Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Follow up on the Duluth Travers: Duluth MTB town master plan

To get your stoke on for moving to Duluth or MN in that fact, or to get other Minnesotans excited about future destination riding areas in our state. This could honestly be the greatest thing to happen to our state in the terms of MTB ever and if not at least on par with Cuyuna and the Brainard lakes projects that are going on up there with Cut Lake and Pillsbury Forest hopefully getting built in the near future! Northern MN is blowing up in the MTB scene and I hope it doesn't stop!
Here is a Q&A about the Duluth traverse plan:

How was the Legacy grant acquired?
COGGS volunteer, Daryl Peterson, wrote the Legacy grant request and worked with the City of Duluth to apply. Legacy grants can only be acquired by major governmental agencies like a city or county. We originally wrote the grant for $100,000. However, after the State shutdown in the summer of 2011 postponed the grants, the Legacy grant funding changed from a 25% match to a 10% match and the deadlines were changed. After a meeting with Mayor Don Ness, COGGS and the City decided to apply for the full $500,000 amount. The City of Duluth was awarded $250,000 for construction of the Duluth Traverse by the MN DNR in December of 2011.

How much money is available for building the Duluth Traverse in 2012?
The Legacy grant is for $250,000 and the City of Duluth has agreed to contribute $100,000 to this project. We also have had smaller grants (Bikes Belong - $10,000, Parks Commision - $2000, Healthy Duluth Coalition - $4,000, Duluth Superior Community Foundation - $1,000) that have contributed $17,000. This, along with the $25,000 COGGS has fundraised privately equals $392,000 that is available for the DT in 2012 or was spent on planning/consulting in 2011. Thanks to our awesome team of grant writers and the City of Duluth’s support, our memberships’ contributions of $25,000 have been multiplied 16 times!

How will the money from the Legacy grant be spent?
The City of Duluth has won the Legacy grant, not COGGS. COGGS is ineligible to win a Legacy grant, it must be won by a governmental agency. However, the Legacy grant was written to fund the Duluth Traverse, so all $250,000 will go through the City to build the first phase of the Duluth Traverse. The City and COGGS have a Memorandum of Understanding in place allowing us to make joint decisions for the Duluth Traverse. This is a massive, multi-year project that will be done in many phases. For 2012, COGGS and the City of Duluth have prioritized finishing 3 miles of trail in Lester Park and beginning the construction of a substantial trail network in Mission Creek. The reason for these prioritizations are because we already have a professionally laid out trail corridor in Lester Park and it is one of the most highly used parks for outdoor recreation. By finishing the Lester system with 3 miles of professionally built trail with great flow, it will be a great example of the quality of trail that can be built using professionals and what can be expected for the rest of the Duluth Traverse. Mission Creek is a priority because it is a giant City park with excellent terrain for mountain biking and little barriers to trail development. Basically it is a blank canvas and the only area in Duluth where we can build a Cuyuna like system with double-digit miles of flow trail and loops of varying difficulty. The money will actually be spent on paying consultants to design the trail and contractors to build it. Our purpose for hiring professionals is two-fold. First and foremost, it’s because we want to build high quality, world-class trails. If we want the best trails possible, the best trailbuilders will be needed to design and build them. That means hiring people who build trails for a living and whose resumes include building the epic trails from all over the world. Our second reason for hiring pros is to accelerate how soon these world-class trails can be built. With significant funds available, we can hire a pro trailbuilding organization to come to Duluth with multiple machines and highly experienced operators and build more miles of trail in a month than we can in two years with volunteer labor alone.

Because the State Legacy grant has stringent environmental criteria, COGGS and the City of Duluth are spending their winter working on an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW), which requires an extensive review process. This is a very time-consuming process that is pushing the construction start date back to mid-July of 2012 at the earliest. Depending on how the many month review process of the EAW goes, it’s conceivable that our full authorization to build could be late into September or October, which could be too late to be able to hire a contractor to be able to build enough trail to make it worth the mobilization. We are working hard to avoid this scenario because we don’t want to lose momentum by losing our entire building season. The ways we are working to prevent this are going full gas on the environmental permits right now and also working on fundraising to be able to directly hire a contractor without the timely bidding process required by the Legacy grant to at least finish the Lester Park trail system this year once we have the EAW finished in July.

How much with the Duluth Traverse cost?

Our very rough estimates range from 1.6 to 2 million dollars. This includes having professional trail builders build world class looped systems from five different trail hubs (Lester, Hartley, Piedmont, Spirit Mountain and Mission Creek) and connecting them all with beginner level singletrack, called the Connector Trail. It’s expensive to have pro’s build the trail, but it’s the only way to build world-class trails in a timely manner. Estimated costs for pros building trail is $16,000/mile for easy terrain, $21,000/mile for moderate terrain and $42,000/mile for difficult terrain (read: rocky soil, and we have a lot of it). We also hope to build two bike parks, one in West Duluth and one at the Arlington athletic complex, and full-on downhill trails at Spirit Mountain. As you can see, although the $250,000 Legacy grant is an outstanding asset, it only gets us approximately 1/8 of the way to our goal of making Duluth the premier trail city in North America.

