It's a lot of money for 20mm of travel which probably won't make that much difference. I rode the peaks for years on a fully rigid bike and learnt a lot. Since moved onto a 4" bike and now a 5" bike. There isn't a huge difference between the 4" and 5" bike, if anything it was probably more fun on the 4" as there are very few trails which warrant that extra inch of travel and the bigger bike is just that little bit heavier.

Personally, I'd keep the Stumpjumper for longer and learn some more skills on it. Then, when you do fancy a new bike, you'll probably have a better idea as to what you want and you'll have developed your own riding style a bit more. You'll also know a bit more knowledge about things like what difference tyres make etc. and what is actually down to the frame.

Your Stumpy is a better bike than either. just get a decent shock for it!

traildog good advice mate… GW I doubt its a better bike than them two really mate! 🙂

why?

it's got a sorted FSR suspension design with a flawless waranty and good geometry (for it's intended use)..

dandan. Yep. Try a non-specialized (sorry not a fan) tyre on the back.

On the fork-front. Im not very good at descending but a bigger fork allows me to plow through more and soak up alot more.

I'd stick something like a 2.35 Blue Groove Stick-e up front – I reckon that'd do more for you than 20mm more travel on the front.

The captains are rubbish tyres btw.

I've got 140mm on the front but if I put my 2.1 High Roller race tyres on and try and do something gnarly, the travel is useless, my 100mm hardtail with big rubber descents better than my Orange with skinny rubber…

If I had the cash (go look, there are some clearance bargains though UK shops at the mo) I'd buy:

Maxle through-axle Revelation 140mm travel. They have the Pikes lowers. You'd probably get 240? for your current forks.

Do it!!!

Dandan, you've already got a brilliant bike.

if it / you doesn't like the rough rocky bits, try some nice big tyres, and run them a bit softer.

(something like a 2.3 minion/highroller/advantage, or Nevegals – other bice big soft comfy tyres are available).

let a bit of wind out of the shocks (front and back)- a lot of people are terrified of 'bottoming out' – you paid for your 120mm travel, use it all! and often!

(does your rear shock have pro-pedal? – use it, it's bloody great for getting you back up the hills on soft shocks)

you say you're new to biking, try flat pedals for a bit more confidence, and ride the fast rocky bits with dropped heels to get more grip/control.

with the £2000 you'll save not buying a new bike, go on lots of biking holidays – spain/alps/Scotland/Wales, and something nice for your mum.

edit – for a bit more 'fun' on the downhill bits, try a shorter stem, something around 50-70mm…?

Pro pedal won't be helpful in descending – it causes the bike to sit up in it's rear travel (and make the front end feel steeper) and kills small bump response…

I think he meant to run the shock nice and soft on the downs and then use pro-pedal to compensate on the ups and flats?

correct.

Gary was a bit keen with his 'you missed a bit' response…

X

thanks so much for all your advice, means a lot!

I went to the peaks with real experienced riders (like yourselves), and they noticed i was not getting anywere near my full travel from my suspension, I weigh 11 stone 7 lbs and they said my forks were rigid lol, I had 100 psi in my forks and 200 psi in my rear shock, they reduced it to 80psi in the forks and 160 in the rear shock and it felt so much better, although I still aint getting full travel from my suspension, (one of the guys said I wont quite get the full travel from my forks).

Do them air pressures sound about right now?

I am thinking of getting new tyres for my trip to scotland now.. shall I put new tyres on front and back?

Anybody got any links to a decent tyre at a good price?

thanks,Danan.

I'm your weight and I run another 10psi less again in my floats…

Sorry ahwiles, I missed the link between your two comments 🙂

Not sure about the rear pressure… on my Five (single pivot) rule of thumb is your body weight in lbs in psi, so 150lbs = 150psi and then tweak from there…

Of course then there's your rebound settings to check – too fast and it could try and buck you off, too slow and it'll pack down and go rigid…

As you can see, there's a lot to check before it's new bike time 🙂

annanotherthing!

use lots of rebound damping – too little rebound damping will let your bike bounce all over the place, it'll feel a bit nervous.

as an experiment, wind the damping all the way out, and take it for a ride. then wind it all the way in, and ride it.

play with your knobs! – see what feels good…

as a guide, set it so the forks/shock make a nice smooth 'schooop' on their way back up from the car-park-test.

