Friday, April 10, 2020

A Stumpjumper Diversion

I've mentioned this old 1st-generation Stumpjumper on the blog a few times over the years, but recently a reader asked to see and read more about it. I've never devoted much blog space to the old Stumpie, but it's a pretty cool old bike, so why not?

The bike was a replacement for me for another vintage mountain bike that got destroyed in an unfortunate roof rack incident. That bike was a Schwinn Paramount PDG bike. The PDG, or Paramount Design Group, bikes were made for Schwinn by Panasonic/National Mfg. as opposed to the Paramount shop in Waterford, Wisconsin. It was a really nice bike, so the accident was particularly tragic. The frame was folded in half, but most of the components were salvageable. I found this old Stumpjumper soon after, and it was cheap, but it was awfully rough-looking. I stripped it all down and took it to a powder coating shop where they coated it in this shocking green (I call it "Kawasaki" green - as it's very similar to the color on their racing motorcycles). Then I built it up using a lot of the parts I had taken off the Paramount, with a few changes or "updates." I'll highlight much of that as follows.

I originally used the bike as my kid-hauler - with a Burley trailer attached, or later, a Trail-a-Bike trailer (and sometimes both simultaneously!). It's now the bike I usually grab for relaxing rides with my kids on the canal towpath in the national park, or I'll attach my flatbed trailer and use it for hauling groceries (including big jugs of water).

This bike was probably from 1982 and has the distinction of being one of the first mass-produced mountain bikes to hit the market. As you can see, the geometry on these early models was really slack. I could be mistaken, but the head and seat tube angles are probably somewhere around 68 degrees. That matched the geometry of the original mountain bikes when they were first created in Northern California. And that geometry was used because it pretty much mimicked the geometry of the old Schwinn heavyweight "tank bikes" that those California guys were converting into off-road "Klunkers." I've heard (but can't confirm) that Mike Sinyard of Specialized took an early Tom Ritchey-built mountain bike to Japan and basically said something like "make me a few thousand of these." Though Tom Ritchey's bikes were beautifully constructed, these early Stumpjumpers have some nice build details in their own right.

One of the cool details on the early Stumpjumpers was this "bi-plane" fork crown. It had a lot more character than the welded "unicrown" forks that would soon follow (and all to be replaced by suspension forks within a few years after that). You might be able to see that I have a twin-legged Pletscher kickstand holding the bike up. That was really helpful when loading up trailers that were often hooked up to the bike.

I also really like the lugged construction. This seat lug, with the seat stays attached to the binder "fastback" style, is a lovely detail that was dropped after a year or two. It wasn't long before lugged construction like this totally disappeared on mountain bikes - replaced by tig-welding. Nothing wrong with welding, but lugs lend so much more visual interest.

The lugs at the head tube are simple but nice, too. Also, although the frame tubes look positively "skinny" by todays standards, they were actually slightly oversized for the time. The top tube and down tube are both ⅛-inch larger than typical "road" tubes of the time.
One change I made to the typical mountain bike equipment was to add mustache bars. That's a Nitto "dirt drop" riser stem getting the bars up near the level of the saddle. I have Mafac road brake levers mounted, and Rivendell "Silver" shift levers mounted at the bar-ends. The bell is a large Crane "Big Hammer" which is one of the loudest bike bells I've seen/heard. The extra loud "ping" cuts through crowds of earbud-wearing pedestrians like nothing else - a great thing on the towpath.

Sugino AT crank, SunTour XC derailleur, and some cool old pedals. I think the pedals are from Sakae, and they have a neat little grease fitting in the body for maintenance.
Late '80s SunTour XC derailleurs came off the old Paramount. So did the wheels with SunTour hubs and Sun Mistral rims.
I have a Brooks Flyer saddle (basically a B-17 with coil springs underneath), and a well-aged Carradice saddlebag attached. I've covered the bag with badges and pins from the trail or bike shops (and a few were home made from beer bottle caps). 

