Editor’s Note: Here is part Two of Grannygear’s visit to Specialized Bikes where he got to throw a wet, soggy leg over the Specialized Stumpjumper FSR 29er. Here are his “First Impressions”.
Recently I had the chance to throw a leg over the 2010 flagship, bigger travel 29er, the FSR Stumpjumper Expert. Priced at $3300.00 suggested retail for a complete bike and $2000.00 dollars for a frame/seatpost/front der. combo, the FSR Stumpy brings 130mm of Brain Shock controlled rear travel to the trail and on the complete bike is paired with a Fox F29RL, 120mm, compression and rebound adj. w/ LO, tapered steerer, 15mm thru axle equipped fork. Five inches of rear travel is a pretty good number for a 29er trail bike, and although ‘trail bike’ is a different thing to different folks, the FSR looks to be competing for trail space against the Niner Rip-9, the Turner DW Sultan, the upcoming Intense Tracer, and the Lenzsport offerings like the Behemoth. It is a step up from the likes of the Tall Boy, Big Mama, etc with only 4” of rear travel among them.
As well, there will be inevitable comparisons against the lighter weight and slightly less travel Epic 29er from Specialized. I have quite a bit of time on the Epic Marathon version and it makes a very fine light to mid weight trail bike. I am looking forward to answering a couple of questions that have been on my mind: Can an FSR Stumpy, built up from a frameset with lightweight parts, say to 27-28 pounds (it can be done…27lbs in the one I saw) be a suitable option to a stock-ish Epic at the same weight? How much of a penalty is the extra inch of overall travel? Is it to the point where the travel does not matter and the performance of the bike needs to be considered by the ride alone…leave the tape measure in the drawer and see how it feels? I have stated that 4” of travel had become the sweet spot for 29ers in that it represented the point where it is the amount of travel that meets most folks needs, is not a burden for climbing and feeling ‘fast’, and can be dressed with parts to meet a pretty wide variety of conditions. But, will the FSR woo me over with the 130mm travel package? Can this be my everyday bike for relatively smooth but fast, loose and rocky So Cal?
We shall see.
Some of those questions will need to wait for another day for enough saddle time under different conditions. The ride was somewhere around 9 miles of twisty, up and down but pretty much smooth-ish trail. Combine that with heavy rains for the last week, including the day we were riding, and it added up to limit my scope of riding and was not a great test of the FSR’s capabilities. Be that as it may, there were sections of decent ruts and rocky outcroppings, lots of slippery corners, and fast bermed sweepers so I did get a pretty good feel for the flavor of the bike and I am willing to make a few statements based on that.
Compared to the Epic, it is a bigger feeling bike. The front wheel is further out in front with the 69.5 degree head tube angle (the bike I rode was an XL, just like the Epic I have at the moment), the handle bar is wider and the overall feel is one of a more substantial feeling scooter.
The Brain on the FSR is de-tuned a bit compared to the Epic. Eric from Specialized, who rides an FSR running a 1×10 combo of SRAM XX shifty parts and is one of the 29er developers there, basically said that the Brain goes to ‘7’ or ‘8’ on the firmness scale while the Epic Mini-Brain goes to ‘10’. Not his exact words, but I think I captured the intent. Regardless of that, the FSR pedals very well seated or standing although I could notice the 30 lbs approx weight (I did not weigh it) over the Epic’s 27 lbs. It felt quite good seated and spinning a small gear up techy stuff, much like the Niner Rip-9 in that regard. I think I would give a slight nod to the FSR for out of the saddle pedaling compared to the Rip-9 and the DW Sultan. Slight, but it was there. The Brain is quite unlike anything else in that regard.
130mm rear and 120mm front combined with a 69.5 degree head tube angle feels pretty good in anything that gets rough or jumpy. No surprise. The big wheels and that amount of travel are really inspiring. I have my doubts about the need for or the resulting sales figures of a really big travel 29er like many are clamoring for. But I sure could see a bike one notch up from this being loaded into the back of pickup trucks around the country: Maybe a Specialized Enduro 29er to go up against the Niner WFO and the Lenz PBJ?
Is there a head tube angle that does not work for a 29er? I was amazed how agile the slacker head tube angle felt. In fact, it loves to carve turns. At least this day, I actually liked it better than the Epics steeper set up, even on the smoother trails of the ride.
Get this…after riding SRAM XX 2×10 for a while now, the very nicely spec’d 3×9 Shimano/SRAM 9 speed mix felt slow and vague. Never thought I would say that. What is a big ring for anymore on a trail bike? 2011 will be the year of the 2×10 equipped bike, like it or not.
Beyond this I will have to wait for more time on a more appropriate trail to get a real in depth feel for the bike and that should happen in a couple of months. I do predict that this is a very good bike for anyone that is coming from a 5-6” travel 26er and expects the deeper trail bike feel that an Epic does not provide. It would be a great second bike in a quiver for trips to Moab or Sedona and days at home when you feel like playing rough or it could the perfect one bike solution if you ride rougher trails all the time and require the extra travel to begin with. The FSR is another option in a part of the 29er market that previously did not exist and I think options are a good thing. Specialized hopes you think so too.
