradeoff of canecreek's implementation is transition between low speed/high speed and rebound/compression due to their poppets valves architecture.
Fox designed their valve in a different ways and transitions are better on Fox.
  • 14 2
 I couldn't find it in the article, but is Specialized still using the proprietary rear shock mount? this is the main reason why I will never own a Specialized again until they fix this glaring mistake. Not only does it make swapping rear shocks much harder, the stupid bolt transmits side loads directly into the shock body, making it a structural member of the frame! Every single person I know whos had an Enduro since 2014 (me included) has blown their rear shock, and when taken apart there was scouring on the inside from that side-loading. I get the engineering benefits of the yoke, but plenty of other companies do this without ruining their rear shocks.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: Waki, you made my day! Big Grin
  • 3 0
 @Waldon83: best comment of the year, only if people if knew....
  • 8 0
 @hamncheez:

"The linkage is all-new as well, the result of multiple prototype testing. It’s fully compatible with standard stroke and eye-to-eye metric shocks, and in a move that will win it many fans, there’s space for a coil shock. Standard eyelets are used for easy shock swapping and a flip-chip provides a 0.5-degree head angle and 6mm bottom bracket adjustment."

Pictures on other websites show it better.
  • 2 0
 @seaskimmer: YES!!!!! Thanks for the catch. Once they update the Enduro, it will probably be my next (well, next long travel) bike
  • 3 1
 @Lagr1980: I do all my own service on my Specialized.
But I can only afford secondhand so no warranty for me.
  • 4 7
 Orbea Rallon the all-mountain Specialized Demo.
  • 12 0
 @hamncheez: It uses standard metric shocks and eyelets. Not proprietary any longer.
  • 11 2
 The Orbea open side is on the right, this Spesh, it’s open side is on the left......TOTALLY different!
  • 5 16
flag projectnortheast (Apr 17, 2018 at 10:57) (Below Threshold)
 @Triber66: eh, looks like the BIG S lovers are out in droves today... too much spandex cut off the circulation too many times making them dull boys without the ability to comprehend sarcasm...
  • 2 0
 @Lagr1980: yes they do Big Grin
  • 14 3
 @jason-at-specialized: Congratulations. Amazing looking bikes. Can't wait to ride them on a demo day. Cheers!
  • 6 1
 @WAKIdesigns: I agree- not only do they look unique and instantly identifiable as "S", they look good! Usually "unique" means ugly.
  • 3 4
 @hamncheez: I think they look like a bit more modest version of Rallon which has something WRC about it. I love that bike, so fkng Rally.
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: it's not proprietary
  • 3 0
 Now I hope Specialized will equip their Enduro models with FoX and I'm buying one immediately!
  • 2 0
 No, this one is right hand drive. Totally different.

Seriously though, I’m a Spesh fanboy and it’s stunning how much this looks like a Rallon. Wow.
  • 4 2
 Specialized...defender of all IP, design language, copyrights, etc, unless it's somebody else's in which case it's all fair game.
  • 2 0
 Split pivot vs. FSR though. Come on, where's the pedantry?
  • 3 0
 @vinay: Thats cause Merida were making them for Spech
  • 7 0
 Except Specialized did the single sided thing first with the Demo.
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: yeah they’ve gone back to a standard metric shock
  • 4 0
 @tcmtnbikr: You know how long manufacturing takes, right? I bet molds were made before the Rallon was released.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: That's amazing dedication thanks for your service!
  • 2 3
 @theextremist04: I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong...this is actually a good point. Specialized still tramples on other's IP but this is not the best example. Downvote me to hell. hahaha
  • 4 1
 @markar: I just hope that if I be nice to them they will send me an S-Works E29 coil. But water bottle will be fine too.
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: NOPE! Standard Eyelet
  • 1 0
 @Lagr1980: Generalize much?
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: Ive heard the exact opposite, Ive read testimonials from mechanics and engineers saying that it Ohlins is on another level with precision.
  • 2 0
 @MichaelBagby: well... what has precision to do with how their air springs and STX MTB dampers work? Not to mention that Öhlins buys chassis from Suntour or some other big maker in Asia? Also, were they talking about MTB or moto/ automotive products?
  • 2 2
 They forgot the left side of the frame! Would have been decent if they hadn't have gone REVERSE CANNONDALE. Really though, lopsided frame is a dumb choice, and will cost many sales.
  • 5 1
 @casman86: mmm... To be fair, Specialized could put wheels on a pig and people would buy it.
  • 3 0
 @BenPea: as long as they don’t put wheels on a reigning Champ...
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: No, now that have gone to standardized metric rear shocks. No more proprietary yoke etc..
  • 2 1
 Rallon has no Swat box
  • 1 0
 @dhnewbie: I swapped out my Ohlins for DVO and couldn't be happier. The DVO's just work day and night better. The craftsmanship of DVO is superior as well. It seams that Ohlins is just dabbling with the mountain bike market, almost a thorn in their side type attitude IMHO. Motor is their B & B. Where as DVO is focused on Mountain only and believe me it shows in how well there suspensions work and the build quality.
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: No more proprietary. Metric shocks!
  • 2 0
 @cellphonenut: Yes, you're the 5th or 6th person to point that out, but cheers! We can own Specialized bikes again!
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: That's a good point, and if the yoke bolt is at all out of torque spec, and it gets run that way for any length of time, it can scour the inside. However, I've had a Stumpjumper for two seasons, and haven't had issues. Just have to be on top of torque.
  • 1 0
 @adamszymkowicz: it's still an obvious compromise. Whatever you do there is considerably more leverage on the shock shaft in systems with the yoke than in those without. That's why most coil shocks are out of question due to too flexy shafts. That doesn't mean bike is baaaad, it's a compromise like anything else.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: In most other yoke systems, the eyelet is turned 90 degrees so the yoke can pivot side to side no problem. There is little vertical pressure on the shock since the yoke pivots vertically. A well executed yoke system can be as durable and as kind to the shock as any other design.
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: how exactly? Can’t agree at all. Side to side is one thing, most designs don’t compensate for that at all. It is the vertical displacement that causes the trouble. Changing from fixed to eyelet changes virtually nothing to how much will the shaft will move through it’s travel. I’m drunk as fk and I can still get that.
  • 1 0
 @WAKIdesigns: someone's going to have to draw a picture
  • 1 0
 @hamncheez: No, it's not their proprietary rear shock mount. They moved to a standard setup for 2019.
  • 2 0
 @adamszymkowicz:

Loctite...
  • 209 5
 Wow, much percentages, such statistics :
*20% increase of the SWAT compartment
*8% increase in linkage stiffness
*45% of all Americans ignore that the sun is a star.
*19% frame stiffness increase
*33% of produced marshmallow are used for science experiment
  • 53 0
 SWAT EVOL for better mid-ride support
  • 103 0
 +13.5 increase in percentages
  • 45 4
 50% of statistics are made up on the spot.
  • 61 10
 70% of the americans in texas believes that the drought is a religious plague
  • 3 7
flag rojo-1 (Apr 17, 2018 at 2:07) (Below Threshold)
 @mattoutandabout: including that one...!
  • 24 0
 The other 67% of marshmallows are used for Rice Krispies squares
  • 33 0
 60% of the time it works every time.
  • 9 21
flag moefosho (Apr 17, 2018 at 7:44) (Below Threshold)
 40% of Americans approve of Donald Trump.
  • 7 1
 The sun is a Star?!?! No Way. Next you're gonna tell me we landed on the moon.

But seriously about the marshmallows, if I recall I did microwaved about 1/3 of my last bag as a science expiriment for my kids.
  • 4 3
 @Ride406orDie: it's ok if you quickly fill them with soda and make them jump a lot.
  • 7 0
 @WAKIdesigns: The kids or the marshmallows?
  • 3 0
 Hello Reddit
  • 2 0
 Now with 86% more hyperbole!
  • 5 0
 99% of the people approve standard shock mount and threaded BB
  • 67 5
 I feel kinda bad for all the specialized dealers who have a bunch of 2018 bikes on their floor lol.

I feel like they keep bumping up the announcement by one month every year. Will the 2022 stumpy be released at the end of 2020?
  • 20 0
 Dealers are typically notified well in advance about upcoming product releases, especially with a bike like this. There are probably already shops with them in stock.
  • 4 0
 @slumgullion: yeah but that doesn't change their quota for that year I would imagine.
  • 6 0
 @slumgullion: of course they are, but they booked 2018 stumpies ages ago. If they have them on the floor now then they are going to be subject to everyone wanting great deals because the 2018 bike is already a year old now.
  • 9 1
 @slumgullion: some manufactures and dealers yes, but usually only a few weeks in advance. Anything more and it’s only hinted that there is a new bike in the pipeline, with little to no prediction on what that will look like or when it will be available. Which gives little time to unload bikes that were ordered back in August-October.

As to releasing bikes in the spring, you have Santa Cruz to thank for that. It was traditional that bikes weren’t seen by the public until Interbike, which was usually in September. It was also around this time dealers would order all their bikes. Santa Cruz started releasing their new bikes in April, which gave them a 5-6 month headstart over all the other brands. When the previous generation Nomad came out, Giant also had the new Reign in the pipeline; both very similar bikes. But because the Nomad was out 4 months before the Reign, all of the reviews compared the Reign to the previously ridden Nomad, of which had already been sold out across the country and in people’s hands. Other brands have started following suite in an effort to avoid getting beat to the punch.
  • 9 3
 @slumgullion: Actually, I worked at a shop that dealt specialized, and sometimes these press releases were the first news we got about new gear. I remember one case where the press release was many months before we could get the bike in stock, so the hype died down by the time we could get them.
  • 4 1
 @JamesBarton: Tarmac SL6?
  • 30 3
 I work at a Specialized dealer that sells a lot of Stumpjumpers. Without going into too many details, let me just say that the Stumpjumper release has been the best new bike release from a dealer's point of view of any bike I can remember. I'll be putting a full line of bikes on my floor tomorrow morning from Comp to S-Works, and I'm not at all unhappy about the 2018 inventory I've got on the floor.
  • 1 0
 @mtnbykr05: early spring release seem like much better time for customers tho. if im looking for a new bike im not gonna buy it in september (or later) but before season starts for me
  • 2 1
 Dealers round me have been dumping 'old' stumpy's and ex demo one for the last couple of months. Its the best indicator that the new one was imminent.
  • 1 0
 Funny, I was looking at road bikes today on the giant Taiwan website, and they have four 2019 models on display already, in April.
  • 2 0
 @miketango: way to stay positive mike
  • 2 0
 Interesting that there isn't consistency across biking websites as to whether these are new 2018 or 2019 models. PB is going with 2019 while some other websites (Vital, MTBR) are saying these are 2018. For better or worse, the launch timing in early second quarter sort of splits the two years. Specialized doesn't help clarify at all as their website says nothing about model year for this new bike. This is probably going to lead to some buyer confusion
  • 1 0
 @0gravity: I guess productions runs don't care what year it is. They can't make all models in all sizes and ship them all around the world in a week or two. It's a constant process of manufacture and distribution.
  • 1 1
 As a someone who works for a shop, we get the bikes a few days before they come out, and we are always kept in the loop
  • 1 1
 @slumgullion: Yea the shop I work at has had for a weak (not for sale)
  • 1 0
 @0gravity: when you enter specialized bike archive and choose 2018 as model year, it shows the previous model.
  • 1 0
 knowing many people at specialized the dealers have known/ridden this bikes months ago they're not to worried.
  • 2 1
 Working for a specialized dealer is a pleasure they put the dealer first always and this launch was done beautifully! We roll the bikes out today as you read these articles, and have known for a while...
  • 1 0
 @miketango: until you have to start discounting the 2018's because they are "old" now.
  • 1 0
 @shockdonkey: the shop is probably happy to do that, but usually they aren't allowed to!
  • 1 0
 @shockdonkey: don’t have any 18s...????
  • 1 0
 Two reasons for an American bike company to release a new bike in April. Riding season is almost here for most people and tax refund checks are starting to burn holes in people's wallets.