These early Stumpjumpers only came in dark blue (as this one was) and maybe silver - but the shocking green looks so cool on the bike that it seems like a natural. It gets attention - mostly positive. I've got plastic fenders mounted on it and they work well enough - though the gap between the fenders and tires is more than I like to see. I originally had fatter tires on the bike, and the "fit" was better - but then I changed to more "road-oriented" tires and never bothered to re-fit the fenders. I may go back to fatter someday.

Hope you enjoyed the closer look at my old Stumpie.

15 comments:

  1. Looks like a perfectly setup bike for your use... thanks for the details!

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  2. I LOVE bikes of this era - so comfortable. Thanks for the write-up and for the record, I love the green color. I ride an 88 Peugeot step-through: 80s MBs are great commuters.

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  3. Next time you're in the market for tires, I would highly recommend the Maxxis DTH 2.15 tires. I have them on my 84 StumpJumper Sport. You can run them anywhere between 35-80psi, super fast rolling, but when you lower the pressure they're supple enough to give you good grip on dirt and gravel. Similar to the RTP tires, but I have yet to get a flat on my DTH. Here are some pictures of how they fit. https://thebicyclesafaris.com/logbook/2020/4/10/1984-stumpjumper
    Thanks for your awesome info and website! I get a kick out of your stuff on a regular basis.

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    1. those do look like a good tire option - thanks

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    2. I second the DTH suggestion. I have them on my '84 Stumpjumper that I ride around St. Paul. They work well on pavement & they have enough grip for trail riding also - just don't try to get too rad.
      I would vote for the skin wall version:
      https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikeforums.net-vbulletin/2000x1504/80-20190718_194113_0fcdfb461e4536d051e37083cdca001ba612448c.jpg

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  4. This reminds me of my 1990 Stumpjumper Comp, Matte battleship grey colour with unicrown fork, I'' headset and TIG welded purchased new in 1990. I had converted it to my daily commuter with a rear rack, fenders and bomb proof Conti Travel Contact slicks. I went through countless 7 speed cassettes and chains. It originally spec'd with Shimano XT. I went through one rear derailleur, two headsets and about five front chain wheels. Also three sets of rims and lots of canti brake pads. The only original stuff was the crankset, pedals, brake levers and hubs. Bottom bracket was changed to a sealed unit (still running) and the brakes changed to very old style Dia Compe's. Those "low profile" Shimano cantis were horrible. I also had a sprung Brooks Flyer saddle in fabulous tan. I rode this bike almost every day for twenty eight years five miles each way to work. I was hit by a driver in October 2018 who ran a stop sign (yes, of course, three front lights including a blinker and of course, a helmet). It has sadly changed my life. Oh well.

    I also use a Carradice Nelson. I like your olive one better than my black one. Just strap it on to your B17 and go. It is great for those long day rides (Triple Bypass, Ride the Rockies for example) that you get to do when you live in Denver. You always have to be prepared when you ride in those Rocky Mountains. Rain suit, tights, long fingered gloves, booties, tights, the kitchen sink.

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    1. thanks - the olive Carradice has really faded over the years - now kind of a dull khaki - but I love that bag.

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  5. Beautiful green! Perfect for a sunny day!

    I too use an old steel MTB for tourism (from the early 90' though), and they are the most versatile tool ever!

    Actually I'd prefer to go the monstercross way and put a drop bar on mine - but never found the will to search for new brakes and controls and front derailleur...

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  6. A little off topic, but … You mentioned that the mudguards/fenders are too far from the tyres. I'm curious about how much clearance you think is appropriate. I always ran mine quite close to the tyre, on the theory that anything the tyre picked up would be knocked off by the mudguard edge. This has worked for me for about 45 years, and the only time I had a 'guard break was when my rear tyre flicked a small tree branch up and though the mudguard—which promptly shredded and buckled. Jan Heine recommends about 1.5 to 2 cm clearance, and I've done this on my latest bike; but it unnerves me to hear small stones running through the 'guards. I *think* I had a stone stick to the tyre with mud and then lodge under the bolt connecting the 'guard to the fork crown. In any case, I fell off sideways unexpectedly at low speed, and then found a large smear of mud at that point, and I've been even more nervous since. Sorry to be so long winded, just curious.

