THE DIRT

Over the last few months, we have taken our Stumpjumper EVO Pro 29 on just about every type of trail imaginable. We’ve ridden insanely steep loamers with nasty roots and vertical chutes, extremely rocky, technical climbs, and plenty of jumpy flow trails. This bike has definitely been put through the gamut. After months of experience on various terrain and several different riders taking their turn aboard this bike, we’re confident in our verdict on who this bike is for and where it excels.

The Stumpjumper EVO is long and low…. really low. We rode the bike primarily in the high chip setting, which afforded a 328mm (12.9-in) bottom bracket height. That is one of the lowest BBs we have ridden. As you could imagine, it gives the bike mind-blowing, berm smashing, and trail hugging performance. Push the bike into a corner, get your hips twisted, and prepare to rip off your back tire.

The low center of gravity redefines what a trail bike can do in corners, but it does so at a hefty price. The compromise is a drastic reduction in your ability to pedal the bike in three-dimensional terrain. Whether you’re going up or down the trail, toes, pedals, and cranks are not in harm’s way. We had some terrifying moments trying to pedal out of corners aggressively and clipping objects at speed. Likewise, while attempting to climb the Stumpy Evo in rocky terrain or trails that have deep ruts, we had to alter lines and work harder to time crank strokes seriously.

When it came time to charge down the trail, the slack front end, coupled with a reduced offset fork, gave our test riders a very confident stance and feel on the bike. The Stumpjumper Evo Pro 29 was very stable in the steepest trails we could find. With a flick of the wrist, the bike can be laid over on its side, challenging the Butcher’s level of grip. But again, that long, aggressive front end has a trade-off. Slow speed cornering and wandering are side-affects that go along with the S3’s dimensions.

The long front end and slack head angle struggle most on climbs and tight switchbacks. There was a definite learning curve when it came to climbing steep switchbacks that had rocks or roots in them. We found ourselves resorting to a wheelie technique so we could get the front tire over obstacles on the far outside of the trail so that the rear tire could stay in the mainline for the climb. Slow technical sections that require weaving between enormous obstacles is a bit of a chore as we’d have to time front wheel placement while remembering to watch our low pedals.

The Fox 36 Performance fork worked great. It was stable, predictable, and consistent with good adjustability. The coil shock, however, took a few rides to really dial in, and it still left a bit to be desired. Initially, the rear felt very soft and spent most of the descents riding low in its travel. It offered excellent small bump compliance and traction but wallowed in berms and blew through travel when landing drops or jumps.

We added a bunch of preload and compression damping, which helped improve the feel, but we found the shock still rode deeper in the travel than we wanted. At 160-170lbs, this shouldn’t be an issue on a large size bike. If we were keeping this trail bike, we’d probably go to a slightly stiffer spring, however, then we’d likely deal with a slightly stiffer feel on washboards and smaller obstacles.

We like having a coil shock on such an aggressively-built bike, but it just didn’t quite seem that the performance of the rear end was as burly as the looks make the bike out to be. One highlight of the shock, however, is the platform switch. We used it just about every time we’d point the Stumpjumper back uphill as it gives a lot more low-speed compression damping to minimize pedal bob and rider-induced shock movement.

The Wolf’s Last Word

Specialized’s Stumpjumper Evo Pro 29 is a bit of a puzzle. It has the geometry, stance, and look of a big-hit bruiser in a 140mm package. To be fair, in many ways, it is, but it has some major topics worth discussing. First, we’ll get into who the ideal rider is for this bike, because if you’re not taking this bike on the terrain it was designed for the second part won’t matter anyway.

As odd as this may sound, the Stumpjumper Evo Pro 29 is not ideal for riders who spend a lot of time on raw, narrow, or ungroomed trails. This is very much a new school bike, so if you ride scratched in singletrack with rocks, deep ruts, or other tall obstacles within reach of your ankles, you’re better off sticking with something else, perhaps the regular Stumpjumper. If you spend most of your time on wider, bike parky trails with gaps, drops jumps, and insanely high speeds that make your butthole tighten, then this bike has some serious potential. So, how do we suggest tapping into that? Shock tuning!

Chances are if you’re the kind of shredder who’s going to love this bike you live for going fast and catching air. We’d suggest over-springing the rear shock so you can ride a bit higher in the travel, which will give you more stability, pop, and acceleration while pumping transitions. When we got this bike on the trails it was designed to ride, it was hands down one of our favorite bikes to ride. It’s very playful, inspires confidence, and made us want to attempt bar drag contests every time we took it out. This is where the bike shines, so if you spend most of your time climbing fire roads or shuttling just to get to the rowdiness, chances are you’ll be stoked as long as there aren’t too many snipers in the bushes!

Price:$6,700
Weight: 31.46 lbs
Website: Specialized.com

CHASSIS
Frame: FACT 11mm Carbon; 140mm
Fork: Fox Float 36 Performance Elite GRIP2; 150mm
Shock: Fox DHX2 Performance Elite; 2 Position Lever; 210×50 (550lb spring)

COCKPIT
Brakes: SRAM Code RSC; 200mm
Handlebar: Specialized 7050; 800mm
Saddle: Body Geometry Phenom Expert
Seatpost: Specialized Command Post; 160mm
Shifter: SRAM GX Eagle; 12s
Stem: Specialized Trail

WHEELS
Hubs: Specialized Sealed (f), DT Swiss 250 (r)
Rims: Roval Traverse Carbon
Tires: Specialized Butcher Gripton 2.6”

DRIVETRAIN
Bottom Bracket: SRAM DUB Threaded
Cassette: SRAM GX Eagle; 10-50t
Cranks: SRAM GX Eagle; 170mm; 30t
Derailleur: SRAM GX Eagle; 12s