Specialized Stumpjumper 1989 Build

I while back i bought and tidied up a Cannondale SM600 for my little bro.

Thing is, he not as little as I remember from bitd, so a 6'5", 17 stone man riding a 18" 'cale, was frankly ridiculous.

Bitd, as a kid, he cruised around on a Hardrock Sport, and even though it was shocking pink, he seemed to like it and was gutted when some ahole removed it from our garden shed...

So he's always held a flame for Specialized and as the range toppers - especially Stumpies.

When MikeOrangeP7 listed a 88 Stumpy Team in 22" flavour, I thought it had to be. So a few PMs later and the deal was done, shortly afterwards this arrived...

First of, peel off the rubbish decals and clean up with a bit of white spirit and then t-cut it back. Not too bad. But not a chain stay U brake set up so i date it as a 1989.

But oh shit, no cable guide under the bottom bracket!

Rush down to LBS to see if they can help

£1.50 later and i have a nice new one, but the bolt to secure is miles to big for the hole - pressumable some kind of rivet was used orginally.

LBS mention drilling out an adjencent hole and self tapping screws - i shudder and back myself to come up with something.

well double sided tape didn't work, my Araldite has run out and its 9pm on a Saturday.... lets have a look around the workshop...

a ha rawl plugs...

on she goes...trim of excess, and with the tension in the cables seems to be fixed in perfectly

the rest was plain sailing more or less. The cartridge bb seems to only fit the wrong way round - the main part of the unit will only go it on the non drive side. Thats how i've put it back together, I have an XT/DX cup and cone bb in another frame at the moment - if i can ever get that out i will give it a try on this one.

Anyway finished it off with mostly Deore kit i pulled from a Dawes Escape plus a bit of XT from a trash find from ebay, added a super cool turbo and she's not too far off spec, certainly the correct era.

I need a step ladder to get on this thing its that big, but have had a few rides atound the block and boy is she smooooth. Angles are slacker that MC Hammer's trousers, and with those balloon tyres, its like a lightweight Raleigh Bomber with gears - what's not to like!

Needs fresh decals of course, but will hand over to my "little" bro today and see what he thinks

Happy cycling!

Hello All,

Well I got hold of this bike today, and had a ride around the block. It felt just like the old days, even down to the slicks, proper sweet ride, much better than my 90's Hard Rock Sport, but from the same stable that's for sure. You can keep your 'dales thanks!

I should say thanks to my bro for sorting me out, just need to fine tune it now and then get some new decals and I think I will have my perfect Reto ride.

THANKS NICK!

Ross.


P.s if I ever find ahole that lifted my bike in the first place, I'll chop his b#lls off, I lost a good 3 year because of that!

P.p.s I don't know what Dad did with the insurance money, but it never worked its way into a new bike for me that's for sure.

P.p.p.s is it true they left your purple piece of crap in the shed! lol!