The Specialized Stumpjumper is a

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling. Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, which m ...

produced by

Specialized Bicycle Components Specialized Bicycle Components, Inc., colloquially known as and stylized as SPECIALIZED, is an American company which designs, manufactures and markets bicycles, bicycle components and related products under the brand name "Specialized", as well ...

. When it was first produced in 1981, the Stumpjumper was the first

mass-production Mass production, also known as flow production or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. Together with job production and bat ...

mountain bike. The Stumpjumper is still in production, although its design has changed significantly since it was first sold. Stumpjumpers have been raced professionally by riders including

Christoph Sauser Christoph Sauser (born 13 April 1976 in Sigriswil, Switzerland) is a cross-country mountain biker who won the bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He currently races on the Specialized Cross Country Team. He was ...

and

Ned Overend Edmund ("Ned") Overend (born 20 August 1955) is an American former professional cross-country mountain bike racer. He is a six-time NORBA cross-country mountain bike national champion who became the first-ever cross-country world champion by win ...

History

Specialized started to produce the Stumpjumper in 1981, making it the first mass-production mountain bike. The first Stumpjumper was produced in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

and was based on a design for a custom-made bike originally marketed by

Tom Ritchey Tom Ritchey (born 1956) is an American bicycle frame builder, Category 1 racer, fabricator, designer, and founder of Ritchey Design. Ritchey is a US pioneer in modern frame building and the first production mountain bike builder/manufacturer i ...

Gary Fisher Gary Christopher Fisher (born November 5, 1950) is considered one of the inventors of the modern mountain bike. Fisher started competing in road and track races at age 12. He was suspended in 1968 because race organizers cited a rule that his h ...

and Charles Kelly. Specialized's founder

Mike Sinyard Mike Sinyard is the founder and chairman of Specialized Bicycle Components, an American manufacturer of bicycles and cycling components. In 2022, he retired as the CEO of Specialized Bicycle Components, a company he had led for 48 years. Early Car ...

has explained that the company's aim was to "make a bike on a production basis but as though it was a custom bike". The first Stumpjumpers had welded steel frames because the lugged and brazed frames that designer Tim Neenan wanted to use were not available at the time. The original bike had a modified

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the earl ...

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

and handlebars based on Magura motorcycle handlebars. The bike was equipped with 15-speed Suntour ARX GT

gears A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called ''cogs''), which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit (convert) torque and speed. The basic p ...

, originally designed for use on

road bike The term road bicycle is used to describe bicycles built for traveling at speed on paved roads. Some sources use the term to mean racing bicycle. Other sources specifically exclude racing bicycles from the definition, using the term to mean a ...

s, and the Stumpjumper also featured

Mafac MAFAC, or Manufacture Arvernoise de Freins et Accessoires pour Cycles (Arveni Manufacturing Works for Bicycle Brakes and Accessories), was a French manufacturer of bicycle brakes and tool kits. MAFAC was founded in post-war France under the name " ...

cantilever

brakes A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Backgroun ...

and a TA Cyclotourist

chainset The crankset (in the US) or chainset (in the UK), is the component of a bicycle drivetrain that converts the reciprocating motion of the rider's legs into rotational motion used to drive the chain or belt, which in turn drives the rear wheel ...

, both designed for

touring bike A touring bicycle is a bicycle designed or modified to handle bicycle touring. To make the bikes sufficiently robust, comfortable and capable of carrying heavy loads, special features may include a long wheelbase (for ride comfort and to avoid pe ...

s. It had no suspension. The bike weighed just under . After the first production run in 1981, around 500 were imported to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

over the course of the next year. The original Stumpjumper was sold for US$750 as a complete bike or $395 for the frame only. Specialized marketed it as an affordable and versatile bike for a new sport, namely mountain biking, and used the slogan "The bike for all reasons". Initially, bike retailers were skeptical about the Stumpjumper, with some asking Sinyard what he was doing with a "big kids' BMX". However, the first shipment of 125 bikes sold out in six days. According to sports journalist Ben Hewitt, the Stumpjumper "was a resounding success" and its introduction contributed to the rapid rise in popularity of the new sport. An original Stumpjumper is displayed in the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Found ...

in Washington, D.C. A limited edition reproduction of the original Stumpjumper, featuring modern components and named the Stumpjumper Classic, was produced in 2007 to mark the bike's 25th anniversary. It was available for US$1,300.

Present day

Specialized continue to produce the Stumpjumper, which, like mountain bikes in general, has evolved significantly since 1981 and seen iterations in full (front and rear) suspension and hardtail (front suspension only) options, with the former named the Stumpjumper FSR until the Stumpjumper line-up became full-suspension only.

Use by professional riders

Professional mountain bikers who ride Stumpjumpers include

and

. Overend won the 1990

Mountain Bike World Championships The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships are the world championship events for mountain bike racing in the disciplines of cross country, downhill, and four-cross. They are organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the governing b ...

– the first ever event of its kind – on a carbon-fiber prototype Stumpjumper.

References

External links

1982 Specialized Stumpjumper
at the Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology
Stumpjumper
on Specialized's website Mountain biking Specialized Bicycle Components

History

Present day

Use by professional riders

References

Further reading

External links