2022 Specialized

Stumpjumper Pro

How does the Specialized Stumpjumper ride as a mullet? And what's it like with a piggyback shock and 150mm fork? Read on for our review.

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The Specialized Stumpjumper EVO Elite Alloy enters our 2022 trail bike group test as the only alloy full-susser.

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The Specialized Stumpjumper Expert is a 29er full-suspension bike with a long history – after all, the first Stumpy came out an impressive 40 years ago! Of course, its had some updates along the way, but has frequently been rated one of the best mountain bikes on the market. Specialized Stumpjumper Expert need to know: Grid Trail casing tyres add extra puncture resistance and sidewall support Flex in the seat stays dispense with Specialized’s signature 4-bar design to deliver 130mm travel Fox’s 34 Performance Elite fork benefits from the Grip2 damper to control the 140mm travel SRAM’s 10-52t Eagle cassette will keep you legs spinning even on the steepest climbs Weight matters, right? So how much lighter is the standard Specialized Stumpjumper Expert compared to the Specialized Stumpjumper Expert Evo? On our workshop scales it weighed in at an impressive 13.48kg with the SWAT bottle cage and tool fitted. That makes it almost 1kg lighter than its big brother, and lighter than comparable models like the Mondraker Raze RR, Canyon Spectral 125 CF9 or the Bold Linkin 135.  Some of that weight saving has been achieved by opting for the Fox 34 fork over the 36, and by swapping from a Float X piggyback shock to a lighter inline Fox DPS. But given that both models share the same cockpit, wheels, OneUp seat post and SRAM Eagle drivetrain, it’s fair to say a big chunk of the weight saving has to be in the frame itself.  By forgoing some of the Evo’s adjustability the Stumpy can be made lighter. As such, it doesn’t get the independent head angle and chainstay length adjustment found on the Evo. You can still tweak the numbers via the asymmetric insert in the shock eyelet though. In the low setting the head angle measures 65.1º with a corresponding BB height of 330mm. The other way that Specialized has saved weight is that standard Stumpy has fewer suspension pivots than the Evo.  Specialized Stumpjumper Expert suspension In fact, the flex-stay rear end on the Stumpy Expert has more in common with Specialized’s Epic XC race bikes than the rest of the Stumpy range, even if the alloy version of the Stumpy still uses the brand’s signature 4-bar design. So why the change? Well, by eliminating the Horst link pivot on the chainstay there are obvious weight savings. There’s also less to go wrong. The flex occurs in the seat stays, so the 130mm rear end on the Stumpy is closer in behaviour to a single pivot than a four bar. Also, as the stays flex they increase the force needed to compress the suspension, and act like a secondary spring. Specialized has been smart about this though, so the suspension is still really subtle off the top, then the spring force in the stays kicks in around the sag point to add support but it’s not so pronounced that you can’t achieve full travel.  We’ve already mentioned that the 140mm travel Fox 34 fork gives the …Continue reading »

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The venerable trail bike is as versatile as always, even in its alloy-framed version

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The Specialized Stumpjumper Evo Comp Alloy has one of the smartest metal frames we’ve seen, but is that quality reflected in the specs?

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