Specialized surprised the world last year by unveiling new 27in bikes, and 29in bikes AND 27.5+ bikes too, as well as women-specific models of many of them. It obviously didn’t want to miss out on anyone. And while it was slow to get on the whole 27.5in thing, it’s making sure it doesn’t miss out on the chubby movement.
The 6Fattie name appears to be a play on the ‘650(B)’ moniker – as in ‘Six fifty – six fiddy – six fattie’ – no, me neither, but that’s the best I’ve got.
With a 150mm fork and 135mm travel at the back, it’s a full degree slacker (at 67°) than the Salsa
Specialized makes no secret of the fact that it uses the front end of its M5 alloy 29er frame, mated to a wider, Boost back end for 27.5 x 3in tyres. Specialized being a full service kind of bike firm happens to make those tyres too. And the wheels. And many of the finishing bits and pieces of the bike – which includes that Command Post IRcc dropper post. With a mechanical actuation and a lovely ergonomic lever, it’s almost reason alone to buy the bike. It offers ten positions from fully up to fully down and it’s worked perfectly in all weathers.
The 6Fattie also follows the other bikes with a SRAM GX chainset, this time with a knee-friendly 28T ring, shifter and 1×11 gear set-up. Brakes are Shimano Deore and finishing kit is nearly all quality own-brand stuff. Bars come in at a 750mm – the new standard for trail width handlebars it seems. Top tube length is a not particularly ‘enduro’ 23.2in/590mm on our medium, but the fit was fine on our 5ft 8in – 5ft 10in riders
With a 150mm fork and 135mm travel at the back, it’s a full degree slacker (at 67°) than the Salsa and slacker than the Genius in full travel mode. This instantly adds a little more confidence on the slopes and turns. Once you get it set up, that is. Specialized has a clever variation on its FOX shocks called ‘Autosag’. This is a second valve that pokes out of the rear shock and allows for a starting sag point to be easily set up. You pump the shock up to 300PSI, climb aboard, take the lid off the Autosag valve, revealing a sticky-out valve core, and press it until no more air escapes. This should give a good starting point for your rear shock pressure, though I found it still left the shock too hard and needed more adjustment. I assume that due to the tyres soaking up more than normal amounts of trail chunder, the shock needs to be softer than normal to get the most out of the travel.
A bike that costs a couple of grand less than the others on test, it weighs near-on the same
Talking of the wheels, the bike comes with Specialized’s very capable alloy Roval wheels. These are Boost (110mm/148mm) axled, with a 29mm internal width. Plenty wide enough for a trail bike, but with the 3in Purgatory and Ground Control tyres, they leave more of a rounded, light bulb shape to the tyres, rather than the squarer profile tyres of the other bikes here. If you’re a hard rider who likes to throw bikes at corners, this can initiate a lot of tyre roll and squirm at lower pressures (under 15PSI or so), but for most normal riders, this wasn’t an issue. One benefit to these skinnier rims is a loss of overall weight. Talking of which, it’s funny that the 24/28 spoke count on the Rovals didn’t raise a single eyebrow as we’re so used to fewer spoked wheels these days.
The Ride
The 6Fattie lived up to the lively hue of its orange paint job. For a bike that costs a couple of grand less than the others on test, it weighs near-on the same as the others and offers an inch or so more travel from its FOX 34 fork and FOX rear shock. It took a few rides to dial in the pressures, but after that, it was time to ride the rocks – and the bermed trails of Lee Quarry and Gisburn Forest where, even in the pouring rain, it performed well – with the plus bike caveat of any slick, muddy ‘natural’ trail meaning instant panic as the bigger tyre, at whatever pressure (I got down to 11PSI in the end) skated uselessly over the top of the trail.
[fbvideo link=”https://www.facebook.com/singletrackmag/videos/10153643715653612/” width=”650″ height=”400″ onlyvideo=”0″]
Can’t see the video? Click here
Review Info
| Brand: | Specialized |
| Product: | Stumpjumper FSR Comp 6Fattie |
| From: | Specialized, specialized.com |
| Price: | £2500.00 |
| Tested: | by Chipps for |