Staff Rides: Photographer Matt Wragg's Specialized Stumpjumper Evo 29
STAFF RIDES
Matt Wragg's Specialized Stumpjumper Evo 29
Matt Wragg's Specialized Stumpjumper Evo 29
Lust. You never know when it is going to strike, or why. In late 2018, amidst the endless deluge of the latest carbon wonder bikes, the Stumpjumper Evo stirred something in me. I couldn't tell you why, but I knew I had to get my hands on one. The raw, almost unbranded aluminum frame and the wild angles looked nasty in all the right ways. So much so that I cancelled the carbon rocketship I had on order and started pitching calls to everyone I knew at Specialized to try and secure one. I picked it up in March of last year and have been fettling and refining it since into a bike I feel confident I'm going to keep for the next few years.
Before I get into what I have done with it, I should start with the why. In 2018 I fully embraced middle age and, for the first time ever, bought myself a full carbon DH bike. But after a year of ear-to-ear, shit-eating grins and bike park laps I had to admit that the reasons that I typically always had mid-travel bikes rather than full-blown DH rigs were still true - they're just too expensive and impractical to own. If I could get to a chair lift it was incredible, but even on the shuttle days around me a DH bike was the wrong tool for the job. So it sat gathering dust. I needed something a little, well, less. I wanted what I guess the kids would call a park bike, something that I didn't really worry too much about pedalling (I still have my Scott Spark for that), but would be perfect for shuttle days and bike park laps, and maybe some winch and plummet fun once in a while.
Sizing/Geometry
In many ways the Stumpjumper Evo is an awkward bike for me - at 1.75m/5'9" the S2 sizing is too small for me and the 480mm reach of the S3 was right on the limit of what I felt I could live with, but I figured I could make it work with some tweaks. At 480mm in the high setting this is on the edge of my comfort zone - I know from about 460mm to 475mm I'm good, but beyond that, I start to struggle to really get a grip on a bike. The number that really got me going, though, was the chainstay length. Specialized has always pushed the short chainstay agenda, so to see them start heading the other way seemed significant and after playing around with adjustable stays a year or two before the 443mm chainstays, low BB and long reach left me certain that it was going to feel great in corners (spoiler: it does). The head angle is the one number I was mostly indifferent about, even though it is one I see discussed a lot, because after riding two seasons of EWS courses on a Mondraker Foxy with a 66/67 degree HA, I believe that overall wheelbase is far more important than head angle.
Suspension
I used the suspension to change the intentions and dynamic geometry of the bike. The big difference is at the back is the 55mm stroke RockShox Super Deluxe. The stock bike comes with 50mm stroke to give 140mm of travel, so the extra 5mm stroke bumps it up to something like 155mm travel - it works so well I really don't understand why Specialized don't offer this as a stock option. That extra 15mm travel took it from a bike that encouraged me to go charging in, only to remind me at the critical moment that it only had 140mm travel, to far more of a big hitter than can stay composed no matter what you throw at it. That extra travel means increased sag too, which helps reduce the reach when I'm on the bike. Up front I then upped the 36 to 170mm travel (and dropped in a GRIP2 damper for good measure) to further shorten the reach and raise the BB a little as I was struggling a little with getting weight on the front and getting pedal strikes. from the super-low BB.
To get the Super Deluxe singing perfectly I popped over to see a friend who handles the suspension of a local SRAM-supported EWS racer. He dropped in a two-stage compression shim stack and a light rebound tune, and I then added 3.5 (of a possible 4.5 max) tokens and a Meg Neg can with a single band installed. I did try a DHX2 coil on the bike for a short while but found that the frame is far too linear for that setup, at least for me. The Super Deluxe set to around 30% sag has given me a comfortable, yet very progressive bike that picks up and holds speed easily. I was especially impressed with the Meg Neg can as it noticeably smooths out the wall you tend to get when your progression comes primarily from tokens and the extra mid-stroke support is subtle but useful. That mid-stroke support, combined with the longer fork and running the bike in the high setting has pretty much eliminated the pedal strike issue for me. Out front, the fork is still with the three tokens that came fitted from stock and on the lighter end of the recommended settings from the manual for the upgraded GRIP2 damper, except at 75kg I upped the air pressure to 80psi so it stood up in the travel a little more.
