Advice needed on making an old Stumpy HT more trail friendly

bluerum

I've got a Stumpjumper Comp HT from circa 2005 that's recently been demoted to back-up bike following recent 29er full-suss purchase. Only got into riding trails this year and only been doing that on the 29er.

I feel like there's a lot of fun to be had on the Stumpjumper on these trails and the frame is in amazing condition, so have decided to give it a bit of a revival and get it more suited for hitting my local trails (mainly Surrey Hills). The fork is a Float RL80 which I have had serviced and extended to 100 mm travel. In addition to that I'm looking to upgrade chainset with an SLX 2 n bash and have added some Mavic Crossrides.

Any other suggestions\recommendations\tips to get this bike which was predominately XC converted over are welcome! On a low-ish budget but as with most things MTB that tends to go out the window.

Cheers!

The Rookie

Personally I'd have gone
1/ 1x9 (or 10), also the 2x chainset is heavier than a 3x due to a thicker axle and the incredibly heavy Shimano bash (circa 160g)
2/ 120mm
3/ Get weight off anywhere you can, it makes a huge difference, especially on older bikes where the components can be seriously lardy.

My Kraken (link in sig) is pretty much what it sounds like you are aiming for, I'd prefer an extra 20mm of travel and maybe another 1/2Kg off (hitting 10Kg), but it has a really lively feel on natural trails and I can crank it up most climbs on the most climbs on the 32/34.

toasty

I wouldn't go past 100mm travel on an older Stumpy, I've got a 2003 model that I've done similar with but it throws it out quite a bit.

Some more trail focused tyres is the easiest solution, what are you using at the moment?

You're fighting against the grain a bit though, it's quite a racey hardtail frame. Could always swap to a more fun focused frame?

bluerum

Cheers chaps.
Re the travel I had to go to 100 mm max as that's all that the max it would go to and is actually a limit specified by Fox on that particular model. I've got Panaracer XC front and back at the moment but have been looking at getting a Rubber Queen on High Roller on the front maybe?

Re swapping to a more fun frame I was looking at a Stanton Slackline but then the costs would have started sprialling out of control, so I decided to make the Stumpy as much fun as possbile as the frame was sat there ready to go at no cost. For me it seemed an ideal opprtunity to learn how to do all my own maintenance. Maybe another frame and dream build could be on the cards in the near future though!

The Rookie

I'd still personally go to 120mm with a change of forks, but if your forks are good, then stay at 100mm for sure.

As for tyres, for natural trails I'd stick a little narrower and find the XC Pro's a great all round tyre, they aren't bad on any one surface and roll quite well.

felix.london

I've got a 120mm dual air Reba on my 2006 'hopper. Got it set to about 110mm of usable travel by adding air to the neg chamber and it is super plush with that setup so I'd agree with The Beginner and go 120mm - the extra A2C height will also slacken off the head angle a touch which can't be a bad thing for what you're after.

a dropper seatpost brings a whole lot more fun to these bikes too. Other than that, shorter stem, wider bar maybe.

Dual/bash/Stinger suites me for where I ride/live but if I could get away with it I'd be in the 1x10 camp for sure.

Got a 2.2" BC Rubber Queen on the front of mine and it is an amazing tyre for sure. SLX brakes and 2x 180mm rotors allow me to let go on the fast stuff...tickeddy boo

bluerum

The Beginner wrote:

I'd still personally go to 120mm with a change of forks, but if your forks are good, then stay at 100mm for sure.

As for tyres, for natural trails I'd stick a little narrower and find the XC Pro's a great all round tyre, they aren't bad on any one surface and roll quite well.

Thanks a lot. I'll see how the forks perform when they're back from service and adjusting and let you know the ouotcome! Cheers