After riding a few different bikes at a local mountain bike festival I decided after a few years of shopping it was time to upgrade from my 2011 Gary Fisher Hard tail 29er.
Today I picked up this S4 Specialized Stump Jumper Alloy.
I shopped a few different bikes from including some direct to consumer brands and was really close to buying a Polygon D7. I decided on the Stump Jumper after riding it and a few other bikes back to back at Santos bike trails plus Specialized is running a great sale on them right now.
I can not wait to get it out on the trail!
Nice, those are the same 2 models I've been eyeing as well...
In reply to GameboyRMH :
I watched and read a lot of reviews on both bikes and from what I figured out with the Polygon you are getting a little better suspension out of the box and with the Stump Jumper you get really good geometry.
The geometry along with the fact that I have a Specialized dealer in town if I had any issues pushed it over the top for me.
I'll update once I get it on the trail for the first time as well to see how it rides.
Congrats! That's a nice bike. This is a great time to buy a new bike with all of the deals to be had. Big difference from a year ago.
I just sold a stumpjumper Evo. Great bikes, you will love it.
That looks fun. Does Florida have the type of terrain a Stumpjumper thrives in?
Very nice and congratulations.
In reply to Boost_Crazy :
For sure, last year when I was looking you couldn't get a new bike for months and now this one was marked down 25%!
In reply to ProDarwin :
While we don't have big mountain ranges we do have a few really good trail systems here in FL. Check out some videos on Alafia River State Park or Santos, specifically the Vortex trail.
Congrats! I was on a 2011 Trek/Gary Fisher 29er Paragon as well but recently got a 2021 Norco Optic to move into the modern geometry, just waiting on spring to come to finally really ride it.
Florida doesn't have mountains but the creativity and the amount of trail that gets packed into a riding area is pretty amazing.
In reply to adam525i :
Oh nice! I was on a Marlin. Luckily for us here in Florida it's year round riding weather, well that is if you don't mind the heat in the summer.
Pedals installed and ready for a ride after work tomorrow!
Nice to see that Specialized is still doing three (four?) link suspensions after nearly 30 years. They work nice.
And now I will be grumpy that I am reminded that the weenies at MBA called any linkage bike with the rear derailleur on the same link as the rear dropout a "Horst link"
First ride on the new bike with Tom Suddard and I really really like it. I need to work on getting the suspension dialed in but I'm excited to put more miles on it! 
I took Chris's new bike for a spin and wowww--deluxe!!
I've been riding my fat bike all winter (Farley 5). Although I'm sad that the winter trails are almost kaput, I will welcome the relief to my upper body offered by my full suspension 29'er (Trek Top Fuel 9). Our trails around here are really rooty and rocky.
I haven't riddent any Specialized bikes . . . I'm not sure I have the skills to appreciate the differences in geometry and set up between brands.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Nice looking bike, Chris!
Specialized defended the patent on the Horst link hard until it finally expired a few years ago, then the flood of copies from Europe and beyond hit the US market: Canyon, Transition, YT... just to name a few. I've had a quiet hankering for the last 27.5 wheel Demo with the one-sided seat tube. Such a cool looking frame.
In reply to ZOO (Forum Supporter) :
I was cross shopping the Top Fuel 8 against the Stump Jumper and I got this bike because of the price difference. The Top Fuels look like some awesome bikes though.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
Yeah I am a really big fan of the frame styling. My last full suspension was a 27.5 that i got off FB Marketplace for a deal when you couldn't get new bikes from the shops and I was not a fan of the smaller tires. I think its because I have been riding 29" wheels for so long that the 27.5 just felt too small.
In reply to ChrisTropea :
Agreed. I built two 27.5" wheel DH bikes and when my trail bike was also 27.5, it didn't bother me, but then in 2016 I bought an Intense Primer which was my first foray into more modern 29er geo. After a bunch of rides on that, my DH bike all of a sudden felt really small and seemed to get caught up in every hole. I sold the DH bike and eventually went with a 29er enduro bike that I still have. I'm 5' 10" and on the cusp of riding either a Med or a Large. My two full squish bikes are larges as I like the high speed stability, although my hard tail is a medium for a smidge more playfulness.
In reply to ChrisTropea :
Why am I not surprised to see Tom has a Lefty?
Congrats on the new bike, it looks fantastic. Perfect color. Great spec.
I can't justify spending the coin right now but the deals on new bikes do have me thinking its long past time to upgrade the Felt Compulsion 2 I own. ..
My wife just got to celebrate New Bike Day yesterday with this sweet Trek Rail 7. Pretty jazzed that she has an e-Bike too.
If you have not tried one out, I can't speak highly enough of the Trek Rail. I got a 9.9 AXS last summer, my two buddies both just got one (9.9 AXS and 9.8 XT) and now the wife has one.
nocones said:
In reply to ChrisTropea :
Why am I not surprised to see Tom has a Lefty?
Am I really that predictable?
[insert dorky engineering explanation for why the Lefty is and always will be a superior fork design]
Chris's new bike has motivated me to give my bike some love, so its fork is getting mailed off next week to be serviced.
In reply to 93gsxturbo :
Congrats! I tried a Specialized e-bike and was really surprised by it.
So after a few rides I can confirm I absolutely love this bike. So now it's time to start messing with it. It's time to convert to tubeless. Luckily the wheels are setup tubeless ready so I just had to take the inner tubes out, put the new stems in seat the tire and fill them up with sealant. 
Why Muc-Off? It's what the local bike shop had and I wanted to support local shops. Plus it comes pre-measured for each tire.
