Chicago Al 

As I posted a few weeks back, I've been looking for a couple of interesting (whatever that means to me) vintage mountain bikes to build up as path riders for my wife and myself. I was able to buy a nice Schwinn Cimarron from wrk101, and it came with delivery to Illinois, and the side benefit of a trip out to the country and a chance to meet Bill and his charming wife.

Now I may have scored bike #2 , a mid 80s Stumpjumper Sport I was able to buy from the original owner. She worked in a bike shop at the time, rode competitively, and well enough to be sponsored (!), but her original frame broke and Specialized sent her another frame, which she put the parts on. She noted replacing the original stem with a Salsa, but otherwise indicated that the bike parts were original.

She wasn't exactly sure when the frame replacement happened, but I'm guessing relatively early, as the parts kinda indicate a 1986 bike using the chart at Mombat, but the orange color also looks like 1986. Of course, no bike specs or catalogs really reflect anything hard and fast, bikes were products to get shipped, and shops often swapped things out at point of sale.

https://mombatbicycles.com/Specialized_Specs.htm

My bike does match most of this one that was on eBay a couple of years ago:

https://picclick.com/Vintage-1986-Sp...l#&gid=1&pid=1

Seatpost on my bike was clean, stem a bit stiff to get moving; I haven't pulled it yet but don't feel a problem coming. Frame has quite a bit of rust on it, so this may be the first one I take in for powder coating.

Serial number is CS 625323, which doesn't quite fit into any of T-Mar's Asian mfr patterns. Frame does have a sticker stating 'Japan.'

Here's a parts list...obviously 'Specialized' was rebranded high quality parts.

BB/Crankset/chainrings: Specialized
Shifters: Shimano thumb
FD: Shimano 'Deerhead'
RD: Shimano Mountain LX (replaced?)
Freewheel: Shimano
Rear hub: Specialized
Rear rim: Saturnae X-28
Front hub: Deore XT
Front rim: Araya RM-20 with stickers from shop build
Brake levers: Dia-Compe (!)
Front brake: Shimano caliper
Rear brake: Roller-cam (Suntour I think) under chainstay--first time I've seen this short-lived fad!
Seatpost: Strong/Japan
Stem: Salsa (might have been slingshot style originally?)
Bars: Nitto, low rise, probably original

I have not done a bike project in several years, but this seems like a fun way to while away some of my winter on. Wife recently said that what she looks forward to most is doing more long day rides together next year. Now that's inspiration!

Okay, enough of my yaps, here are some snaps:

crank_addict

Neato. Dig the components and that color pop. Looking forward to seeing it.

BTW: I've talked with the owner of a bike shop near Kettle Moraine regarding a future show and ride of Vintage mountain bikes for the Chicago / southeast WI area.

Ideal location - indoor / outdoor, food and terrific trail system for all levels of riders.

T-Mar

Sure it does! If you check under the Specilaized entry, it's format S(1) and if you cross-reference to that entry you'll find that the frame was manufactured in March 1986. While the identity of the Japanese manufacturer is unknown, they are best know in C&V circles for being the prime source of the Japanese manufactured Bianchi.

Chicago Al 

Hi T-Mar! Glad to see you are still around these parts.

I had thought that 'S-1' lined up the closest, and probably overthought it. Does 'MSyxxxxx' mean simply that the second alpha character is always S? If so, bingo.

I gather that a lot of these SNs have turned up, with various badges on them, so it's not something as simple as the client in this case: Specialized. Right?

And the mystery remains, who made them???

dddd

I believe that the Stumpjumper Sport model was re-named RockHopper around the '86-'87 time period. Many of the components remained the same, only to be replaced by the newer-fangled SIS gruppo parts just a year later.
Considering the high-quality parts on board, these pre-SIS models can be garage-sale bargains as parts donors if the bike isn't entirely original or in show condition.

The 1984 Sport model was my intro to mtb bikes after riding modified Stingrays and ten-speeds off road for many years during the 70's and 80's.
I still had it when I moved west back to L.A. in '91, where I promptly found out how dated it had become while trying to keep up with contemporary riders going up the steep and slippery slopes of the dry Santa Monica mountains. It would cause me a backache having to force my weight rearward over the traction-starved rear tire at the end of the way-long chainstays! But I was able to reel in some of the riders when the descents beckoned, my having spent many of my youthful years riding dirt bikes. Suspension was becoming a thing and so I finally bought a front-suspended Univega so as to have a go at XC racing around 1994.

madpogue 

^^^^ Makes sense; I just picked up a yellow '87-ish 'Hopper that looks remarkably similar. U-brake rather than that nice roller cam. Thumbies with 6-speed SIS for the rear; probably the first year. I believe it would have had Deer-head RD/FD, but alas, this one had been a parts donor for another build, so no mechs.

Those roller-cams are so gorgeous, esp. when you can get the brass roller to shine. They look like old big-city bridge architecture. Kinda too bad this one's hiding "down under".

Your bike will make a great companion to the Cimarron; two icons of the time.

2cam16

Love that color! Looking forward to the build!

cs1

I have that exact bike too I swapped out the original fork for a one with roller cam mounts on it. I’ll post pics. I always wanted either front and rear U-Brakes or Roller Cam brakes.