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    1. To my eye - "Too much" clearance is when you can actually see daylight between the tire and the fender, which is definitely the case here. When I had fatter tires (like 2 ½ inch MTB tires), the clearance looked pretty good. I think I agree with Jan Heine - around 1.5 cm is probably the minimum.

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  7. Pretty bike; the lugs and crown especially.

    I've not ridden a pre-NORBA-era Specialized mountain bike, but I have owned a couple of others from the slack-angled era, and I have to confess that I did not like their handling. But I did own a 1990 Stumpjumper Comp (battleship gray, as another commenter said) and, even nicer, a 1991 Stumpjumper Team, tout Prestige -- I used to amuse myself by flicking the top tube with my fingernail to hear the resonant "ping!". After various iterations, I built the Team into a commuter/all arounder, with drop bar, Tioga TBone upjutter stem (many pennies were sacrificed to get the 26.4 Cinelli Giro d'Italia into 25.4 Tioga clamp), 35 mm Specialized Fatboys, rand oad cassette. Very nice indeed.

    Even nicer was a contemporary Diamond Back Axis Team ("Quad Butted!") that had the prettiest-ever straight-leg fork—steel, very, very prettily tapered, a real beauty; and a real refutation of those who claim that straight-leg forks are ugly. This also went through several iterations, but ended up with a 64" fixed gear (170 mm TA Pro 5 Vis single on custom Phil 145 mm spindle), 46 cm Nitto Noodles on 10 cm Nitto Dirt Drop stem, and 60 mm Big Apples that kept the bb high enough that I could comfortably pedal round corners at speeds that would have had me grounding the pedals on my Rivendell fixies. Both Stumpjumpers had very nice, neutral handling, but that DB was even nicer— simply delightful. Rather sedate compared to a nice road bike, but entirely neutral --stable in a straight line, and no hesitation or flop in corners. And with the fat tires and the high bb, you could pedal through corners and simply ignore obstructions that would hinder other bikes; just ride merrily through them.

    In an earlier iteration, I built that DB with that Pro 5 Vis as a double -- 44/30, IIRC -- and 9 speed cassette shifted with SunTour barcons, with SKS 65 mm fenders over the 60 mm Big Apples; there was a good 1 cm minimum gap between tire and fender. Wonderful all rounder on a budget.

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    1. I agree that the later, steeper/tighter geometry gives better handling - definitely more "nimble." That kind of geometry was probably exemplified by the Bridgestone MB-1, but by the late 80s, most mountain bikes had "tightened up". The Paramount I had was like that.

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    2. I did the same with a 92 Kona Explosiv. Albatross bars, 26x 1.75 Panaracer Paselas, Cardiff sprung saddle, tight geometry, lightweight frame! A real joy to ride!

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  8. Bar tape on the right chain stay - never seen that before, I like it!

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  9. Here's my extra bike-nerd contribution: I just read through Repack & the Birth of Mountain Biking by Charlie Kelly yesterday. He makes a point of highliting the twin plate crown on the first Stumpjumper forks as a dead giveaway that it was a direct copy of the Ritchey built mountain bike. Also, that the bikes that Sinyard used as models were actually off-spec prototypes, sold to him for a discount: the fork legs were longer than they were supposed to be, resulting in subpar handling. That would explain your extra slack angles, and maybe even your gappy fender line. (Also to the fender gap commenter: 2mm is tiny! That's the diameter of a spoke. 5mm is more a minimum, 10 preferable, per most fender makers and I believe Heine too).
    BTW, nice paint job!

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