stumpjumper evo expert carbon

sbd16v

Having got into mountain biking about 3 years ago I bought a specialized epic expert as my first proper bike, I then spent the next few years tailoring it to how I wanted it to ride, the epic in standard trim was not the right bike for it and my riding style but the changes made it what i wanted

this was the final result



fast forward 3 years and I decided that I wanted more travel and a little slacker angles, but something that climbed well after looking around for a while I found a bike shop that had a load of specialized frames for sale and I decided to settle on a 26'' specialized expert evo carbon after reading a lot of positive reviews.





most parts were used from the epic as it had a lot of ''trail'' parts fitted in the end

but It obviously needed to be treated to some new parts, i spent a lot of time thinking about what forks to get until a good friend come to the rescue with some fox 34's they are talas which he converted to floats because he wanted black floats, which fits my new frame perfect

i have had a phenom saddle since i got the epic so it was an easy choice for my new saddle



and a new xo crank, I went for the triple so I could keep a 22 granny I get long periods off the bike so really need the granny when returning I also treated it to a kmc gold chain mostly for looks :oops: but it did need a new chain lol



ive removed the top ring to make her a double and put in place a raceface bash guard.

got a few more bits to change but here she is atm





end result as i rode her last night, i think it will be just under 27 when i change the tyres as i want to lose the high roller off the front for something under 1kg lol




took it out for its first ride last night and was really happy with the result, climbs better than i expected and descended really well it needs some more tunning i think both ends are set a little hard atm.

but im really happy with how it has turned out

rapid_donkey

Now that is very nice!

Kowalski675

Love the weave on the carbon.

cubedean

This looks lovely! I love the look of the carbon Specialized frames.

JBA

Very nice.

You really shouldn't clamp the top tube though. Those tubes aren't particularly fond of being squashed.

Myster101

That looks great, thinking of something similar for my next bike.

Dick Scruttock

That looks very nice all built up. Bet you are well pleased with it.

sbd16v

JBA wrote:

Very nice.

You really shouldn't clamp the top tube though. Those tubes aren't particularly fond of being squashed.

I never ''clamp'' it as such i close the clamp then I wind on the handle so I can apply some mechanical sympathy, its not being squashed just held.

made a few changes i went to remove the wheel the other day to put into the car and i could not get it out, looking a little closer i found my cheap alloy ebay jockey wheels had both seized :? :?

this time i went with some hope ones to get a little more reliability (i hope LOL)



also a new set of pedals were in order so i decided on some XT trails.

i wanted to revamp my wheels a bit so ordered some new stickers from SLK graphics, i like the new graphics a lot more than the older ones so that's what i ordered.



little disappointed with there packing methods but the stickers seem to have gone one without any problems

old ones



new ones



and together to show the difference



all fitted



i also snuck in my red chainring bolts lol

im looking at tyres atm i would like to shave a little weight off the front as the high roller is a heavy old beast at 950gms, i also want to change the stem at some point soon for a 60/70mm

ej2320

Lovely 1st bike
Even better second bike!
Seriously awesome piece of kit, love the black and touch of red colour scheme too

@lexD

Very nice machine, needs a shorter stem if I am honest. Is there anything you can do to tidy up the BB cable/hose routing?
I like a lot 8)

lawman

That's not a stem its a bleedin' rudder!!

JMcP92

I'd agree, stem gotta go!
Other than that I'm surprised how light it is with those wheels and tyres, very impressed, good work
Tyres wise? Hans Dampf's, hands down! (see what I did there?) really great tyre from my experience, and not super light, but certainly lighter than what you got up front already
http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k371/a ... -tire.html
http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k295/a ... dable.html

Trailstar/Pacestar combo works well, much love for these tyres

sbd16v

@lexD wrote:

Very nice machine, needs a shorter stem if I am honest. Is there anything you can do to tidy up the BB cable/hose routing?
I like a lot 8)

BB routing is as tidy as it gets, there as short as you can make them for full rear compression (checked with shock removed) the dropper post that is hanging down in the rear I sorted after the picture with some stick on cable guides so looks tidy now.