What kind of trail is the Duluth Traverse going to be?
COGGS vision for the Duluth Traverse is to build trails for all levels of riding ability. Duluth has a serious lack of beginner trails and it is a major hurdle to those who are new to the sport so this will be a focus. The Connector Trail is our name for a contiguous beginner level trail that will be the backbone of the Duluth Traverse. So from Lester Park to Fond du Lac there will be a beginner level flow trail. At our five trail hubs, we will have beginner, intermediate and advanced trails. Most of our current hubs already have plenty of intermediate and some advanced riding, but additional challenging trail will be built too. One consistent theme for all levels of trail will be flow. Flow is the often-used term to refer to trails that allow you to keep your momentum by not having unnecessarily sharp corners or unsustainable elevation changes. Riding a trail with good flow is similar to downhill skiing in powder. Whether the trail is for beginner or advanced riders, it’s not going to have unnecessary momentum killers, although the more difficult trails will have plenty of rock obstacles, other features and opportunities to get air. Along with these cross country trails, we also hope to build a full-on double black diamond downhill trails at Spirit Mountain and two bike parks with dirt jumps, pump tracks and skills park.

What will be the impact of the Duluth Traverse?

The Duluth Traverse is being built to IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association) standards for sustainable trail design and construction. This will minimize any impact on the environment and also minimize the costs of maintenance. The Duluth Traverse impact will have a much bigger impact on Duluth’s tourism industry and the economy than it will on the natural environment. The quality, size, and beautiful terrain will make it a regional draw and will bring riders here for multi-day vacations where they will also be able to enjoy all the other attractions that Duluth has to offer. The Duluth Traverse will help build a sense of inter-connectedness and community by connecting our parks with a greenway trail system. It will be one more reason why Duluth is increasingly becoming a great place to live, work, and play. The trail system will also be an economic engine attracting business owners and prospective employees to Duluth who want to take advantage of the recreational opportunities that the Duluth Traverse represents. But more importantly than all of that, it allows all of us out the door access to world class trails.

Who can use the Duluth Traverse trail system?
The Duluth Traverse trail system, though purpose built for mountain biking, will be suitable for many human powered recreational users such as trail running, hiking, dog-walking, nature watching, and snowshoeing. All of these sports are lifetime sports so people of all ages will be able to enjoy using the Duluth Traverse and it will contribute to a healthy and life-long active lifestyle. The trail system will pass near and benefit all Duluthians and visitors alike. It will make it easy for everyone to get out and enjoy Duluth’s beautiful park system and natural environment.

COGGS is rich now, so fundraising is done, right?

Sorry, but no. Because of winning four smaller grants and fundraising, COGGS currently has about $35,000 in the Duluth Traverse account and $10,000 in our operating account. $25,000 of the Duluth Traverse account will go towards the 10% match we need to fulfill our Legacy grant application (Pretty nice when we can multiply everyone’s contributions by 10). The remaining $10,000 may be used as matches for other grants, to pay for smaller projects, paying for environmental assessments or permitting and hiring consultants. Plus, in order to keep the project rolling, we’re going to be applying for the next round of Legacy grants and other grant opportunities, all of which will need match money. In order to keep this exciting project moving forward, fundraising is going to be a top priority from now until it’s done.

We can all quit building trail now because we can hire pros to do it, right?
COGGS has always been and will always be a group of people committed to building and maintaining trails. We currently have a system of 30 miles of existing trail that still needs a lot of work be become sustainable and be accessible to all types of riders. This will require a lot of volunteer trailwork to accomplish. As we mentioned above, hiring pros to build trail is expensive. As the Duluth Traverse is being built there may also be opportunities to supplement the professional trail labor with volunteer labor to increase the efficiency of the trail construction, especially with manual labor-intensive tasks such as clearing corridor and finishing work. Also, now that COGGS has put time and effort into training on how to build quality, sustainable trail, we are capable of transforming our network of marginal trails into something truly special. So we will still be picking up our pulaskis and mcleods every single week to make our trails better for everyone who uses them. Projects that will require volunteer trailwork for 2012 include:

· Significant reroutes on both east and west sides of Seven Bridges Rd in Lester
· Rehabilitating the Superior Hiking Trail to be sustainable from Hawk Ridge to Hartley, which COGGS has gained approval to be multi-use.
· Reroute of beginning and end of Guardrail loops in Hartley
· Several reroutes in Piedmont
· Building of 1 mile advanced loop called the Kissing Booth in Brewer Park
· 1-2 mile beginner loop near Spirit Mtn campground.

What is COGGS relationship with IMBA?

