Stumpjumper EVO Coil Shock Test

the specialized thumb jumper Evo is extremely capable versatile and fun which makes it one of the most popular bikes in the trails now like most mountain bikers don't be Evo owners are always wondering if a coil shock will increase their bike's performance so here we are with the final installation of our three-part video series to answer the big question does the current generation of Stumpy Evo feel good with a coil shock or should you just stick with an air shock stay tuned and you'll find out [Music] hi I'm Mike from Velasco and I recently joined the huge community of Stumpy Evo owners we have so many customers with this bike that I wanted to build one for myself to better assist everyone with their questions specific to this platform not just limited to Stumpy Evo owners the question often arises of whether or not someone should switch to a coil shock to potentially maximize their bike's performance and fun when installing a coil shock for the first time on any bike you'll need to figure out which spring rate to get started with which is exactly what I did in part one then you'll need to ride the new shock setup and feel out the riding characteristics of the spring rate you chose to start with along with making some initial adjustments to the compression and rebound settings which is exactly what I did in part two links to both of those videos are in the description below and here in part three I'm going to share my full thoughts on how a coil shock feels on this model bike to help you figure out if this is the best route for you or if you just stick with an air shock before starting these tests I was looking for answers to the following questions which I will answer towards the end of this video will the added weight and slightly reduced playfulness of a coil shock reduce the overall fun factor and versatility of my Stumpy Evo or will the bike gain traction give me more confidence and therefore be even more fun and versatile with a coil shock is the frames suspension platform Progressive enough to be supported for a linear coil frame or will I be fighting an uphill battle versus constant hard bottom outs so first let's talk about all the shocks I tested and why I chose them foreign my final goal was to find out if a coil shock feels good on this bike but I also wanted to test out the air shocks that are most frequently installed on this bike to really have something to compare the coil shocks to so I've ridden the Fox Float X Factory and RockShox Super Deluxe ultimate air shocks and Then followed by the RockShox Super Deluxe ultimate and olin's ttx22 M2 coil shocks the Fox Float X comes stock on most Stumpy Evo builds and I really wanted to set a baseline for myself to see how the bike rides with a model shock that is most commonly installed on these bikes the RockShox Super Deluxe ultimate air shock is a direct Contender for that Fox Float X and even comes stock on certain builds of the Sun be Evo now you can also now buy the Super Deluxe ultimate air shock aftermarket specifically for the Stumpy Evo with the frame specific tune and hydraulic bottom out so I wanted to test these back to back due to their easy accessibility for Riders next it was time to test some coil shocks but first here's a quick summary of why people often see coil shocks as a better performing alternative to air shocks and why are we even doing this test cool coil shocks support your weight with a coil spring rather than compressed air which reduces the amount of overall seals and friction in the shock this means there is less Breakaway Force required to compress the shock and less overall heat so coil shocks are generally going to be extremely sensitive on small bumps and feel very consistent on long downhills with less heat working against them some quick disadvantages are that they're heavier than air shocks and you might have to spend some time figuring out which coil spring feels best for you and your bike and they naturally tend to feel a little bit less playful than air shocks so as mentioned in both part one and two there are only certain models of coil shocks that are approved for use on this bike due to the shock link extension yoke clevis whatever you want to call it this suspension layout puts more side load on the shock as it compresses compared to other suspension layouts out there and only certain coil shock designs have been approved for that increased load to avoid damage or just constant maintenance I chose to start the coil shock testing with the RockShox Super Deluxe ultimate coil shock because we think their features and performance create an incredible value and we truly recommend this shock to almost everyone looking for the best bang for their buck when they are looking to switch to a coil shock and it's also the cheapest approved coil shock for this bike and I really believe this will be the most common choice for most Stumpy Evo Riders who go the coil shock Direction so this is really where I wanted to start the testing now that shock also has hydraulic bottom out which I think really comes in handy for almost any coil shock installed on any bike out there after I released part two many of the comments requested that I test out another popular approved coil shock option so I then chose