Bike Check
The perfect trail bike
I've been in search of the perfect bike for a long time. After trying almost 1/2 dozen bikes over the course of a few years - the Specialized Stumpy is the one that fits my riding the best. It's light enough to crush uphills but still has enough guts to get down the rockiest and most technical terrain. It's also extremely fun on the jump line or cruising down a gravel road.
2022 Stumpjumper Expert S3
The bike rode great stock for a few months, but then I got the itch to upgrade.
Mercury X1 Carbon
Mercury is an awesome company from Utah but unfortunately, they have recently closed their doors. They made awesome wheels. These are their carbon enduro wheels that have been super durable and yet still lightweight.
Rockshock Pike
Rockshox Pike Ultimate - Charger 2.1 RC2 - 29 - 150mm
The Fox 34 140mm travel fork that came on the bike was really good. I rode it for a few months and was very impressed. However, I felt that a little more travel up front would pair well with the 130mm rear suspension. Before Rockshox changed the lineup of the new Pikes to only be 120-140mm, I purchased the Charger 2.1 RC2 version that had 150mm of travel. It's still light like the new version of the Pike; or Fox 34, but has more travel similar to a Lyrik or Fox 36. It also slackened the head tube angle which made things better for charging down steep trails.
Code Ultimate RSC
The orginal Stumpy came with Sram G2 RSC brakes which worked ok, but I've always been a Shimano guy, so they had to go. After riding Shimano XT's for a while I decided to give the Codes a try. They are amazing. So much power and after getting used to the modulation, I don't think I'd ever choose anything else.
Sram HS2
Well, it's a rotor and and it seems to work well! I have the centerlock versions which are easy to change on my wheelset.