Drivetrain
The drivetrain on this bike is more or less the same one that was on my Scott Spark I wrote about in 2018 - I switched that one over to an 11-42 11-speed setup, so had this one going spare. I've said it before, but I don't understand why everyone is so enamored with 12-speed setups as they are both heavy and expensive. This cassette is an 11-36 XTR 10-speed block that is around half the price and weight of a high-end 12-speed cassette and, for me, I'll take that cost and weight saving every single time. The derailleur is a short cage Zee driven by a Saint shifter. The crank is a Raceface Next R with a 32t ring, as I have a long history of running their Next cranks (I think it's coming up to 6 years now) and they have proven themselves utterly dependable, not to mention being sexy and light to go with it. Braking duties are handled by a set of Formula Curas, which I still rate as the best brake on the market right now - they have great initial bite, followed by good modulation and bulletproof reliability. On this bike, I have thrown on 200mm rotors for some extra punch.
Wheels
After writing a long piece about how aluminum rims are better than carbon rims because they are more compliant, my choice of wheels should come as no surprise. DT Swiss' EX 1501s are coming up to being on the market for 7 years now, yet they are still the benchmark and are the only rim I can think of that have been ridden to both DH and Enduro world titles in the same season. They're not cheap, although compared to a carbon rim they're pretty reasonable, the weight is good and they are a true fit and forget component, I've never had so much as a loose spoke on them over multiple seasons. Inside are Effetto Mariposa rim strips and fluid. As I'm using this as more of a big-hitting bike than an all-rounder, I went for Schwalbe Magic Marys both front and rear. In the Supergravity casing, I run 21/25psi and they not only grip fantastically, but they are so reliable I don't understand why anyone this side of the EWS would need to add an insert to them.
Contact Points
I've been running Renthal bars and stems since 2011, so there should be no surprise what I have chosen there. With the long reach, I opted for a 32mm stem. I may try a 40mm at some point as I think the 32mm version makes the steering a little too fast and means I'm not getting the full benefit from the slack head angle. I went for a 30mm rise bar as that was what I had to hand and it seemed to work, so I haven't changed it.
When I wrote about my Spark I made a big point of disliking steerer spacers as they reduce the reach, but on this bike I wanted to bring the reach in a little, so popped a 5mm spacer under the stem. One big change for me this year is that I am running Ergon GD1 grips, which are pretty much the opposite of the Ourys I ran for so many years - they are thin and minimal. My wife is sponsored by Ergon and had a set laying around that I tried out of curiosity and they felt so good, there was a noticeably more direct connection to the handling, that I switched all my bikes over to them this year. The saddle is Ergon too - I'm not sure if this carbon-railed version of their enduro saddle is available to the public, but I like light saddles and after visiting their HQ some years ago, I like the way they do things. Popping that saddle up and down is an ultra-dependable Fox Transfer post with 150mm of drop. Pedals are Shimano XT because they just work.
I don't know what this all weighs, but it doesn't feel heavy and I trust every single component on the bike. It took me some fettling to get the bike to where I consider it perfect, and there is a little bit of me is tempted by stories of people running 216x57mm imperial shocks with a 3mm offset bushing in the head to reduce eye-to-eye to give 160mm+ travel, but I don't think I want or need to go that far... In the end, it feels fast, steady and forgiving, which is exactly what I want for shuttle days and bike park laps. And as for the long chainstays/low BB combo I was so excited about? This bike corners like no other I've owned, you really feel like you're in the bike and can lean further and carve harder. It's exactly how I hoped it would ride, and a feeling I don't think I will ever get bored of.
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Do you really miss your front derailleur that much?
