First Look: 2016 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR
Our test rider John Bennett enjoyed the shorter chainstays and wheelbase of the Stumpjumper (click to enlarge).
What is it?
The Specialized Stumpjumper FSR is Specialized’s All Mountain bike, slotted in between the the 120mm travel Camber and the 155mm travel Enduro in 29er wheel size. The Stumpjumper has 130mm of travel in 29er trim and and 150mm of travel in 650b or 27.5 wheels.
What changed?
The key change to this bike is it was made to be more fun and fast. The Stumpjumper took a bit of a backseat to the Camber Evo with its agility and the Enduro’s racing prowess. And the Enduro took the reigns when it came to All Mountain, terrain eating prowess. But the Enduro is not the fastest climbing bike and the Camber would occasionally run out talent descending chundery segments.
The Stumpjumper is back to carve out its own legacy in the category that it should own, All Mountain and enduro racing. It should be the fastest when it comes to climbing and descending a good mix of rough, technical terrain.
The head angle has been slackened on both wheel sizes (click to enlarge).
The head tube was slackened on the 29er by 1.5 degrees so it is now at 67.5 degrees. The 27.5 version was slackened by 1 degree to 67 degrees. The chainstays have been shortened as well to 437mm for the 29er and 420mm for the 27.5. And finally, wheelbase has been shortened to 1115mm for the 29er and 1096mm for the 27.5.
The outgoing 2015 Stumpjumper had a chainstay of 450mm and a wheelbase of 1118. Clearly it was left behind the times as Specialized learned many things about geometry. This new stumpjumper gains short chainstay technology from the Enduro and relatively slacker head tube experience from the Camber EVO. This new bike has a short wheelbase yet is snappier handling-wise and is more capable in descents.
Lars Thomsen of Trailhead Bikes puts the 650b version in front of the 29er for comparison (click to enlarge).
Now a true 650b aka 27.5
Last year’s Stumpjumper 650b was really a rushed effort to offer a product in the 27.5 arena. The front triangle used a 29er front triangle with a head tube spacer and the look, geometry and the entire package wasn’t up to par with Specialized’s normally high standards. This year, the 27.5 version is dialed. It is designed from the ground up and it includes all the optimizations found in the 29er version.
How much is it? (Model – MSRP)
Pricing for the 29er and 650b models are generally the same except for the S-Works model. The 650b version is $300 cheaper since it uses an aluminum chainstay while the 29er version is all carbon.
S-Works SJ FSR 29 – $8,900
S-Works SJ FSR 650b – $8,600
SJ FSR Expert 29/650b – $5,900
SJ FSR Elite 29/650b – $4,300
SJ FSR Comp Carbon 29/650b – $3,800
SJ FSR Comp 29/650b – $2,900
Continue to page 2 for more on the Stumpjumper FSR and a full photo gallery »
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