In 2011 COGGS became a chapter of the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA), an International organization that supports the interests of mountain bikers and a world leader in sustainable trail design and construction techniques.. What that means is that COGGS can now use IMBA’s resources to manage many aspects of our membership and promotions and part of the money that is taken in with memberships is shared with IMBA in a 60/40 split. IMBA will send each COGGS member renewal notices and will also send new members their membership gift. The reason COGGS became a chapter of IMBA is because IMBA has directly and indirectly had a hand in COGGS winning the $10,000 Bikes Belong grant and the $250,000 State Legacy grant, donated $7,000 of professional trail consulting towards the Duluth Traverse and their 2010 Trail Care Crew taught our entire team of volunteer trail builders sustainable trail design and construction, which is valued at $6,000. That means COGGS has received $274,000 of money and services that honestly would not have happened without IMBA’s support. Joining IMBA as a chapter, giving part of our membership dollars back to IMBA, and strengthening IMBA with our membership was the right thing to do so that they can continue to support us and other clubs like us.

How can I help?

First and foremost, join COGGS, encourage your friends to join COGGS as well and make it an annual practice to renew your membership. Since COGGS is now a chapter of IMBA, membership brings with it some nice benefits like magazine subscriptions and a variety of discounts. Second, contribute some of your time and money to COGGS and encourage your friends and family to do the same. Think to yourself what is it worth to you to be able to ride great trails right here in your hometown. Since COGGS is now a 501©3 organization your donations can be made tax deductible. COGGS has trail workdays where members get together and work on sections of trail for a few hours. These efforts are fun, good exercise, and surprisingly rewarding when you ride along the sections of trail that you helped build and maintain. Also consider joining the COGGS board or putting some of your special skill sets to work in some other way helping COGGS such as fundraising, grant writing, organizing social events, etc… Spread the word and let others know what COGGS and Duluth’s trail systems mean to you.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

helmet?

Season is fast approaching and that means it's time to check your gear, make your list of things you "need" and the wish list of thing you "need" but one thing we should all check out for sure is our helmets and this truly is a need.
Here is a useful site to check out- http://www.helmets.org/replace.htm
basically pull the padding if you can look for any compression cracks or bigger and if there are time to get a new brain bucket!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

flat pedal 30 day challenge

I thought this was great, Ryan Leech was interviewed by James Wilson and they discussed the travesty that riders can't ride flat pedals or are being pushed towards flats too early or even worse right from the git go!
I totally agree with them! Riders need to learn and practice on flats to become better riders!
Check out the write up and podcast here
http://www.bikejames.com/

And I challenge you this season to purchase a pair of mid range flat pedals and pick up a pair of decent shoes, at a minimum skate shoes if not a pair of Teva's or 5.10's and ride them exclusively for 30 day! I can guarantee you that it will exploit your weaknesses and improve your riding skills!

Keep it real!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Trek what?

So after my review of the Specialized Evo I got a request via email to do the same thing with the Trek trail/all mountain line up. They wanted to know what the best bike for MN and bang for their buck was? I said sure why not. I have nothing to lose here. First disclaimer here is that I have not ridden any of the 2012 line up from Trek. I have ridden the last two years EX models.
Let’s get this show on the road or trail is more relevant…? I guess yeah, lets hit the trail! First off what bikes will I be reviewing?
Fuel EX

Remedy

Slash

They are pretty comparable to most line ups, 120mm travel, 150mm travel and 160mm travel, respectably.
I would compare the Fuel EX to bikes like the Giant Trance X, Specialized Stumpjumper, Santa Cruz Blur TR, Rocky Mountain Element. This bike is a super versatile ride. It is something you can ride day in and day out. You can race some XC and be fairly competitive and even consider racing Super D races with it. It will handle most states well, MN especially, but will be lacking a bit when the shit hits the fan and the trail gets scary. You will be able to ride this bike up anything and down most anything. Please refer to the comparison chart at the bottom of the descriptions.
The Remedy is more that true do it all bike and is comparable to the Giant Reign, Specialized Stumpjumper EVO, Santa Cruz Blur LT, Norco Sight and Rocky Mountain Altitude. However straight out of the gate it has the same problem my bike has no ISCG tabs for the optional chain guide or taco bash guard. Also it is only sporting a 32mm stanchion fork. At 150mm of travel you will feel the flex when things get fast and steep. The 32mm stanchions on the EX is fine as the shorter travel means the stanchions will flex less and it is designed to be that multipurpose ride with more XC in mind. The Remedy is Treks variation of a due it all pretty well but nothing really well bike. It wouldn’t be that great at XC, travel is a bit long and not really that great at gravity riding as there are no ISCG tabs and it has a light weight fork but you could use it for all so it bridges from XC to DH. The next bike is more Treks heavy hitter of the trail bikes they have to offer.
The Trek Slash, it replaced the Scratch that had been in Treks line up for a while and was last made in 2010. I really like the Scratch air but it was built to go downhill extremely well and uphill, well it would get you there and the Scratch Coil was a full blown park bike, super plush and super agro! The plan according to Ross Schnell, one of Trek’s pro riders that were in on the design of this bike, was to combine the things he liked from the Scratch and the Remedy and make the ultimate trail weapon. I haven’t rode it so I can’t tell you for sure if they accomplished this feat but I can tell you it has got amazing reviews from just about everyone that has ridden it and it was featured in this year’s BIKE The Bible of the Bikes, where it also got good reviews. I would match this bike up with the Santa Cruz Nomad, Specialized Enduro, Rocky Mountain Slayer, Norco Range and Giant Reign X. It is sporting 160mm of travel with a 36mm stanchion fork and is slack. It has a 66 degree head tube angle and a 71.9 degree seat tube so it has me thinking it is still designed more for being pointed down then up. They may have made it a bit more pedalable then the Scratch but I’m not sure they have made it a true do it all weapon. I feel it will probably get you to the top a bit better then the Scratch and get you down a bit better then Remedy or EX but I think Trek might have fell short of their goal.  Again this can’t be confirmed till a solid test ride has been done.