@mattwragg: the early bird catches the worm
I actually like 10-42t cassettes and I think the XX1 11spd cassette was fantastic, but I think 50t cassettes are for the most part unnecessary and if people really paid attention to the gears they are actually using they would realise that too. Instead people feel they need 12 speed, and on lower end bikes especially, I think a decent 11 speed setup would give you a lighter, more affordable bike. I would love to see SRAM and Shimano duke it out to produce a 10/11-42/44 cassette for 200g and 100 Euros - I think if we could get that it would be a far more useful benefit to more people than a dinner plate gear or electronics. The problem is that it's not sexy or exciting and it doesn't seem to be what the market wants seeing as SRAM can barely keep up with demand for AXS.
My 11spd GX cassette is still in the same weight range of high end 12 spd cassette and it work great for me even since family and work took most of my training time.
There is an interesting article and especially discussion over on NSMB about this topic which shows just how personal and terrain specific gearing is:
nsmb.com/articles/axs-strikes-back-does-future-have-fewer-gears-pt-ii
Now there is the issue of a principle of being better off with X than Y because at the end of the day X motivates to be more skilled or stronger - the ideological part. But the current principle, or rather dogma, is unchangingly, since tens of years (and you can see it in overdone seat angle trends) to spin 90-100RPM from the saddle... that is how we are all collectively taught to pedal. standing pedaling, lower cadences, pushing harder gear is viewed as ridiculous. So it ends with: whatever happens, just in case, for your better good... spin your balls out. That completely ignores the forementioned beautifl thought of "it depends, trails and humans come in many colors".
So what you wrote is involonutary It's hipocrisy. Eagle is a product with Niche usage that is sold to the masses as a superior compromise. Futhermore it was too much about winning the market, to not make me think it is mainly about making people come faster to the top of a hill. Humans are stupid. Humans like inches on TV, megapixels, we always talked about nr of gears, now we are talking about size of cassettes. So it's hipocrisy, Matt as someone coming up with his view on gearing is an extremely rare example, always talked down. I fully suppport the hypothesis that harder gear makes you stronger and marketing machine (including Leo Kokkonen and Chris Porter) is doing disservice to people who would be better off with something more in the middle. Whoever cannot understand how extremist Eagle is, lacks common sense. To give it some justice, i do think Matts 32-36 setup on a long travel 29er is extremist too. But I let him have it no problem, due to how rare such point of view is.
Brake Jack is big time BS, but suspension sensitivity is important in the long run, because of body fatigue and traction.
Discussing drivetrain gearing online is the most useless, meaningless exercise one can do
Jmi
And some of us are running 34 or 36 chainrings
For those of us who don't mind an extra $100 on a cassette investment, and whose total, geared-up + bike weight is somewhere around 235 lbs., having an extra gear at the expense of 0.093% weight penalty (comparing SRAM cassette weights to reach this figure) is not only worth it, but completely negligible.
EVERY single pivot bike I've ridden had noticeable brake jack, and it's especially noticeable on steep terrain. Even some bikes that claimed to be fully actually weren't because they lacked the horst link and its noticeable when breaking on steep terrain. You do get sorta used to the brake jack but I would prefer a neutral, fully active bike.
When 11-36 was a thing and when salvaging parts I used to run XT 10sp with a short cage mech.
Next up is your long response that essentially boils down to your view that people who use 12-speed cassettes are not able to "man up" - veiled in some ridiculous attempt to shroud your humble-brag by espousing envy for these people. I do live in Colorado. My rides range between 6,000 - 9,000+ feet of elevation. The air is thin, the mountains are steep, the climbs are long, and the trails are technical. In my very first post, I pointed out that when I had less responsibility and more time to ride, I was able to effectively ride in both a large chain ring AND my 2nd largest cog on a legacy 2x9 setup. I assure you that your ability to assess from a keyboard my or anyone else's capacity to exercise mental discipline and "crank hard" is suspect at best. I too am giving my all when I ride, especially as I love fitness in general and only get to ride on average every 4 days during season.
Last up is your asinine point that somehow a Sram 12-speed prevents you from giving it most of what you have. How is that true? With 12-speed you can either run a larger chainring, or you can simply opt to only use your 2nd, 3rd or 4th largest cogs as your fitness improves. This is, in fact, exactly what I find myself doing as my season and fitness progress during a given year. Amazing!
