McBTC

So... put 60 psi in a pair of Specialized 26x1.25, 100 psi Fatboys... Whatever you believe is faster on a vintage Stumpjumper probably will be.

McBTC

Not arguing– just trying to save a life. A vintage Stumpjumper with its horizontal top bar and nearly 30mm of wheel flop is a fine gravel grinder. A safe single track off-roader... not so much: you will be face-to-face with the slugs (or, off the edge)– just a matter of time.

crank_addict

Thats the right idea. Firstly, and depending on ones local, there may be many 'Stumpjumpers' for little money. They made piles of them and in many flavors. Goodwill to CL postings are a good start and just enter Specialized. I've learned most sellers don't know the difference between Specialized OR SLumpjumper and often clumped in as another model. I've found them little as $15 to many under $100 ($90 the number to seek - consider all the $10 and $15 bits plus tires to replace.).

All have crummy welds in appearance only but that was the tough crude style back then along with grunge and torn $200 pair of jeans and flannel.

The lower Specialized atb's can be had all day long under $100. Clean ones too. Not exactly clean but heres and example of a $40 Rockhopper https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/b...360982390.html

You want the Stumpjumper w/ Tange Prestige.

Versatile to make anything you want with them, even to fit 700c and wide rubber... should you decide to take up the torch and relocate brake boss mounts.

Surely capable for off-road excursions but definitely not for extreme black diamond runs. Nor on the rugged single tracks will you be as fast vs. modern atb's, but you'll eventually get there. Sans front suspension and your eyeballs will fall out. That said, for this era Stumpy's I'll take a rigid fork setup plowing along, enjoying the challenge at a much slower pace.

Also suggest not to splurge for high end parts of the day, anodized hooka, kooka, ringle, yada parts and wheels. Drop or rash a fine vintage atb takes the fun out of having that stuff. I've built them up with next to zero cost or trade bait for standard Shimano LX / DX stuff, any and all kind of canti brakes. Readily cheap used parts laying at LBS, scratched up -more the better value. $10 should buy one an LX, maybe even a DX shift group. 26 inch atb parts, standard issue that nobody wants anymore. Seriously--- nearly free. Dealers have stuff in stock for 20 / 30 years and no sale. Offer pittance and you're doing them a favor.

Ps. For another early 90's SJ, I found a NEW unknown brand all chrome rigid fork Tange steerer and ends for $10. Brand new SKS chromoplastic (Deutsch made) mudguards for $10. Front and rear racks NOS for $15. Four free brifters - I then rebuilt them, traded off one pair, got some Midge On-ones from BF member, a Specialized riser stem fell from the sky, the seat post was assembled from 3 various brands / parts. $5 for a box of NOS odd lot cantis, Dia Compe 986 and TRP. Mismatched wheelset LX / XT / Ritchey / Specialized. Good enough as a beater bike.

Have another '92 that was under $40, trashy components but respectable frame and Rockshox, aftermarket.

For laughs- this one has been listed for over 3 years! If listed for $225, it might sell. There's nothing Special in these Specialized. Just decent mass produced fun all round machine.
https://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/b...357745914.html


Be patient in the $500 range and you can get a smokin' top of the line vintage off-roader in many brands. As for vintage, I recently passed over a vintage San Andreas full susp. complete for $350. But whats its really capable of? A beater hardtail SJ will suffice better and then save the extra coin for a newer bike. Ten year old ATB's get crushed in depreciation.

Good luck and have fun-

Kapusta

As someone who

• a) adores mid 90s-era steel MTB frames
• b) has been heavily into mountain biking since 1997, and started on such a frame,
• c) also follows Jan Heine (have bought many of his tires) and has no prejudice against older tech

....here is my short and long take on this:

The short:
If you are looking for a good MTB to learn on, I would be hesitant to put a lot of time and money into building up a 26" hardtail with 1990s geometry. OTOH, I think these make great, stylish, dependable, fun-to ride street machines. My commuter/town bike is based on a mid 90s mtb frame (rigid). Or heck, just seeing one built up original is really cool.... they are just not what I want to actually use on singletrack trails anymore.

The long:
If your goal is to re-create the feeling of riding mtbs in the mid 90s, these frames are perfect. They are perfectly safe (considering you are mountain biking) to ride whatever you want on them save hucking off of things. BTW, what you are describing wanting to ride is what at least 90% of serious riders actually do (most don't do what you see in the Red Bull videos). If you are going to ride real single-track, you are at some point going to be encountering some rough trails, even with your tires staying on the ground. They did back in the 90s, and these bikes handled it.

However, as a bike to give you the best MTB experience, these are not a very good choice, IMO. And the main reason for this is the frame geometry. MTB geometry has come a loooooong way in the past 25 years. IMO, the biggest effective difference between hardtails from 1992 and 2017 is not the suspension, the brakes, the gears, or the tires. It is the geometry of the frames (OK, maybe suspension, a 1992 bike was most likely rigid). And there is no way to "modernize" the frame geometry.

