Per the attached: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/specialized-stumpumper-evo-carbon-2012.html

It’s not really in keeping with the line’s heritage no? i.e., as a raceable bike you could also rag occasionally – but mainly a fast XC bike. 6″ is downhill bike territory. Think something’s been lost here?

Looks nice but shouldn’t be called a Stumpjumper.

i suppose the justification would be that our concept of ‘cross country’ has changed.

but i basically agree with you.

And a Zaskar should be a ball burnished alu hardtail. But it’s not and times can and do move on.

Think Stumpies were always meant to be your one do it all bike. If you were a racer you’d get an epic, and if you were into bigger stuff then get an enduro. I suppose with better forks, shocks and lots of carbon, if you can have a sensible weight trail bike goes up and down well, then why not give it as much travel as you can if it doesn’t compromise the ride.

I guess travel is just a number if the bike rides zippy enough. But it would take a pretty special 6″ bike to hit the necessary level of zippiness.

A zaskar absolutely should be a ball burnished alu hardtail!!

More important things to be devoting energy to…

it ain’t coming near me, I ain’t being ridden! 😉

Anyhow, what’s going on with the bottom shock mount?

6″ is downhill bike territory.

A dh bike with 150mm of travel? What cave have you been living in?

The “1998” cave…

seriously 6″ is a definite benchmark and has been for 15 yrs. Anything beyond that is DH not XC.

The question I suppose is – are the stays, headtube built up strongly enough to match the amount of travel? I doubt it. That’s the problem.

Ah but thats the Stumpjumper Evo, just like this years model that has 150mm of beefed up mincecorelite trail sled total minimum requirement travel for all ❗

Not really a Stumpjumper any more – why not just give it a new name?

a stumpjumper doesn’t have a chainguide! incidentally can anyone recommend one for two rings on an 09 enduro…I’m looking…

Anything beyond that is DH not XC.

So 150mm of travel and you have a dh bike, and 140mm and you have an xc bike?

I tend to think with suspension that if you can have lots of travel without the drawbacks, you might as well have it. But I agree with what you’re saying here.

It’s a bit like the Range Rover. When you look at the original model, you’re left wondering what the hell happened during the last few decades.

XC bike is 75mm to 110mm – and really a hardtail.

Note that I ride a 6″ bike myself…

I wouldn’t say no!
So will there be a Pitch this year or is that finished now?

According to the video that travel doesn’t make it a DH bike, it turns it into an ‘aggressive descender’…

Seems to me that it’s true to the sort of riding the bikes are for- the first Stumpjumpers got people out riding things that most folks wouldn’t have done before, sure by modern standards they’re basic XC bikes but not in their day.

Thing is, with modern suspension and lightweight builds we can have 6 inch travel bikes that are superb at XC as well as massively more capable than a 100mm race bike. Spesh aren’t the first to realise this.

The original Stumpjumper FSR was 100mm. it then went 120, 140 and now 150mm, its just a natural progression.

Its interesting the Specialized have saw fit to introduce the Camber as a short travel trail bike to fill the gap between the Stumpjumper and the Epic.

Why does that troll have no clothes on?

I’ve got a stumpjumper from the 90’s, it has 0″ travel.

It’s not really in keeping with the line’s heritage no? i.e., as a raceable bike you could also rag occasionally – but mainly a fast XC bike

Yes, for the hardtail I’d agree. But the Stumpy FSR has always been a trail/enduro bike (As in riding a LOOOONG way enduro) and if it’s light and pedals well, then 6in will be fine. Think about the Whyte 46 when that first came out….same idea!

The Pitch is a different beast altogether. I’ve had a Stumpy FSR and currently have a pitch. Not the same thing! 🙂

Specialized have constantly changed the focus of the Stumpjumper. I remember that they decreased in travel from 140 to 120mm at one point.

The point about travel is largely moot these days IMHO. According to the raw numbers, my Wolf Ridge and 04 Enduro frames are broadly similar (140mm rear and 132mm rear respectively). In reality, both bikes are worlds apart, the differences in geometry dictate this.

The Camber has been created to fill a void in the Spesh lineup. I strongly suspect that the next iteration of the Stumpy will be a “return to it’s roots” in the mein of the replacement for the 2006 Enduro.

“a stumpjumper doesn’t have a chainguide!” Cough 2012 models are getting there, with wide hubs etc etc.

The Specialized Stumpy FSR is the only full sus bike that I’ve ever really wanted. Other full sus bikes I’m not too fussed about but there’s always been something about the stumpy in all of its various forms. Wouldn’t say no to that Carbon EVO but I’m sure my bank would (actually they wouldn’t but they would charge me huge fees for an un-arranged overdraft!).