11th hour just-in-case what bike

[Lord Pikey]

Gooooood Morning Chaps (esess)

Tonight I have hopefully going to order a 2012 Specialised Stumpjumper FSR Comp as shown here but before I do I thought id double check with the infinite wisdom of PH on the subject.

Its been 18 months in the coming since I started yearning for a new bike. My trusty and bombproof '05 Orange Crush is a little to freeridish for the type of riding I generally do and since turning 30 id like something a little gentler over the bumps. Last night on my 2nd visit to my local spech dealer I left him my Crush so that he can give me a part ex valuation on it. I don't want to get rid of it, as I think its worth more to me emotionally and for parts than any dealer would give me. I am expecting a silly valuation tonight.

18 months ago I was aiming for a '10 FSR elite in silver, but the gods were against me and every bike shop in the uk that stocked one, refused to post to Germany and only my uk card address (which no one lived at). Eventually the limited stock dried up and I forgot about it. Roll forward to last Autumn and again I was dribbling over a 2011 FSR Elite in white/black but the 2012 bikes had just been announced so I decided to wait for a decent reduction on '11 bikes.

Back to the present, this week I magically "found" a few hundred "free" shares my company hands out like sweeties every year. So that was it, decision made. I AM ordering a new steed!

As you can tell, I have been focusing on Specialized stumpjumpers, with the odd stray to look at the Whyte T120. My budget is around 2k gbp or 2,5k €. Despite living a gnats penii away from the alps I am still yet to head up there and hit some serious descents so my main type of ride is trail riding (what ever the hell that means!?). After work a few mates and I have a set 25km route that runs up the banks of the Isar in fast single-track sporadically broken up with deep water splashes and gloopy mud pits. From there its onto a couple of muddy climbs before running back into town on a tight, twisty, rooted, off-camber single-track.

I'm afraid I am a bit of a brand we and like to stick the brands I grew up with in the mid 90's. Old faithfuls like Marin, Trek, Kona, Orange, Specialized etc are welcome but I don't think I could go for these new fangled brands like Ghost, Canyon and Lapierre. I know there is probably nothing wrong with them, and they are better value for money but I just don't like I could do it. Sorry.

So, fast forward to this week and I found a '11 Stumpy Elite in Germany which was amazing as most have been sold. The catch is, is that it is in Leipzig which is 400km away and they will only let me collect. Its 2399€ (plus 800km worth of fuel and the hotel the GF is threatening to want to stay in over night there). RRP was 3000€ so that's a pretty good discount if it wasn't for the distance.

My local specialized dealer (with whom I dropped off my orange for a valuation) only has 2012 bikes in and has done a very good job on convincing me that a '12 stumpy Elite (not available in the uk btw) is the way to go. However its 3300€ or 3000€ if I do not want the command post thingy.... wish I do as I think its a great feature.

Last night I sat in front of my laptop trying to work out if the difference between the '11 and the '12 Elites was worth the 500-600€ difference. Main changes are the command post, slightly different fork and and update to the rear shock... I couldn't justify it.

So I then started wondering why I had dismissed the Comp. Its €2500 but the downgrades from the Elite to me didn't seem to justify the 800€ price difference. The comp is practically the same price as the '11 Elite but without the "brain" thingy on the rear shock and a few other non important bits of kit. Its also not a 400km drive away, in fact my local specialized dealer is only 400m from my flat

Pros and cons of the 2012 Comp vs. 2012 elite. (a friend wrote this for me, but I have adapted it for here, so it flicks between 1st and 3rd person) Sorry.

Comp Pros
- a whole chunk cheaper
- same frame, so the same heart. if I realise I have made a mistake in choice, you can upgrade the bits I want. upgrading is fun too.
- triad as opposed to brain. is this a pro or con, or indifferent? A friends view is that you wont go wrong with triad propedal.
- SRAM shifters - i dont think there will be any differnce


Comp Cons
-triad as opposed to brain. is this a pro or con, or indifferent?
-no talas travel adjustable fork. so, on technical climbs, you cannot drop the front. i would says that I am not really into technical climbing and even my orange can be made to climb if I needed it. you just need to cuddle the front tyre and put the seat nose in your jacksie... compared to your orange you will have superior traction because of the rear shock and you will have more climby geometry, so it will be a chunk better than climbing on what you know already.
SRAM shifters?.
-Alu cranks not carbon. but more damage tolerant if you smack them on a rock? heavier and not so stiff, but prob not noticable.
-No command post. frame has routing though, so easy to add if you miss it.
-No XTR rear mech. probably no noticable difference, but doesnt look so nice
-6061 bar as opposed to 7050. i guess the 7050 is either lighter or stronger or stiffer or more compliant. but not noticable! same shape.

So, boys and girls, after all my waffeling i think the Comp is the way to go and by doing so i support my local bike shop rather than some mail order place. i think ill be treating myself to the command post at the same time if the shop can get me one.

Ps. White/Silver and not the red/black shown on the uk site.

My question to you is... Do you agree with me? and if not, why not (if you wouldnt mind saying)

Also, any other bike suggestions before i take the plunge?

PS. I have no ridden any of the bikes yet and have only ridding friends full-sussers that are not setup for my wieght either.. So at the momment i am jsut assuming i will love them. Hopefully ill get out on the test bike tonight.