Back in the mid 90s, people (except those starting to huck off big things) were still setting up their MTBs and fitting them much like road bikes, and so you had long stems (as in 120-135mm) narrow bars (most under 600mm), with most people running their bars far lower than their saddles. The conventional wisdom at the time was that you needed a "long and low" setup (and bar ends) to climb well and pedal fast. Head angles were steep (like 71-72 deg) because that was what people thought was needed to maneuver fast, and not to have your front wheel flopping all over the place when climbing steep stuff.

Since then, there has been sweeping move towards bikes with much longer top tubes, shorter stems, wider bars, bars closer to saddle height, along with much slacker head angles. Typical 2017 will be a stem under 90mm (70-80mm is typical, but 50-60mm is not uncommon) Bars over 700mm (720-750mm is common for men) and head angles slacker than 70 (67-69 is common).

I think the reason it took so long for this change to really permeate modern MTB geometry is that is takes a different approach and skill set to ride it effectively. Climbing and handling techniques are different. However, few people who really spend time on (and learn to ride) a modern setup want to go back to 90s geo and setup for real mountain biking. The rewards of this geometry and setup are immense.

The other aspect is wheel size. There is a reason 29" wheels took over the hardtail market so quickly. I have no interest in debating 26 vs 29, but pretty much everyone I know prefers 29" on a hard tail over 26" for trail riding. You may be the exception, but chances are you are not, especially if you did not learn MTB on a 26" bike.

As an aside, I have to strongly disagree with the assertion that a hardtail is unsuitable for real mountain biking. It is simply not true. Plenty of people are riding very technical trails on hardtails. It is starting to beat my old back up more than I can deal with these days, but I did it plenty up until 5 years ago. But for my go-to ride, I've been primarily a full suspension rider since 2001. HT and rigid bikes were just a way to keep things interesting or to enter the occasional XC race.

tiredhands 

To offer some more of my experience blending old tech and new, you should have no problem running a 1x10 setup on a 90s hardtail. My research led me to use a Shimano Deore XT MT772 rear mech and a WolfTooth roadlink to clear a SunRace 11-42 10 speed cassette. That's a 9 speed mech, but the spacing and cable pull ratio works for a 10 speed application. Bonus - 10 speeds on a MTB fit on a 9-speed cassette body, and on a 135mm hub. I did it this way as all of these parts are pretty inexpensive and pretty solid. I haven't yet tried a 10-speed trigger shifter, but it works great with a 10-speed bar end shifter. And friction, too, btw.
The trickiest part about this setup is getting your chainline right so the highest gears don't skip under load. Should be less of an issue with the beefy "Direct Drive" chainstays. You probably also know that a narrow-wide chainring is a necessary addition.
Of course, if you get a good deal on a take-off 1x10 SLX groupset or better, then it's all gravy. But as far as collecting parts piecemeal, I like to use bits that can be reused in other applications or are resilient enough to resell without dropping in value. My two cents!

danmyersmn

Consider this route. Build up the Hopper/Stumpy like you want and ride it. As you use it you will decide if it is the right ride for the trail's you are on. If it is your golden!

If you want something like a full suspension, or a 29" or something else take the Hopper/Stumpy and start adding backpacking bags or racks to it and head of backpacking. Now you have a bombproof backpacking rig and you can start the hunt for your new idea of a trail xc bike to try. In the end you will have two bikes and again your golden!

kyleboyd

@Kapusta, really really helpful reply. I appreciate the thoughtfulness.
@danmyersmn, I think this is the route I will go, if I can find a good deal (and the Mrs. agrees to more bikes).

All, thanks for the insight. I appreciate the limitations I may be facing, and have adjusted my expectations accordingly. I'll definitely post back here if this project becomes a reality

Shelbeigh

I'm curious about this rumor you mentioned. I recently picked up a 94' rockhopper and after reading this form and doing a little more digging of my own I found that the previous years stumpy do look just these particular 94 rockhoppers but with a diffrent decal. I was curious where you pick this rumor up from and if there was possibly more research to read into?

nollo9871

This is correct. I bought my Stumpjumper M2 FS with the ceramic metal matrix frame in grape blue matted finish in 1995, and it was the high end of Specialized's bikes then. The Rockhopper and Hardrock were lower models with different components outfitted with Deore LX and such. My Stumpjumper was outfitted with XT and the first-generation RockShox Judy SL suspension fork. It rode well. Sadly that bike was stolen some years later.

ryansu

FWIW The Rock Hopper I recently picked up was Identified as a 93 by this forum and it had a 1 inch threaded steerer so for those looking for 1 1/8 head tubes you might need to go later in the 90s. In my casual non-scientific observation older Rock Hoppers come up more Frequently than older Stump Jumpers in Seattle.



93 Rock Hopper

TiHabanero

Stumpy's used a lighter cro-mo frame than the Rockhoppers. The geometry was very similar between the two. Both good off road bikes. I owned one steel Stumpy and one Stumpy Epic carbon with cro-mo lugs. A friend of mine who was our Specialized sales rep still rides his Stumpy Epic Ultimate carbon with titanium lugs.

Honest good bikes, but newer bikes really are better suited for hard core off road riding.