to test out the olins TTX 22 M2 Mark II this is what I've seen to be the next most popular approved coil shock option for this bike and was also excited to see how a coil shock without hydraulic bottom out felt on a bike to test out a more traditional linear coil shock setup without any bottom out assistance and last but not least I want to mention that these tests were all done with the stock shock link and not the aftermarket Cascade link this is because I really like to test out one component switch at a time and also because this ends up adding over 250 more dollars I wanted this test to be most relatable to the majority of riders who are looking for better performance without forking out all of their money at once I am still interested in trying out a Cascade link and they seem like an awesome piece of gear but that's for another set of tests at least in my eyes so now that you understand how I chose the shocks for this test let's actually talk about how they feel first I'll talk about how the coil shocks felt and then we'll kind of like Circle back to the air shocks to compare everything at the end I don't really want to get too deep into the weeds of General riding characteristics of Air versus coil stock so I'll start by saying that I felt all the same general positive characteristics you'd feel on any bike when using a coil shock this includes awesome traction on climbs and descents a very active shock feeling which creates a super smooth and supple ride and the linear spring rate made bike feel like it had more travel but what I'm really feeling for are any of the potential negative characteristics that you can run into when using coil shocks since these tend to be very specific to frame design and ultimately make up your mind on which type of shock you stick with long term this way I can compare the pros and cons to see which style of shock I think is better suited for the attitude of the stump jumper Evo and how I want to ride this bike I started with the RockShox Super Deluxe ultimate coil with a 400 pound standard linear spring which gave me 28 sag as a 150 pound Rider when first dropping into a descent with a new coil shock setup I immediately feel out the overall support from both the mid stroke and m-stroke to see how that starting coil spring rate feels since I chose a spring rate that got me 28 sag which I'll count as just about perfect with a coil spring since you can't really adjust them I was excited to see how the overall support felt past the initial part of the travel and I will say that I felt basically no issues with this the linear spring rate made the bike feel like it had more travel than with an air shock since the linear coil spring doesn't ramp up nearly as much this is usually an issue on bikes with very linear suspension design creating consistently harsh bottom outs which nobody likes but with the HBO feature on this RockShox coil shock this was not an issue in fact I technically could feel the bike bottom out on bigger impacts but it almost felt good because that HBO feature just made it feel very comfortable and this is sort of hard to explain it didn't really feel like a bottom out in a negative way but more so just a gentle reminder that I use all my travel when overshooting a jump this HBO feature has five possible positions to control how aggressive the bottom out control hits and I tested it in all five positions all of which make a noticeable difference in How firm the bottom out control feels ultimately I settled in the negative one position as it just felt pretty dang good right there for trail riding but I could see myself bumping that up to the plus one or plus two position if I got the Free Ride bug to go hit some bigger jumps and drops consistently and let's not forget about the mid-stroke support which also felt great and was plenty supportive for me I didn't feel like the rear end felt too soft and wallowy while pumping and pushing through corners which can sometimes happen with a more plush suspension setup like this I had a great time getting my body in a really aggressive riding stance and really pushing the bike to its limit luckily the geometry of the Stumpy Evo is awesome for aggressive riding and I feel like the coil shock complemented the geometry very well overall I was extremely impressed with the first ride with the coil shock on this bike I will say I've ridden some bikes with coil shocks that just don't feel good at all but I can confidently say this was actually one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had with a coil shock on a trail bike over the years I preferred high-end air shocks over coil shocks since I feel like they tend to make the bike just the most Poppy and fun since that's how I typically like to focus my bike setup and modern air shock just feels so dang good without adding weight to my bike however I didn't feel like I lost out on really any of the fun factor with this RockShox coil shock on the Stumpy Evo instead I felt like the bike was actually more fun in many ways which I admit I was not expecting the feeling of having more travel with the coil shock on the Stumpy Evo was one of my favorite aspects with an air shock I always felt like this bike feels like it has a little less travel than the 150 millimeters it's labeled