Awesome bike, have not had it long and still setting it up, but first impressions are great. The new fork really made this bike awesome. It climbs very, very well and stops great with the new pads. Great hard tail.
Bike Setup: XT rear derailer, LX everything else. New Rock Shock Toro U-Turn 318, Cool-stop MTB pads, Cane Creek headset.
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Submitted by
mike gray
a Weekend Warrior
from sturgis ms usa
Date Reviewed: July 1, 2007
Strengths: lightweight climbs like a goat.nice fork fox f90.shifts great just touch x7 shifters and they shift.
Weaknesses: flat black paint hard to clean.sram rear derailer seems vulnerable to rocks and roots.grips sux.other than that great fast hardtail.ps avid sd3 brakes fair but not great
Bottom Line:
this is a fast bike with great tires and components but I didnt get the brakes I was told I would get when I ordered the bike but they,r ok. if your climbing alot this scooter rocks
Similar Products Used: cannoondale f1000and santa cruz superlight both light
Bike Setup: stock other than time atac composite pedals
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Submitted by
jay
a Cross Country Rider
from montreal
Date Reviewed: April 28, 2007
Strengths: Light frame, decent stock parts for price paid, good fork
Weaknesses: tires aren't great for trails, seat is hard as nails, crankseat is average
Bottom Line:
It is a great bike for the cost, dont expect it to performe like a 5000$ bike and to the person who said it doesn't come with a stand you should just sell your bike r-tard. The frame is excellent and any parts that you don't like can be swaped for better ones.
Submitted by
Caleb Johnson
a Weekend Warrior
from Denver
Date Reviewed: July 16, 2006
Strengths: Light, Fast, great control, nice look. Best bike for the value. And the best hard tail out there if you simply upgrade a few components. Great for cranking up steep hills and accelerating fast. Solid Solid ride. But then again i am a hard tail fan
Weaknesses: Specialized crankset is a POS..... it creeks and sounds like it is about to snap and the teeth totally suck. Duke XC are average. Paint chips and frame dents on hard falls. Rims bend easily. The tires are aweful...... they work great on paved roads and that is it. Worst of all, no kickstand.....
Bottom Line:
The bike comes equipped with decent components considering the price of the bike. If you are like me, you bought this bike for the kickass frame. Wheatridge Cyclery is great about parting out components when you purchase a bike, all you do is pay the difference, so i was able to upgrade to XTR and XT for a few extra hundo. Also, It's light and durable. I weigh over 200 lbs and have literally beaten the sh@t out of this bike.
Similar Products Used: Trek hard tails do not compare
Bike Setup: XTR derailers, XT V-brakes, Chris King Hubs, XT shifters, Will be upgrading to Manitou R7 Elites soon!
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Submitted by
Ryan Fishel
a Cross Country Rider
from Tallahassee, FL
Date Reviewed: December 19, 2005
Strengths: Great frame. Light. Always feels solid. Tires are smaller than the newer Stumpys, but they're much faster. Just watch out in sand. Replaced the cranks with the '05 XT's and the bike now weighs 24.0 lbs on the dot.
Weaknesses: Stock cranks are no good. Upgraded to '05 XT's. Much nicer.
Bottom Line:
Great bike. Would only replace it with a newer one. However, at this point, maybe not. Too nice of a bike.
Submitted by
Kyle
a Cross Country Rider
from DeLuz, CA
Date Reviewed: February 13, 2004
Strengths: Light, strong, and fast. The frame on this bike is awesome. It gives new meaning to "Direct Drive". Great on the single track and climbs with anything. Very durable, decent components. Great Value.
Weaknesses: Shifting can be a bit finicky at times. Stock tires didn't hold up well or offer great traction on the trail. Like others have said, the seat is a bit hard.
Bottom Line:
A friend of mine reintroduced me to moutain biking last May and I've been hooked ever since. I bought this bike as a leftover 6 months ago and have put almost 2,000 miles on it. I ride 3-4 days a week on a wide variety of terrain including some some very technical single track trails. This bike has allowed me to progress from a beginner to an upper-intermediate level rider in a short period of time. It's fast, handles great, and eats full-suspension bikes for lunch on the climbs. Most of the people I ride with have spent lots of money building custom bikes and this bike doesn't give up anything to them in terms of performance. It looks really good too! If you're in the market for an all-around XC bike, it's hard to beat.
Strengths: Basically everything. You get stong components, a sweet lightweight frame, an all-around nice bike.
Weaknesses: The stock tires sucked. Thats the only complaint i had. I switched them for some Panaracers and haven't had a problem since.
Bottom Line:
This bike is thge bomb. It takes what ever i can dish out. Its quality and light enough to race, it can take some pretty high drops, this bike just flies both uphill and downhill.
Similar Products Used: Specialized Rockhopper, another sweet ride but I moved up to the Stumpy.