Unfortunately my local S dealer has 4 or 5 of the now "old" Stumpjumpers on his floor for sale. He's putting on a brave face... At least he sold his Camber inventory in time.
  • 2 6
flag casman86 (Apr 18, 2018 at 11:32) (Below Threshold)
 @yzedf: Don't support this moped company.
  • 1 6
flag casman86 (Apr 18, 2018 at 11:33) (Below Threshold)
 No reason to feel bad for a dealer that chooses to sell bikes from this moped company.
  • 57 3
 is it shiny? yes.
do i want it? yes.
  • 8 28
flag sspiff (Apr 16, 2018 at 22:10) (Below Threshold)
 Even a turd will be shiny with enough polishing. That EVO though. That bike looks the part.
  • 31 2
 @sspiff you can’t polish a turn but you can roll it in glitter
  • 2 7
flag RedRedRe (Apr 17, 2018 at 11:55) (Below Threshold)
 are you clueless about bikes? yes.
  • 1 0
 @74tenomresc: are Japanese polished dung balls gonna be the next internet rage?
  • 1 0
 Does it make you puke on your foot the moment you see it's missing part of the frame on the non drive side? Yes.
  • 58 28
 Specialized: can i copy your homework?
Orbea: yeah sure just make a couple of changes so they wont notice!
  • 71 16
 Those were both designed years ago and the Demo came first so logic fail.
  • 3 21
flag AlexS1 (Apr 16, 2018 at 22:32) (Below Threshold)
 Orbea: Sir, I need to hand in this tomorrow but I really have no idea how to do it.
Teacher: Well Orbea, you can do it this way.
Orbea: Cool, am I the only one got this?
Teacher: I'm afraid not. Specky's coming over later this afternoon.
  • 35 11
 This will reveloutionize the bike industry. A bike with a 63.5 degree hta, and not from a botique brand in Europe, but the biggest cycling corporation in the world. Shit just got real
  • 39 5
 Source?
My google search took me to Giant as the largest bike manufacturer in the world.
  • 8 40
flag Lookinforit (Apr 16, 2018 at 23:02) (Below Threshold)
 @kanasasa: maybe in dollars but specialized's got the athletes and the influence
  • 17 2
 Specialized is nowhere near the worlds biggest. FYI
  • 14 11
 Seems a bit excessive to me. That’s the average dh hta. Does a trailbike really need to be that slack and long? If you’re riding dh bike terrain then a dh bike is gonna be a lot more fun. Seems more like a move to cover sales that they might otherwise lose to the boutiques than based on any kind of logic. Kind of disappointed in Specialized tbh.
  • 16 0
 @ThomDawson: the evo is no doubt Graves vision of what he needs to race ews trail DH hybrid weapon
  • 2 3
 @kanasasa: Maybe you just came across a site that makes really large bikes for giants?
  • 4 0
 @enduroFactory: good point, and the longer chainstays corroborates
  • 5 2
 Sadly they didn't add in the steeper seat tube angle to compensate for the longer & slacker, just like the giant reign, climbing is gonna suck
  • 1 1
 @enduroFactory:
Yeah but the difference is that You and I are not worldcup enduro racers.