[rhinochopig]

As long as the comp forks lock out I can see no reason other than vanity and chasing the last few grams of weight for getting the more expensive one TBH. Travel reduction on that geometry is a gimmick. It'll be rear traction that is first to matter rather than lofting the front wheel.

Rear mechs are all much of a muchness - it's the cables and set-up that makes the difference IME. I have an old LX with XTR cables and the drop out trued properly using a proper alignment tool (even from new drop-outs are never perfect) and it shifts just as well as my XTR ones.

Carbon cranks are looks over function for anything other than a race bike.

Damper tech is such now that the advances are barely noticeable over what you could get 5 years ago. ETA And if it does matter, just send it to TFT to upgrade to PUSH or Black Box internals at a fraction of the cost of top spec fork. My 200 quid rebas now sport the same internals as the 600 quid top spec ones for the grand total of 90 quid. The difference in feel is marginal TBH and I would have been gutted had I spent 600 quid on them.

Edited by rhinochopig on Thursday 8th March 09:55

[anonymous-user]

Ghost, Canyon and Lapierre are hardly new in terms of time building bikes, they have only recently had good UK distributors but i get your point.

the fsr comp is a great bike and will keep a big smile on your face all day long but personally, for that much money, I would want something custom and a little bit more special than an off-the-peg bike, hence if i were you i'd be spec'ing a Yeti 575 or a Cove but there are a million other choices, all pretty much as good as each other and if you like the FSR this much, just buy it as i am sure you wont be disappointed because to spec a new custom build would take a bit of time and its almost spring....

if you are comapring models in a arange just decide what matters most, forks, rear shock etc even the higher end models have a lot of specialised's own cockpit components so i would be happy with the comp and then upgrade these things as time goes on. paying £x more for the privilege of having XT over SLX etc just seems pointless when the key components stay the same. its only when there is a noticeable improvement in one of these components that the next model up makes sense.... but you know all this already!

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 8th March 11:15

[BOR]

I understand you are decided on a Specialized, and there's nothing wrong with that, but for 3K I think you should a least test-ride some other bikes. I was 99,5% decided on a Commencal Meta 5 until I rode one and felt that a Cube Stereo was(for me) far superior.

At the same time, I tried a Stumpjumper and thought it was excellent, but buying blind is pretty risky.

Pop into one of the branches of http://www.rabe-bike.de (there are several in M, who carry Cube/Scott/Trek/Cannondale etc).

[Lord Pikey]

- rhinochopig - The comp has lock out on the forks. At 92kg there isn't a lot of point in me chasing a few grams on the bike. I can live with base items where it doesn't matter, such as gears etc.

- pablo - cheers for the advice. I agree with what you say about upgrades over time.

- BOR - I have looked up that shop and their Schwarbing store is a few blocks away so ill drop in tonight after my appointment at the Specialized dealer. Hopefully I can test ride the Comp and get a valuation on my Orange and then go and see what the competition is.

Everyone - Does anyone understand the Trek range at the moment. Should I be looking at a Remedy or a Fuel EX?

[marky1983]

With a 3k budget i think i would be swaying towards a mondraker myself

[BOR]

There is an Elite in the window of Alpha Bikes on Ingolstädterstrasse, size L, €2399. Black and White colour. Don't know if that is a 2011 or 2012.

[Lord Pikey]

Thanks Chaps - I have taken the plunge! I looked at all the brands everyone suggested. For me Trek was the other major player in the running but my heart said spech

BOR - Thanks for spotting that. I appreciate you taking the time to post.


Drum Roll...........................................................


I went to the local dealer with my mind set on ordering a 2012 Stumpy Comp. He had a medium in that i could take out (wrong colour though so i would still need to order). The manager had other ideas however. He led me to a satin and matt black mean looking mother trucker of a bike. It was a 2011 EVO Expert with a RRP of 3700€. He said he would do it for 2630 (without the command post). So for an extra 130 yoyos i was tempted

I was initially very cautious and lucky had brought along my mate with me with a level headed view. The manager let us go though the tech sheets and study the geometry and work out exactly what the differences were. Apart from a slacker head angle and a slightly longer wheel base with a tiny bit of extra travel the remaining changes were all upgrades to components. It has the tapered head set that was missing from most 2011 bikes along with the cable guides for the CommandPost.

We set the suspension to me rather excessive winter weight and i went out for a play. Munich's Leopold Str isnt the best place to test a full suspension mtb at rush hour but i did my best. I loved the riding position, the feel and the poise... I was suckered in.

Double checked the stats again, conversed with my sensible friend and then told the very nice man he had a deal.... If he though in a CommandPost for 250€ rather than the normal 300€. It seems excessive for a seat post but i really thought it would make a nice change and worth treating myself.

We did the deal and i walked back home ( by this time i had 4 bikes at the shop, my mates city bike and mine, my old orange and the black beast)

Here is a gratuitous pic of her inaugural ride this afternoon up the Isar trails.





I love it, 2 hours out today spent mostly tweaking.. sorry fiddling with the suspension setup and its almost perfect. Its still bedding in so i think ill need to add more air to the rear shock tomorrow.

Oh, and one more thing. It tipped the scales at 12.49kg. Enough to make my very XC-centric mate green with envy for such an all round rig