Spesh stumpy with brain, got one / ridden one?

DodgeT

Been looking at these and trying to find some sensible reviews.. be interested if any of you guys have or have tried one and if you like it, and what sort of riding you do.

I'm mainly a XC'er but like downhill fun too, but not huge jumps etc. I'm hoping this could fit the bill in being like a hardtail for climbing etc. but more aggressive on the downs

TIA

luigi_t8

I have a 2007 stumpjumper s-works; brain is good as you can almost lock out rear shock (no bob) for climbing and then put it softer for rough stuff. i do XC/AM, i ride in the dark peak mostly and have done some pretty aggressive trails (fast descents through boulder fields and off big rock steps) I've also taken it to a few trail centers and it handles em well. i keep the brain soft most of the time apart from climbing on road. Also if you have forks with lockout you can pretty much turn it into a rigid. all round great bike but the seat angle is a bit slack so if you're using a lay back seat post steep climbs can be a bit fun as you're quite a long way back on the bike; and with a tight rear as well you'll find the front lifting on steep stuff.

hope this helps LT

eztiger

I’ve got a stumpy expert 2010 and I’m very happy with the bike. I ride mainly XC, single-track and the odd jump and anything else I can find to challenge me on the Surrey Hills. Basically I have a lot of fun and the bike can handle much more than I can chuck at it.
I pretty much forget about the brain these days, I did at first experiment with different settings but it’s found itself in the middle setting and I like it like this. This may be due to the constant up and down nature of the terrain where I ride, perhaps if I rode bigger ups and longer downs it would be worth changing the brain settings to match, but I guess my buddies would get hacked off waiting for me.
The front can get twitchy when going up steep hills, but this can be rectified by dropping the front to 120 or 100. However it suddenly seems much more effort is needed to peddle, not sure if anyone else has experienced this?
Great bike and would recommend it. You just need to decide if it’s worth the extra money for the brain. My advice = test drive!

njee20

i keep the brain soft most of the time apart from climbing on road. Also if you have forks with lockout you can pretty much turn it into a rigid.

That rather misses the point, that's just a lockout! The whole point of the brain is that you just set it where you fancy and ride it! You can either set it up to be really solid, or you can set it to be more sensitive.

If you're the sort of person who will want to have different settings on different terrain I wouldn't bother paying extra for a model with a Brain (although if you're looking at an S-Works or whatever it's not going to be a hindrance).

I like it, but I'm very lazy and can never be bothered to concentrate on locking things out! They're very versatile bikes, you're not gonna go wrong. I would say though, don't expect it to be 100% locked out when climbing, merely stiffer.

DodgeT

Interesting so far, thanks guys. Test riding a camber tomorrow, i know it has no brain, but if i like that, i should love the brained stumpy

Chris5.5

I have the 2010 Stumpy Expert with the brain as well.

Ride mainly in the Peaks, Gisburn and Llandegla.

Having come from an 08 Stumpy without the brain, I have to say the brain works really well.

Like the previous poster I tend to leave the brain in the middle setting and bob is almost eliminated when climbing out of the seat, the old Stumpy used to remain very active when out of the seat even with pro-pedal on.

I also found the triad blew through the travel very quickly, whereas with the brain the travel feels almost limitless and very controlled. I am quite heavy so have to run a lot of pressure in the shocks to set the sag correctly.

As you can tell I much prefer the brain (and the geometry on my new Stumpy) but you really need to test ride to decide. If you are near a concept store I'm sure you could demop one for the day.

Chris

DodgeT

Got a stumpy with brain to try at llandegla tomorrow now, hope the snow keeps away..

DodgeT

So, tried the brain stumpy yesterday. Couldn't believe how good / fast it was downhill, soaked up everything and made the ride seem easy (don't know if thats for the best though, as will have to go faster now...)
Only downside I saw was the bobbing on the ups. I know this could prob be eliminated by adjusting the brain, but it got me thinking, to acheive better climbing, would I be better off going for a stumpy without the brain and the usual 3 posiiton lever which I could just flick to lockout for the climbs, then knock back to open / pro for the other stuff?

I guess the downhill ride of the brained version, versus the none brained should be pretty similar?

V5ade

I've not riden many other full sussers, but I've found that my Stumpy Expert (brain set to 7 clicks, middle I think) help me ride much better than my old hard tail. It's not down to skill, the bike's got me out of all sort of stupid situations.
I'm also much happier jumping now. A good review is that I used to come off my hard tail occasionally, but other than getting knocked off I've not crashed the Stumpy in 2.5k miles!

DodgeT

Well, bought myself a Commencal Super 4 yesterday as got a bit concerned reading about brain issues, so figured stick with the std fox rp23 and hopefully all will be good.

Can't wait for the weekend now to give it a proper ride

BigColUK

Got a 2009 Stumpy S-Works.

Good Stuff
> Suspension is great, especially at speed - the shock absorbs the grief from underneath you and the brain does it's job once set right.
> I believe all Spesh shocks come with a 5 year guarantee which is amazing.

Not so good
> I have had my trusty steed for 50 weeks and had to take it to my LBS today so that they could send the shock back to specialized. Brain not working (Suspension always active) and rebound doesn't work either. Also the shock seemed to squelch quite badly. I'm a beginner compared to some of the other riders on this forum so my bike hasn't really had a hammering.
> My bike came with Avid Ultimate brakes and the hose goes into the calliper directly above the brain which makes adjusting the unit quite tricky. Not sure if there is some kind of adapter to reroute the hose.

That being said - I love my bike and would recommend the Spesh Brain Shock to anyone!

bigkid

I've got a 2009 Stumpy with Brain and would say the same as BigColUK, when set and working it is good, but mine packed up in exactly the same way. I now have an RP23 which I prefer for the riding I do (bit extra travel as it is slightly longer stroke).
Maybe the newer brain shocks are better for reliability, in which case I would say it is a very good system. In principal the inertia valve (brain) is perfect for a mountain bike, which I guess is why specialized are contining to use it.