stumpy fsr to a 5 spot… pointless swap or not?

A very reasonable approach muddyfunster.

and I felt as if they were mass produced crap, as you seem to think

I don’t think they’re crap. I dislike the behaviour of the brand, but that’s just normal for a company of that size.
I’ve ridden enduros and pitches and really liked them although its fair to say that the owners of those particular bikes haven’t had enjoyable ownership experiences.
I do believe that turners are higher quality than the alu stumpys but that’s my opinion. I’m no industry bike expert.
I’ve enjoyed the turner, though it now plays second fiddle to another bike so its not jaw droppingly good.
I’ve also ridden a knolly and those things are rather good, well pointing down they are! They do ride differently to FSRs.
Edit; another thing we disagree on! I shall never own a 29er.

davosaurusrex

muddyfunster – please could we have your opinion on 29ers?

They are the future. Pretty much everyone should ride one, whether they want to or not.

@muddyfunster – ha! Touche.

@wrecker – I don’t think he’s serious about 29ers……

@scienceofficer. Nice one, cheers. At nearly 6’4″ on an XL I doubt I’ll notice chainstay length at all TBH

My 5 spots ten years old, it retired a year ago and now hangs on the wall scratched and faded but still sound. it was wellied round the peaks for years and always made me smile unless I was too busy screaming for dear life!
And I still miss it sometimes 😥 best bike ever!…

More anti-squat on the DW. More active suspension on the FSR. More modern frame details on the Stumpjumper. Cosy feeling of owning a small brand with the 5 Spot.

You pays your money…

All the stuff about less robust bearings and other parts on the Specialized is probably true, but they’re such fun to ride, whereas I never took to the 5-Spot I test rode a couple of years ago……..so Steve, you take your choice. But hey, why not split the difference and go for a Mojo? Awesome bike, and you get the DW link thrown in (feels much much better on the Mojo for me at least).

not thought of a mojo to be honest.

Thinking about it, its going to be a lot of hassle trying to find a used xl frame for the right money when there is absolutley nowt wrong with the stumpy which is a very capable bike !!

whats the mojo like though………….

AM I TURNING INTO THE NEXT HORA !!!

Putting aside the debate about boutique brands, Vauxhall Corsa’s etc… I’m sick to death of having to replace squeaky, creaky stupid bearings every 6 months on my SX Trail, wife’s FSR Myka and son’s FSR.

I’ve been riding 5 Spots for 6 years now.. how many times have I changed the bearings? Er…. not once!

Renton you really need to try a 29″ Stumpy. It’ll be so much more balanced for your size due to the longer stays. You’ll have a lot more front end grip and I promise you it’ll feel like it’s got 20mm more travel than your 26″. I know it’s a faff having to buy a new fork etc but you’ll get a lot more for your stuff now than in a year when everyone realises the industry has killed off 26″.

Odd – not had any issues with the bearings in either of my FSR’d bikes. Epic’s been on the same bearings for 8 years now, and seen a considerable amount of mud.

Probably could do with a change after the last dusk til dawn it did, but they’re still not awful.

They do get washed after rides, though. And not with a pressure washer.

Putting aside the debate about boutique brands, Vauxhall Corsa’s etc… I’m sick to death of having to replace squeaky, creaky stupid bearings every 6 months on my SX Trail, wife’s FSR Myka and son’s FSR.

Are you power washing the pivots? Do you keep the bikes in a pond?

Seriously, that sounds ridiculously excessive. Your family must ride a lot.

Ive got to say that with all the spesh fsr’s Ive owned (which is about 9 over the past 5 years) Ive not once had to change a set of bearings ?

Also the 5 spot I had (09 dw link) which had had an easy life needed new bushings straight away ?

@wrecker – I don’t think he’s serious about 29ers……

😳
I had a sneaking suspicion.

You always read these suspension arguments on the internet and i always think they miss the point of bikes. The Turner being a posh FSR is case in point – I had a horst link Turner and it rode like no Specialized I ever rode and before that I had an Intense Tracer and that rode like no Specalized or the Turner which replaced it.

I honest think it doesn’t make that much difference to how a bike rides – the geometery has far more affect. After that, what is the bike like to live with? How solid does it feel, how long do the bearings/bushes last etc. There is no best suspension system, it all depends on shock tune, riding style etc.

I think the person who said will it make you ride more hit the nail on the head. You’ll either ride more because it’s less maintanence, or because it’s more fun, or because it renews that spark inside you. Otherwise, what is the point in changing?

very fair analogy traildog.