Thanks to Specialized Bikes and Nic Sims for the arrangements to make this visit possible.
I used to race DH, 43lbs with 26″ wheels and 8″ of travel. After riding one of these stumpy’s for a 3 day demo it reminded me very much of the ” feel ” of my DH rig, only way lighter and pedals awesome. This bike felt like it can handle anything I used to use me DH rig for
only I could use it for my all day epic rides as well. A very good, capable all arounder for those who like the rougher side of trail riding.
For those of us who might be considering a new trail/AM rig, how would this SJ compare with Rumblefish and Lunchbox?
@LeeT
I bit of guessing here along with hard experience:
I have never ridden a Lunch Box but they are known for a shorter TT and CS build which makes them a great bike for slower techy stuff with ledge climbs and wheelie drops. It has a high BB as well. Hard to go wrong with a Lenz if the terrain matches your needs.
The Rumblefish is only 110mm of rear travel although it does feel like more and the ABP is very good.
I think the Stumpy will be in the middle of the two. It is more stretched out and lower than the Lenz with a slightly longer CS length. It is a better climbing bike then the Rumblefish because of the Brain and has more travel.
If I was playing on trails where the higher BB and 17.5″ CS length was important, I might go for a Lunchbox but I think the Stumpy is more versatile. As far as I am concerned the Rumblefish is a 4″ travel bike that is tuned to feel bigger than it really is….but is still 110mm when it comes down to it.
grannygear
@GG – Thanks – exactly the comparison I was seeking. After my first trip to Sedona a couple weeks back, I may suddenly need more than a bike that “feels” like more than 4 inches.
I can’t seem to locate an 2010 XL FSR Stumpjumper Expert to buy! Has Specialized made any and if so, where can I get one! I live in the San Ramon, CA area. All the local bike shops (I won’t name them) don’t buy into the 29ers and won’t stock them! I am really disappointed as one of the shops is pretty big and two store fronts, and I have bought from them in the past! I am pretty dissappointed to say the least!
Can someone tell me who carries them around her, or if they are even in stock or manufactured yet for that matter? I can’t even locate one online!
Thanks
Amelist,
I can’t help you with someone who stocks them, but any Specialized dealer can order them. They are due to arrive at the beginning of May. Some of the stores in warmer parts of the country already got some, but there might not be any left.
Grannygear:
How did you think the climbing was? I currently have the 09 stumpy with 105 mm travel. I am thinking that the 130mm might pedal as well or better because of the brain replacing the triad or maybe worse because of the travel. I am not looking to get hardtail like climbing, on the other hand I don’t need 130mm either, but the rest of the bike suits me much better than than Epic Comp.
Granny gear: Thanks for the write up! Ive been a hard tail fan of 29 hardtails for years, but this new encarnation of the the 29 stumpy is getting me thinking about going with the longer travel unit for one because of the specialized warranty and for two because of the fox RLC set up with integrated 1.5 headset.
How was off camber cornering?
Was there any noticable fork deflection?
Was the rear suspension pretty tight?
Thanks!
It is a RL (oem) fork, not a RLC,, so it doesn’t have the blow-off adjust on the lockout.
Typically Specialized puts the RL on the Expert level builds, and the RLC on the Pro or S-Works.
I am 5′ 10″. So if I would normally ride a large, I should go with a medium FSR Stumpjumper expert 29er?
@dan the man: Grannygear is a hair taller than I am and I am 6’1″. I would opt for a large. If you have longer legs and arms, you might want the large as well. if you have short legs and arms, the medium would work better. But I would visit a Specialized dealer and find out first. 😉
For what it’s worth, I bought a 2010 SJ FSR 29 Expert last December after demoing an Ellsworth Evolve, Specialized Epic 29er and the Stumpjumper, and found the SJ FSR to be the best bang for the buck and the best riding of the bunch. The Ellsworth was amazing, but I couldn’t justify 2X the price. I was surprised not to like the Epic–I really figured that would be the bike for me based upon my prior experience demoing bikes years earlier and my riding style, etc.
The Stumpjumper has exceeded my expectations tremendously and I absolutely love riding this bike. I’m 40 now and couldn’t take the beating I was getting from my hardtail any longer and was just getting back into riding on the dirt after many years of mostly road riding and non-technical dirt riding. I am riding trails now at 40 that I couldn’t ride in my twenties and am having an absolute blast. Lots of great bikes out there. I didn’t notice the problem with striking my pedals on things. At first, the bike did seem kind of low, but I think I just got used to it and it hasn’t been an issue–I may have nicked some rocks 3 times in 8 months, but nothing hard that effected my ride or stopped me / made me fall, hurt the bike, etc. And NO bobbing–that was why I demo’ed everything–I demo’ed bikes 5-6 years ago and I was bobbing all over the place–I’m 6’1″ and started out at nearly 230lbs, so that was probably part of the problem… But most bikes now seem to be very good at avoiding bobbing. My Stumpjumper climbs better than my hardtail did–a Gary Fisher Tassajara (26″ wheels).