New bike!

"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
03/19/2020 at 21:31 • Filed to: mountain biking

So before the corona crisis I had decided to buy this bike from my local shop. It was an employee’s bike that was only ridden a hand full of times last summer and then they poor fellow was injured and couldn’t ride the rest of the year. I picked it up tonight, and oh My is it gorgeous. This is a specialized stump jumper pro. It has a full carbon fiber frame and carbon fiber wheels. The shocks are Fox factory items so top tier. It’s a SRAM GX drive train that is mid level these days. I’ll probably put carbon handle bars on it and my own clip in pedals. One unique aspect of the Specialized carbon frame is the SWAT box. It’s a door cut into the frame that you can use for storage. I keep a pump, tube, tire levers and patches in there. I’d say it has about three medium size burritos of volume.

DISCUSSION (29)

Ssfancyfresh > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
03/19/2020 at 21:47

Wow. That sw at box feature is pretty Rad. I’ve never seen that before. Very cool

Cash Rewards > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
03/19/2020 at 21:52

That swat box is like cannondales leftys to me. I'm sure the math works out. In fact, I'm capable of doing it myself. But damned if I want to look down on a sketchy trail and see a hole in my frame, or only half a front fork.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Cash Rewards
03/19/2020 at 21:59

This is my third hike with the swat box and have never had any problems.

PowderHound > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
03/19/2020 at 22:02

I would get a stumpy solely for the swat box. I just bought a fanny pack because I’m sick of throwing on a full bag for most of my rides that are from the house and don’t need much

AestheticsInMotion > Cash Rewards
03/19/2020 at 22:05

The leftys freak me out so much

Nom De Plume > PowderHound
03/19/2020 at 22:21

That’s the exact reason saddlebags exist.

Tube

Patch/sealant bottle

Pump/CO2

Multitool

Tire levers if needed

???

Nom De Plume > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
03/19/2020 at 22:23

Carbon handlebar/stem/seat post are for garage queens and show bikes . Anywhere else and it’s mainly all good.

Cash Rewards > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
03/19/2020 at 22:34

Im sure they’re fine! Specialized knows their shit

But still...

PowderHound > Nom De Plume
03/19/2020 at 22:48

There’s no decent spot for a saddlebag on my bike with a water bottle and the shock. Also you’re missing snacks. Gotta have snacks in your bag

PowderHound > Nom De Plume
03/19/2020 at 22:56

Carbon bars have a bit more flex and can dampen better than alloy and they aren’t absurdly more expensive. I wouldn’t do a carbon stem and I don’t know if any carbon droppers does that’s a no from me there too but bars. I would do carbon bars

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Nom De Plume
03/20/2020 at 00:26

-your weed

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Nom De Plume
03/20/2020 at 00:27

I love carbon bars in a mountain bike it helps immensely with trail buzz.

Cash Rewards > AestheticsInMotion
03/20/2020 at 00:29

Yeah, I understand cantilevers, and I love that it works, but it would take a long while to get used to.

Nom De Plume > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
03/20/2020 at 00:37

Weeds are something I hope softens any falls on my rides.

Nom De Plume > PowderHound
03/20/2020 at 00:41

I mean, there are a dozen types of bags that can be mounted as many places. I’m quite sure a few spines have been saved by exploding a water bladder in a backpack too.

Wheelerguy > Cash Rewards
03/20/2020 at 01:02

Dawg you should look at linkage forks. They’re absurd, but apparently a company got a chassis nailed down with front response that was just so good.

Kinja'd!!!

If they do a full-float rear like Trek and set the black V-arm inboard I think they’d have a winning package.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
03/20/2020 at 02:10

That’s a fine thing. The SWAT box has been a clever feature for Specialized...it’s curious that few other manufacturers have tried anything similar since they began.

Since none of my bikes have such a feature and I’m not about to buy another one anytime soon I’ve been using a Henty Enduro 2.0 lumbar pack instead...very happy with it.

https://henty.cc/shop/enduro-backpack/

Kinja'd!!!

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Nom De Plume
03/20/2020 at 02:19

If your bike has a carbon fork then I see no reason why it shouldn’t have a carbon handlebar. My dirt road bike runs a carbon fork and seatpost, both MTBs (one carbon, one steel) run carbon handlebars and one has CF components in the suspension fork. None of them are garage queens or show bikes!

One carbon fibre product you won’t see me using is a CF crankset.

Nom De Plume > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/20/2020 at 03:31

Not going to say there hasn’t been bad CF forks or frames. Will happily leave it at saying there has never been a CF bar, stem, or seat post I’d trade for aluminum. It is an unnecessary risk and damage is notoriously hard to diagnose. To each their own.

CF cranksets (chainrings too) are a race bred component that doesn’t make sense for amateur use other than said garage queen/show bike bling.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Nom De Plume
03/20/2020 at 07:25

And ‘to each his/her/its own’ is the key. Definitive statements like your starting argument won’t wash in this sort of case as both mileage and experiences vary.

Otherwise, I'd happily harp on about Porsches being overrated wastes of money and resources...

Cash Rewards > Wheelerguy
03/20/2020 at 08:19

“simplify, and add lightness", or something

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/20/2020 at 09:38

Trek just introduced the twat box I kid you not

benjrblant > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
03/20/2020 at 09:50

Sweet ride! Sounds like all the right high-end items where it counts (wheels, fork, shock) and the cost saving components where they’re likely to be replaced soon (drivetrain) I’d spec mine the same way! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts about it.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Cash Rewards
03/20/2020 at 10:30

I was close to owning a cannondale with a lefty around the year 2003 and then they went bankrupt.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > benjrblant
03/20/2020 at 10:33

Honestly this hike at retail price is not a good value. At year old price it makes sense for me. I’m super excited to go ride some rough trails now, the fox 36 is the industry standard in forks at the moment. I had a rock shocks Yari on my other bike and have no complaints. It’s melting out fast and all my work travel has been suspended so I guess I’ll have plenty of time to ride.

Nom De Plume > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/20/2020 at 12:55

The problem here is you see this as a troll and not a mundane classification as garage queen/showbike. If you take my concern at all seriously you will research how and why they fail that so impressed on me the danger.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
03/21/2020 at 05:12

That'd be like Specialized calling their carbon mix 'FUCT'...

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Nom De Plume
03/21/2020 at 05:24

Nope. I don’t see a troll. I’ve been doing this a while and have smashed carbon fibre before. I’ve also smashed alloy parts before. Come to think of it I’ve broken steel stuff as well. Bike parts break...it’s the nature of the thing if you ride at your limits and those limits sometimes exceed engineering, either by accident (as in me) or ability (not me).

The difference is how you and I and everyone else perceive risk...and we all do it differently.

Nom De Plume > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/21/2020 at 12:15

those limits sometimes exceed engineering, either by accident (as in me) or ability (not me).

Kinja'd!!!