The brand new 2021 Specialized Stumpjumper has just been launched, retaining classic Stumpjumper looks, the new carbon bike gets a redesigned suspension layout with flex stays and the whole range gets up to date geometry. 

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130mm and 29er only

Last year this bike came in two versions and in two wheelsizes meaning you could get a 150mm bike with 650b or 29er wheels or a short travel “ST” version with 120mm of travel and either sized wheels. The options are decreasing this year with the bike getting 130mm of rear travel, a 140mm for and its own identity. It also does the job of filling the gap between the Epic EVO and the Stumpjumper EVO, giving Specialized a full suspension short travel trail bike with 130mm travel and coupled with 140mm fork. Specialized says this Stumpjumper is for flowing singletrack whereas if you want to ride chunkier terrain then you should opt for the Stumpjumper EVO. I’ve ridden both bikes and my thoughts on the EVO version are here.

New flex stays for carbon bikes

The second big news for the Stumpjumper comes in the form of a change in suspension layout. The carbon bikes now get flex stays with flex engineered into the seat stay rather than a pivot on the chainstay. They say this ‘flex zone’ gives the same amount of movement as you’d get from the pivot in their Horst link but without the weight from having an extra hardware there. They also reckon its stiffer too which should aid pedalling efficiency. It’s worth noting that the brand is still calling this an “FSR” linkage even though, now its quite different, more like a linkage driven single pivot.

The alloy bikes, don’t get the flex stays though, those bikes keep the horst link normally associated with the FSR. so when you are looking at these bikes is worth remembering that the carbon and the alloy bikes are different.

A last couple of things about the suspension, Specialized say they have altered it make it more progressive for a lively, snappy ride that pedals well. Also, the flip chip in the rear yoke stays, giving riders a choice between a low and a high geometry position, altering the head angle, effective seat tube angle, reach and bottom bracket height measurements.

Up to date geometry 

The geometry of the 2021 bucks the Stumpjumper trend and is both progressive and roomy with lots of size options and short seat tubes. An overview of an S3 bike which is equivalent to a Medium looks like this; the reach is longer at 450mm in the low position, the head angle is slacker at 65 degrees and the effective seat tube angle is much steeper at 76 degrees. Chainstays come in at 432mm and the wheelbase on this S3 is 1200mm. In terms of sizing, there are six to choose from, ranging from S1 to S6, the smallest (S1) getting a seat tube length of 385mm and a reach of 410mm whilst the largest bike gets a long reach of 530mm and a short seat tube of 465mm.

Wide-ranging spec choices

Bikes start £1,900 for the base spec bike, that’s an alloy frame with an X Fusion fork and shock, SRAM SX Eagle and Tektro brakes. The next bike in the range is the Comp alloy version at £2,500 with a Fox 34 Rhythm fork, Fox Float DPS shock, SRAM NX Eagle and G2 R brakes.

2021 Specialized Stumpjumper Base Alloy - £1,900

2021 Specialized Stumpjumper Comp Alloy - £2,500

The rest of the bikes are carbon, so you also get a Comp version in carbon which costs £3,500 but if course, that means you get those flex stays and the SWAT internal storage too.

2021 Specialized Stumpjumper Comp Carbon - £3,500

Next up is the Expert bike at £4,750. That bike sports the same shock as the Comp but with a Fox 34 Performance Elite shock, SRAM G2 RSC brakes and SRAM X01 and GX mix on the drivetrain. All bike up to this level come with X Fusion Manic dropper posts in size specific lengths. 

2021 Specialized Stumpjumper Expert Carbon - £4,750

New to Specialized is the Pro level of bike, this one gets a Fox Factory 34 fork, a DPS Factory shock, SRAM G2 RSC brakes, a full XO1 drivetrain and a Fox Transfer dropper post all for £6,500.

2021 Specialized Stumpjumper Pro Carbon - £4,750

Then as you might expect, there is a S-Works bike. This one costs £8,750 and gives you those Fox Factory fork and shock choices, SRAM XX1 AXS , SRAM G2 Ultimate brakes and an AXS Reverb dropper post. Plus you can get this as an S-Works frame only for £3,500.

2021 Specialized Stumpjumper S-works - £8.750

All bikes get a Specialized cockpit, including bars (carbon and alloy depending on prices, stems and saddles, plus Specialized own brand tyres, a Butcher GRID up front and a faster Purgatory GRID at the rear. GRID is the lighter carcass 'trail tyres' with GRIPTON compound used.
 

First Ride

Well, just as it looks like one the new Stumpy feels like a classic Stumpjumper too. It’s pretty nimble and it’s light, the bike I have here weighs 28.8lbs so if you like those two things then you’ll get on well with the new bike. From my first impressions, I did feel much more centred on this longer bike compared to Stumpjumpers I’ve ridden in the past, something that comes from the longer geometry and roomy reach.

It was a pretty comfy place to climb too, I remember on previous Stumpjumpers I felt as if I was folded forwards and stretched out when seated, this is because the previous bike had a longer effective top tube and a slacker effective seat angle. The steeper seat tube on this bike means I can sit in a position when my legs can drive downwards, in short it's more efficient.

I opted to ride the S3 size and I reckon this was pretty much spot on for me, I like a reach of around the 450mm mark but with the short seat tubes I would have been able to size up for a longer reach should I have wanted to. 

I’ve only had a couple of brief rides on the bike and as I said, I do feel like there was a little of the classic Stumpjumper bob when pedalling hard. Also, the shock did retain some of the Stumpjumper’s linear feel when descending but I’ll need more time to make sure my suspension was set up correctly and make some teaks there.  I’ll make some changes throughout testing and give you more details in the full review. 

I've also ridden both the alloy and the carbon bike and from a suspension action point of view I think you’d be hard pushed to tell the difference. I’ve only had short rides on both though so I’ll need much more time and some more varied terrain to totally suss that one out.

The bike I have in on test is the Expert carbon bike in a size S3 so it’s a bit pricier than the bikes we normally test of off-road.cc but we really wanted to test a bike with the flex stays as that’s a huge difference in the new bike and something that is really important to investigate and test. Make sure you check back soon for a full review. 

• www.specialized.com

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