Its like buying a 911 GT3 RS for normal streets- yes you are fast but maybe with little less you would have more fun?
  • 4 0
 63.5° will go well with the new 2019 Fox 37, with 5mm of negative offset.
  • 1 0
 @ThomDawson: check out downtime podcast with Cy Turner on bike geometry if you havent done so.... get a pen and a piece of paper while you are at it...
  • 5 0
 @NotNamed: Mmmm....if only Spesh had thought to make non-Evo or shorter travel versions?
  • 3 0
 @enduroFactory: i sincerely doubt he will use the EVO. Watching his stumpy testing video in which he actually wants to size down is an indication
  • 1 0
 I have been waiting for this day for a few years! Didn't expect it to happen for another 2! Congrats Specialized!
  • 6 0
 Giant, Trek, Specialized in order of "largeness"
  • 2 0
 @ThomDawson: That's what I was thinking.. 67ha is the absolute sweet spot for a large percentage of trails with a lot of climbing.. That being said that st version looks pretty sick!
  • 2 1
 @Lagr1980: good listen. I’m glad to hear somebody had similar experiences to me. Feel a bit surrounded by “moar slack”, “moar wheelbase” ideas at the mo. Sounds to me like Cy just built a bike that fits him better.
For me having enough weight on the front end is key to cornering confidence and crazy slack head angles make that quite difficult to achieve, especially with longer reach numbers.
Ultimately though I still don’t think he’s talking about anything revolutionary here. He’s just a tall guy who’s been riding bikes that are too small for too long. He finally gets a bike that fits and it’s awesome...well I’m short. I haven’t had that struggle and already have a bike that fits me. If I was designing bikes I’d be careful not to add too much length to the small and medium sizes.
Lol...he just got to that and said exactly the same thing. Awesome. Cy’s my new favorite
  • 3 0
 @ThomDawson: people should listen to the guys that talk sense and explain the rationale of key things. Chris porter is "an influencer" without an instagram power account Wink
  • 3 1
 @ThomDawson: After riding a few of these new geo bikes I also struggle with the front wheel being so far out in front of me, especially when trying to punch tech climbing obstacles. I like the longer reach so I can use a shorter stem though so what I've decided is now I want a bike with long reach (465-470 mm in large) but a steep (for a modern bike) HA of 67. Both because I like the quicker steering and to keep that front hub in sight. And yes I've tried smaller offset forks, the difference is tiny.
  • 3 0
 @Lookinforit: I’m sure they got into the business to have the most influence, not to sell the most bikes...
  • 3 0
 @ThomDawson: Long reach with slack head angle allows you to ride faster without hindering the climbs with the steep seat angle. The front end is very unlikely to fold when cornering or cause over the bars moments on steep terrain too. It is win-win in my book!
  • 2 1
 @bohns1: 67º is a "sweet spot" if you have a short reach because it helps minimize the front wheel wandering when climbing. Once you increase reach slack head angles no longer cause front wheel wandering.
  • 1 2
 @SintraFreeride: firstly, couldn’t give two poops about climbing. I can climb any bike with a few adjustments (sometimes in mindset more than bike).
second, if you’re lucky enough to be traveling at high velocity more often than not I can see some validity in your argument for a longer front centre. But here we have lots of short, steep, twisty crap where the front wheel is much more likely to push if you can’t weight it properly. The issue I’ve found where I ride is not a worry of tuck but the opposite - the front wheel pushing cus it’s jusy too far away to get any grip on it. This was even more prominent with reduced offsets.
Perhaps just a simple matter of where the bike is being ridden?
  • 2 0
 Sorry that sounds a bit blunt. It’s hard not to sound like a knob when you’re in a rush. Was just trying to point out what I found when using a longer reach combined with slacker head angle. As always no malice intended Wink
  • 1 0
 @ThomDawson: No malice perceived! I have found that with a longer reach you have to ride more centered and at times over the front end. Riding off the back, old school style, is a recipe for disaster! I haven't found any hinderance riding a 63º headangle anywhere personally. I would be curious to see/ride the terrain you are describing.
  • 1 0
 @SintraFreeride: maybe it’s just that I’m quite short or maybe simply riding style, I’m not sure yet. I did enjoy slack bikes for some time then I think I reached the limit and once I backed off on the slackness I realised I didn’t need it in the first place and even that a shorter wheelbase, steeper bike was better for 90% of the riding I do. I kept the same reach as I had before which for my height is quite a long 435mm or so, I tried longer and it reaaaaly sucked. Not just for manuals and bunny’s as you’d expect but I couldn’t actually ride much longer than that without dying so I’m at pretty much my limit reach wise. Now I tend to tweak my ride like that - by keeping roughly the same reach (can be tuned via stack/ stem/ bar/ all above) and looking at varying head angles and chainstays and right now I’m leaning toward something like 66° and 425mm. But like I said, I’m short. Currently have a Mega and it’s almost awesome, just a tad too long to manoeuvre the way I’d like in the filthy rock switchbacks we have and in the air which is another thing I enjoy a lot.
Last year I rode the Fort Bill track on a transition scout and felt pretty confident, quite sure the Mega will feel better in 6 weeks time but that’s a world away from my usual riding!
  • 21 5
 Are we just going to brush over the fact that specialized never actually did any research to see if their carbon Bikes performed better than their aluminum Bikes?
  • 7 3
 I know, right? Makes me wonder, though... are there other brands where the aluminum frame is stiffer, or as stiff, or insignificantly less stiff? Is carbon really worth it?
  • 3 3
 A not tiny detail is the old aluminum bike didn't have the giant SWAT hole in the downtube. That's gotta count for 7.5 stiffy units. But yeah, everyone should go buy an aluminum 2018 now!
  • 21 3
 We design both the alloy and carbon bikes to the same performance metrics. But carbon always comes out ahead in weight and allows you do do tricky things like the SWAT opening.
  • 1 0
 @jason-at-specialized: don’t get me wrong I think you guys make great Bikes (if you are part of specialized Wink , the diverge is bad ass are some of your other bikes... however it does state in this article that you guys developed your previous bikes prior to developing a new test. And once you used that test you found that the carbon bike did not perform as well as the aluminum one.
  • 5 2
 @jason-at-specialized: also not bashing on carbon, however I am a little confused to why you called your shock mount proprietary nonsense when you are still selling bikes that use it.
  • 3 0
 It doesn't matter if their carbon bikes performed better than their aluminum bikes. People don't care -- the market is not trending toward aluminum bikes. It wants carbon. Specialized is giving it to them. Let's say hypothetically aluminum is better -- the perception of the public, regardless, will be that aluminum is not as good, and that Specialized is lagging behind the time. So they can spend all their time trying to convince people aluminum is where it's at, or they can just go ahead and sell people what they want to buy. What would you do? (The good news is carbon is actually better)