TL;DR - your hyperactivity prevented you from responding logically to a single point in my response. Instead you decided to humble-brag the entire way and claim that a 12 speed cassette prevented you from working as hard as you'd like, as if you don't retain control of how to use it.
@Buttermilkbar - I owned VPP bikes but rode every platform out there But that whacky Marin/Polygon
I'll wait (its winter anyways) for when the prime 9 actually ships to see what others think. I just wish it finished on a 10 or 9 tooth, instead of 11.
This sport must seem like complete gibberish to someone that doesn't do it.
But I know I’m a minority on that one so not here to preach, just nice to see I’m not the only one
Im Overall very pleased with the normal Stumpjumper- im faster than on every other bike Ive ridden so far
How exactly did you came to that conclusion? Because they typically increase both front and rear centers which together create WB.
I was tempted by the new Enduro, but for a whole bunch of reasons didn't follow through on that. Not least of all is that I don't like the general cycle we all seem to buy into of searching for something "more" - at the end of the day I'm happy with this bike, why do I need something more or better if I'm already happy?
For many, me included, the Stumpjumper Evo was not purchased as an "aggressive trail bike" but rather as a way to get, with a couple of tweaks, the enduro bike that wasn't available in the market.
My issue is that long travel seem to be uncool, but as soon as someone produces an aggressive medium travel bike, it's massively improved by adding some more travel. Specialized shouldn't have been embarrassed to release this at 170mm/160mm. Then it would be the bike that it deserves to be right out of the box!
Concerning the Evo, I would bet the stock travel was a marketing thing to avoid eating into Enduro market. Seeing it's compatibility with the longer fork and how well it works with the 210x55 shock I wouldn't be surprised if that's how Specialized employees ride it.
And even today, and ignoring price, I'd still get the Evo over the new Enduro. I don't like carbon frames and I'm highly skeptical of the new design in muddy conditions
Also, have you considered trying a progressive coil from MRP or Cane Creek? It looks like the stumpy evo has about 10% rise in leverage ratio, and combined with the roughly 15% you can get out of a progressive coil you should be about right.
I'm sceptical about progressive springs, in the past I know that they used to essentially average out, so you just end up with a slightly stiffer but ultimately consistent spring rate. Maybe the new ones work, I don't know, but I want more than 15% progression and I'm happy with the setup I have.
Find another major brand with this geo and flexibility to run 140 or 155 rear with 150 to 170 up front without having crazy geo changes? The flexibility of this platform and geometry is why people buy it. The Evo is still slacker than the new Enduro as well.
I will keep in mind the 55mm stroke to increase travel.
After all the comments on how slack (and low BB) the evo can be i'm scared to Flip the Chip^^
Cheers
Cornering > the odd pedal strike
Of course i engaged to lock outs, come on man what kind of question is that?
I have an 11spd XT/SLX drivetrain w/11-46t cassette waiting when I switch from 10 speed. Then I saw that Shimano came out with the Deore 11-42. I tried the 10spd Deore 11-42t with a 26t NW chainring. It works great! A 10 speed drivetrain is actually a nice compromise, as it has a clutch derailleur, and there are some good cassette choices out there (specifically the HG-500 10 speed 11-42t.)
Before complaining about the 26t not being suspension optimized, realize that until 6 years ago, we were all pedalling around on bikes that were designed around a 22/32 or 24/34 front chainring set up. I tend to not pedal on the way down, so optimum chainring size matters far less than coughing up a lung and blowing my knees out.
YMMV
63.5 HA is just too wild for Australian trails I find. It’s ok when riding real hectic shit like cannonball/Awaba but other than that getting enough weight on the front is a struggle. It was fantastic in Queenstown were it gets steep.
The rear end kinematic is ordinary at 9% progression. Thankfully cascade components is coming out with their new link for stumpy’s.
55mm stroke mod is a must. Also going up in travel in the fork. I went to 170 (coil smashpot) but dropped it down to 160 as 63.2deg in high mode was bordering stupid. I tried cane creek coils, DB air, deluxe with megneg, ext storia (magic) and the rear end still had me searching for that illusive comfort and support other bikes had given me in the past.
