Brasher

I purchased the Stumpy Evo S3 29'er after reading Mike's review on one. Online reviews never persuade me to purchase anything but something about his glowing report, the geo figures and that sick looking raw frame made me take a closer look. Without too much trouble, I received a significant discount from RRP here in Australia, bringing it bang on with the base level Commencal Meta and YT capra equivalent. Having come from a 2015 Enduro 650b and the frustration of proprietary shocks and very linear suspension curves, going back to the Big S was a gamble. What a gamble it was, this thing flat out rips. Climbs, traverses and goes down hill like a rocket. The fox 36 Rhythm is great and the DPX2 rear also is also competent. NX Eagle does what I ask of it even if it is a big heavy in the cassette. Only gripe is the BB is too low in "low" mode. But in High it's still 64 Degree head angle which is bonkers for a trail bike. A 160mm air shaft and 55mm stroke coil is going in to be the ultimate big wheel steam roller. Hat's off to the Big S on this bike. It's caviar performance on canned tuna money!

Great stuff. I ended up purchasing the Stumpjumper EVO 29er in S3 thanks to your review previously. I have a buddy with a SB150 and we swapped and changed and whilst the yeti is definately nicer, I could buy 2 evos and still have a bucket full of cash left over. I would be very interested to see how you guys compare that bike amongst much more expensive machines. I’m very happy with my purchase so thanks for the great review.