And what year? I hired it today; it’s more modern than any of my bikes so I want to know what geometry it has and how that might affect how it rode.

It was.. a little weird to ride. Great on descents despite the fact the forks really needed a service and the brakes the wrong way round, but it was weird to climb on somehow. Perhaps due to having flats, in part, which I’m not used to.

Did you not ask what it was?
Looks like a Stumpy from around three/four years ago.

Current model alloy stumpy?

https://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/bikes/model/stumpjumper/

Stumpjumper init

Could be.
I was thinking it was older due to no frame storage box.
But I see it’s only the Evo that has that.

Looks like a low spec alloy stump jumper. 34 Rhythms / NW / mismatched brakes (g2 front / Shimano 2 pot rear). Not sure what year but it’s probably modern ish geometry without pushing the boundaries of long / low / slack etc.

Think its a 2019 Stumpjumper Comp alloy. Don’t think that color, if its a purple, was available in UK.

No bar end plugs! Cookie cutter time, not the sign of a well looked after hire bike.

Curious as to where it was rented, looking at the text on the sign

Stumpjumper.
Storage boxes are only on the carbon ones, I think.

Yep, carbon only for storage boxes.

Yeah, it wasn’t in the best condition, but somehow it worked. The forks and shock felt dry as a bone at first, I think it had been pootled along the green trails its whole life; but after a few bits of red and black it got much better, I think I got some oil sloshing about. Everything just about worked. I was a bit concerned about the back tyre though. It was bald and perished, and a Specialized Purgatory, so I reckon that’s the OEM tyre and a good few years old.

Curious as to where it was rented, looking at the text on the sign

Hatta MTB centre on the Dubai/Oman border.

Searching through the archives looking for that colour I found this:

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/stumpjumper-comp-alloy/p/199785?color=320394-199785

There will be plenty of used ones about…

Yep, carbon only for storage boxes.

The stumpy Evo alloy also has frame storage.

it was weird to climb on

In what way was it weird?

I was lent one for a day, definitely aimed at descent rather than climbing, my hip was murder after riding it.

Felt more confident on the descents and it set some times I’ve not beaten on my own bike.

In what way was it weird?

I don’t know, really. I’m not one to be non-specific so if I could pin it down I would 🙂

The man-made trail was tight and narrow, and had some short steep sections rising out of general climbing in odd sort of sequences, so it was difficult to gauge their steepness for some reason. But putting the power down just felt odd and somehow unproductive. Probably a lot to do with flat pedals, but also perhaps to do with the steeper seat angle than I’m used to. My current bikes have traditional geometry so maybe it’s that. Or maybe it was just steeper than it looked? I dunno. Mostly they went up and around a corner on the side of a mountain, so the trail sort of went up against the skyline then out of sight, so visually hard to assess as well.

Four bar suspension? The Specialized full Sus bikes I’ve tried in the past always felt a bit soft when pedalling. Bloody good at hoovering up the bumps and rode well but just didn’t feel all that efficient.

When I tried one in about 2004 that’s what it felt like. This platform wasn’t bobbing or soft feeling, it was just, I dunno.. off. I’m going to write it off as pedal/unfamiliar geometry/misleading trail optics related. There were switchbacks which required me to get over the front, and if it’s a longer wheelbase than I’m used to it that could have added to the odd feeling.