(dammit Gary, you're quick! :D)

lol so much to consider, 1 psi per pound of body weight on ther rear shock… what about the fork?

just seen this tyre.. how about putting this up front and putting my current captain 2.2 on the rear wheel, or just buy 2? 🙂

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Kenda_Tomac_Nevegal_Freeride_Tyre/5360028559/

You don't want the freeride 2.35 though…

There's a regular 2.35…

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Kenda_Tomac_Nevegal_Tyre/5360028560/

Fork I run at 70psi…

Ignore the 1psi per body weight thing – that depends on the leverage ratios so is bike specific. You are best to run off sag, which should be about 25%-30% when you just sit on the bike.
If you have money to throw at the problem, the best thing to do would be to send your fork and shock off somewhere like TFTuned and get it tuned to your weight – will make a big difference IMHO. Always good to get a shock serviced and tuned up every so often anyway.

traildog – cheers for that, I may do that mate.

the kenda tomac nevegal get great reviews, would you say to run thease tyres front and back, are they a much better tyre than my s works captains?

Ignore the 1psi per body weight thing

Yeah, I did suspect that this might be something that only works on single pivot non-linkage bikes, or even just the Five…

Get a 2.1 DTC version for the back – they come up massive anyway and the DTC compound is harder in the middle so drags less and lasts longer. The Sticke version (which I linked) should be front only as it won't last two seconds on the rear and will suck all your energy.

http://www.nextdaytyres.com seem to be cheapest for mail order tyres at the mo. Maxxis Minion DH, Maxxis High Roller and Kenda Nevegal all very highly regarded here as all-round trail tyres. The Minion comes in different tread durometers (ie. stiffness/stickiness), and also a dual ply (ie. double thickness) for extra puncture resistance. I love Minions, have 2.3" "supertacky" dual plys on my downhill/jump/play bike, which weigh about a kilo apiece and drag so much on hard surfaces its like riding with a flat, but give total confidence when it counts. I have 2.3" single-ply 60 durometer minions on my other bike which weigh about 800grms a tyre on my other all-day bike.

Neven ridden nevegals but those that do rave about them as much as I do the minions.

I agree with other respondents you can fine tune your FSR to suit you, and as your riding develops the bike will be good enough to help you improve. Fatter tyres, shorter stem, bigger discs if you get all gnarly downhilltastic, skinny/light tyres, longer stem if you get all-day-epic beardy.

Just ordered my new tyres, Kenda Tomac Nevegal 2.35 up front with the 2.1 DTC version on the rear. Hopefully this will beef my stumpy up a bit more! 😀

I convinced myself I needed a new, full suss bike, as I was slower up and down than my buddies on my hardtail. However, after various bits of advice on here and elsewhere I:
1) Got fitter
2) Went on a skills course
3) Upgraded tyres,forks and got a wider bar

I now still want a new bike, but I am as fast or faster than my riding mates, and have a much clearer idea of what I want my new bike to do better than my old one, and have realised how much difference numbers (1) and (2) above have made to my enjoyment of riding.

I think your current bike should be great, especially with the tweaks advised on here. On the tyres front, my 2.25 Maxxis advantages (come up huge) have made a massive difference to my bike's handling, recommended).

I think it's easy to get sucked in to the bike media short travel/long travel/all mountain/ trail etc bollox, and start questioning if your bike is the weak link in your riding. I know I have been!

Wider bars are next on my list!

