2007 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp

super_claret

I'm thinking of buying the 2007 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp as my first full suspension bike but would like your opinions on whether I should go for something cheaper as it's my first FS. I have to confess that I'm totally hacked off with comparing the specs, prices of hundreds of bikes, I just want to go out and ride but not make the mistake of buying a crap bike!

When I think of spending £1100 on a bike and someone throws in a FS bike for £390 (reduced from £575), I automatically think - save money and buy the cheapo, after all, it can't be that bad....can it? The bike in question is the Carrera Banshee, which to be fair, gets OK reviews and I know you get what you pay for!

I'd love to hear your opinions. Being my first full susser, should I go for the cheapo, or would I regret it big time?

Cheers, Mark

sbatty3313

i recently got a road bike from there(Decathlon) - well pleased with it. About half the price of similar spec machine if not cheaper. Works fine no problems, had it a few months.

They do full suspension bikes as well - I recommend checking them out.

super_claret

Thanks, i'll have a look at the Decathlons.

milese

Where have you seen the Stumpjumper comp for £1100?

I'm very close to buying a Stumpjumper after test riding one today, but cant decide on how much to spend (which model) / what I can afford!

super_claret

My local bike shop has one for £1099, probably won't be there long though at that price!

milese

What's the name of the shop mate?

super_claret

It's Skipton Cycles but they don't have a dedicated website.

How did you find the test ride? I'm hoping to take one out soon.

jarednz

hi there
i thought i'd throw my two penneth into your discussion as the SJ FSR comp is one of my fave bikes (and scored 9/10 or higher in several bike mag reviews last year).

Anyway, to the point, you seriously cannot be considering the stumpjumper and the banshee thing at the same time?? it makes me ask- have you ever been mt biking before?!
Im not being arrogant or having a go at you, but this is like saying you're thinking about buying either a lada or a porche...these two bikes are absolute poles apart!?

If you are seriously considering getting a full susser- forget the banshee. this is a piece of rubbish. for a start, if you want to actually go mt biking, and would consider the banshee, you'd be far better off with a hardtail (ie no rear suspension) as the rear shock on the banshee is just a cheap gimmick shock that will just bounce you up and down and add god knows how much unnecessary weight...which will mean a miserable day out (if it survives) of pushing up hills when you could be riding up them!

you dont say what you currently have? the banshee has discs (adds weight) but they're not hydraulic (so not much gain over v brakes). it has cheap nasty front forks as well and the awful rear shock.

In comparison, the stumpie FSR comp is a fantastic bike. But if you're even comparing the two, it's clearly beyond anything you need right now i think. it's fully specced with LX level componentry or higher (XT rear derailieur), and has fox shocks front and back. for example, the rear fox triad shock alone on the stumpjumper would cost you more than the whole banshee!!

If you are seriously keen on getting a full susser (which i would still question whether you need it considering the comparison you have made- remember, a rear suspension bike adds weight- there's no point lugging a heavy bike around when you could've bought a much higher specced and cheaper hardtail)- , i would go for the Specialized FSR XC range of bikes- one level down from the stumpies...they are great entry level full sussers with good rockshox mid level front forks, not bad rear shocks (usually x fusion, a USA brand), shimano deore or higher componentry (the levels of 'decent' componentry for the gears, derailieurs, chain etc on mt bikes start at 'deore', then go 'deore LX', 'deore XT', and finally XTR)...so anything with deore or above is fine. This year's FSR comp range start at 800 i think. or you could go for one of the entry level trek/giant full sussers that are often on sale (eg trek fuel EX).