As for the SWAT hole -- the carbon is the whole reason it works, which is not a tiny detail. They can put that hole there and not sacrifice the integrity of the tube's strength and stiffness. Won't work with aluminum, which is why there is no SWAT in the aluminum models.
  • 1 0
 @TheR: But there could be. It would work fine in aluminum. Very flexible material to work with.
  • 10 1
 Seems like Specialized has finally recovered from the days they decided that 27.5 was a fad, they missed the boat on that and have been playing catch up ever since. Getting rid of the proprietary shock mount and going to a threaded BB were smart moves too.
  • 14 1
 BYE BYE OHLINS
  • 1 1
 haha
  • 3 0
 Unless you're on the race team...
  • 1 0
 @jclnv: well, being on the race team, the choice would be probably WP Suspension..
  • 7 0
 @kyytaM: I have never seen a mountain bike come close to the Loic's Ohlins equipped Demo. The suspension on that bike is unlike anything else.
  • 2 0
 @jclnv: COMPLETELY AGREE
  • 2 0
 @jclnv: plus one. Like a kind of levitating jelly
  • 12 3
 "Hello, Specialized? Ya can you put the EVO reach on the other bikes too? That would be great." Sorry but 445mm on a large just doesn't cut it anymore. Other than that, spot on.
  • 4 2
 This. They missed the mark bigtime here.
  • 3 0
 @mm732: yup, the XL is barely longer than my 2012 Nukeproof. I want Evo length on the ST 29er.
  • 2 0
 Though keep in mind the stumpys have always had higher stack, so really it's akin to a bit longer reach but with like 4cm of headset spacers, in terms of the steering axis position relative to bb and resulting wheelbase. Not particularly long for sure, but not as short as reach number alone may indicate
  • 13 0
 It’s actually a few mm longer than the Hightower LT and SB5.5 and the exact same as the Jeffsy for a size large.
  • 10 1
 Friggin psyched on these! My 16 27.5 stumpy is not the slackest or longest but is the most fun bike and most jibby and best in tight corners I’ve ever ridden! They updated geo on these without just doing it for sake of advertising numbers online, I bet they ride incredible with the updated geo and suspension. Not to mention not a proprietary part on here! Standard metric shocks, no auto sag, no ohlins, boo ya! Not a bike out there I want more right now
  • 2 0
 @billymac1770: Ohlins is not proprietary, and the TTX22M is an awesome coil shock, I have it on my Guerrilla Gravity; and love it.
  • 2 0
 @Clifflane3: i bet it does ride sweet! personally tho, i like sticking with fox and rock shox. always gonna be support and service parts, never hard to get.
  • 10 0
 Dat Evo though... Bare aloominium ftw.. all have one with the c.c. titanium cranks please!
  • 3 0
 And cc inline coil with to spring. Mmmm
  • 10 0
 best thing about the new stumpy is this video !
youtu.be/yiNyUvYb7AM
  • 3 0
 IFHT style
  • 15 5
 how fun is it to climb a bike with a 63.5 head angle??
  • 56 6
 How fun is it to climb a bike with a 72° head angle??
  • 22 6
 What does the HTA matter when climbing? STA is what matters going uphill. Good luck pedalling with your a$$ behing the rear axle. Steering might be slower with a slack head angle, but that just requires different technique.
  • 8 4
 Assuming you meant 65.5 (?) it’s swings and roundabouts. Too steep and the steering twitches under your climbing efforts, too slack and the wheel flops. Either one can be adapted to. It’s not a big thing after the first few rides, it’s just a cliche that got repeated over and over again in reviews for years - “the slacker head angle tends to wander on climbs” - it’s a load of rubbish, both will wander if you’re not used to it/ are a hack.
@hirvi is right, sta is more important.
  • 1 2
 My bad, just re-read about the geometry! But my point remains.
  • 3 1
 It's absolutely fine :-) 64 degrees on my Geometron and it's my line choice or lack of power that holds me back on the ups
  • 5 5
 I climb by pedaling with my legs, HTA plays zero part
  • 2 0
 I have 65 degree head angle bike and it rides hills fine, the thing is it’s long as well with a tinky 32mm stem. I think a 50mm or longer would make it feel awful and floppy
  • 7 0
 The claim that you can't climb on slack bikes is one of the biggest myths in mountain biking. It is slightly more difficult in technical climbing but that bike is protect for riders who usually climb up logging roads and ride down steep trails.
  • 1 0
 *perfect*
  • 2 1
 You'll have to stand up when approaching some tricky section. Which you should be doing anyway...
  • 3 0
 @hirvi: I can't upvote your comment enough. Rider First geometry, XL rider forgotten.
  • 10 3
 I know this is a typical gripe, but even for specialized, the pricing is still absurd. If I get one it'll have to be off buysell. The value for money is just not there.
  • 7 4
 Not really that absurd when you look at other high end bikes with the same components.
  • 5 0
 I think the comp alloy model is priced fairly. No comment on the S-Works model.
  • 15 1
 @KalebCk: 4200$ for Fox Rhythm suspension ?
  • 5 1
 @Whipperman: 5500 for Guide Rs
  • 6 0
 @Whipperman: yes, but exactly same frame as s-works. basically 3200 for frame alone or 1000 more so you have something to ride on while hunting for other parts Wink but yeah, stupid components for that price tag in general
  • 6 1
 They aren't direct to consumer priced, but I don't think its that unreasonable. They also hold their value well, so when you sell it you can get quite a bit back.
  • 4 1
 Nobody pays MSRP
  • 2 0
 Just means you have to wait until 2019 until you can afford a 2019 bike off buy and sell.
  • 10 3
 “It was only a matter of time before the asymmetric frame design found on the Demo made it to a trail bike.”

