Specialized Stumpjumper

Specialized started to produce the Stumpjumper in 1981, making it the first mass-production mountain bike.{{cite journal|date=1 August 1992|title=Reinventing the wheel|journal=The Economist|volume=324|issue=7770|pages=61–62}}{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/cycling/2006-03-22-cycling-bikes_x.htm|title=Still shredding after all these years|last=Ruibal|first=Sal|date=22 March 2006|work=USA Today|accessdate=2 December 2010}} The first Stumpjumper was produced in Japan and was based on a design for a custom-made bike originally marketed by Tom Ritchey, Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/framingproductio0000rose|url-access=registration|title=Framing Production: Technology, Culture, and Change in the British Bicycle Industry|first=Paul|last=Rosen|year=2002|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|publisher=MIT Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/framingproductio0000rose/page/136 136]|isbn=0-262-68170-6}} Specialized's founder Mike Sinyard 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 stem and handlebars based on Magura motorcycle handlebars. The bike was equipped with 15-speed Suntour ARX GT gears, originally designed for use on road bikes, and the Stumpjumper also featured Mafac cantilever brakes and a TA Cyclotourist chainset, both designed for touring bikes. It had no suspension. The bike weighed just under {{convert|30|lb|kg}}.

After the first production run in 1981, around 500 were imported to the United States over the course of the next year.

{{cite news

|url=http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/interview-specialized-founder-mike-sinyard-28233

|title=Interview: Specialized founder Mike Sinyard

|last=Rogers

|first=Seb

|publisher=BikeRadar

|date=23 October 2010

|accessdate=2 December 2010

}}

{{cite book

|page=56

|title=The Birth of Dirt: Origins of Mountain Biking

|first=Frank J.

|last=Berto

|year=1999

|isbn=1-892495-10-4

|url=http://www.cyclepublishing.com/cyclingbooks/

|publisher=Cycle Publishing/Van der Plas Publications

|location = San Francisco, CA, USA

}}

{{cite book

|author=Berto, Frank J.

|title=The Birth of Dirt: Origins of Mountain Biking

|edition=2nd

|date=2008

|origyear=1999

|isbn=978-1-892495-61-7

|url=http://www.cyclepublishing.com/cyclingbooks/

|publisher=Cycle Publishing/Van der Plas Publications

|location = San Francisco, CA, USA

|accessdate=May 29, 2017

}} 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".{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3nnhUBCfLXoC&pg=PT178|title=Bike for Life: How to Ride to 100|first1=Roy M.|last1=Wallack|first2=Bill|last2=Katovsky|year=2005|location=New York|publisher=Marlowe and Company|isbn=1-56924-451-0|page=153}} 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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KHQgCROZZjwC&pg=PA14|title=Mountain Bike Madness|year=2003|first1=J.P.|last1=Partland|first2=John|last2=Gibson|page=14|location=St. Paul, Minnesota|publisher=MBI Publishing|isbn=0-7603-1440-3}} 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.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bicyclingmagazin00hewi|url-access=registration|title=Bicycling Magazine's Mountain Biking Skills: Skills and Techniques to Master any Terrain|first=Ben|last=Hewitt|year=2005|page=v|location=Emmaus, Pennsylvania|publisher=Rodale Press|isbn=1-59486-299-0}}

An original Stumpjumper is displayed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2008/05/15/smbusiness/specialized_bikes.fsb/index.htm?postversion=2008052000|title=King of the mountain bike|last=Overfelt|first=Maggie|date=20 May 2008|publisher=CNN Money|accessdate=2 December 2010}}{{cite news|title=Mountain bike founders still cycling|last=Eng|first=Sherri|date=26 September 1994|work=Calgary Herald|page=C1}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/archive/2007/stumpjumperhardtail/stumpjumperclassic|title=Stumpjumper Classic|publisher=Specialized Bicycle Components|accessdate=7 April 2014}}

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.{{cite news|url=http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/stumpjumper-comp-ht-09-33627|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090311153218/http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/mountain/product/stumpjumper-comp-ht-09-33627|archive-date=11 March 2009|title=Specialized Bicycles Stumpjumper Comp HT (09)|last=Rogers|first=Seb|publisher=BikeRadar|date=7 March 2009|accessdate=2 December 2010}}

Professional mountain bikers who ride Stumpjumpers include Christoph Sauser{{cite news|url=http://www.specialized.com/cn/en/bc/SBCWhatsNewDetail.jsp?article=6979&refp=USHome&menuItemId=0&articleType=CompanyNews|title=Christoph Sauser Wins in Cederberg, South Africa aboard his Stumpjumper|publisher=Specialized Bicycle Components|accessdate=3 December 2010}} and Ned Overend.{{cite web|url=http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=22216|title=Stumpjumper FSR Expert|publisher=Specialized Bicycle Components|accessdate=2 December 2010}} Overend won the 1990 Mountain Bike World Championships – the first ever event of its kind – on a carbon-fiber prototype Stumpjumper.

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|title=Stumpjumper: 25 Years of Mountain Biking|first=Mark|last=Riedy|year=2006|location=Halcottsville, New York|publisher=Breakaway Books|isbn=1-891369-63-6}}

• [http://mombat.org/MOMBAT/Bikes/1982_Stumpjumper_1055.html 1982 Specialized Stumpjumper] at the Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology
• [https://www.specialized.com/us/en/stumpjumper Stumpjumper] on Specialized's website

Category:Mountain biking

Category:Specialized Bicycle Components