Tom when you say that your tyres "come up huge" … do you mean they are really wide when inflated .. sorry for the dumb question, just dont know what you mean 🙂

tyres that 'come up huge' are bigger when inflated than the stated size on the side.

a 2.1" from company X can be bigger than a 2.3" from Y.

i've just inflated a 2.1" continental. and it's more like a 1.8" – it's tiny!

i'd strongly suggest looking at your stem – anything more than 70mm long could get seriously weird on a long bike like a specialized – even more so when set up with wide handlebars. there's a good chance one of your riding buddies has a differnt / shorter stem you could try – it's a quick job to swap a stem.

Hi, I replaced my 105mm stem, for a nice Easton 75mm stem, feels much better

What a nice thread! 😀

Brilliant thread! 😀 Learnt so much, and have ordered new tyres 😆

As a further comment to Markd's earlier post, I have a 575 and my gf has a Zesty 514. I find the Zesty much more fun and capable on the descents, whereas the 575 excels on the climbs.

I was just thinking what a great thread this is too.

Someone comes on and asks a question….he doesn't get slated or criticised, but gets some great advice & is actually listening to it!

Good work, STW massive!!….I was going to say earlier that it's probably worth spending more time with your current bike & tinkering with it but didn't get round to it….

The suggestion above about rebound damping was spot on. Too little and the bike will kick back (front & rear) and feel skittish. Try a short lap on some local rides and try extremes of rebound as suggested.
Also don't be afraid to fiddle with tyre pressures too.

With the money you've saved, get yourself on a decent skills course. I did one at Llandegla in Jan and it was excellent. Didn't turn me into a downhill god, but has definitely sharpened my skills and made me more confident. It has helped me to get the best from my rides.

stumpy, I agree mate, its brilliant to have so many good people willing to help out and no body has took the piss, so greatful for it.. I have decided that I will be keeping my stumpy now, looking forward to getting my new tyres on, along with my shorter stem I think it should handle better on the rocky/techy decents, I am considering wider bars and also thinking about getting a new fork but not going to rush into it, only had this bike 6 months so need to get to know it more and improve my skill, I am fit and strong but lack confidence and balance. I think this bike of mine is more than enough for me untill the 2011 bikes come out maybe LOL.

Askills course sounds like a brilliant idea, Landegla is my local trail centre (less than an hour drive), any idea of costs? might do one next week.

Look up the Athertons website. I think they run courses.

It's worth doing it with some mates, if you have some that are a similar standard to yourself. It's more fun that way.

I think the one at Llandegla is £90 or thereabouts. Google it and you'll find plenty of info on their website.
Like I said, it's not going to turn you into an extreme downhill racer, but you go back to basics and learn about body position, cornering, berms, bunny hops (proper ones) small jumps etc.

5 of us did it and all found it worthwhile.

As you say too….it's probably best not to change too much in one go. Make a change, see how it affects things and then change something else. I've had my bike since 2002 & am just beginning to think that I need something more up to date.

Thanks stumpy I will make some enquiries mate, Wow you have had your bike for 7 years ay.. any pictures? such a nice thought that you have been happy with your bike for 7 years mate, heres me been riding 5 mins and im wanting a new bike when I already have a decent one, I need to start being a bit more like yourself! 🙂

Oh tyre pressures is a good one to look at. For your weight you should be on about 30 psi – I took a newbie out (a roadie normally) the other night and found he was struggling due to 100 psi he'd crammed into his spesh fast tracks – I'm suprised he hadn't blown the tyres off the rim.

Dandan. £90 is alot of money. For £45 I could teach you. Basically watch what I do, then do the opposite.

lol! hora

Gary.. 30 psi.. I will do that, Cheers

dandan…..pics of my bike……erm. There are some on here somehwere….

Oooh, actually, there's one that someone took of me at Thetford on Sunday, here:

Doesn't look that steep, but look at the angle of the trees! It was quite a steep bombhole.
I should probably clarify, that when I say seven yrs….it's got new-ish forks, brakes, crankset, different bars & stem etc. So it's a bit like Trigger's broom! Original bits are frame, rear shock & wheels which I guess are the main bits. Only replaced everything else as it's worn out (apart from bars & stem) though.