With the new Stumpjumper, Specialized says “goodbye to proprietary bullshit,” which is a pretty strong pronouncement from a company with a reputation for doing the opposite. To show they’re not messing around, right off the bat Specialized gives riders a threaded bottom bracket and metric shock sizing on the new Stumpjumper, making it easy for riders to customize the bike down the road.
But don’t mistake a move away from the proprietary as a lack of innovation. Specialized is introducing an all new frame with what they’re calling a sidearm design. The company says, “the sidearm design directly connects all three mounting points of the rear-end and shock to the frame, and this creates a significant increase in both stiffness and performance over bumps. More explicitly, frame flex has been minimized when the rear suspension is active.”
This launch video is pretty entertaining.
The upshot is a claimed 20% increase in efficiency over the previous Stumpjumper, plus it’s now “one of the lightest trail frames on the market.”
Specialized is offering two different flavors of the updated Stumpjumper, original and “Short Travel” (ST). While the original flavor still offers 150mm of suspension travel front and rear, the ST bikes will only offer 130mm of travel and steeper, climbier geometry. Both versions appear to feature a “flip chip” that adjusts the bike’s head tube angle by half a degree, while changing the bottom bracket height by 6mm.
One feature that’s sure to stand out to riders is the ability to run up to 3.0-inch tires. This time around Specialized is offering two versions of the Stumpjumper, one based around 27.5″ wheels and the other based around 29er wheels. Either version can run plus tires, making the Stumpjumper yet another new option for those looking for a full-suspension 29+ bike.
Specialized says internal cable routing on the Stumpjumper is much improved, with continuous tubes running from end-to-end. Not only that, Specialized has even rethought the chain protector, adding raised numbs the company says quiets chain slap to a whisper.
Aluminum versions of the updated Stumpjumper start at $3,000 and go all the way up to $9,500 for the S-Works, with several builds and pricepoints in between. The company is also selling the ST frame by itself for $1,850.
Get more details from Specialized.