@lexD wrote:

needs a shorter stem if I am honest.

lawman wrote:

That's not a stem its a bleedin' rudder!!

JMcP92 wrote:

I'd agree, stem gotta go!

ok I get the feeling you all agree on a stem change lol, even thou that one is only 75mm so not that long
(sneaky edit just checked and its 90mm :oops: :oops: )

I wanted a 60mm which is what the standard SJ evo would come with in my size but I don't think they make a haven 60mm so might have to go for a 55 just a little worried this will feel to short, I do ride uphill aswell as down.

lawman wrote:

Other than that I'm surprised how light it is with those wheels and tyres, very impressed, good work
Tyres wise? Hans Dampf's, hands down! (see what I did there?) really great tyre from my experience, and not super light, but certainly lighter than what you got up front already
http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k371/a ... -tire.html
http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/k295/a ... dable.html

Trailstar/Pacestar combo works well, much love for these tyres

yeh the weight is a pleasant surprise ill have to double check it with some other scales but seems about right based on the standard figures.

ive spent a few days looking at the hans dampfs thanks for the links those prices are a lot easier to swallow, how well do they roll im guessing there quite draggy ?

lawman

I've got a 55mm Haven stem on my hardtail and its spot on, well worth it! The Hans Dampfs are my favourite tyre atm, super grippy in all conditions, they roll well and are very tough. I recently did the Crudcatcher Coast 2 Coast challenge with a few other guys and girl on here and had zero issues with them over 6 days and 230+ miles. It's a shame they don't come in more sizes so more people can enjoy them, as the 2.35's do come up pretty damn big!

felix.london

lovely looking bike that. Yes, stem has to go! I'm climbing proper big mountains with a 50mm stem (and a 180mm fork!) with no issues.

I'd be strapping that reverb hose to the frame with some velcro cable ties myself. Wouldn't feel right riding with that flapping about next to me!

But, yeah - awesome looking bike and what, about 12kg?...very nice.

sbd16v

so ive been for a few rides now and im really enjoying it, but I was getting fed up of being the guy with the rattling bike 2x9 without a clutch rear mech = lots of tinging, so I started looking into clutch rear mechs not knowing they were all 10 speed AHHH

that means new everything near enough to run 10 speed, which got me thinking i wonder how much more it would be to go xx1, well lets just say i was pleasantly surprised lol.

my sticking point had always been the cassette but the X01 cassette in chainreaction is £215 atm so im sure it will be cheaper when i come to renew but even at that price its not a lot more than a GL and xt cassette is new.

I then started to look at ratios and found 32/10 is near on the same as 36/11 and a 32/42 is the same as running a 22/29 now my cassette was 34-30-26 so i would only loose one and a bit of the climbing gear so that should not be the end of the world either.

i could have got xx1 for the same money as x01 from chain reaction but after reading reviews i decided to go with X01 the black and red go better than the bike and from the reviews there is no performance difference.

so for some pics

atm im using a x01 104 bcd chainring with my original bb30 spider, ill either get a proper spider or wait for wolf to release the spiderless one around Christmas



this thing is HUGE i did try and take some pictures to show some detail but they don't come out well it is a work of arm thou and really light.




setting up the gears was prob the easiest set ive ever done, i like the cable routing though the mech and the roller is a really nice touch, and the clamping arangment is also very good (yes i will cut the cable down )







ive only had a little ride around the base but being in Scotland even on the base there are some big hills lol, the shifting is really really crisp and precise and sooo light it really does take little effort ratios seem good, its going to take a little getting used to but the jumps down feel big and its nice only having to shift one end to go from climb to decend.

im hoping to get out to glentress trail center on sunday as that looks like somewhere i need to visit whilst im in Scotland so really looking forward to that

(oh and i know i have not changed my stem yet :oops: :oops: )

J273

Very nice

If you dont mind me asking, Where did you get the frame from?