To be honest I think I would ride it more than the spesh.

however finding a seconhand frame at a price im happy with is proving to be hard.

I may just keep the stumpy as its a fantastic bike and for some reason I always end up on them (this is my 4th stumpy !!) so they must be doing something right.

Its as I said in my first post, I had an 09 5 spot in large and whilst it rode fantastic I always felt I couldnt get the best out of it as it was to small for me even with a long stem.

There is a chance that if I make the move to a xl 5 spot that I will regret it and if Im happy with my current bike I am already asking myself whats the point ……………….

traildog – Member

You always read these suspension arguments on the internet and i always think they miss the point of bikes. The Turner being a posh FSR is case in point – I had a horst link Turner and it rode like no Specialized I ever rode and before that I had an Intense Tracer and that rode like no Specalized or the Turner which replaced it.

I honest think it doesn’t make that much difference to how a bike rides – the geometery has far more affect. After that, what is the bike like to live with? How solid does it feel, how long do the bearings/bushes last etc. There is no best suspension system, it all depends on shock tune, riding style etc.

I think the person who said will it make you ride more hit the nail on the head. You’ll either ride more because it’s less maintanence, or because it’s more fun, or because it renews that spark inside you. Otherwise, what is the point in changing?

Well put our lad. I think that’s the view of a proper trail dog 🙂

I bought one of the first kona sex-too-s in the country after riding one of the first spesh fsr-s. The spesh was a revelation but the kit for the price was rubbish. The kona was almost as good with really good value kit for the money. It made me want to ride more cos everything was easier. But I started from motorbikes, knowing that I had to set up the suspension for my weight !

After both my wife’s and my bikes got stolen I bought a GT LTS1000XC as the closest to the spesh I could find at the time. It too took some time to set up, but I’ve only just retired it after finding that I cant get the rear shock serviced any more, and tbh the beautiful but thin gold anodised frame is getting on a bit too.

So I started looking for replacement 4-bar bikes just before xmas – and isn’t there a lot of choice now !
I found a 2010 fsr expert for herself quite quickly, and a 2008 fsr comp popped up locally so I snagged that cos it was a good price.
They have taken some time to set up, as the ‘modern’ lower bottom brackets give a lot of pedal hits that just never happened with the LTS-es, and I was trying to make mine feel like it has the RS 140 Dual-Air that is fitted to my LTS !
(Incidentally, both bikes were set up very stiff when we got them, and would have ridden terribly)

However, the acid test came a couple of weeks ago when we did a loop round the south downs near us which involved a long (~1km) gnarly downhill (didling hill) when herself commented that she couldn’t have ridden her LTS down that quickly. Result ! She enjoyed that modern 140 travel front as much as I liked the one I put onto my LTS.

What point am I making ?
Well, simply that you have to know what you’re aiming at when you are looking to buy something to make you enjoy your riding more.
Just buying the ‘best’ frame can make no difference at all to your enjoyment.
The quality of the machine welds on the modern stumys is better than it was last century, but still not as good as the hand-welds on my old LTS1000. But it doesn’t matter.

(I’m still looking for a 2010 fsr though 🙂 )

I take it your not interested in mine then mate after our email exchange about it???

[There is a chance that if I make the move to a xl 5 spot that I will regret it and if Im happy with my current bike I am already asking myself whats the point ……………….]

Keep the spesh and invest your cash in a proper biking trip. You will get far more enjoyment from a week or two of lift assisted, dusty singletrack than from a life time of polishing your boutique bike. It should be about the experience rather than the ownership shouldn’t it?

bubs I already do trail centre stuff and the likes of cannock etc.

I’d rather ride up hills and be sick at the top than get an uplift, but thats just me !!

I know what you are saying though !!

JCL – Member
Putting aside the debate about boutique brands, Vauxhall Corsa’s etc… I’m sick to death of having to replace squeaky, creaky stupid bearings every 6 months on my SX Trail, wife’s FSR Myka and son’s FSR.
Are you power washing the pivots? Do you keep the bikes in a pond?

Seriously, that sounds ridiculously excessive. Your family must ride a lot.

A figurative 6 months maybe… but certainly FAR too often.

If Specialized and others didn’t cheap out and use such crappy skateboard bearings then we’d all have a lot less maintenance, less cost to deal with.

As someone else said: my Horst Link Turner rode very differently to my Specialized FSR. It’s about what makes you motivated and what makes you smile. Turner’s do that for me – AND there’s a lot less bearing maintenance required.