And it was a few months back on the Orbea Rallon.
  • 8 0
 Finally got away from the proprietary shock mount. That took a while.
  • 5 0
 agree. probably the best technological upgrade.
  • 20 13
 Looks like a Orbea Rallon
  • 44 19
 Orbea Rallon looks like a Demo
  • 10 10
 @Khayes: no.
  • 13 2
 @Khayes: No. Demo compensates the seat tube for shock location, Rallon braces the shock mounting with an extra tube - Like this new stumpy
  • 3 6
 totally different, the brace is on the non drive side of the Orbea. specializeds lawyers have already planned accordingly. lololololol
  • 4 1
 Tubes are very slender, to go along with the epic. Its like merida just had a breakthrough in carbon construction. Amazing they dont need a straightshotTM downtube with a knockbackTM workaround to get the torsional HT stiffness they were apparently looking for.
  • 1 1
 Merida does not make any carbon bikes for Specialized.
  • 1 0
 @jefe: did they divest? Or they just pay competing factories to make them?
  • 4 2
 You know maybe I am thinking out of my ass as well. But all I can remember is Specialized saying how the PF30 BB was so much stiffer. Now they are saying it was for weight savings which is no longer a reason because a threaded BB is more of a weight savings and just as stiff. Hmmm........ Again just more marketing BS. BUt still a good looking bike I will never own.
  • 4 0
 Neither are true, real reason is that PF30 didn't require post-mold machining or bonding and was therefore cheaper.
  • 2 0
 I think it is a beautiful looking bike! It looks refined but also a bit but also has sexy almost Kardashian beefiness to it. I have never like the FSR suspension in comparison to Maestro. May give it a whirl if I get the chance.
  • 2 0
 Did the fix the problem with their weak chainstay seatstay bridge? My Stumpy died when the bridge cracked in two after five years of admittedly rough riding and they wouldn't warranty it. I've been riding an Ibis Ripley ever since with zero problems.
  • 2 0
 @thorsbane

but have you been on the Ripley 5 years yet? how's that 1st gen switch system working out?

stumpy retired the seatstay bridge with the last redesign then brought it back for this version. a legit question tho. I do get nervous that they're making the frame even lighter. cool and all but let's hope that the lighter frame doesn't equate to a more fragile frame. hope not, my enduros/stumpys have been legit in the durability department. and they have the resources/testing to ensure durability before a product release.
  • 3 0
 No more 420mm chainstay, a seatstay bridge, and a more progressive shock curve!? Thanks Jason! Also happy to see the medium crank length change (feel sorry for the big dudes though). Wink
  • 2 0
 Aìnsa is great! Was there just 1 week later: www.flickr.com/photos/96753981@N04/albums/72157693672611891

The Stumpjumper looks good, but it definitley would not be the bike I would choose to ride there. Maybe the SJ Evo...
  • 5 0
 you know they did good when they write "NO MORE PROPRIETARY BULLSH*T" on their website Wink
  • 12 0
 also even the cheapest comp carbon is made from same quality carbon as the s-works. a bitchslap for Santa Cruz & Yetis Wink
  • 6 0
 470mm reach on a XL......... Help a 1.95m tall brother out please!!!
  • 3 0
 Looks nice. But you'll have to go elsewhere for adult sizing.
  • 4 2
 I’ve never ridden a specialized but when I went to my LBS and I saw a bunch of aluminum versions they all had different welding blemishes where I was like geez poor job which steered me away from specialized. But I’m pretty sure it’s a great bike to ride
  • 3 2
 How long ago was that? Spec has been using Smartweld on their frames since 2015-16.
  • 1 0
 @TheRaven: Yeah, that smartweld is badass. Basically the strongest, most error proof way to make an aluminum frame.
  • 5 0
 Does the flip chip make the bikes 0.5 degrees slacker or steeper that what is shown on the geometry charts?
  • 5 3
 That is not flatbiller hat enough for me. I need more neon colors and a marketing video with faster edits and Nickelback-esque songs. They need to get with TLD again and have the bike yell, "I love Sublime, Ben Davis pants, wakeboarding every weekend, FlavaSaver® facial hair, and socks pulled up to the knees SoCal style!"
  • 14 8
 Looks like a... rallon?
  • 7 8
 and the rallon looks like the demo 8
  • 8 1
 @KillaK801: down the dosage man...
  • 6 0
 Not mad at it.
  • 8 7
 Can't buy a specialized, they wouldn't replace my enduro frame. Said it wasn't made for jumping. Just bought 2018 Trek slash 9.8 to go with my session and madone and my girls lush and madone. I only broke 1 trek, my fuel 5.5 so they upgraded me to a fuel 9. That's what I call customer service. There is nothing specialized with specialized customer service.
  • 4 2
 Sounds like you have a bad Spec dealer and a great Trek dealer.
  • 2 1
 Riding a Process 111 (by now a five year old design), the short reach and high standover on this would feel like a serious step back. I'm glad to see them abandoning some of their proprietary suspension BS. Not sure whom they're targeting with that geometry, but part of what's cool about today's 29ers is that they give you that nice in the bike feel. Short front triangle/high standover detract from that.
  • 1 0
 I have only had one mountain bike: a specialized stumpjumper hardtail 29er. The black anodized one. Love it. This looks nice too. But so damn expensive. And I don't think you can convert it to single spped by flipping the rear dropouts...
  • 4 0
 you had me at sagometer! #oldballs
  • 18 24
flag WAKIdesigns (Apr 16, 2018 at 21:42) (Below Threshold)
 He approached her from the back. She felt his torso against her back and felt shivers. She said Mr President will you think about me on your trip to Jina? And then she sagged her big breasts against his little hands
  • 2 1
 > Each bike also has clearance for 3" tires