A final word- basically any 'branded' bike, such as specialized, trek, giant, gt, kona, etc will not produce a crappy full susser. they will not use anything less than a deore level component on it. however, these brands do use entry level componentry on their beginner hardtails. it therefore shows where full susser bikes really sit in the proper scheme of things. therefore any 'entry level' full sussers by brands like decathlon, halfords named brand, etc, are going to be cheap and nasty things. if the rear shock is not half way decent remember, you will just bob up and down and go nowhere- a decent rear shock should either have a lockout function and /or a pro-pedal type technology being used, which isolates the effort of your pedalling from the rear suspension- to stop the bob up and down effect- otherwise, it's all wasted energy (yours!).

finally, if it has an outer 'coil' design type shock, like the one I saw on the banshee when i googled it, but the bike is not costing you more than £1500, then this is also a give away of naff quality- you just dont get steel spring shocks on low-mid travel (ie 3-5 inches of travel) full suss bikes of any reasonable quality- these bikes use air/oil inner sprung shocks- coil shocks only kick in for freeride/downhill bikes that need something gruntier- and have monster sized amounts of travel: 7-12 inches. this carrera has a 50 quid fork up front, and un unbranded coil at the rear. this says everything- so we know by just looking, that it's a poor shock. it would fall apart within a day on a real mt bike trail. if that's not your intention, then you don't need a full susser to start with- instead, go and buy an entry level GT avalanche (great bikes) or similar which you can take for a woodland, tow path, bridleway bash, and live to see another ride...and which is light enough to have some real fun on...anyway, i hope some of that helps!

salsarider79

If you really want quailty then it has to be the stumpy, but I agree with jarednz, have a look at the fsr xc. They are great bikes.

super_claret

Thanks for your views Jarednz, I think you've probably talked me out of a full suspension bike. By the way, I currently ride an Orange Gringo, which is about 6 years old.

The Banshee actually gets a 4 out of 5 rating on BikeRadar, so my thoughts were, it can't be that bad a bike, especially for the money. I know these bikes are streets apart but as I was considering a full susser, I thought that spending £385 on the Banshee might just save an expensive mistake and who knows, I might actually like it. I understand what you are saying though and have to say that not having ridden a FS bike before, I really don't know whether I REALLY need one but I intend to take the Specialised Stumpjumper FSR Comp out for a weekend and take it from there. At least I will be able to ride it on my local trails in Nidderdale/ Wharfedale and determine whether or not full suspension is for me.

The problem is, there are just TOO many bikes to compare.

Cheers, Mark

jarednz

Hi Mark
reviews are great, but it also depends where you're getting them from- trust me, 345 for a full suss bike IS the expensive mistake, as it is a waste of 345 quid!
But maybe don't blow over 1000 quid either when you're not even sure if a full susser's for you yet- it's good you've managed to get one for the weekend to try out though, and yer in a brilliant part of the country for it. At the end of the day, it's your money and there's never a right decision!- just one you want to be happy with after you've made it!

The reasons for getting a full susser are many. For me personally, it was because i got squished by my motorcycle when a car knocked me off! i took up bike riding instead, but the pain in my shin after just a couple of hours was bad (I had a major tissue compression injury to my shin and ankle). The riding actually sped up the recovery, but the dull thudding ache was wrecking my days out. With a full suss bike it has softened out the rides for me- now i wouldn't go back. The 3 guys I ride with all have hardtails though. I can blast the trails faster than i could, and the bike is a lot more forgiving on my body. However, everything i've done, they've also done on hardtails.

I know what you mean about the choice. It's very hard- lots of magazines say go and ride and test etc., but from my experience ( i live in london, so maybe it's different in other parts of the country?) bike shops aren't often overly knowledgeable let alone happy to facilitate you taking it for a blast- and there wouldnt be much use me doing that near london bridge anyway!).

