First Ride Review - Specialized Stumpjumper 15 Pro And The Tech That Makes It The Best Yet

Specialized may have ditched the Evo tag, and reduced the travel a smidge, but the 15th generation full-suspension Stumpjumper is more capable than ever. You still have all of the integrated geometry adjustments, but with the addition of Specialized’s proprietary Genie shock tech, the Stumpjumoer now has the suspension tuning capabilities to match.

We spent two days on Vancouver island getting to know the Stumpjumper 15 Pro Carbon and the team behind it. We talked with Steve Saletnik, the product manager, and Chance Ferro, the man behind the Genie shock tech, to find out what this new tech is all about. This is a long one, and it’s pretty tech heavy, but given the new shock technology we wanted to go deep on this one.

Also if you just want to know how the new Specialized Stumpjumper rides, the final third of the video is where Bike Test Editor Muldoon spills the beans. Spoiler alert! He liked it... a lot.

Time stamps:
0:22 Steve Saletnik explains what's changed on the new Stumpjumper 15
3:22 Chance Ferro spills the beans on the Genie shock tech
12:36 Alan's first ride impressions

The bike in the video is the Specialized Stumpjumper 15 Pro Carbon

Specification:
Frame Fact 11m carbon
Frame travel 145mm
Shock Fox Float Factory w/Genie (210x55mm)
Fork Fox 36 Factory Grip X2 Rx
Fork travel 150mm (44mm offset)
Hubs Industry 9 1/1 110/148mm
Rims Traverse SL II Carbon
Front tyre Butcher T9 Grid Trail 29x2.3in
Rear tyre Eliminator T7 Grid Trail 29x2.3in
Chainset SRAM X0 Alloy, 32t, 170mm
Shifter SRAM X0 AXS
Derailleur SRAM X0 T-Type AXS
Cassette SRAM X0 10-51t
Chain SRAM X0 Flat Top
Brakes SRAM Maven Silver
Rotor sizes 200/200mm
Handlebar Roval Traverse SL Carbon 800mm
Stem Industry 9 40mm
Seat post Bike Yoke Revive Max 185mm
Saddle Bridge Expert
Weight 13.98kg (30.82lb)
Sizes: S1 to S6

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#mtb #mtbtech

[Emtbtoday]

Love that British racing green with the Kashima

[bigpedromc]

Bike looks great. Explaining how the shock works really helps for when I get one 😎

[alexbiketester]

Looks great, analogue bikes are not dead, still lots of innovations coming.

[gweflj]

By far the best review of this bike. Much better to hear an interview with the design team rather than a reviewer regurgitating a press release.

[luisarraiz]

Great review and I really like where Specialized is going with the less progressive kinematics and the Genie shocks. Most people (riders and industry people) believe that more is better when it comes to progression but thats not the case. There is a point of diminishing returns when it gets too progressive and it looses a lot of support. Being able to adjust the main air spring progression and ramp air spring independently is really eye opening.
Id love to see the data for the shock on a dyno and actual riding data as well.

[MrDaymien]

Suspensions is so important its up there with tyre pressure. Air shock adjustability is so cool and the genie will be amazing.
Nice bike,

[The.JZA.]

I used to have a 2019 Stumpjumper and been riding e-bikes for a couple of years. I’m tempted to get the Expert model so I can have an acoustic bike and e-bike in the garage. I miss my old stumpy.

[topchoice]

I’m not particularly a fan of specialized bikes but this one looks great

[GuyKesTV]

Great talk through and video Al. Totally here for hyping the importance of suspension tuning too, especially now so many frames and sorted in terms of feel and geometry. What's with the lack of cable routing though and did you splatter something all over the paintwork?

[The.JZA.]

That shock looks amazing. Simple but genius. Or should I say... Genie-us....

[adamgroves]

That bike looks so sweet but hopefully we don't have to wait too long for the Alloy frame,

[mikes.]

I built one of these up the other day, and I only have one ride. I haven’t dinged the rim, but that loud clank or crunch sounds exactly like my bike on some of the jumps to flat. I think I want to play with the top chamber and see if that need less volume and more ramp.

[vlbz]

I would love something similar to that shock in a fork.
I'm a pretty heavy and strong rider, so have to run a stiff fork for the occasional big hit. On the other hand I'm not too fast, so my setup feels harsh most of the time.
This dual chamber stuff sounds like would sort it for me.

[Emtbtoday]

And was seen on I think your web article one had the shimano cable derailleur

[DotyString]

What a location for that bike stand. My word

[kentao]

Great review. My question is: does it absolutely pedal better than the previous regular stumpy? If so, how much better on the scale from epic evo to regular ‘21-‘23 stumpy?

I’m 6’2” 220 and the bikes I’ve had are either not fun at all to pedal or not enough travel. I need a great mix of both.

I’ve had 2019 lt stumpy- not fun on single track for me

2021 epic evo. Fun but needed a BIT more travel for when I’d take it to more demanding trails.

2022 stumpy evo- pedals better than 2019 stumpy but still heavy and sluggish.

Considering the 15, current epic evo and 2023 reg stumpy pro. I can only have one bike. Which is best for “I can go to the bike park and do a few fun things but mostly I’ll be pedaling single track with moderate technical climbs because that’s what’s close?”

[YanDoroshenko]

The only question is how much Fox will charge for the red bands and how quickly are they going out of stock everywhere.

[michaelwatts]

What are benefits of the Genie shock vs a progressive suspension kinematic?

[vin]

The POV part of the video looks sped up LOL

[jasonpatrickdeleon]

Can you review dartmoor rocbird 2024 thanks