So the 29" versions are legit 29+ bikes like the Full Stache?

Seat tubes seems a little short for recent long-travel droppers.
  • 3 0
 Looks like only 3" with 27.5 wheels and prolly 2.6 for 29
  • 2 0
 Sharp looking bikes.

'The raised portions of the chainstay protector are said to minimize chainslap more than a traditional protector.' #thefutureisnow
  • 4 0
 I want this. That is all.
  • 1 0
 So is their "externally threaded bottom bracket" something new (threads on the outside of the bb shell???) Or is it just back to the proper threaded bb shell with external bearings?
  • 3 0
 nothing new. back to the way BB's should be.
  • 3 0
 Your only allowed to crash on the right side...or your shock warranty is null and void.
  • 2 0
 Talk about major caving from the innovate or die crew. Love this right off the Stumper page on their site:
"and a complete abandon of proprietary nonsense"
  • 2 2
 No clearance for 29 x 3.0. Not a 29plus capable bike. Specialized recommends a max of 29 x 2.6 on the 29 inch models. They say that they will all fit 3.0, but what they meant is all frames will fit 27.5 x 3.0.
  • 9 3
 Who cares? If you're riding 3.0 tires in any wheel size, you've got bigger life problems.
  • 2 0
 @jefe: thanks for the diagnosis. You must be an expert.
  • 3 0
 I'd rest my balls on that
  • 1 0
 Do PinkBike editors not proof read before they finalize? Lately some of these guys write like they are 6th grade home schoolers. Check your shit before you post.
  • 5 1
 Damn, that looks clean
  • 3 0
 I have $3, I spent the rest on suspension.
  • 4 3
 Those Specialized Stumpys are quite pricy and the spec isn't special. The Expert gets Guide Rs and Pike RC for 5.500$, are they mental??
  • 3 0
 Look at that shock! No more Specialized proprietary shock mount! Woohoo!!!
  • 3 0
 Somebody so kind and send me that raw frame..yes...yes ??
  • 2 2
 Pretty obvious that specialized or pinkbike has a team of shills upvoting pro-specialized comments and downvoting criticism on here. No mountain bikers like this company, it will always be a joke moped company like trek.
  • 4 2
 Only a 20% bigger "SWAT BOX" - outrageous
  • 13 6
 Turbo Levo has the biggest SWAT box, it fits a battery.
  • 3 0
 Kenovo could be bigger @WAKIdesigns:
  • 13 10
 orbea is that you?
  • 3 1
 Own a few spesh bikes. First thing I replace is them 6degree upsweep bars
  • 2 0
 2019? 2018 just started...
  • 2 0
 Sounds cool but can it roll over uneven terrain?
  • 5 4
 hell f*cking yeah. 63.5 HA with 150mm travel? This is the future of MTB right here.
  • 2 1
 Yeah, Chris Porter is 155mm with 62.5HA. Wish specialized had copied his bikes in carbon...
  • 3 0
 looks better now.
  • 4 3
 Juat like rallon. Exposed shock stanchion to crashes and polishing legs. Think of crank arms polishing
  • 3 1
 Except that crank arms aren't hard-anodized. Your shorts are not going to be polishing a shock stanchion.
  • 2 2
 @TheRaven: my bar ends were lavender anodized. Went through that. My haldlebar was ano, went through that too. Good luck with not polishing kashima
  • 2 1
 @TheRaven: just check your rear brake line by the dh stanchion, Tadaa
  • 1 0
 I pedaled and crashed a lot with my Rallon. Shock is perfectly fine.
  • 3 0
 @donpinpon29: "Anodized" is not remotely the same thing as "Hard Anodized".
  • 1 0
 @auzb: the new model and air shock? If its spring shock careful bottoming out pinching yourself
  • 1 0
 @donpinpon29: new model with dpx2. Have you actually tested the bike and found that the offset shock is a problem?
  • 2 0
 Perfect timing on the release, because:

Sea Otter is the new Interbike!
  • 2 0
 How much do the complete bikes weigh?
  • 1 0
 sagometer. checking dictionary.com brb
  • 2 5
 I'd almost buy this just for the oh so smooth quietness of the anti-wave chainstay protector Razz
But yes, it unfortunately it's dated and not as visually exciting as I was hoping for. Though the updated geo and standard BB thread specs make it far more attractive..
  • 1 0
 I can't see any tools...I hope they hide it in the steerer tube...
  • 2 4
 Whats with the pricing? Comp carbon 29 in the US is $4200 (£2900 at todays exchange rates) but being sold at £3500 in the UK? So we have to pay £600 more because.......#brexit?!
  • 3 0
 The uk cost increase is to pay tax & that big swanky office in Surrey
  • 3 0
 It's probably VAT, £2900 + 20% is £3480
  • 2 0
 USD prices are always tax free, if you buy in eu you need to at least add VAT for UK its 20% so the price is only 20£ higher
  • 1 0
 @Asmodai: buy it in Hong Kong!
  • 4 2
 No not brexit. That tea you’re drinking in the lou as you pinkbike, we had a party about that a while back. Starting to see the logic? Wink
  • 1 0
 @dtm1: rekt
  • 2 1
 That definitely does not look like a session! I hate to tell you.
  • 1 2
 Here stands Specialized's primary goal.
  • 1 0
 No autosag!!!! The most pointless feature.
  • 3 2
 Shit that looks like a specialized! He he he
  • 1 0
 two frames for the price of one
  • 2 1
 I like more the Commencal Meta Am V4.2. Shock looks nicer in Commencal
  • 2 0
 Looks like a specialized
  • 1 4
 So Specialized, all that work testing for balanced feel between sizes and yet the chainstays remain the same length across the range? How hard is calculating weight distribution? Apperantly harder than calculating the profits earned by using one mold for the back half of the bike...
  • 1 0
 s works frames always have one too many tubes for my liking
  • 2 2
 I bet the next Enduro will have the same geo as the stumpy evo... or it should.
  • 3 2
 Yeah..no. Short reach and long stem on new jumper is a big minus. Long reach short stem on enduro is tits
  • 1 0
 ...or it will be even slacker. There should be a point, where going further in slack department is no longer efficient, but I think we are not there yet with trail and enduro bikes.
  • 3 4
 @yxbix: No way...I personally can't wait for 0 degree head angles.
  • 2 1
 @TheRaven: That will become possible with the infinitely adjustable travel fork.
  • 1 0
 @colethompson: true on that. I was more thinking HA, CS length, ST angle and more progressive on the leverage curve
  • 1 0
 What stroke do the shock use ?
  • 1 2
 Finally, they dropped the stupid setback droppers (and no WU) so if you replace it the sizing won't be messed up. It was overdue.
  • 1 0
 no SWAT in alloy frame. reason?
  • 8 0
 probo structural integrity of alu tubing
  • 2 1
 I want a video head to head with the evo and the new yt’s
  • 1 0
 Top tier 8k is starting to get expensive makes a Trek rsl look cheap
  • 7 7
 so they bought a rallon and a mirror and TADA, imagine the legal rage if it was the other way around.
  • 2 1
 The aluminium version looks really nice!
  • 1 0
 That's what caught my eye too...
  • 1 0
 Looks cool Smile

I guess a lot of old 'Stuntjumpers' will be for sale now Razz
  • 1 0
 you need to fix the size info: you have size from X to XL
  • 6 1
 No that's correct, they now cater to the "size fluid" riders. In case anyone is identifying as size X. Gotta be all inclusive you know.
  • 2 0
 want.
  • 1 1
 Looks more expensive for parts you get id be interested if they cost about 900 less
  • 1 0
 Much different geo than my old 2013 Stumpy!.
  • 1 0
 thats a nice ORBEALIZED Stumpy! =)
  • 1 0
 anyone else hear that vernon felton joined specialized?
  • 2 2
 A shaker machine? Love it. Hope other companies copy...oh wait Smile
  • 1 1
 That's a pretty lengthy ad for... A bike
  • 3 3
 When can I get it as a Turbo Levo?
  • 5 4
 looks sweet
  • 2 1
 no ohlins?
  • 3 2
 no. apparently they wanted Suspension That Doesn't Suck™
  • 2 5
 @strasznyzbigniew: Why not? Sucky bike / Sucky suspension. Then why do I see a RS on it?
  • 3 0
 @strasznyzbigniew: I don't get all the hating on Ohlins, the TTX22M is an awesome coil shock.
  • 2 0
 @Clifflane3: It’s the air stuff that earned their current rep, unfortunately. I had three STX airs die on me - and I’m definitely not alone.
  • 1 0
 @jeremiahwas: yeah I have heard that.
  • 1 0
 Your move trek.
  • 2 2
 I'll keep my Evil Wreckoning
  • 1 4
 Besides the EVO bikes there really isn't anything worth while here. Great way for S to test the waters of scary new geometry bikes without committing. Once EVO carbon models come out only the ST models will sell
  • 2 3
 Nice looking bike, so much better than the last few incarnations;
  • 2 5
 Old skool reach, old skool STA, old skool bike. Disappointing Specialized, especially when you’ve done so much with the E29 this year.
  • 8 10
 The new enduro should have this design years ago... Now they copy orbea....
  • 18 7
 Orbea copied Specialized on the Demo
  • 1 1
 (deleted)
  • 3 5
 This being pinkbike, it looks like a rallon!
  • 2 5
 love the specialized rallon
  • 10 13
 It looks dated.
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