with due to its overall just supportive design feeling not in a bad way or anything it's just a fast and supportive suspension platform feeling with the coil shocks it definitely feels like it has 150 millimeters of very useful travel but without any negative side effects of harsh bottom outs due to the HBO feature on this RockShox coil shock I can definitely say I felt more confident riding at high speeds with the coil shock while also maintaining the fun and versatile attitude of this bike in its hole after riding the RockShox coil shock for a bit I actually already filmed this part 3 video a few weeks ago however the comments were super useful in part two asking me to try another option so I scrapped that footage and installed an olin's TTX 22 M2 which actually ended up completely changing my thoughts on how a coil shock feels on this bike let me explain just like with the RockShox coil shock I started with a normal linear spring Owens doesn't have a 400 pound spring so I had to choose between a 388 or 411 pound spring rate I didn't want to decrease sag and make the ride more stiff so I chose the 388 to measure basically right at 30 SEC which is usually my target sag anyway I'll compare the performance of these two shocks in a minute but first let's talk about bottom out support of the coil shock without a hydraulic bottom out feature and a spring rate that measures at 30 sag which is all kind of usually the goal anyway I rode the same set of trails quite often to test these shocks and with the olin's coil shock I found myself experiencing a harsh bottom out quite often now this shock has a rubber bottom out bumper as seen on many models of coil shocks but without the hydraulic bottom out feature and that rubber bumper just didn't seem to stand a chance against the Stumpjumper Evo suspension curve now the rest of the stroke felt just as supportive and supple as the RockShox setup but it goes to show just how valuable that HBO feature is for a bike like this to battle the bottom outs I swapped to a Cane Creek Progressive spring as seen here with a 400 plus spring rate which ramps up to a 488 pound rate towards the end of the stroke the progression is rated to start halfway through the stroke according to Cane Creek and I can definitely feel it now two things were changed by adding this Progressive spring first it became harder to bottom out the bike I could still feel a hard bottom out like before but perhaps about 70 percent less that's a huge Improvement but still nowhere near as comfortable and confidence inspiring as The Rock shock shock with HBO which had that very comforting feeling upon reaching the shock's full travel and second the progressive spring reduced the feeling of having more travel since it ramped up halfway through the stroke so the Olin shock in Progressive spring had reduced the increased confidence I had from feeling like I had more travel and I could still feel an uncomfortable bottom out now I tried working with the compression adjustments on the Olin shock to trying to slow down the shocks compression but I just kind of kept feeling like the shock became overly harsh and the benefits of increased sensitivity of a coil shock was just greatly reduced by doing this also worth mentioning is that I didn't feel the need to try a progressive spring on the Rock shock shock since the HBO feature cradled me very nicely at the bottom of the stroke more than enough and I just really liked how the linear spring felt overall I just wasn't really happy with the Olin shock and Progressive spring setup on this bike this does lead me into comparing the RockShox Super Deluxe coil ultimate versus this olens TTX 22m2 since these are the two most common coil shocks that are potentially making their way on the Stumpy evos around the world this could be an entirely separate video but here's a quick rundown in a nutshell the RockShox Super Deluxe coil ultimate feels absolutely amazing while the olin's TTX 22 M2 Just Feels Alright in my opinion we did some back-to-back test laps where I rode the same Trail twice and swap shocks between laps and I started with the own shock in Progressive spring up with the yellow I'm with the black after the first lap I swapped on the Rock shock shock and immediately just felt it to be a much more smooth shock overall the RockShox option is seriously smooth while the own shock just feels a bit more clunky to me the Owen shock also had a bit of a clunky top out feeling while the rock shocks didn't the RockShox shock feels like a Precision engineered mountain bike shock while the olins feels a bit more like a heavy duty Moto shock that just ended up on a mountain bike this makes sense since RockShox has always been a dedicated mountain bike suspension brand while olens has primarily been a Motorsports brand throughout their history I've also written the air versions of this Olin shot and had similar feelings about those however olin's Forks do feel pretty awesome and have their own individual feeling that sets them apart from The Others When comparing many other models of popular Forks but that's an entirely different subject for a different video so all things considered I'd say the RockShox is definitely a much better option than the olins for the Stumpjumper Evo especially considering