MORE GNAR FOR LESS DOLLAR
Specialized launch more affordable alloy Stumpjumper EVO
With the Stumpjumper EVO, Specialized took their 150mm-travel trail bike and turned it into a “shred-sled built to full-send down the gnarliest trails”. Now they’re releasing a more wallet-friendly aluminium version. Here are its five key features.
1 CARBON TECH IN AN ALLOY CHASSIS
Spesh have carried much of the technology of the carbon fibre model over to the aluminium frame. The new bike has the brand’s iconic ‘Sidearm’ design – an asymmetric driveside bridge that runs between the top tube and seat tube shock mounts – and, for the first time on an alloy frame, their on-board SWAT storage chamber, with room for a bladder, tools and snacks.
2 STYLE BASED SIZING
It’s built around Specialized’s S-sizing, which focuses on riding style rather than inseam length. Bikes grow in reach (the horizontal distance from the centre of the bottom bracket to the centre-top of the head tube) without a corresponding increase in seat tube length.
3 SUPER ADJUSTABLE GEOMETRY
The head angle is adjustable from 63 to 65.5 degrees using angled headset cups and the bottom bracket height can be raised or lowered by 10mm using a linkage flip-chip, giving the Stumpy Evo a total of six geometry settings. You can also switch the rear wheel to 650b (using an aftermarket shock link) if you prefer running a mullet set-up.
4 PROGRESSIVE SUSPENSION
Its four-bar, Horst-link rear suspension has been tuned to have roughly 19 per cent progressivity, which means it’s plush at the start for small bumps, transitions to providing plenty of support in the mid-stroke and then ramps up at the end of its travel to provide bottom-out resistance. In the first 40mm of vertical travel, the wheel has a part-rearward axle path, moving back by 3mm, which should help it absorb smaller bumps even better.
5 SENSIBLE PRICING
The two-model range starts with the Stumpjumper EVO Comp Alloy, at £3,250, and tops out with the EVO Elite Alloy, at £4,500. Both get a 36mm-stanchion Fox fork and piggyback shock, four-piston SRAM brakes, an 800mm bar and aggressive 2.3in tyres on 30mm (internal) rims.