For me, it was choosing a few parameters, such as price, and even things as silly as whether i liked the look of the bike (you need something to whittle it down!). I then spent a few months reading the magazines- MBR, What Mt Bike, and Singletrack (dont bother with MT Biking UK- that's mainly for downhillers)- it's intimidating at first, but after a while you start to 'get your eye in' so to speak- i began mt biking on a basic gt avalanche 3.0 disc two years ago (other than doing a few rides on crap bikes back in NZ)- within a few mths i was completely hooked, and the bike soon became less than ideal for the speeds and trails i started doing. It's like anything though, you progress, and then start to see the differences that arent just 'wank' factor on higher specced bikes- sure, these still exists, and looking in some of those mags is sometimes mind boggling and you think "am i the only one in the mt biking world not prepared to spend every penny of disposable income on gear?!"- but don't be phased by that- these guys get it all free and are paid to write about it- they live and breathe it, so tend to lose a bit of perspective too.

But once you start to understand things, you can filter out the jargon, look past the bikes that arent for you with just a glance (for example, a review of 5 frames all starting at £1500 or higher is just not in my price bracket -so i move on). In a very short time you can just see whether a bike's any good by just a glance. I've also noticed in the last year mags are starting to get better at including beginner sections, and reviewing more realistically priced bikes as well. I really do recommend therefore doing the hard yards and buying a few mags to read- but do it to pick up the lingo.

For example, there are about 5 or 6 types of mt bike now...i'll briefly name a few to make the point...
cross country- or 'XC' for example is usually done on a hardtail, with 80-100mm of travel in the forks; and also on light full sussers- around the 11-13kg weight mark. the rear travel usually matches the front...i would say this is the most common type of riding for the average weekend trail/woodland/bridleway rider (probably what you do).

Beyond this you get into ALL Mountain (more front and rear travel- say 120-140mm), Freeride (nearly a downhill bike), then Downhill (im not an expert, so im skipping over these rather quickly). To compare some of the Specialized range to try to give you an example - the good XC bikes would be the stumpjumper hardtail and the SJ FSR range you're considering (the comp being the 'bottom' of about 3 models in that series); the all mountain would be the Epic FSR (they look very similar and even have very similar travel and the 'comp' model of each both retail at £1499), but the geometry and shock set up is different), and then the Enduro- the frame is still quite similar, but if you have a look at a picture, you will see the rear has a bigger shock, but the most obvious change is that the front forks go all the way to the handlebars (they look like motorbike shocks!), rather than going into a single point to the stem.

On the surface, all these bikes look very similar at a glance, but all serve very different purposes. So, once you can rule out the sort of riding you dont do, and rule in the riding you do, then the number of choices reduces significantly- you can start to filter out the 'noise' of other bikes in magazines/ads etc.

Finally, on the full suss decision- it really is just a choice thing. A full susser will generally add weight (a negative) so will be more likely to pull you back on the climbs, but will out-perform on the downhills your mates on hardtails (positive)- because you can blast down faster with more of the impacts absorbed by the bike, and less by your body. As I said, i love the fact i dont suffer the leg pain any more- but on top of that, altho i sometimes have to faff about with it- eg locking shocks out for fireroad climbs etc, i absolutely love blasting down rocky twisty trails in wales on full suspension, and having the bike help me out- it feels great, and the bike doesnt feel like it could rattle itself apart any second.

So if you do think about the full susser after the weekend testing, well you cant go wrong with that bike, and since it's on sale, it's a fantastic deal. It will give you years of satisfaction. It's also brilliantly specced, well reviewed, a classic tried and tested design, and not much heavier than the average hardtail. I would again however suggest looking at the straight FSR range like i suggested previously- i've seen a couple on the web from last year on sale at around the 800 mark- which is 3 or 400 less than the Stumpie- which leaves plenty of leftover cash for spares, upgrades etc later on, or maybe just 400 less on the loan/credit card if yer buying without the cash!
hope that helps out- am always happy to give a foot up to other curious beginners, as yerl be an expert in no time, dishing out yer own advice. Have fun in nidderdale!
cheers
Jared

super_claret

Thanks again Jared, Glad to here you've recovered from your accident.

I'm starting to understand the various types of bike now (I have a pile of mags by my side as I write). It's an interesting point you make about the FS improving the comfort of your injury as I suffer from lower back pain.