the price now the rock shock shock and linear spring costs 598 bucks and in my opinion felt much better than the Olin shock and Progressive spring which totals up to 925 dollars [Music] now that I've spent the time on several shocks set up as well as I could for myself I was able to answer the main questions of this test does a coil shock feel good on the stum jumper Evo in my opinion from my testing my answer is yes but only the coil shock with a hydraulic bottom out support if you are riding aggressively if you're riding more tame and your wheels aren't often leaving the ground I think you'd be totally happy with one of the approved shocks without hydraulic bottom out feature and a linear spring or Progressive spring but you still might feel a harsh bottom out at times I also haven't tried the Cascade link which increases the frame's progression and that might decrease how often the bike bottoms out with the Olin shock and linear spring but you'd have to spend an additional 250 plus dollars and still the RockShox option feels incredible all on its own and is over 300 less than the Olin setup even without the additional 250 dollar Cascade Link in hopes to bottom out less and while bottom out support is important we also have to answer the other questions did the ad added weight and slightly reduce playfulness of a coil shock reduce the overall fun factor and versatility of my Stumpy Evo ordered the bike gain fraction give me more confidence and therefore be even more fun and versatile with a coil shock well I was actually expecting the former to be true but I was pleasantly surprised that I believe the latter is true to me when considering where and how I ride I usually experience a noticeable reduction in the playful attitude of bikes once a coil shock is bolted on and while I did sort of feel that to be true with the olin's coil shock I barely felt that with the RockShox coil shock I felt like I could just ride faster and more composed and that led me to just having more speed to pop off jumps with ease when descending and while the Stumpy evos aggressive geometry already blurs the Lions to finish Trail and Enduro bike the coil shock edged it slightly closer towards feeling like an Enduro bike without really reducing much of its Trail friendly characteristics from what I felt at least while adding about one pound of weight to my bike is usually a con I felt like the pros quickly outweighed that for me but hey I'm just one of a zillion bike riders looking to make my Stumpjumper Evo perform as well as possible for myself so let's figure out whether or not a coil or an air shock works best for you and your Stumpy Evo if you live in an area with aggressive trails and you prioritize the descending capability of your bike setup and you're looking to absolutely maximize traction and speed on your Stumpjumper Evo without spending a ridiculous amount of money I can't recommend the rockstock Super Deluxe coil ultimate enough it's super adjustable extremely smooth and won't totally obliterate your bank account the HBO feature gives you a comfortable and confident feeling that you use all your travel without feeling Jarred and rattling your confidence you'll add about one pound of weight to your bike but it'll feel like it has more travel and you'll feel more confident tackling aggressive terrain alright now if you like how all that sounds but you just want a more Boutique shock option I'd probably recommend just passing on the olins and jumping up to an EXT Storia or push 11-6 since both of those shocks offer a hydraulic bottom out feature however these shocks are pretty dang expensive right now the EXT is about a thousand bucks but that includes a spring as well and the push is one thousand six hundred dollars you could have nearly three of of the rock shocks at coil shocks for the price of one eleven six now the push is made in the USA and super adaptable to other sides in the future Etc but still that's a hugely even price all right so I've mainly been talking about just how good a coil shock can feel on the bike but let's pump the brakes for a second and talk about air shocks do I think the right coil shock setup feels awesome and creates more versatility for where and how I ride my Stumpy Evo yes I do but do I also think that an air shock is just going to be a better choice for most Riders honestly yes I do and for a few reasons which are really all related to the classic coil versus air shock debate on air shock will keep the bike lightweight and naturally still have a very slight Edge in the Nimble and playful category which fits the attitude of the Stumpjumper Evo very well you also won't need to mess with choosing coil springs which can add up in price if you have to try a couple spring rates which is totally normal the Fox Float X that commonly comes stock on these bikes already feels really really nice well it's not my absolute favorite shock it's still an amazing performer and you don't have to pay anything for it since it came stock on your bike and if your build has the Fox Float X performance model you can actually add this low speed compression knob for 25 bucks which creates enough adjustability that most Riders will be plenty happy with now would I rather have the olins coil shock over the float X yeah