Thanks

sbd16v

J273 wrote:

Very nice

If you dont mind me asking, Where did you get the frame from?

Thanks

thanks

http://www.bikescene.co.uk/Specialized- ... -92-0.html

Matt-r8

That's a really nice build

mike hunts alpine

I likey a lotty,

sbd16v

just got back from glentress and all I can say is wow, the trail center inself is pretty amazing onsite showers and bike cleaning, and the trails are brilliant.

and the bike it just felt perfect, the tyres are straight off the epic but I just seemed to have so much more grip the front end just gripped at times I would have been sure id have lost it on the epic, and going over roots there is just loads of grip.

I think im going to look into a hansdampf for the front, I think I will stay with racing ralph on the rear I don't mind it letting go a little.

and for the XO1 I think you need to ride to realise how good it is, never worring about front changing is really good and the ratios just feel perfect I never felt I needed more or less at the top or the bottom

im really happy with the whole build.

JMcP92

1). Where did you find the showers? Was there a while ago with a load of uni mates shoved all in a van, we search for showers but failed, so just smelled like we'd rolled in all sorts of things for about 3 days
2). Hans Dampf's are great, run them on my Intense, I love the grip and feel of them, and not silly money, greatly recommended
3). I'm running XX1 crank on a 1x10 system, XX1/X01 was tempting, and I would if it wasn't so much money, just don't have that kind of money laying around, spent my entire summer earnings on building my bike, so back to poor student-ness now, though overall, can't complain However, I have ridden it at a test day and it is great, notable difference over a 1x10 and is real good fun to ride with, not affordable, but certainly good if you have that kind of cash

sbd16v

The showers are at the bottom carpark, turn right just before the bike shop and there is a carpark on the right with the shower block in the middle, there is also a bike jetwash there aswell.

yeh I think im going to fit a hans to the front not sure about the rear yet as atm im happy with the ralph, 1x11 is deff not cheap but its also not much more than a decent high end 10 speed setup if buying from scratch.

CitizenLee

Stunning bike and a very well thought out build. Always had a soft spot for stealthed out Speccies :P

sbd16v

got my new stem

went with a 70mm haven stem to match the bars, I was happy with the feel of the 90mm so I did not want to go to 50mm

looks a little odd almost like its pointing down not a 0 deg lol

Anonymous

Very nice build there bud, looks better than the Epic..

sbd16v

Few more changes but that should be it for a while :roll: :roll: :roll: :oops:

after my last ride I felt the brakes were a little lacking, I don't rember thinking that on the epic but then I think I was going quicker on the stumpy and stopping later meaning my elixirs died in one day lol.

I was trying to decide between avid xo and xtr trails, I knew I should have gone for xt's but my head was overruled and in the end I went for the XTR


at first I had in my head my avids were better than they were and was a little dispointed the xtr was not better so I shortened the cable and rebleed them I then went out testing the xtr down the road they stop really well but I was still a little dispointed as I had convinced myself they were not much better than the avid, so I refitted the front avid WOW the XTR are SOO much better LOL.

so now I have readjusted in my head what brakes are possible of lol im very happy with the XTR's



also fitted a pair of hansdampfs trail star for the front, pace star for the rear.


and re-routed my dropper though the frame when I checked to my surprise the hydraulic cable went thought






that's it for a now, im going to send the forks away to have the damper changed to the 2014 spec when I go away in January

mike hunts alpine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHuebHTD-lY

Dick Scruttock

Would look gnarly with a black pike .

colincarter

sbd16v wrote:

J273 wrote:

Very nice

If you dont mind me asking, Where did you get the frame from?

Thanks

thanks

http://www.bikescene.co.uk/Specialized- ... -92-0.html

Bikescene is my local shop in the town where i live, great lads, I've known the owner for years.

stunning bike by the way, enjoy