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04 Stumpjumper FSR upgrades??

1796 Views 22 Replies 11 Participants Last post by trbogti, Aug 7, 2004

aztec

Discussion Starter · Aug 4, 2004

Well guys I have had my 04 SJ FSR for almost 3 weeks now and I love it being riding at least 2 times a week now. Am looking into doing some upgrades what do you guys recommend? I already upgraded (Avid sd3) brakes to disc brakes (avid 160mm cable). I have been looking at some new tires for a start at the WTB Mutano Raptors? Please let me know what upgrades you would do.

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

trbogti

· #2 · Aug 4, 2004

Mine has the following upgrades. The only thing I'm not the biggest fan of are the Crossmax wheels. There's better wheels out there for the money.

Thomson stem/layback seatpost
Easton MonkeyLite XL bar
ODI Rogue grips
Crank Bros. Candy SL pedals
XT cassette
SRAM PC-69 chain
Crossmax XL wheels
WTB Weirwolf UST tires
And most importantly, the Specialized mudflap

Maestro

· #3 · Aug 4, 2004

I have had mine for about a month now. Love it.

Mine has the following upgrades:

Thomson stem
WTB Laser V saddle (Titanium rails)
Avid Discs
Marzocchi MX-Pro + ETA fork
ODI Rogue grips
Crank Bros. Mallet m pedals
XT cassette
XT Cranks
One piece rear deraileur cable/housing (Mudproof/better shifting)
113mm XT BB (better chain line)
SRAM PC-99 chain
Mavic 223 rims with XT hubs (not sure if this is really an upgrade)
Continental Vertical Pro 2.3 tires (Work great in the loose gravel/dirt climbs in SE Mich.)

Future Upgrades:

Thompson Seatpost
Wheels
Manitou Minute 100/130 fork

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linkbeat

· #4 · Aug 4, 2004

Upgrading is FUN! ;-) I started out with a '04 Stumpy FSR Expert Disc, and made it an Anniversary with a red frame. All XTR components, S-works carbon bar, Thomson stem and layback post, Telluride Pro saddle. Only thing left is the wheels, but I'm waiting to see what's on the '05 model first. I strongly suggest upgrading the stem and seatpost to Thomson. If you're happy with the saddle, great. Otherwise I suggest going with the Telluride Pro. It's extremely comfortable.

Berkeley Mike

· #5 · Aug 4, 2004

Thanks for the Mudfalp reminder

trbogti said:
Mine has the following upgrades. The only thing I'm not the biggest fan of are the Crossmax wheels. There's better wheels out there for the money.

Thomson stem/layback seatpost
Easton MonkeyLite XL bar
ODI Rogue grips
Crank Bros. Candy SL pedals
XT cassette
SRAM PC-69 chain
Crossmax XL wheels
WTB Weirwolf UST tires
And most importantly, the Specialized mudflap

I just ordered one, they are out of stock, but I'm sure it will arrive before it rains.

My changes to the Expert:
Easton MonkeyLite XL bar
Thomson straight seatpost
WTB Laser V saddle (Titanium rails)
Avid Discs
Mavic 517 rims w/ XT hubs
Panaracer Fire XC Pro

G

· #6 · Aug 4, 2004

get the mudflap! it does a great job at keeping grit away from the rear shock

few changes on my elite ($$$'s tight):

thomson layback seatpost
non-qr post clamp
terry zero saddle, ti rails
rear ritchey 2.1 elevader tire
front wtb velociraptor 2.1 tire

i'm hoping to get a set of handbuilt wheels by next spring (iso kings, 717 rims)

question for all: why the xt cassette? better shifting? NOTICEABLY less weight?

ant

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DaFireMedic

· #7 · Aug 4, 2004

aztec said:
Well guys I have had my 04 SJ FSR for almost 3 weeks now and I love it being riding at least 2 times a week now. Am looking into doing some upgrades what do you guys recommend? I already upgraded (Avid sd3) brakes to disc brakes (avid 160mm cable). I have been looking at some new tires for a start at the WTB Mutano Raptors? Please let me know what upgrades you would do.

When you say upgrade, what did you have in mind? Do you want better performance? Drop some weight from the bike? Aesthetic changes? Whats your priority?

Nice bike by the way.

kiwirider

· #8 · Aug 5, 2004

Why xt cluster?

A lot lighter than the stock (deore I think) cluster.

Also self cleans a whole lot better due to the reduced depth of the rings. Mud falls straight thru rather than getting stuck between the rings = better shifting, less mud = less weight.

Well worth the upgrade.

aztec

Discussion Starter · #9 · Aug 5, 2004

Am looking into droping some weight and performance.

mattsavage

· #10 · Aug 5, 2004

Try the new Sram stuff...

I just upgraded to X-9 shifters and Deraileur. Any other components, go XT. It's a fact, they are the best. I only went with Sram this time for curiosity's sake. It's good, but will take some getting used to. Specialized saddles are crap, I went with a Terry Fly Ti, super light and Oh so comfy.

Like everyone else said, Thomson stem and seatpost. I just ordered some, never used Thomson before, always been an Easton guy, thought I'd try it out.

aztec

Discussion Starter · #11 · Aug 5, 2004 (Edited)

SRAM PC-99 chain

(please keep in mind newbie here)How does everyone like there new chain? Any how big of a diffrence is there between stock (Shimano HG-73) and SRAM PC-99 chain? So these ODI Rogue grips really that good eh? seems like alot of you guys use them. Whats diffrence between others? Also what diffrence does upgrading the stem do?

Mingsta

· #12 · Aug 5, 2004

Crazy upgrade money trap

Thats practically a new bike! Wouldn't it have been alot cheaper to build a bike to spec from frame? What do you do with the old parts?