Geo Specs
EX 18.5"
Remedy 18.5"
Slash 18.5"
Head Angle
68
67
66
Seat Tube Angle
72.5
73
71.9
BB Height
13.3
13.9
14.2
Top Tube Length
24
23.6
23.1
Wheel Base
44.7
45.3
45.8
Chain Stay Length
16.9
17.1
17.1
Stand Over Height
29.5
30.3
30.3
Components
Fork Travel
120mm
150mm
160mm
fork diameter
32mm
32mm
36mm
Shock travel
120mm
150mm
160mm
stem length
90mm
60mm
60mm
handle bar width
680mm
680mm
710mm
ISCG Tabs
no
no
Yes
Mino Link
no
yes
yes
142x12 rear
yes
yes
yes
Front Axle
15mm
15mm
20mm
DRCV
yes-all
yes-all
yes-all


Some of the cool features that Trek has added to this complete line up is the Dual Rate Control Valve or DRCV shock. This shock has a small actuator piston in it that allows you to run higher in your shock stroke, this will make it a more efficient pedaler but also get complete travel out of your suspension. How does it do this? Well it has two air chambers that are separated and controlled by a small piston. While you are pedaling, climbing and only hitting small bumps you remain in that first air chamber but as soon as your suspension is pushed in to the mid-stroke the piston is pushed upward and opens the second chamber allowing for more room for the air to expand giving your full travel and a smooth more linear stroke.
They also have a new technology that is offered on the Remedy and Slash, I would have to assume that it will be on the EX as soon as 2013, and that is the Mino Link. This link allows you to adjust the geometry of the bike by lowering the BB and slackening the head angle or visa versa. It only changes about .5 degree but that is enough to change how the bike handles and for a rider to notice.
Over all this is a good line up from Trek; however in my opinion Trek is a bit over priced compared to its competitors but has a few more bells and whistles. Are these new technologies worth the extra money? That is up to you. To answer the question asked by my reader… Drum roll please….
 I would go with the Fuel EX for here in MN. It looks like a great short travel Mid West do it all bike. It pedals great and now with the slightly slacker HA it is sure to descend better than the previous year’s model. I think this bike could be run on any trail in MN and WI. You could take this bike to the Maah Daah Hey and do an epic ride with this bike and race xc with if you want. I don’t know if it is quite big enough to rip everything in the Black Hills or be used as a DH bike in MN but a good rider could tear up a Super D race on this bike for sure.
If you are more gravity driven I would jump straight to the Slash and skip the Remedy. I haven’t been keen on that bike since they dropped it from a 160mm travel bike a few years ago. The Slash would be my bike of choice from the Trek line up if I lived in the UP, Black Hills or anywhere else out west. It has all the weapons in its arsenal to kill it on the steep tech stuff and also be ridden on the everyday basis. Ross Schnell showed us what it was made of when he ran it to the podium on at the first annual Trestle All Mountain Enduro.
So there you have it, short and sweet!
Keep it real!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Get out of my face already!