I'm riding my bike more than ever after moving to the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, mainly because I wanted to loose excess weight and improve my fitness levels, which aren't great at the mo! I'm slightly worried that if I plump for a FS bike it might make the uphills even harder than they are at present and put me off riding the more challenging routes.

Anyway, I have some serious decision making ahead of me, but not before I take some bikes out on the trails. Many thanks for your in depth views and if you're in the Yorkshire Dales area you may see me slogging up the trails on a nice new shiny MTB (FS orHT)

Mark

milese

I really enjoyed the Stumpjumper on the test ride.

The riding position took a while to get used to but once I had I really
liked it, very comfortable and relaxed.

Climbed well on the technical bits, much better than my Merlin hardtail, which
tends to wheel spin. FS bikes may not climb smooth track as well hardtails, but the stumpy was much better at climbing technical sections.

Shame the weather was so poor so with eyes full of rain and minimal
visibility I couldn't give it a really good go some nice rocky downhill
bits.

Well worth getting a demo bike for the weekend. I also rode a 2007 comp around the block earlier today (£1200, they wouldn't go any lower), and it felt pretty much the same, although its hard to tell on the road with baggy trousers on!

Just to correct you jarednz, the epic is a fs face XC bike, and the stump is probably somewhere between XC trail riding and all mountain.

Anyway, I defo want a Stumpy, but its a lot of money for me, and I'm wondering whether its worth all the money for the riding I do. I might try and pick up a second hand one a bit cheaper, still cant decide!

jarednz

yep Milese- yer right of course, i mixed the two up... the epic is defo the race xc bike- so well spotted! you must've read my whole ramble to pick that up, so cheers!

Jared

JMCD

Hi, took delivery of the 2007 stumpjumper FSR comp two weeks ago from Mcconnvey cycles in Belfast for £1000, bargain. It's really worth trawling around the internet and asking companies to price match to get a good deal.

As for the bike, absolutely fantastic. I've had a variety of full suspension (original LTS downhill, KHS) and hard tails (GT avalanche & Hooger booger!) and this bike combines the best of every one of those bikes. It is excellent for long day slogs and climbs amazingly (with shock locked or on pro-pedal) and decsends very quickly with very little feedback when stamping on the pedals. It floats over all you can put in it's way and manouvers easily. When down hill it is quick easy to get through the full travel which is silky smooth straight from the box as is the fork. It does need the little mud guard that specialized make specifically for the bike to avoid too much grit in the rear shock.

Only fault I can see so far are the tyres. They tend to break away quite easily when hard cornering on loose surfaces, however something that is easily rectified and everyone has their own favourites anyway.

The build quality is superb and the componentry levels cannot be faulted at this price. I can't enthuse enough about it and I've still to push its performance. All I can say is search out a bargain and you will not be disappointed!

milese

£1000 is an excellet price for it!

I tried to get one below £1200 last week and couldn't find anything. I was in a shop where they had it up for £1200 and offered them £1100 cash and they wouldn't budge, said it cost them £1200 so they cant do it for less, so you did well.

In my search I was offered a 2008 Elite for £1500, which is a cracking deal for a brand new just released bike.

I've just bought a second hand 2007 Elite from a guy on ebay. Not had a chance to ride it yet but I cant wait. I wanted an elite because it has the shimano spec over the sram stuff.

marty134

Hi all!

Is this the same bike you have been talking about above and if so is it a good price for it these days as i have no idea how much mountain bikes depreciate!

http://www.mtbrider.com/showthread.php? ... jumper-FSR

Thanks.

milese

Yes same bike, that is the lowest comp model that some said above that could be bought new for a grand, but was 1500 rrp.

I bought my elite (1800 rrp) for 900 when it was a year old, I then used it for a couple of years and put some handbuilt wheels on it, before selling for 750 a couple of years ago.

Get him to give it to you for 500 if its in good nick and I'd say that is fair.