With my electric bicycle project’s completion nearing the finish line and my beater trail bike donating many of its parts to my ebike build I am starting to look for a proper replacement trail bike to thrash.

I live near quite a few tons of trails that range from mild to fairly wild.

I have narrowed down my search to either a Specialized Stumpjumper or a Scott Spark. I am leaning towards the Spark for a few reasons, my local bike shop which is less than 5 min from my house has a fantastic relationship with Scott. I also like the three modes of the rear shock (it’s hidden inside the frame) which are lockout, traction control and downhill.

I have an old Stumpjumper that’s a hoot to ride but is really showing it’s age.

Which one would you select?

I am a Specialized fanboy. (I ride an Epic that is also older but still in great shape)

That 970 looks nice though. How do the components compare?

I've always favored Cannondale, but have very little mtn experience.

The Scott looks 'simpler' and less prone to mechanical bits getting mud/grit exposure.

Less curve to the tubes, the Scott looks like it'd be stiffer frame.

Curious... the trend to totally bury cables in frame tubing has always seemed stupid to me as servicing becomes a royal PITA. With a shock hidden in the frame here aren't you also tempting fate should it leak or otherwise have issues?

FWIW I don't ride much at all these days as most don't at my age. But I still have a Sheldon Brown designed 1991 Bridgestone CB-0 (aka CB Zip) in fully functioning shape with a few personal tweaks like the Scott handlebars.

Saris Bones bike rack in the corner.

I love my Stumpy! I also have a Scott. They both make great bikes.

They are both good bikes. Is availability an issue near you? I have a buddy that had to wait some time for his new bike last month, said there still is a general shortage on new bikes.

Also - any chance to test ride both bikes before deciding?

Which one would you select?

stickman428 would be my go to guy for this question.

The spark is more of a cross country bike than a trail bike. I think the genius is the scott trail bike.

I am biased toward the Stumpjumper. I had a 2019 version rode it on trails in TX, OK, Bentonville, AR. I took it up the lift in Crested Butte, CO and handled it better than I would have expected. I have test ridden the newer Stumpjumper, the pedaling platform is stiffer and the acceleration is better.

Before the new Stumpjumper frame came out I switched to Santa Cruz Tallboy4 for trails and built up a Specialized Status with bigger suspension and brakes for ski lift days in New Mexico and Colorado. If I only had 1 bike the Stumpy would be a great fit.

The Scott design looks really clean. I am not sure how well the reality of of hiding the shock inside the frame will workout? I have ridden a bike with cable actuated shock lockout and found it was just extra clutter on the handlebars. I don't throw the switch that often and it is easy to do manually on the Stumpy directly on the shock. I ride in open position 90% of the time. A good relationship with local bike shop can be helpful if you ever break anything.

The frames probably come from the same factory. Take the bike with the higher specs on components. (Personally, I prefer Shimano stuff, but SRAM makes perfectly acceptable parts as well.)

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Which one would you select?

stickman428 would be my go to guy for this question.

I know a bit about 4130 hard tail mtn bikes that very much resemble big guy BMX bikes (which I love) as well as building a pretty fast electric bike out of one but the full suspension trail bike is an area where I could definitely learn a lot more.

I’m really torn between the two bikes I mentioned. The Specialized is tempting because I have a very old full suspension Stumpjumper that I have gotten airborne a lot and it’s been a solid bike.

I have a great relationship with my LBS. Everything they say about Scott and their products makes me interested in owning one of their bikes. When I hear about the occasional broken frame being replaced no questions asked I become interested in the brand.

The Specialized dealers are about 25-35 minutes away on the other side of town. My proximity to my LBS and their abundance of Scott bikes is not making it an easy decision.

Stlhead, good point on the Genius, I’ll see if my LBS has one.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: stickman428,

Thanks for the input everyone! I appreciate it.

Bald1, the bike has a rather large lockable door to access and check the rear shock, all the controls for the shock are on the handlebar.

My proximity to a Scott dealer who I have an exquisite relationship with pushed me to pull the trigger on a Spark.

I put money down on one of these today.

Now for the interesting part. They will be getting in a graphite/stealthy painted Genius in April. If no one snatches it up I’ll possibly spend a bit more and get the longer travel Genius. If someone grabs it before it actually reaches the store I’ll be stuck with this bright as hell baby, which I’m perfectly fine with as I’m not 100% sure I want to spend the extra $$$$ on the Genius.

At least people should be able to see me coming from a mile away.

Nice. Going with the store you have a good rapport with is what I would have done as well. Plus, the hidden shock thing looks really cool in the same way as a single sided swingarm does.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:

Bald1, the bike has a rather large lockable door to access and check the rear shock, all the controls for the shock are on the handlebar.

Ah...good deal with the access port. Sounds like it'd be unlikely it fails needing whole replacement.

Best wishes for you to enjoy your new yellow streaker!

New Bike Day! Always fun!

Looks like a pretty great bike. I was going to suggest a Corsair Ducat. I have always wanted one and it seems to be what you’re looking for.

Looks like they were bought out and now no longer available. That’s a total shame, as it’s the damn best all around frame in my opinion.

Sweet bike, but damn have mountain bikes gotten pricey. That bicycle cost more than the first two cars I owned. And I bet it smokes substantially less than one of them.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Sweet bike, but damn have mountain bikes gotten pricey. That bicycle cost more than the first two cars I owned. And I bet it smokes substantially less than one of them.

At that price I'm thinking they're aluminum. Carbon would start at $4,000.

bigdeal, Those are both base models with aluminum frames. Many of the top tier mountain bikes are now well north of $7000. And that’s for a regular bike, they are not even electric bikes…some of those are north of $12k…

What does ‘trail riding’ mean to you?

The Genius has a lot of travel if you’re not going to actually be hitting kickers or flying through rock gardens/logs/gnar. The Spark is Scott’s XC bike but is more than capable for mid-to-agressive trails. The Spark will theoretically climb better.