2007 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Time Capsule
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Here are some pics of my 2007 Stumpjumper FSR Comp (large) which I've just rebuilt.
I’ve called this bike “The Time Capsule” because when I saw it advertised on eBay it was completely original right down to the tyres; even the rear had no discernible wear. Well worth a 300-mile round trip to Wales to collect it whereupon the seller informed me he bought it new 18 years ago, rode it home from the shop and it never left his garage again!
5 weeks on it’s now had a full recommission which includes:
Brand new wheelset built using new Shimano Deore XT M756 rear hub, original Specialized Stout front with new SKF 6001 2RS bearings, NukeProof Dolos rims and Sapim Race double butted spokes with coloured alloy nipples. Spoke nipple washers can't be seen in the pics but spread the load around the spoke holes in non-eyeletted rims and make truing easier.
Original Fox Float 120 fork fully serviced with Fox genuine parts and SKF green dust seals. Travel kicked out to 140mm during the service by removing the plastic spacer underneath the air piston whilst they were apart (this is literally Poor Man’s TALAS travel adjustment as some of the higher-end 2007s were supplied with the TALAS (Travel Adjustable Linear Air Spring) fork where you can adjust the travel externally on-the-fly; pretty cool when new but 18 years on these Floats are simpler and easier to service).
OEM Triad shock fully serviced likewise using Fox genuine parts, a nitrogen needle kit and RockShox shock pump to inflate the chamber behind the IFP.
Every chassis bearing has been replaced with full complement bearings; these have no cage and are packed with balls to take higher loads in low-speed applications. New headset bearings but the OEM Cane Creek cups and crown race were fine so I didn't disturb them.
Shimano Deore XT T8100 brakes; these deliver XT quality without the fiddly servo-wave levers. 180 front/160 rear rotors.
3 x 9 transmission with Shimano 73mm external BB and 2-piece crankset (these are a modern take on the old Hollowtech II cranks). Deore Shadow rear derailleur with ballraced jockey wheels as these do make a difference to shifting performance. Interestingly the Altus shifters are Shimano’s cheapest 3 x 9 offering, yet the only ones that allow me to put the dropper post lever where I can actually reach it (it’s actually a left lever but by installing it upside down on the right handlebar, the 3 x 9 Luddite (i.e me) can also enjoy the wonders of dropper seatposts).
New 2007 FSR pivot bolt kit I was lucky enough to find on eBay; the seller thoroughly cross-examined me before allowing me to pay because he’d had so many people buy the wrong kit for their bike and then argue with him and click Return This Item. 2007 isn't all that long ago so Specialized should really still supply pivot bolt kits for these, and try and help people rebuilding older bikes a little more by providing the info on their website.
NukeProof bars, Thomson Elite X4 40mm stem (gives exactly the same seat-to-bars length as my 2007 medium running a 70mm X4 stem) and No Logo external dropper post. Magnesium platform pedals, inline cable oilers and weirdly humungous RSP bar ends; for any half-decent UK MTB ride you’ll need these for the asphalt hills. Frame downtube protector made from the original front tyre as I didn’t trust the 18-year-old Kevlar bead; I once had a rock dent the downtube on a bike <6 months old riding in the Quantock Hills which is a great way to ruin one’s day and rather upsetting.
I've wanted one of these in a large for a while as I’m right between a medium and a large according to the sizing charts of the day due to my height (5’11”). My medium (last pic in green/red) has shorter wheelbase and runs narrower rims and 2.1” tyres (this is running 2.3”s) which should mean it’s more agile than this bike but the large should have the edge in stability.
First ride on this on Tuesday and it went very well so looking forward to comparing them directly!
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Yeah fair play! That's a sweet build there.
As much as I love the DT and motorbikes, there is something so satisfying about a quality push bike. It's such an efficient mode of transport.
@Calum Thanks bud, I liked the look of the On One build you posted up on here a while ago. In fact after getting this Stumpjumper, to save time/cleaning I put the eXotic fork back in my hardtail and put it back to rim brakes so I had something easier to live with that I could just hop on and ride in the meantime. Seemed counter-intuitive to take on yet another project but that only took me a few days and meant I could then concentrate on the Stumpjumper build. Had a few nice road rides in the summer heatwave as well
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@Calum I have to think things through quite carefully to avoid the jobs piling up. For example, where I live is right on the edge of where the Purbeck sand/gravel ends and the Salisbury Plain chalk downland starts so for most of the year I head in the Purbeck general direction. It trashes drivetrains as you can imagine but makes for easier cleaning as all the mud brushes off even in winter. And having several bikes means it's essential to clean the one I've ridden before going out on one of the others.
Whereas out on the chalk it's great in summer but with even light rain you get that tacky cake mix style mud which sticks to everything meaning bikes need to actually be washed; more time-consuming and a leading cause of knackered suspension forks. RockShox seem slightly more prone to this than Fox which is rather annoying as IMO the ride quality is slightly better due to the independently adjustable positive and negative air chambers. I ended up robbing parts from four different sets of U-Turn Revelations to build one good one, some of them looked immaculate on the outside but it just depends how much they've been jet washed.
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Aww, that sounds sick. I live near the
Forest of Deanwhich I imagine would be endless fun of cycling round there. But I've never been as I don't have anyway to transport push bikes over to there (40 ish mile).That does sound like hard work though, just keeping the bikes riding nicely
