For real, though. With new tube shapes and an asymmetrical design, it's going to exceed all of your expectations of how a trail bike should ride.
The design goal for the new Stumpjumper was simple - to build the ultimate trail bike, one that feels telepathic. It turns out that this feeling all comes down to stiffness. Think of it this way: when the frame's telling your hands one thing and your feet another, your brain gets confused with the imbalance and the bike feels unstable. In order to fix this, Specialized had to get to work on dialing-in the material and shapes.
They continued down the suspension path with a custom Rx Trail Tune on both the fork and rear shock. Suspension performance is highly dependent on frame, wheel, and rider size, so Rx Tune is used to get each bike to land in the middle of the adjustment spectrum, and this gives you the biggest possible range to fine-tune your ride. Another focal point of the tune was matching the suspension characteristics between wheel sizes - a specific Rx Tune was developed for each platform. So, no matter what wheel size you prefer, you’ll get perfectly linear suspension.
Steps were also taken to make this bike easy to live with. Threaded bottom brackets make a triumphant return, and room was made for up to a 3.0"" tyre. You're also free to run whatever aftermarket rear shock you want, since they're using standard metric shocks. Customisation is furthered with a Flip Chip that lets you to dial-in your Stumpy to your riding style. Switch it from High to Low and it drops your bottom bracket 6mm and slackens the head tube by half-a-degree. Little details also jump out to surprise you, like a newly designed ribbed chainstay protector that makes chain slap a thing of the past and nearly silences the drivetrain.
The build here is no-nonsense with a focus on dependable, high-performing parts, like a Shimano SLX drivetrain with RaceFace cranks, Shimano SLX disc brakes, FOX front and rear suspension, and Roval Traverse 29 alloy wheels.
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The completely redesigned alloy Stumpjumper frame features an M5 alloy front- and rear-end, an asymmetrical design, and 29 Trail Geometry, so it's just the right amount of both capable and comfortable.
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The FOX DPS Performance rear shock features Rx Trail Tune, ensuring that no matter the wheel or frame size, your bike is dialed-in perfectly.
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A FOX 34 Rhythm fork handles suspension duties up front, with stiff stanchions and plenty of adjustability.