TLDR: good bike but almost too wild. Replaced it with a commencal meta am 29
Fair enough if you need more range for where you ride, but I don't see the importance of more gears: the 8speed SRAM e-block as spec'd on the grim donut seems like the perfect range and number of gears! Shame about the crazy price though!
Wish I could pull it offcause I certainly like the idea of less gears, better ground clearance, and lower weight.
It's like Specialized need to see how people have actually used the bike and re-release as an Evo-Evo (Evo Squared?) based on how people have made the most of this gem of a frame.
Thanks!
I have to say I´m not impressed at all by friend´s XO1/XX1 eagle to be honest, sounds like it´s going to explode with every downshift under even moderate power, knowing that it did cost 5 times as much as mine 10 speed xt/saint... 11speed SRAM (X1 which was XT equivalent I guess) shifts ok to me though, still prefer feel of shimano shifters but that is preference thing obviously.
Oddly enough I think and feel 10 speed shifter with 11 speed XT mech is the best, for some reason even better than with full 11 speed xt setup. Might be caused by wear on 11 speed though ad shifting always feels noticeably better after new chain/cassette and cable change while shift quality deteriorates too slowly to notice normally. If they made 11 speed XT with GS cage and no clutch I would be all over it for my next mech as it shifts so fast and smooth on brothers bike, and that is with low end zee shifter. I have never tried XTR but I wouldn´t expect too much difference compared to XT.
Also replaced my old 11-36 XTR cassette and Zee derailleur with more of the same parts last summer.
Good choice.
Why would a longer stem get more benefit out of the head angle?
A shorter stem increases the "out front" measurement of grips to wheel, making it easier to stay behind the front axle.
Unless you mean that slow steering of a slack head angle... and the 8mm shorter stem makes the steering fast enough (really?) that you feel you're countering that aspect of the slackness.
You could also use the low setting on the shock to slacken the [static] head angle, stick with the stock shock, rely on the less sag to keep the BB up, and stick with the short stem.
PD: Eagle chains last really forever, discovered way before Cyclingtips article ;-)
Because in the low setting, the seat stay brace is like half a mm from the frame at "max travel", and would probably hit the frame on a true hard bottom out: enough to squish the bottom out bumper and maybe flex the whole system a bit. Though the sidearm does make flex unlikely, I'm certainly not removing the second travel spacer from my shock (52.5 to 55mm, on a 27.5 frame) because I'm pretty sure you're not getting a warranty claim if there is a dent or crack on the back of the seat tube.
I'll tell ya what it weighs: a lot.
You will get bored of the weight, especially when light bikes start making a comeback.
Dont mean to come across as self righteous but Ride a Top Fuel if ya dont believe me.
My personal issue with 12 speed is more for the lower end of things - budget bikes are coming with 600g+ cassettes and customers paying more for it for a benefit that, as you observed, many people probably don't really need. A client of my brother was telling him that a local rider had told his 14 year old son that you "need" a 500% gear spread to be able to go mountain biking and the poor kid was getting worked up something rotten when he saw the price of a starter bike with 12 speed.
Funny you mention weight training. Because it’s known in science that Type 2 muscle fiber do much better at tasks done by type 1 fibers than the other way around. They are also easily converted to type 1 if such need appears. Then it’s funny that MTB is dominates by roadie science on cadence, when roadie legs and hearts are made for nothing less than providing best average pace over a long stage of a multi stage race - I know, EWS liasons are long, but 99% of people don’t seriously compete in any form of Enduro. We want to have a good time on the bike and be healthy off of it. Why won’t we look at... BMX racers... 180 cranks - 3 single deadlifts on start developing into 120RPM sprints?! Then taking huge eccentric forces in case something goes wrong. Casing a table at 50km/h is not exactly as smooth as it may seem. At best we get crossfit... just ranting ehhh...
As to kids bikes... it’s the mentality of parents wanting to give the best to their kids. Sometimes in absence of understanding, it just goes wrong... when in doubt: just show them videos of Harry Schoffield shredding on a too small BMX...
Sick bike btw
How many articles on how great this bike is are we now at? are you guys paid by Specialized?
Am I missing something?