Sunday ride including Pickle revelation!

I have had my Stumpjumper for a couple of months now, but until now had never taken it for a ride.

I originally built it up with a set of Mavic wheels I had kicking around plus Panaracer Magics.....but it just didnt look right. So, I stayed at the back of my shed.

But now, I have treated to some fresh gil_m Stumpjumper decals, a pair of lovely Wolber rims on DX hubs, wrapped them with skinwall Z-Max tyres and finally changed the red Flite for a more subtle black Vetta. In my opinion, it looks pretty good now.

So, I now felt like taking it for a ride to see whats its like.



Oh good god, its amazing. In fact, I am struggling to find anything wrong with it.

It may just be perfect.


Now, this leaves me with a problem.

I thought I had found my ultimate bike when I brought my Zaskar LE. I thought it was my holy grail, the answer to all my prayers, the perfect go anywhere do anything bike.......but maybe not.


Dont you hate it when you find something that you were not looking for?

I thought I had found my ultimate bike when I brought my Zaskar LE. I thought it was my holy grail, the answer to all my prayers, the perfect go anywhere do anything bike.......but maybe not.

Click to expand...

My stomach churned when I read that .... You are coming down with a fever Jon .... Get to the doctors quick :shock:

I felt like that when I got my Fuquay. So much so that I am now selling off a lot of my bikes as it suits me so well.

Looks spot on, that. Very nice.

Its comfy, light and responsive. Does whats its told, when its told. Begs to go faster and further.

What more could you want from a bike?

What frustrates me is I wasnt looking for an ultimate bike when I brought this, it was just a casual deal. And the fact I ignored this bike for over 2 months is even worse!

I may just have to rethink my shed contents as a result........

I guess the Zaskar LE will be for sale soon after you have enjoyed this Specialized even more, I liked this bike too as Kaiser's is stunning and doing well at this month's BOTM, seem there is alot of fans for these bikes.

Rebuild it with some different bit, you'll soon bugger up the feel

Maybe slap something different on the Z' and see if the forks/stem/seat alter your position on it.

Though I'd keep the Stumpy, it's a nice red colour and not boring silver, like all the cars you see nowadays

I hear ya.

i know completely what you mean. I bought my RM with a view to repairing it and maybe building it up for 'occassional' use. Due to a lack of useable chainrings it ended up being a single speed. It is by far the most comfortable bike i've ever ridden and partly due to that and partly due to lack of use i've sold my modern bike. So I now have the RM for gentle off road and my Proflex 856 for the rougher stuff, all bases covered.

Its just that once you ride something decent GT's become a distant memory