Specialized Stumpjumper Alloy Mountain Bike EXPIRED

Here's my take: I got super into mountain biking last year and have been riding/upgrading my $400, too-small-for-me hardtail since then. I bought the bike to see if the sport was for me and it very much is.

With that said, if I knew then what I know now I would have jumped on this deal for the price. We're in a unique moment where the bike industry grew a ton during the pandemic, then overproduced, and now there are sales ramping up on great bikes because there are too many and the demand can't keep up.

There's some chance that good bikes get a little cheaper, but 25% is a pretty steep discount. Demand will also pick back up in Spring so now is a solid time to watch for deals. From my research, the stumpjumper is a very solid bike if you're looking for a full suspension, ride anything trail bike. Sure you can spend thousands more on a carbon frame, lighter everything, etc, etc but for someone who wants to get into biking or get back into it on a modern geo bike this is a great buy. Though it is on the heavy side for sure.

Most local bike shops are running the same discounts so I would definitely check there first if there's a specialized dealer near you.

The Ripley (AF or not) is indeed an excellent bike, playing up there with the "big boys". It was on my shortlist too and I was tempted to get one, but ended up getting a deal on a '22 Rocky Mountain Element C, to replace the Siskiu T8 I ended up with when ibis postponed deliveries for the Ripmo I had originally ordered And it is not a ding on the Siskiu, I love it still, I just realized that I rarely use the travel (mine is 140/150 with a 36 front) and I would rather have something more pedal friendly. The '22 Element is actually the same geo as the Siskiu T (65 HTA, 480 reach on a L, same stack, just with more pedal-friendly sus kinematics and shaves 6-7 lbs)

On the Stumpy...
The Stumpjumper is the benchmark for mid-travel trail bikes. It does everything above average to great. It is not as sophisticated a platform as the DW Link on Ibis and Pivots and Evils, but it is really nit-picking here. Anyone that insists that "it has to be this or that" and nothing else, is the same as someone saying that "oh, if you don't have an engine with twin overhead cam-shafts, you cannot have fun or you are not a driver" or BS like that.

Yes, the Stumpy build in this config on sale is meh, but it is not atypical.
The Achilles hill with all of these, IMHO, are the deals with Sram: a Shimano Deore build would simply be much better, both in shifting and especially in the brake department. But Shimano doesn't make suspension components, and shimano doesn't make a HG hub based 12s Drivetrain (which marketing demands), so I bet that between the "cheaper than Fox DPS + 34 Rhythm or Bomber Z2", and the package deals Sram can provide for getting an all Sram (Rockshox = Sram) build, Specialized and others opt for that. Remember that Specialized is not a boutique brand like Ibis who de-facto sells all their bikes for $3500+ or w/e is the baseline for the Ripley AF and the Ripmo AF, not orders their base bikes in the hundreds, rather THOUSANDS, so the combined savings are substantial.

Again, Sram is not bad, the contrary, and all of the components can serve well and are an upgrade to anything you could find on a big-box store (other perhaps the Sram 11s NX on that unicorn Nishiki Colorado Comp+ that was selling for $400 back in 2019 (?), and I will argue every time that the 11s NX was superior to the Eagle NX, especially for its time). The Fork and Shock on this are fine. The vast majority of their buyers will not need more. It is like a 3-series BMW...all the forum warriors will think "nothing less than 6-cyl turbo or M3 can cut it, but 99% of the 3-series sold are probably 4-cyl or older undertuned 6-cyl NA and are more than enough. Actually, just like this bike, these cars will have more to offer than what the avg. driver/owner will ever need.

Yes, this Stumpy is not light and I'd bet will be 32-35lbs ready to ride, but nothing much lighter in this price range, unless you go for a XC focused hardtail and gradually upgrade the heavier parts as it makes sense. Specialized Chisel, Marin Team & BMC Two Stroke are really nice platforms to build from. Plus as soon as you get the Stumpy and if you start forum/reddit-warrioring on what to upgrade, most will jump straight into DH focused tires, like Maxxis Assegai & Minions etc, that are pigs to pedal around and super heavy to boot, so...moot.

If you are thinking into getting in MTB, this is not a bad bike. It is not a great deal, but this is indeed a good "do it all" starter. Other options to keep in mind in the same class would be the Polygon Siskiu T7 (or T8 if you want to stretch the budget), the Giant Trance 29 3 or Trance X for a bit longer travel. The Trance 29 (non X) is probably one of the more pedal-friendly FS designs you can find (and it is not DW link). For a bit more $, you can also look into an Alloy Rocky Mountain Element for more XC-ish trail, or RM Instinct for bit worse pedaling, bit better DH performance. Specialized doesn't make something much better than the Stumpy for pedalling before you jump to an Epic Evo, which ofc is much saltier in price. The Status is more of a cheap enduro bike, i.e. definately DH oriented and if you ride a lot, will be tiresome. If you are a weekend warrior, riding once a week or so for 10-15mi, it matters less. If you ride a lot of miles a week, getting the zippier, lighter bikes becomes more important (and you put down the miles/experience to tackle staff without the help of lots of suspension travel).

Finally, just to finish my morning rant, a significant portion of the people who can afford even the 2K bikes like this, are in their mid-30s or even 40s. and up. Unless you have a lot of experience in MX or were riding 10y ago MTBs etc, might get intimidated by "teh gnar", the jumps and the steep DH in blue and black rated trails, or at least I know this is the case in SoCal and other areas. So over-biking to "be ready" for when the "heroics" come into play, is too often the case. Too often I see people on mid/long travel Pivots or Specialized enduros etc, and they ride mellow blues that I know are easily rideable on a Chisel or even a well shorted gravel bike...they are people my age, that know that they have to go to work tomorrow and cannot afford the "heroics"...duhh...so don't go too far into the "not good enough" critiques. Get a bike that can grow with you, but be realistic and realize that maybe your ceiling is far lower than that of the bikes, so overspending on stuff you will never need will only be useful for flexing to your friends, not actual riding. This doesn't mean "go HT, no need for FS", FS is easier and more forgiving = safer for beginners to learn on, I strongly believe that, but little bit gan go a long way. You don't need the stupid-expensive bikes to enjoy cycling, just like you don't need a Porsche or a M3 to enjoy driving.

Cycling is amazing, decompressing on even easy fire roads is amazing, MTB can be risky as you see in YT but doesn't need to be and is a low-impact exercise vs. running etc. Much better for your joints if you don't have the muscle structure to support it or already have strained joints. Look into it.

this is a stumpy though, not an epic.