Specialized Status and Stumpjumper evo comp
Discussion
The hunt for a new mountain bike continues, after years of road riding I fancied a change.
With a bit of budget creep I was tempted by a Trek Slash 8 but after a very short ride it felt like a motocross bike and I felt it would struggle up hills (I may be wrong?)
I popped in to my local bike shop and they had a Specialized Status on display, seemed to look OK and the reviews seem to suggest its a bit of a bargain and very capable. I'm tempted by the 160 and I'd be interested in everyone's views, especially as its a mullet bike and I have no idea what they're like:
https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/status-160/p/199...
I'm also tempted by the Stumpjumper evo comp alloy but the spec seems very similar to the status but the Stumpjumper is £550 more!
https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/stumpjumper-evo-...
With a bit of budget creep I was tempted by a Trek Slash 8 but after a very short ride it felt like a motocross bike and I felt it would struggle up hills (I may be wrong?)
I popped in to my local bike shop and they had a Specialized Status on display, seemed to look OK and the reviews seem to suggest its a bit of a bargain and very capable. I'm tempted by the 160 and I'd be interested in everyone's views, especially as its a mullet bike and I have no idea what they're like:
https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/status-160/p/199...
I'm also tempted by the Stumpjumper evo comp alloy but the spec seems very similar to the status but the Stumpjumper is £550 more!
https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/stumpjumper-evo-...
I don't know what or where you'll be riding given this is your first mtb but you might find them a bit s
t on mellow XC trails, assuming you want to ride trails on the steeper and faster end of the scale given the choices of bike here. Just make sure that sort of stuff is available to you these will be best facing downwards going as fast as you can while railing berms and jumping stuff.
Both good choices in my book though, I got a 2019 Stumpy Comp as my first full suspension bike, I considered the 2019 Evo at the time but thought it might be too out there in terms of geometry. 63.5 HTA was considered rather slack at the time and the BB very low on that generation of stumpy so I thought it might of been a bad bike to start out on. Wish I'd of got the Evo looking back and my bikes a few years on are now slack (Patrol at 63HTA and 22' Levo at 63.5HTA) and low and the Stumpy seems so last Tuesday in terms of geo. I tried to get that stumpy as slack as I could by increasing the fork travel, using offset bushings and changing that flip chip think it ended up at 64hta.
Status I think might be a bit of a park bike (I maybe wrong). I would imagine its neither a trail bike or an enduro bike. It'll be very fun non the less on trails or really rough steep stuff, short rear end and slack front and MX is brilliant. I did consider one recently as an alternative to a Transition Patrol
Evo will do all sorts, adjustable head angle if you want to start with something a bit more snappy and then slacken it out a bit if the trails you ride get a bit more spicy. I just wish it had a little more travel out back, there's always a cascade link and you could possibly bump that air shaft up to 170mm (not sure if you can on those forks) if you want a bit more plough.
Slash is a BIG bike. Similar to a Specialized Enduro. Might be worth trying one, you may find it fills your needs for trails and then bike parks, you may absolutely love it.
Between the two I'd probably go Status with hindsight, I've got the trails locally to enjoy it and it'd fit the occasional bike park duties in most cases. Suspension will be tuneable enough to either be efficient or plough away.
Oh and there should be a climb switch on the shock to help with efficiency. Riding up hills on one of these is going to be a way of getting to a trail head rather than a personal challenge on your road bike. Just grind it out and conserve energy for the trails. I don't enjoy riding up hill on an MTB but I do on a road bike.
If you could budget extra for GX then I'd recommend you do or just replace them later once worn
t on mellow XC trails, assuming you want to ride trails on the steeper and faster end of the scale given the choices of bike here. Just make sure that sort of stuff is available to you these will be best facing downwards going as fast as you can while railing berms and jumping stuff.Both good choices in my book though, I got a 2019 Stumpy Comp as my first full suspension bike, I considered the 2019 Evo at the time but thought it might be too out there in terms of geometry. 63.5 HTA was considered rather slack at the time and the BB very low on that generation of stumpy so I thought it might of been a bad bike to start out on. Wish I'd of got the Evo looking back and my bikes a few years on are now slack (Patrol at 63HTA and 22' Levo at 63.5HTA) and low and the Stumpy seems so last Tuesday in terms of geo. I tried to get that stumpy as slack as I could by increasing the fork travel, using offset bushings and changing that flip chip think it ended up at 64hta.
Status I think might be a bit of a park bike (I maybe wrong). I would imagine its neither a trail bike or an enduro bike. It'll be very fun non the less on trails or really rough steep stuff, short rear end and slack front and MX is brilliant. I did consider one recently as an alternative to a Transition Patrol
Evo will do all sorts, adjustable head angle if you want to start with something a bit more snappy and then slacken it out a bit if the trails you ride get a bit more spicy. I just wish it had a little more travel out back, there's always a cascade link and you could possibly bump that air shaft up to 170mm (not sure if you can on those forks) if you want a bit more plough.