One can only ignore something screaming this loud in your face for so long! It is like my dog Jerry when he wants to play; he just annoys the shit out of you until you have to take action! So here it is I am going to take a good, long, hard look at this so called “ultimate trail weapon”- as it is called by Curtis Keene and he should know right? Well he rides for Specialized so he is paid to say that, so we will take that at face value and delve deeper.
First off let’s be clear, I am going to try and check my bias at the door, I have never been a big fan of Specialized bikes, not because their bikes are shit because they are not. They make a solid product but I feel they are overpriced and I hate that they try to integrate their proprietary parts into the bike. I see no need for this when the majority of companies have been striving for some sort of standard so that bikes are more compatible from manufacture to manufacture, hopefully bringing down the price a bit, and I appreciate this because then you can just buy a new frame and slap your kit on it and only have to upgrade a piece here or there as it wears out. And I’m not talking about using a handle bar, stem or seat post with their name on it but stuff that you have to go to a Specialized dealer to get worked on or at least get the parts for from them.  Specialized is notorious for trying to put their proprietary suspension on bikes that have odd sized O rings and even worse a 25mm thru axle?  So when you want a better fork, because their forks were junk, you had to buy a new wheel or at least a new hub? Come on! Not to throw just Specialized under the bus here. There are other companies like Cannondale with their stupid lefty fork and weird head tube.
That said let’s look at this bike as objectively as possible. First off every major bike magazine has been raving about this bike since it came out in 2011 and little on the bike has changed going into 2012. They do now offer a carbon version and that is all the new rage. Personally I’m not sold on carbon for mountain bikes; I’ll lose a couple lbs off my ass and do a couple more pushups to make up the couple lbs saving you get for the $2000 added price tag.
 That said, it was the overall bike choice by all but one of the bike reviewers in this year’s BIKE Bible of Bikes issue, it won the VitalMTB Shreddy for Best Mountain Bike of the Year. It has all the accolades going for it, all the pros and bike magazines are raving about it but is it really the cat’s meow? Should we all sell our bikes and go buy this bike? Is it really the quiver killer that they claim? Well it could be…..
I have reviewed the numbers, read the reviews, looked at all the pictures and videos and even stopped in at Erik’s and looked at it and at first glance it’s nice. The Comp version could use a better color scheme but the frame kit and the carbon model are sexy. I didn’t get much of a test ride. It was a different customer’s bike that had just came in so I couldn’t ride it outside the shop but I fooled around on it in the shop. Honestly, I couldn’t tell much difference between that bike and the normal stumpy.
The numbers (I’ve highlighted the important numbers here):


Size
M
Seat Tube Length, Center to Top
430mm
Top Tube Length, Horizontal
587mm
Top Tube Length, Actual
588mm
Bottom Bracket Drop
1mm
Bottom Bracket Height
338mm
Chainstay Length
420mm
Seat Tube Angle Actual (Carbon)
69.6°
Seat Tube Angle Actual (Alloy)
70°
Seat Tube Angle Effective
74.5°
Head Tube Angle
68°
Wheel Base
1123mm
Standover Height
744mm
Head Tube Length
130mm
Stack
587mm
Reach
424mm
Handlebar Width
720mm
Stem Length
75mm
Crank Length
175mm
Seatpost Length
425mm




Size
M
Seat Tube Length, Center to Top
430mm
Top Tube Length, Horizontal
587mm
Top Tube Length, Actual
588mm
Bottom Bracket Drop
4mm
Bottom Bracket Height
335mm
Chainstay Length
420mm
Seat Tube Angle Actual (Carbon)
68.6°
Seat Tube Angle Actual (Alloy)
69°
Seat Tube Angle Effective
73.5°
Head Tube Angle
67°
Wheel Base
1129mm
Standover Height
744mm
Head Tube Length
130mm
Stack
592mm
Reach
414mm
Handlebar Width
720mm
Stem Length
75mm
Crank Length
175mm
Seatpost Length
425mm


If you look at the numbers, it is very easy to see why they feel extremely close to one another. Really in all essence of the game they are the same bike with a bigger fork and a different rear link to allow a longer shock stroke. This different link actually is what makes all the changes. It lowers the BB but only by 3mm, that is nothing to write home about, it slackens the HA by a degree, ok that’s more like it, and adds 6mm to the overall wheelbase, probably not going to notices that much at all.
The major differences to me are not going to be found in the numbers I guess. Let’s look at what else they have changed or added to make this the ultimate trail weapon they claim.
Spec lists (highlighted in yellow important stuff, green differences):
Stumpjumper Comp FSR Medium ($2750):