Bike Setup: stock except for the tires, Panaracer Fire XC Pro
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Submitted by
REX 1
a Cross Country Rider
from TACOMA, WA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 30, 2003
Strengths: Fast as a Speeding Bullet, Light as a Feather, Climbs like Spider Man. Awesome Paint Job.
Weaknesses: Seat is not comfortable. Could not get use to after 2 weeks so I bought the Specialized Pro Gel Saddle which is very nice, just expensive. Tires don't have much traction. Front derailer is only an LX. But definately no complaints.
Bottom Line:
The best bike for the money for sure. This bike fly's past many bikes that are twice the price.
Bike Setup: Basic setup except for Specialized Pro Gel Saddle. Sweet saddle.
Overall Rating:
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Submitted by
Dave Palazzolo
a Weekend Warrior
from Salt Lake City, Ut
Date Reviewed: March 7, 2003
Strengths: Light! Good Components. The frame is the bomb! Plus the Fox Shox on the front is better than any shock I've ridden! The front tire stays in contact with the ground better than I thought possible. The bike comes with a lot of added features and solid components for the price. The bike is so blasted fast, it really hooks up and goes.
Weaknesses: I'm kind of surprised that it has an XTR rear deraler and an LX front. Seems strange. I'd rather have XT front and rear. The handlebar puts my wrists at a funny angle. I wish it had a riser bar. The paint is gorgeous but brittle. I wasn't crazy about the SD5R V-brakes so I promply upgraded to Avid Mechanical disks and upgraded wheels. The tires are great on hardpack, slickrock or pavement, really fast, but will churn badly when climbing terra-looseA. I was a little disspointed with the seat, kinda hurts my tooshie.
Bottom Line:
I wish the bike would have came stock with the Avid mechanical disks. What a massive improvement over the V-brakes. Much quieter too! The frame is incredible, it really puts the power down and makes the bike really fast. This is a much more confidence ispriring bike than my Zaskar and the Fox on the front is better than anything I could have imagined for a bike in this price range. Beyond the weak V-brakes the bike doesn't need much. Seems ready to race. It struck me as an amazing value! With this bike you really do get a lot for your money. Besides its way-fun to charge past the full-suspension guys on the uphill and keep up with them on the down. Great bike. Awesome Value. Needs better brakes.
Similar Products Used: Trek, Cannondale, GT Zaskar
Bike Setup: Fox Forx front, Avid disk brakes, bar ends, water bottle cage, a really small pump and an extra tube. I'm ready to roll!
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Submitted by
J
a Cross Country Rider
from West Chester, PA
Date Reviewed: February 13, 2003
Strengths: The frame and shock combo make this one of the better deals out there. This bike was a great purchase b/c it is very upgradeable.
Weaknesses: I am not a big fan of the wheelset, cranks, and headset. They get the job done and work well, but this bike is just asking a better setup.
Bottom Line:
Great Bike, If you are just getting into racing get it! You should be able to find a good deal on the 02 then spend a little extra on your setup...you will be glad you did.
I give the M4 Frame and Shock an A+ because of the light weight.. everything else is a B.
Similar Products Used: Gary Fisher Tassy, I sold it to get this bike.. and do not have any regret.
Bike Setup: 2002 M4 with 517's on LX, 03'Easton Carbon Seatpost, Brontrager Race Lite Cranks, Race Face Evolver BB, XT cassette, lx chain, Egg Beaters, and an S2 Cane Creek Headset.
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Submitted by
Kaila
a Weekend Warrior
from Laramie, Wyoming
Date Reviewed: December 12, 2002
Strengths: I test road top bikes from every brand I could find. I got on the Stumpjumper and fell in love. The frame is hands down the best part of the stumpy m4. Specialized has the top frames around for durability, strength, weight, and paint jobs. It is sooo light. Why haul more up a slope than you have to? I also haven't felt the need for handle grips, because of the already very horizontal angle of the frame. The mix of deraillers, brakes, shock, etc that you get can be improve on, but there absolutely no need to. And, what you see is what you get...they don't hide sucky components like Gary Fisher does. You can spend tons more upgrading to all XTR or buying custom, but unless you're a heavy racer there is not a better bike for the cash.
Weaknesses: The reviews of this bike are all guys, and most of them love the seat...but from a chicks perspective, the seat is hard! My butt falls asleep, which is sooo not a good thing. The stumpy also takes a long time to break in. The shifters still need constant tuning.
Bottom Line:
I absolutely fall in love with this bike all over again everytime I get on the trails. I would recommend it to anyone, especially to girls who are looking for a solid bike. It flys over over everything and digs in sooo awesome uphill. The angle you sit at really minimizes lost pedal strokes on loose hills. It has held up against a couple awesome crashes. The one bad thing is that if I get really mad at missing some slope, the stumpy is way light enough to toss...guess I'm working on breaking that derailler.
