Old Faithful - My 1995 Stumpjumper FS M2

[FSXStumpy]

Here's a look at my favourite bike, my '95 Stumpy, and how it came to be.

I started mountain biking in about 1990, during Jr. High. First with an 18 speed thumb shifting Raleigh, I broke EVERYthing on that bike, except the front axl. Warranteed the frame, fork (repeatedly), and generally wore the old girl out.

In high school, saved my money and got a Specialized Hardrock (year unknown). Gripshift, SR DuoTrack 7005. Rode it for a few years, ultimately, upgrading it along the way. A Tange Struts fork replaced the SR, the grouppo went from Aliveo (sp) thru STX, STXRC, Deore DX..... By this time, I was my LBS owner's good friend, and eventually I began to work at the shop as part time mechanic. Learned ALOT.

Then, one day, the LBS owner placed his frame and fork up for sale. A '95 Stumpjumper M2, in my size, with Specialized FSX air oil fork. $300!!! I jumped, neigh, pounced on it, and built it with all the kit off my Hardrock, except the headset, stem, BB and front derailleur, which were included with the frame.

And so we rode. More components got upgraded and replaced thru the next few years, and we rode together alot until I left that city in 1999. By then, the Stumpjumper had about 10,000km on the clock. I'd gotten a car, and bike riding took a back seat for a LONG time. Just the occasional ride, lamenting the seeming hardness of the Velo Crossbow saddle, which years back had seemed so comfortable.

Now, this year, after a couple kids, my wife gets on a health kick, and finally takes up mountain biking (I'd guided her into the purchase of a '97 Hardrock AX during our first year together, but it only ever saw pavement until this summer). With her riding, my interest was re-sparked. My daughter has now taken up the sport with us, at 6 years old, and her 4 year old brother loves riding off-road on a trail-a-bike. Good times are here again.

Today, the bike's groupo consists of:

Frame: 1995 Specialized Stumpjumper M2 FS 20.5"

Fork: 1993 Specialized FSX carbon/ti air/oil

Headset: Aheadset
Stem: 130mm Specialized
Handlebar: Profile Carbon Fibre
Grips: Onza Porcs
Barends: Titec

Brakes: Shimano XT Vbrakes
Brake Pads: Shimano rear, Cool Stop Eagle Claw II front, Cartridges
Brake Cables: Shimano
Brake Levers: Shimano LX
Lizard Skins Carbon break booster (front)

Shifters:
Front Derailleur: Shimano XTR
Rear Derailleur: Shimano XT 8spd
Derailleur Cables: Shimano front, Avid Flack Jacket rear
Cassette: XT 8 spd
Chain: Sachs
Cranks: Shimano XT Standard Drive
Crank Bolts: Stock
Chainrings: 24, 36, 46 (IIRC?)
Chainring bolts: Stock
Bottom Bracket: Shimano LX
Pedals: SPD 535

Hub Skewers: Shimano
Rims: 231's
Hubs: Shimano LX
Nipples: Brass
Spokes: 15ga DT stainless
Tyres: Specialized Team Master/Team Control Kevlar
Tubes: ?

Saddle: Velo Crossbow Ti
Seatpost: Syncros
Seatpost Binder: Ti bolt

Weight: 25#















The FSX fork is, IMHO, one of the most beautiful suspension forks ever made. Mine's been reliable, with nothing but a few O-ring replacements. They routinely hold pressure over winter. One leg now has a less-than-tight needle inflator valve now, but that can still be lived with due to the plug screws that plug'em up tight. The fork's reasonably stiff, very light and pretty supple for an old air/oil unit. Its' taken all manner of hits over the years, from 4' drop-ins to moderate ski-resort downhilling. Most of my riding years, I was about 170 #, but now it's more like 210. So, strong enough.

Hope you enjoy!

 

[Jody75]

Nice story, nice M2 and welcome to Retrobike

 

[stumpjumper1990]

Nice story, lovely bike! Keep it like it is and enjoy it..

Now you're a member... It won't be your last bike...

 

[VTFoco2001]

Nice build!

 

[andyfloyd82]

Love that bike. I do like that fork. I have a Stumpjumper FSR thats a 95' and its getting an upgrade from its Stock and tatty Quadra 10 to a much nicer 98' Marzocchi Bomber Z2 Atom Bomb.

 

[Retro Spud]

Nice story, lovely bike! Keep it like it is and enjoy it..

Now you're a member... It won't be your last bike...

both of the above statements are so true

Great to hear you still own a bike you grew up with, I think most of us on here have just such a bike with so many good memories attached they could never part with it ........... And then they join RB and before you know it, you've bought a few more from the same golden period were so lucky to have lived through.....But your first love is deepest



This site will damage your Wealth

 

[FSXStumpy]

Thanks for the kind comments and welcome, gents.

I should, perhaps, make a post on my wife's '97 Hardrock AX. It's dead-bone-stock, but a beautiful little example of a capable rigid bike. Wonderful "centerline yellow".

We've been considering offering it in trade to my mother, who occasionally uses my late father's GT Avalanche LE for dog running... The AX would do that just as well, and wifey lusts after front suspension.... Either that, or I need to find a decent used fork for her, something between Mag 21 and Judy XC, I figger.

I suspect y'all are right, and bikes will dot our family's future for decades to come. My 6 year old daughter learned to ride a "2 wheeler" a month ago, and now regularly does a 6km fireroad loop with us, succeeding on some pretty technical decents, and revelling in puddle splashing. A used stuff website helped us find her a Norco Eliminator for all of $25. Heavy, but she doesn't know it

J

 

[gggmmmgmgm]

riding the same bike too~

 

[FSXStumpy]

I was rummaging thru some old belongings recently, and came across some old photos.... Here's a rather younger and fitter me, having just finished pre-riding the Sportsman course at the Mt. Ste. Anne world cup in 1997, with this bike. At that time, still wearing my old Alivio cantis, with power hanger up front, boosters all over, and the low end 7spd gripshift, which like the brakes were leftovers from the Hardrock this bike began as.... That Blackburn Mammoth Mtn. pump on the frame would not survive the race the next day, as it would be crushed against a bridge railing in the last half of the second lap. Blackburn warrantied it!

Huge grin on my face, having just shared the practice lap with the likes of Tinker Juarez (me: "Hello there Tinker!" He: "Oh, hey there!") and other pros I'd only seen in the magazines...



J

 

[FSXStumpy]

Here's another photo, about a year after the one above. This was taken in Woolastook Provincial Park, likely in 1998, flowin' down a rooty/loamy singletrack, during a group ride with the LBS bunch. The shop's mechanic took the photo.

By this time, the bike had seen its brakes upgraded to XT Vbrakes (first year) with LX levers and XTR 8spd shifter pods, basically in the form in the more recent photos at the start of this post, except for the crankset which is still an LX unit with a 48t big ring. By the end of that season, the LX set had been replaced with an XT crank, wearing 24/36/46, IIRC.



If only I was as well preserved as the bike!

J