FRAME
M5 hydroformed tubing, tapered HT, PF30 BB, ISCG ’05, Command Post routing, 142mm dropouts, sealed cartridge bearing pivots, replaceable derailleur hanger, 140mm travel
REAR SHOCK
Custom Fox Triad II with AUTOSAG, custom on-the-fly 3-position compression switch 1) Lock out 2) Open 3) ProPedal, rebound adj., 197x51mm
FORK
Fox Evolution F140 RL, air spring, tapered steerer, LO and reb adj., standard drop-outs, 140mm
HEADSET
1-1/8 and 1-1/2" Threadless, Campy style upper with 1-1/2" lower, cartridge bearings
STEM
Specialized XC, 3D forged alloy, 4-bolt, 31.8mm clamp, adjustable rise, S: 60mm, M: 75, L:90, XL:105mm
HANDLEBARS
Specialized All-Mountain low-rise, 6061 butted alloy, 720mm wide, 8º backsweep, 6º upsweep, 31.8mm
GRIPS
Specialized lock-on, S/M: Grappler, Others: Grappler XL
FRONT BRAKE
Custom Avid Elixir 7 SL, hydraulic disc, alloy backed semi-metallic pad, HS-1 rotor S/M:180mm, Others: 200mm
REAR BRAKE
Custom Avid Elixir 7 SL, hydraulic disc, alloy backed semi-metallic pad, HS-1 rotor S/M:160mm, Others: 180mm
BRAKE LEVERS
Custom Avid Elixir 7 SL hydraulic, tool-less reach adj.
FRONT DERAILLEUR
SRAM X7, 10-speed, S3 direct mount for DMD, bottom-pull
REAR DERAILLEUR
SRAM X9, 10-speed, mid cage
SHIFT LEVERS
SRAM X7, 10-speed, aluminum trigger
CASSETTE
SRAM PG-1030, 10-speed, 11-36t
CHAIN
KMC X-10, 10-speed, w/ reusable Missing Link, nickel plates
CRANKSET
Custom SRAM S-1250, 7050 alloy arms, 10-speed XC Trail double, PF30 spindle, S: 170mm, Others: 175mm
CHAINRINGS
38/24, w/ alloy guard
BOTTOM BRACKET
SRAM PF30, OS press-in bearing, sealed cartridge
PEDALS
Resin Test Ride Pedals with toe clips, CEN std.
RIMS
Roval 26, alloy disc, 26mm wide, 32h
FRONT HUB
Specialized Hi Lo disc, laser-etched logo, OS 24 end caps, sealed cartridge bearing, RWS, 32h
REAR HUB
Specialized Hi Lo 142+ disc, laser-etched logo, double-sealed cartridge bearing, 12mm thru-axle, 32h
SPOKES
DT Swiss Industry stainless 2.0 (14g)
FRONT TIRE
Specialized Purgatory Control, 120 TPI, 2Bliss ready, aramid bead, dual-compound, 26x2.2"
REAR TIRE
Specialized Ground Control, 60 TPI, 2Bliss ready aramid bead, 26x2.1"
INNER TUBES
Ultralight presta valve
SADDLE
Body Geometry Henge Comp, hollow Cr-Mo rails, 143mm width
SEATPOST
2014 butted alloy, single bolt setback, 30.9mm, S/M: 350mm, Others: 400mm
SEAT BINDER
34.9mm clamp ID, 7050 hard anodized alloy collar w/ QR, black
NOTES
Protective clear coat, Specialized Dangler chain management radness, derailleur hanger, reflectors, owners manual


Stumpjumper Comp EVO Medium ($3300):

FRAME
M5 hydroformed tubing, EVO geometry, tapered HT, PF30 BB, ISCG ’05, Command Post routing, 142mm dropouts, sealed cartridge bearing pivots, replaceable derailleur hanger, 150mm travel
REAR SHOCK
Custom Fox RP2 with AUTOSAG, ProPedal and rebound adj., SJ FSR eyelet extension, 197x51mm
FORK
RockShox Revelation RL, Motion Control damper, alloy steerer, comp and LO and reb adj., standard dropouts, 150mm
HEADSET
1-1/8 and 1-1/2" Threadless, Campy style upper with 1-1/2" lower, cartridge bearings
STEM
Specialized XC, 3D forged alloy, 4-bolt, 31.8mm clamp, adjustable rise, S/M: 60mm, L:75, XL:90mm
HANDLEBARS
Specialized All-Mountain low-rise, 6061 butted alloy, 720mm wide, 8º backsweep, 6º upsweep, 31.8mm
GRIPS
Specialized lock-on, S/M: Grappler, Others: Grappler XL
FRONT BRAKE
Custom Avid Elixir 7 SL, hydraulic disc, alloy backed semi-metallic pad, HS-1 rotor S/M:180mm, Others: 200mm
REAR BRAKE
Custom Avid Elixir 7 SL, hydraulic disc, alloy backed semi-metallic pad, HS-1 rotor S/M:160mm, Others: 180mm
BRAKE LEVERS
Custom Avid Elixir 7 SL hydraulic, tool-less reach adj.
FRONT DERAILLEUR
SRAM X7, 10-speed, S3 direct mount for DMD, bottom-pull
REAR DERAILLEUR
SRAM X9, 10-speed, mid cage
SHIFT LEVERS
SRAM X7, 10-speed, aluminum trigger
CASSETTE
SRAM PG-1030, 10-speed, 11-36t
CHAIN
KMC X-10, 10-speed, w/ reusable Missing Link, nickel plates
CRANKSET
Custom SRAM S-1250, 7050 alloy arms, 10-speed AM double, PF30 spindle, S: 170mm, Others: 175mm
CHAINRINGS
36/24, w/ Specialized bash guard, chain guide
BOTTOM BRACKET
SRAM PF30, OS press-in bearing, sealed cartridge
PEDALS
Resin Test Ride Pedals with toe clips, CEN std.
RIMS
Roval 26, alloy disc, 28mm wide, 32h
FRONT HUB
Specialized Hi Lo disc, laser-etched logo, sealed cartridge bearing, 20mm thru-axle, 32h
REAR HUB
Specialized Hi Lo 142+ disc, laser-etched logo, double-sealed cartridge bearing, 12mm thru-axle, 32h
FRONT TIRE
Specialized Butcher Control, 60 TPI, 2Bliss ready, aramid bead, dual-compound, 26x2.3"
REAR TIRE
Specialized Purgatory Control, 60 TPI, 2Bliss ready, aramid bead, dual-compound, 26x2.2"
SADDLE
Body Geometry Henge Comp, hollow Cr-Mo rails, 143mm width
SEATPOST
Specialized Command Post BlackLite, 3 position, adjustable height w/air spring, remote operated, single bolt head 30.9mm, S:100mm travel, Others: 125mm
SEAT BINDER
34.9mm clamp ID, 7050 hard anodized alloy collar, single bolt
NOTES
Protective clear coat, derailleur hanger, owners manual