Similar Products Used: GF Big Sur, Homegrown, Trek 8000, GT
Bike Setup: Stock (not the chick version), except for new tires (stock are not wonderful, wanted wider and deeper tread) and new seat. XT front derailler coming if the LX ever breaks. I eventually will probably upgrade the brakes too.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Jim Daigneau
a Weekend Warrior
from Calgary, AB, Canada
Date Reviewed: November 16, 2002
Strengths: Light, good value for the $$$, excellent climber, Responsive, great frame geometry and...comfortable!!! A great bike that I have ridden over a variety of trails and trail conditions (mud, dry, wet, snow, etc.). Love the seat.
Weaknesses: None.
Bottom Line:
Test rode a lot of bikes, checked web reviews and asked friends about their bikes. Loved my old bike...a '97 RockHopper so had a bit of a Specialized bias prior to purchase. Bottom line...This bike just 'felt right' from the first moment I sat on it and offered great value for the price.
Similar Products Used: Isense Doom Custom(7005 frame, Pilot C, 2003 LX), Isense Colnm race(XT/XTR/2000 SID race/American Classic)
Bike Setup: M4 frame, 2003 XTR discs groupset, Mavic X3.1 UST, SID Team with remote lock-out, FSA XC120 stem, Answer carbon bar, Raceface Prodigy seatpost & Da Bomb saddle
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Clayton Briscoe
a Cross Country Rider
from San Clemente, CA. USA
Date Reviewed: September 17, 2002
Strengths: Light, Good frame geometry, Good reliability and hardtail predictability
Weaknesses: Stock Avid SD3 brakes are weak on long descents, stock tires are not sure-footed in the loose stuff, granny gear (32 teeth) to small for long climbs, Rock Shox Duke does not seem any better than the RS Judy on my '96 Stumpjumper so I had expected a big improvement
Bottom Line:
I love the ride, any hardtail fan of intermediate level or better will benefit from this bike's high level of offroad competance. It weighed 24.5LBS stock. If that weight works for you and your budget is around US$1300 then buy it. I spent $1100 for the bike plus $150 (installed) for the brakes and $45 for the tires. These are the only upgrades I believe are required to get the most out of this bike For me, I will probably switch out the Duke for a SID and upgrade to Mavic 517s with XT hubs when I thrash the 221s that are on it. These two changes should get the bike back under 25 LBS. Also will upgrade shifters, derailers and crankset at least one grade from Shimano as I have a '96 Gary Fisher Nirvana hybrid (comfort bike) that has, and will continue to, receive all of this bike's upgrades. Hardtails are great in many situations, and this one is as good as any, especially for the price. If I had it to do all over, I would have bought a Stimpjumper Pro and not needed to upgrade. But then my Nirvana would not be receiving a dose of much needed upgrade components.
Similar Products Used: '96 Specialized Stumpjumper M2 FS Comp
Bike Setup: Stock except for XT V Brakes (including levers), Rockshox suspension seatpost (my other bike is an FSR Expert so I am spoiled by smooth ride), SRAM 7.0 11-34 tooth cassete, Panaracer Fire Pro XC tires, Specialized bar ends
Strengths: Light. Fast. Great frame geometry. I dig the duke xc. Excellent bike for the $$$. I saw some complaints, but the tires are fine and I actually love the seat.
Weaknesses: The seatpost is mediocre, I plan on switching it for a thomson. Handle bar is too short for bar ends.
Bottom Line:
This bike is bad-ass. The frame is amazing and the components are quite good for the price. I was considering waiting until the 2003s came out, but I got a good deal at my local bike shop, and I didn't feel like waiting for something that probably wont be much if any better. This bike deserves 5 flamin' dog poops! plop plop plop plop plop...
Bike Setup: Stock, except quick release put on for seatpost. The shifters and break levers were way too close to the grips when I got it, so unless you have midget hands, it will be cramped unless you move them in.
Hi everyone,
I'm looking to sell my M4 stumpjumper. I take very good care of the bike. Clean the drive train after every ride and always stored indoors. fox float 80rl fork, hayes Read More »
Hello to all,
a friend of mine is selling me a 2004 stumpjumper m4 with x9 drivetrain, truvativ crank, easton carbon flat bar, sram attack twist shifters, and a lot of upgrades Read More »
Hi, new here but looking for some informed opinions about this bike. thanks!
2001 Specialized Stumpjumper M4 Pro Mountain Bike - $400
• Size: 17
• Includes Easton carbon fib Read More »
Hi, new here but looking for some informed opinions about this bike. thanks!
2001 Specialized Stumpjumper M4 Pro Mountain Bike - $400
• Size: 17
• Includes Easton carbon fib Read More »
I am looking for a 1999 Stumpjumper M4 frame. It is what my pops rode until 2004. Now i have a smashed up broken frame that cant be pieced back together. He was killed by hit ru Read More »