I can't really talk though - I've pimped out my Klein hardtail to the max with King, Thomson, Hope etc. Only the frame remains. I am using the spares to build a bike for my friend as a favour so if he gets converted to cycling as a result then at least some good has come out of it. However I kinda of figured by the end that it was a crazy way to do things - you get next to nothing for the parts 2nd hand, so you end up buying practically a whole bike minus the frame all over again. Anyway, I've learnt from that experienced and when I got a FS, I built it from frame with exactly the parts I wanted - the result is a bike that I don't feel the need to upgrade and I ended up paying less than for the stock bike!!!

Anway, not criticizing, just wondered what people think as judging by the number of similar threads on this board, it seems pretty common for people to buy a new bike and make a significant number of new parts within just a couple of months. There doesn't seem much point in buying a stock bike in this situation.

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trbogti

· #13 · Aug 5, 2004

Mingsta said:
not criticizing, just wondered what people think as judging by the number of similar threads on this board, it seems pretty common for people to buy a new bike and make a significant number of new parts within just a couple of months. There doesn't seem much point in buying a stock bike in this situation.

You're right, it really doesn't work out in the long run. But for me, when I bought a $2,000 bike, I had no idea I'd be upgrading it in the future. I thought that was it. Then I decided to try tubeless, then the cf handlebar....One thing led to another, then next thing you know I had a $2,000 bike with $1,500 worth of upgrades. I plan on buying a second bike next year, but I'll probably end up building a SC Heckler.

mattsavage

· #14 · Aug 5, 2004

trbogti said:
You're right, it really doesn't work out in the long run. But for me, when I bought a $2,000 bike, I had no idea I'd be upgrading it in the future. I thought that was it. Then I decided to try tubeless, then the cf handlebar....One thing led to another, then next thing you know I had a $2,000 bike with $1,500 worth of upgrades. I plan on buying a second bike next year, but I'll probably end up building a SC Heckler.

Alot of people don't have all that extra cash laying around when they want to build a new bike, but they want to ride now. Just look at Ebay after tax returns start coming in. A whole lot of "hardly used" mid level stuff that was replaced with XTR and the such. The good thing is, after dropping dimes on carbon, XTR, Crossmax, etc,etc, next year all you need is a good frame, and you sell that mid level one on Ebay to some other schmuck who upgraded all his crap the year before, and so on and so on......

It's a lovely cycle..... (no pun intended)

mattsavage

· #15 · Aug 5, 2004

trbogti said:
You're right, it really doesn't work out in the long run. But for me, when I bought a $2,000 bike, I had no idea I'd be upgrading it in the future. I thought that was it. Then I decided to try tubeless, then the cf handlebar....One thing led to another, then next thing you know I had a $2,000 bike with $1,500 worth of upgrades. I plan on buying a second bike next year, but I'll probably end up building a SC Heckler.

Alot of people don't have all that extra cash laying around when they want to build a new bike, but they want to ride now. Just look at Ebay after tax returns start coming in. A whole lot of "hardly used" mid level stuff that was replaced with XTR and the such. The good thing is, after dropping dimes on carbon, XTR, Crossmax, etc,etc, next year all you need is a good frame, and you sell that mid level one on Ebay to some other schmuck who upgraded all his crap the year before, and so on and so on......

It's a lovely cycle..... (no pun intended)

It might be cheaper to buy that 04 on closeout, part it out, and then upgrade. All kinds of ways to make money and save money.

mattsavage

· #16 · Aug 5, 2004

aztec said:
(please keep in mind newbie here)How does everyone like there new chain? Any how big of a diffrence is there between stock (Shimano HG-73) and SRAM PC-99 chain? So these ODI Rogue grips really that good eh? seems like alot of you guys use them. Whats diffrence between others? Also what diffrence does upgrading the stem do?

Shimano chains are good, but there's no reason to buy the top of the line stuff for 10-15 bucks more. A Sram pc 59 or 69 is plenty good, also they have the Gold connector pins which are pretty handy, so the chains just slide apart (usually).

Maestro

· #17 · Aug 5, 2004

crazy upgrade trap

Mingsta said:
Thats practically a new bike! Wouldn't it have been alot cheaper to build a bike to spec from frame? What do you do with the old parts?

Your right.

If your are buying a bike outright, for the first time, you will usually get more value from a dealer.

But alot of people transfer the up-grade parts from their old bike. So my $1400 SJ FSR was upgraded to about a $1800-2K bike (Disk brakes, xt drivetrain, better fork) with parts from previous bike. The old bike, along with some other parts was sold and now I only have about $400 into the SJ FSR. Now those upgrade parts were put on the old bike last winter and there were costs associated with that. But there was a buying and selling cycle last winter to help fund those actions

Ken S.

linkbeat

· #18 · Aug 5, 2004

As far as the $$$ goes... it really depends on how you upgrade your bike. I bought my bike and the LBS offered to upgrade any part for dealer cost. Plus, I bought the more expensive parts (XTR crankset, cassette, etc.) off ebay. I've spent about a grand less than the Anniversary Stumpy, and it's the same bike minus the wheels. Specialized doesn't offer a decent deal on the high end bikes... I think that's partially why so many ppl buy an S-works frame, and build it up.

Berkeley Mike

· #19 · Aug 6, 2004

I made changes or "upgrades"

when I bought the bike. I actually swapped the original parts for some credit towards the "upgrades." Some of the original stuff wasn't worth much, like the seat and bars but it did add up. I used up the original tires: the Roll X weren't very nice but they bought me about 2-3 months of riding and I picked up the Fire's for $40 for the set.

aztec

Discussion Starter · #20 · Aug 6, 2004

Confused?

So now most of you guys are saying it's not a good idea to upgrade everything? How often do you guys get new bikes?

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