As you can see there isn’t a whole lot of green here, and I only touched on the important things, and that means my original thoughts of not really being able to tell the two apart isn’t that far off. I know it’s just numbers and crap on paper. Agreed, I haven’t been able to put the two through their paces, yet, to really get a feel for the difference. I plan on going to the first specialized demo that will happen in May sometime, date not set.
Ok we have scratched the surface and shown there aren’t a lot of changes but are those changes significant?
They could definitely affect the ride feel and quality. They say a good rider can tell the difference in a HA as little as .25 degree. I will say this, I couldn’t tell much of a difference in this just sitting on them and tooling around the store and honestly it didn’t feel as slack as my Giant Reign but is on paper .5 degree slacker. So I’m not sure about that. It might have something to do that the bike might have not been set up for me, proper sag and all, also there may be some other geometry factors that give it that feel, I’m not 100% on this and that might change when I get a chance to get crazy with it.  The other changes are pretty minimal in the geometry and I doubt they will changed the ride feel much besides the seat tube angle that degree might change the feel for seated pedaling and climbing a bit but probably negligible.
I think the big changes are really in the equipment. You get 10mm more travel front and rear. You get a chain guide, dropper post, better rear shock, shorter stem, dropper seat post and most of all a 20mm thru axle up front opposed to the 15mm thru axle on the regular Stumpjumper. That will definitely help with the stiffening of the front end but I still think they fell short.
If I was to build this and label it as a All Mountain bike as many magazines have, I know Specialized is calling it a Trail bike but there isn’t much difference here, it should have a 36mm fork up front to really give it that confidence inspiring feel. Curtis Keene talks about this in his interview that I link earlier in the write up. Stiffer and burlier for those massive descents this bike is supposed to be able to take that the other Stumpy can’t.
The other upgraded hardware is going to be nice for sure. Quite the chain with that guide, get the seat out of the way with the dropper and better handling with that shorter stem.  It does have a nice shock that is standard but if you look close you will see one of those proprietary things that bug me. Do you see it? Look close at the shock… Yep, it’s that stupid proprietary integrated wish bone suspension link! That means, as far as I know as well as the bike shop, you are stuck with that shock. The bike shop said there might be an adaptor you can get but it will be a hassle. That might be nit picking here but really a piggy back shock on a bike like this might be nice. It will give you a lot more tunablility that you won’t get out of a RP23. Over all the bike looks cool and is spec’d pretty nicely all around.
Is it worth the extra money over the standard Stumpjumper? Yeah I would say so. You wouldn’t be able to add all those upgrades yourself for that money. Is it cooler than the standard Stumpy? Well I think so because it’s more my style but that is debatable. There aren’t major changes and some people probably don’t need that added travel, dropper post and chain guide so I’ll leave that up to you.
Now how does it stack up?
First my current ride, 2011 Giant Reign 2
Well we won’t look at the spec’s because I can tell you right now it is spec’d better then my bike and that right there would be an improvement but I could do those upgrades. So what I’ll be looking at and be worried about is how they pair up for geometry as that you can’t change too much.


