1988 Stumpjumper Epic (former Cindy Whitehead Frame)

[Muddy paw]

Re: 1989 Stumpjumper Epic

It certainly looks like Cindy is riding an Epic to me even though the pics aren't as clear as we would like them to be the decals and frame colouring appear to be the same and i was wondering if the original forks were the Direct Drive ...

 

[DynaCol]

Re: 1989 Stumpjumper Epic

It certainly looks like Cindy is riding an Epic to me even though the pics aren't as clear as we would like them to be the decals and frame colouring appear to be the same and i was wondering if the original forks were the Direct Drive ...

It's maybe just a coincidence but they talk about the frame number on Paul Thomasberg's bike as being "custom" so it got me thinking that mine, being similar, might be custom too. I've zoomed in to the Cindy Whitehead pic's and the bike has a u-brake and you can see the purple of the decals on the seattube and the rear end and seat cluster certainly looks like an epic. Charlie Kelly posted the pics of Cindy in the rider archive so I may try dropping him a message and see if I can get any confirmation either way.

 

[mojo ti]

Re:

So nice, great race bike.

 

[DynaCol]

Re: Re:

So nice, great race bike.

It's looking a bit sorry for itself ATM but hopefully it'll be a nice race bike again soon. A few of the bits have arrived so will get some pic's up soon.

 

[Muddy paw]

Re: 1989 Stumpjumper Epic

Charlie Kelly just might be able to give the confirmation like you say so fingers crossed you will get positive feedback proving that this frame is indeed a Cindy custom which will be indeed a great bonus but either way it's going to be a well worth project and will look a real treat when done ..

 

[firedfromthecircus]

Re: 1989 Stumpjumper Epic

You mean you've got a girls bike!

 

[DynaCol]

Re: 1989 Stumpjumper Epic

You mean you've got a girls bike!

I'm no stranger to riding a girls bike I'll have you know, spent many a happy hour riding my sister's Vindec round the farm when I was a lad. Had surprisingly good offroad capabilities!

Looked a bit like this.

 

[DynaCol]

Re:

Back on topic now and a wee bit more info regarding Specialized riders taken from the MTB hall of fame.

From Paul Thomasberg's page:

"In 1988 Paul met Brain Skinner from Shimano and was offered bike parts to test. Specialized showed an interest in Paul and his accomplishments on the race course and hires him to race for the factory team along with Ned Overend, Cindy Whitehead, and Daryl Price."

I've sent Charlie Kelly an e-mail so hopefully he will get back to me.

 

[Repack Rider]

Re: 1989 Stumpjumper Epic

Here is Cindy's reply to my emailed query:

"I did race on a black bike, that looked like that for a while. I also think that bike was a little too big for me. Anyway, he says the Serial number started with CW, my former initials. But, I raced for Specialized in 1988, and I crashed that bike at Michael Kloser's stage race in Vail. Here's the best part, I destroyed the fork. The owner of the frame says the forks are not the original, so it very well could have been my bike!"

 

[DynaCol]

Re: 1989 Stumpjumper Epic

Here is Cindy's reply to my emailed query:

"I did race on a black bike, that looked like that for a while. I also think that bike was a little too big for me. Anyway, he says the Serial number started with CW, my former initials. But, I raced for Specialized in 1988, and I crashed that bike at Michael Kloser's stage race in Vail. Here's the best part, I destroyed the fork. The owner of the frame says the forks are not the original, so it very well could have been my bike!"

Cheers for getting in touch with her.

There is a review of the Epic on Mombat taken from the March 1988 edition of Bicycling magazine so I suspect the factory team will have been riding them through 88 so the dates would work. The couple of pictures of Cindy riding for Specialized which I've copied in to my build thread are almost certainly an epic. I can't imagine it's just a coincidence that the frame number and her initials match, especially with Paul Thomasberg's bike having such a similar frame number.
The fact that the forks are missing and the story of her crashing it just adds weight to the argument if you ask me!