maybe but only in some weird scenario where I was given the choice between taking one or the other at the same price but that's likely not going to happen and I'd probably just buy the RockShox coil shock and spend the difference in price on other upgrades or for a trip to riding somewhere fun because at the end of the day most Riders on these bikes are looking to keep the price reasonable and are looking for the best bang for their Buck upgrades I don't really feel like the Fox Float X is holding the bike back for most riders that haven't been riding for a super long time and aren't riding super aggressively alternatively let's look at the RockShox Super Deluxe ultimate air shock which just might be my main recommendation for most Riders looking for the best performance without adding weight and maintaining 100 of that supportive and lightly feel that this bike offers this shock feels a bit more smooth and refined than the float X in my opinion kind of splitting hairs but that's how I feel and if you score one of the Super Deluxe air shocks built specifically for this bike you'll get a slightly different tune than the generic aftermarket tune and also the hydraulic bottom out feature and in my opinion this Stumpy Evo specific model of Super Deluxe air shock is the best all-rounder option for most Riders on this bike platform however the standard aftermarket option with the off-the-shelf tune and without HBO is much easier to find and you can also get it with the HBO feature without the bike specific tune which is also slightly easier to find but given the chance definitely opt for the Stumpy Evo specific shock to maximize performance as the tune and HBO feature are definitely nice features lots of options here and I think I'd rather have the HBO feature than the specific tune myself but if I wanted to upgrade sooner than later I'd probably just grab whichever was easiest to find in stock because I think they'll all feel really good I'll have a link to all these shocks on our website in the video description below alright to sum it all up the Stumpjumper evos lightweight and spry all Mountain attitude fits excellently with the characteristics of an air shock but can lean slightly closer toward the Enduro category with the right coil shock setup all without sacrificing much of the lightly characteristics as mentioned before however the bike suspension design with the stock shock link seems to be a bit too linear for traditional linear coil shock setup if you're riding aggressively and you'll want to choose a coil shock with a hydraulic bottom mount feature to avoid harsh and jarring bottom notes so now that this test is done which of these shocks is staying on my bike well that answer depends on what type of riding I'm more into at the moment and maybe that can help you with your decision for most of the summer I've been prioritizing longer rides to up my fitness and I've been riding trails that are fast but not too aggressive with that said the RockShox Super Deluxe ultimate air shock will be on my bike for now but lately I've been getting out of some more Steep and aggressive Trails again so it's likely that the Super Deluxe ultimate coil shock will make its way back on very soon if I had a Stumpy Evo frame and no shock whatsoever and had to go purchase only one shock on my own I would probably buy the Super Deluxe coil ultimate for how I ride and where I live out here in the Pacific Northwest all right before I say goodbye here's a few disclaimers on these tests now the RockShox coil shock I tested does have a tune specific to this bike we're still unclear whether or not this will be available in the aftermarket like the air version is but I really don't think most Riders would notice much of a difference between the standard aftermarket tune if that is released I'll add a link to the shock on on our website in the description the EXT and pushrocks would include a custom tune when you buy those but I don't think the slightly different rebound tune on the RockShox coil shock warrants the huge leap to a thousand dollars or more for most Riders the RockShox shock can still be custom tuned internally if you want to do that down the line but I would recommend just starting with the regular 210 by 55 aftermarket version of the RockShox shock now the Olin shock guy tested had their General aftermarket tune as that is what olin's recommended to me for this bike in this video test all right so that's what I think about coil and air shocks on the stump jumper Evo which shock do you have on your Stompy Evo let me know in the comments and let me know if you like it if you want to snag a shock for your bike head over to our website at thelostco.com if you like this video hit that thumbs up to let me know I did a good job and subscribe if you want to see more mountain bike videos just like this until next time happy trails guys

Channel: The Lost Co.

Views: 21,134

Keywords: stumpjumper evo coil shock, coil shock review stumpjumper evo, specialized stumpjumper evo best rear shock, stumpy evo rear shock, stumpjumper coil shock review, stumpjumper evo suspension upgrades, stumpjumper evo ohlins, ohlins ttx22m.2 review, the lost co

Id: BycgZDODm90

Length: 22min 37sec (1357 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 06 2023