Size
Head Angle
Seat Angle
Top Tube
Head Tube
Chain Stay
Wheel Base
Standover Height
Inches
Degrees
Degrees
Inches
Inches
Inches
Inches
Inches
M
67.50
73.50
23.20
5.00
17.20
44.50
31.90


Well Giant is a heck of a lot more right to the point now aren’t they, haha.
Ok HA on the Stumpy Evo is a half degree slacker as mentioned before. The seat tube angle is exactly the same, the top tube is the same as 588mm = 23.149inch, head tube length is the same 130mm = 5.12inch, the Evo has a shorter chain stay by almost an inch, 420mm=16.5inch, that is nice, the wheel base however is the same which will equal the same stability 1129mm = 44.49 but the shorter chain stay should give the Evo a slightly more responsive feel to the rear end, feeling more flickable and a bit easier to manual, hmmm? They also both have 150mm of travel or about 6 inches front and rear.
These bikes stack up awfully close to each other. Which should really be a surprise as the Reign is basically the Evo of the Giant line up, they have the Trance X that pairs well with the Stumpy and the Reign X that pairs well with the Enduro and until now the Reign was kind of the odd child out. I guess Giant was just a bit a head of the game.
There are a few other nice features that the Evo has over my bike. Namely the 142x12 rear axle as this will add nice rear end stiffness and the ISCG 05 tabs are a nice option to have. My bike is extremely noisy on rough descents and a chain guide would be a nice addition however with the press fit BB that isn’t an option, bummer I know!
Ok even if I brought my bike up to the same spec level I think that the Evo would win out minus one factor that really bugs me. I don’t like the proprietary shock and I don’t like the cable routing on the bottom of the down tube. To me that just screams F’d up cables and that could get expensive. I know you could reroute them yourself, that is an option and I don’t know if they sell some sort of protection piece that can be added because that would solve the damage problem but it wouldn’t solve the issue with cleaning it. Think about it what is the dirtiest spot on your bike after you are done riding? The down tube!
Ok now my current dream bike, the Rocky Mountain Slayer!

I have both the 18 and 19 as I’m not sure which size I would be but the main stuff shouldn’t change too much.
Geometry

Size
18"
19"
Head Angle
66.5°
66.5°
Seat Angle
75°
75°
Seat Tube length
457
482
Horiz. Toptube Length
575
595
Headtube Length
125
145
Chainstay Length
428
428
BB Drop
-16
-16
Wheelbase
1147
1169
Standover Height
761
777


Well as you can see the Slayer looks a lot more like my Reign then it does the Evo but let’s see how the numbers play out. First off the HA is a half degree slacker on the Slayer and it has a 5mm shorter head tube so that will probably result in a slightly slacker head tube angle. Actually when I sat on the slayer it did feel slacker then my Reign but when pedaling it around it didn’t feel that different but again I haven’t rode it on the trail, yet! The next big thing that stands out to me is the seat tube angle, I know that Rocky is really selling this and I can’t comment too much on it. It feels a bit different sitting on it. You feel very upright, like a nun’s posture, but not sure if that is good or bad yet. The Evo falls right in the middle of the two Rocky sizes when it comes to top tube length and Rocky is using a 55mm stem opposed to the 60mm on the Evo so that might mean I would need the 19inch and I’ve read that the straight up seat post does add a bit of a cramped feeling while riding. So the wheel base on both the 18” and 19” on the Rocky are longer so might be a bit more stable. 18” = 20mm longer and 40mm longer on the 19” that is about an inch per size which would go right along with the longer top tube for each. Finally the chain stay is very close 8mm longer on the Slayer, that won’t really be noticed when riding, I don’t think.
Rocky is rocking just as good if not better components throughout the build, the price tag is a bit steeper and the Slayer 50 is equipped pretty similar to the EVO comp and is much more in line with the price as well.  They have similar suspension set ups with the Evo having the horst link 4 bar and the Slayer having the smooth link 4 bar set up, I’m sure similar feel. I would really need to ride this to make a solid decision though. The Rocky is boasting the 36mm fork with the 20mm through axle that I was asking for and it as well has the 142x12 rear axle. They both have the awful under the down tube cable routing, I have no fricken clue what the designers were thinking when routing the cables this way but it seems to be fairly common place.  The Slayer also has a robust 165mm rear travel and 160 front travel, I’m not sure this much travel is really necessary for MN, that said this bike was built for the shore and has a more DH/free ride upbringing then the XC background that the EVO brings to the table. That said which bike is better? Hmmm, that is a very good quest. I am still very partial to the Slayer, sick name I know the bike company builds bomber bikes however it might not be the right bike for this area. It probably pairs better with Specialized’s Enduro and Giant’s Reign X. It is a bit more gravity oriented but would still get the job done for sure.
If you are looking for one good all around bike that can climb well and still get the job done on the descents I think the Evo is probably a better bike and a better bike for MN and the mid west gravity junkies that have to work to get to the top. That said if you already have a bike you can do the XC gig with and want a bike that pedals well and straight kills it on the descents I would lean towards the Slayer. It just has the edge on that with the geometry and the travel it brings to the table!
All in all these are all great bikes. I love the Reign and it will get the job done for now. The other two bikes are both bomber, they addressed the issues I’m looking at the 142x12 rear axle and the ISCG tabs. I would have to change the fork on the EVO to truly be happy with it but that can be done.
I don’t know I’ll leave it up to you to make up your own mind on the Evo! Hope this helped shed some light!
Keep it real!

PS: Here is a write up from PinkBike and another one from VitalMTB as well as one from BikeRadar