Slash is a BIG bike. Similar to a Specialized Enduro. Might be worth trying one, you may find it fills your needs for trails and then bike parks, you may absolutely love it.
Between the two I'd probably go Status with hindsight, I've got the trails locally to enjoy it and it'd fit the occasional bike park duties in most cases. Suspension will be tuneable enough to either be efficient or plough away.
Oh and there should be a climb switch on the shock to help with efficiency. Riding up hills on one of these is going to be a way of getting to a trail head rather than a personal challenge on your road bike. Just grind it out and conserve energy for the trails. I don't enjoy riding up hill on an MTB but I do on a road bike.
If you could budget extra for GX then I'd recommend you do or just replace them later once worn
Cheers for that.
I'm based in North Wales so my local trails would be Coed Y Benin, Llandegla, Gwydir Forest (Marin Trail) and I wouldn't mind cycling down Snowdon at some point!
The Slash just felt too big and I think I would struggle to maneuver on a tight trail but I'm sure the Slash would just steam roller through!
I sat on the Status and it just felt right but I've never ridden a mullet bike on a trail and the Stumpjumper seems like a good alternative. I've got an old Cannondale SL4 hardball (26 inch wheels) and things have changed so much since I bought it about 10 years ago, I've done the Marin trail on it but its not the best bike for it!
I'm heading to the bike show next month and a lot of the big manufacturers are due to attend, hopefully I can get a few rides.
I'm based in North Wales so my local trails would be Coed Y Benin, Llandegla, Gwydir Forest (Marin Trail) and I wouldn't mind cycling down Snowdon at some point!
The Slash just felt too big and I think I would struggle to maneuver on a tight trail but I'm sure the Slash would just steam roller through!
I sat on the Status and it just felt right but I've never ridden a mullet bike on a trail and the Stumpjumper seems like a good alternative. I've got an old Cannondale SL4 hardball (26 inch wheels) and things have changed so much since I bought it about 10 years ago, I've done the Marin trail on it but its not the best bike for it!
I'm heading to the bike show next month and a lot of the big manufacturers are due to attend, hopefully I can get a few rides.
I've got an Orange Switch 6 mullet and on the right trails it's great, but I mostly take my 27.5 wheeled hardtail with almost identical geometry for most rides. Unless it's really full on stuff, the mullet feels fairly dull, I assume it's the 29" front wheel as I had an Orange Alpine 6 before, so a fairly similar bike. The Switch felt mega at Llangdegla, Afan and BPW a couple of month back though.
The Status was on my list when I bought the Switch, but they weren't in stock in a colour I liked (yes, I'm a tart).
The Status was on my list when I bought the Switch, but they weren't in stock in a colour I liked (yes, I'm a tart).
I think you need to get out on some demo rides with various manufacturers and various types of bikes.
It’s only relatively recently that we’ve moved away from road bike style geometry but man, we’ve really gone for it in the way we’ve changed head angle, seat tube angle, wheelbase and seat tube length.
I think most new bikes will feel massive compared to the road bikes you’ve been used to because the industry realised the needs of the rider were completely different.
If you’re new to riding I don’t think an evo style bike would suit you yet, but it may do soon. Get some rides in on a few bikes and see how your riding style evolves to work out which kind of bike you need. Don’t necessarily feel the need to choose between hardtail or suspension (many will tell you that you need to earn your ability or skills on a hardtail, that’s nonsense) but definitely try to work out what style of bike you need. Check out the singletrackworld form and see the costly mistakes some people there make by thinking they know what they want until they buy it and ride it…
It’s only relatively recently that we’ve moved away from road bike style geometry but man, we’ve really gone for it in the way we’ve changed head angle, seat tube angle, wheelbase and seat tube length.
I think most new bikes will feel massive compared to the road bikes you’ve been used to because the industry realised the needs of the rider were completely different.
If you’re new to riding I don’t think an evo style bike would suit you yet, but it may do soon. Get some rides in on a few bikes and see how your riding style evolves to work out which kind of bike you need. Don’t necessarily feel the need to choose between hardtail or suspension (many will tell you that you need to earn your ability or skills on a hardtail, that’s nonsense) but definitely try to work out what style of bike you need. Check out the singletrackworld form and see the costly mistakes some people there make by thinking they know what they want until they buy it and ride it…
2ky said:
Cheers for that.
I'm based in North Wales so my local trails would be Coed Y Benin, Llandegla, Gwydir Forest (Marin Trail) and I wouldn't mind cycling down Snowdon at some point!
Take a look at the new Scott Spark. Probably the perfect kind of bike for those trails. I'm based in North Wales so my local trails would be Coed Y Benin, Llandegla, Gwydir Forest (Marin Trail) and I wouldn't mind cycling down Snowdon at some point!
https://www.scott-sports.com/gb/en/products/bike-b...
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