We caught sight of one of the first Specialized Stumpjumper EVO's to touch the UK dirt and held it up for a quick photoshoot. Here's the new and eagerly anticipated trail bike, up close and personal in its factory spec and it looks like an absolute ripper.

• First Look - Specialized Stumpjumper Comp Alloy 29
• Review - Specialized Diverge E5 comp gravel bike

There is only of these bikes 10 in the country at the moment so they are pretty much as rare as rocking horse poo. We know two have landed with lucky owners in the Forest of Dean and one other is not too far away in Bristol. It seems the bikers in the west have great taste!

The EVO moniker is applied to slightly beefier Spesh bikes that are built for more aggressive descending. There’s been stumpy EVOs previously and in the past we've seen it applied to Enduros with triple crown forks, Rockhopper hardtails with more travel than usual and also currently to a full suspension Epic with a 120mm fork.

This one is an S3, the larger of the two 27.5" bikes, the S2 is slightly smaller, from the geometry it looks like a progressively sized medium. You can also buy an S2 (medium) and S3 (large) in a 29er guise. As you'll know from our first news article about the new Stumpy this bike has 150mm of travel, is available as an alloy framed bike only and sports geometry that is very different to the regular Stumpjumper. Seen here in 'Brushed Satin' the frame is particularly understated, its available in black too, with as equally few decals. 

The S3 as seen here has a reach of 490mm, a head angle of 63.5 degrees, a seat angle of 75.6 degrees and a wheelbase of 1258mm. The bottom bracket on this shred sled is mighty low at 324mm and the chainstays are a break from the usual Specialized short length at 440mm on the Stumpy EVO. 

Specwise, the Stumpy EVO isn't an expensive build, this bike retails at £3,250 and as such comes with some more bottom of the range kit. There is a Fox Float 36 Rhythm fork up front, a Fox Float DPX2 Performance shock, SRAM NX Eagle with a 32T chainring, SRAM Code R brakes with 200mm rotors front and rear and 150mm X-Fusion Manic dropper post. The rest of the bike is kitted out with a full complement of Spesh kit including 30mm internal width Roval wheelset with two Butcher tyres (2.6" GRID casing, Gripton Compound).

We suspect that riders buying the Stumpy EVO to ride on its intended trails will want to make some upgrades but it its current state the bike is more than ready to rip some steep trails a new one with its progressive geometry and proven Spesh FSR linkage being the main selling points.

It feels like the Stumpjumper EVO might be a bit of an experiment on Specialized's part, testing the water somewhat before deciding on a direction of travel. With a new frame, radically different geometry and new paint job, this bike has gotten a radically different EVO treatment to the norm. Whatever it is, it's refreshing and we are very glad the Stumpy EVO is here, the bike looks like it will make short work of the gnarliest trails, we hope it lives up to our expectations!

• www.specialized.com

You might also like: 

• What's hot at the NEC Cycleshow 2018? The bikes you'll want to see
• Race Report: The Ex Enduro - one of the best weekends you can have on a push bike
• First Look - Specialized Women's Stumpjumper Comp Alloy 27.5