2021 Stumpjumper Rant

[Headshot]

????

 

 

(Could be the start of a whole new fred)

Or did he just leave out the word  "not" ? 

[MajG]

I agree and it boggles my mind as well, I would have seriously considered a mid spec aluminium Stumpjumper for my next bike but seems I have to look elsewhere. It would also be nice if they did swat on alloy bikes, Trek managed to do it for the Slash.

 

I suspect/hope Specialized SA is sitting with plenty of current model Stumpjumper stock that they first want to clear.

 agree, my price range for bike is the R50k max mark and the new stumpie woudv been perfect as I love how it looks and the reviews seem awesome so far.

 

Most ppl dont want entry level for R40k, so the R50k to R60k mark is a big portion of the market that they will lose out on, then again Spez is trendy brand so I guess the cult followers and the newbies with lotsa cash will still throw the Rands at Spez store regardless

[Headshot]

At first I was also scratching my head about this, thinking "what am I missing here?

 

My wife had a 2013 Stumpy, my two brothers both had a 2016 Stumpie Expert, and I have a 2019 Expert. We're fans, obviously.

 

I was thinking "maybe the Epic Evo is now too close in purpose?" and then it hit me...

 

It's simple: SA Specialized dealers cannot keep up with demand for Levos. Want a 130-150mm trail bike? Hop on a Levo or Levo SL. I see more of them in Tokai these days than Epics. Mystery solved.

Looking into the future - " In 2028, it became hard to find a bicycle shop that actually sold bikes - most only sold electric bicycles along with other electrical products, like wheel chairs and Segways. To buy a real bicycle took considerable effort or even a trip to a custom builder. Specialized, once one of the biggest purveyors of bicycles expanded into electric motor bikes and buggies in 2030"

[DR ◣◢]

Yes, yes, yes, I left out the the “not”

[thebob]

Also pretty annoyed with manufacturers not bringing in a wider range of trail bikes. But I do understand that they don't want to be stuck with inventory that is not moving or if the country is lower down the distribution list and there simply not being enough stock available to go around. I do not see why they could not offer an option for a customer to order a specific bike and bring those in. I'd love the new Stumpy Expert or a Trance X 1, but neither is available to South African buyers 

[Kuys]

Has anyone posted the question to a Specialized shop? 

 

Maybe they testing the water first, or this is the only stock they can get hold of to have in shops now? 

 

Or they can order specific model for you? 

 

On the Epic Evo they recently added another lower end model 3-4months after the initial range was published on their website, so I dont think the model range is cast in stone.

 

Everyone battles with stock currently, so it may not be intentional. 

 

Sizes is also a bit of a nightmare, there are 6 different sizes, so how many of each should they bring in? So even if they do bring in the model you want, if you need a S6, you may struggle to get one

[Stevief]

Not only Spaz but Trek is the same.  the Fuel Ex is the best trail bike around IMHO but they to have decided not to import the Fuel for 2020/2021 range. So its either XC supercaliber or Top Fuel which is like an epic or electric .

 

Trail bikes just dont sell in SA.  I ride with quite a lot of guys .  ANd out of a bunch of approx 20 guys i ride regularly with i would say 16 ride XC bikes (epic/scalpel/anthem etc) and 4 of us on trail bikes.  And guess what teh XC crowd cant ride anyhing technical , they all over 45 and  they wonder why they keep going OTB. 

 

Hell i cant even convince some of them to buy droppers as they fear for the weight.  

[Headshot]

Not only Spaz but Trek is the same.  the Fuel Ex is the best trail bike around IMHO but they to have decided not to import the Fuel for 2020/2021 range. So its either XC supercaliber or Top Fuel which is like an epic or electric .

 

Trail bikes just dont sell in SA.  I ride with quite a lot of guys .  ANd out of a bunch of approx 20 guys i ride regularly with i would say 16 ride XC bikes (epic/scalpel/anthem etc) and 4 of us on trail bikes.  And guess what teh XC crowd cant ride anyhing technical , they all over 45 and  they wonder why they keep going OTB. 

 

Hell i cant even convince some of them to buy droppers as they fear for the weight.  

Ya, this fear of weight and learning some skills is a disease in SA. What they don't know is that top SA Riders like Hatherly and Beers have Moto X back grounds and are super skilled riders. They need to be to ride those efficient but not very forgiving bikes the way they do. 

[Jewbacca]

Ya, this fear of weight and learning some skills is a disease in SA. What they don't know is that top SA Riders like Hatherly and Beers have Moto X back grounds and are super skilled riders. They need to be to ride those efficient but not very forgiving bikes the way they do. 

Then also realise you can be fast UP the hills and have loads of fun being fast back down them on the purpose built trails and not on the jeep track parallel to the purpose built trail!

 

One can be fit, fast, serious AND have fun! Who woulda thunk it?

 

Dropper posts are life

[Yyyy]

I dont think the problem sits with the dealers/distributors/manufacturers. They only offer what they believe has sufficient demand.

 

Its the mindset of the customer base that need to change.

 

How do you get someone who is ready to purchase a XC bike to buy a trail bike?

[T_Boss]

I dont think the problem sits with the dealers/distributors/manufacturers. They only offer what they believe has sufficient demand.

 

Its the mindset of the customer base that need to change.

 

How do you get someone who is ready to purchase a XC bike to buy a trail bike?

 

1. Have decent short travel trail bikes in stock

 

2. Choose to actively promote these bikes - this is the only way to change the mindest of the consumer. Everyone keeps saying that the suppliers only stock what they believe will sell...... But the purpose of marketing teams is to tell people what they should buy.

 

So, if all you stock is XC bikes, and thats all you keep promoting, then thats all you will keep selling. Its all good and well to tell a customer about the virtues of a trail bike, and why it would be a better choice for their all round riding enjoyment, but then not have it in stock, so they still end up buying the XC bike, because they can have it today. 

 

It would take one season of distributors actively pushing trail bikes, to change this mindset. Once your mates on their new 130mm trail bikes show you they can keep up on the climbs, and thrash you on the technical stuff, and be comfortable aftet a 4 to 5 hour day in the sadle on a stage race, ready to do it again the next day.... you will know what your next bike should be....

[Bos]

I dont think the problem sits with the dealers/distributors/manufacturers. They only offer what they believe has sufficient demand.

 

Its the mindset of the customer base that need to change.

 

How do you get someone who is ready to purchase a XC bike to buy a trail bike?

 

I think a year like 2020 without a PPA race every other weekend might help the trailbike segment. 

 

Also, If you go to places where trails are more tech like Jonkershoek, you will see more trailbikes than XC bikes. For real, however there are only 3 or 4 trail centres like that in the WC, and perhaps 10 -15 nationally, while every other town has blown out hiking trails and dirt roads (xc bikes)

[GhostSixFour]

Ya, this fear of weight and learning some skills is a disease in SA. What they don't know is that top SA Riders like Hatherly and Beers have Moto X back grounds and are super skilled riders. They need to be to ride those efficient but not very forgiving bikes the way they do. 

Then maybe there is a different approach needed. When Honda re-introduced the Africa Twin they sold them with a riding course - you could pick road or off road IIRC. They still did this the last time I looked.

 

Maybe there's a gap for a bike brand that pairs up with some coaches and include a riding course as part of their trail bike packages, hell, maybe even all their MTB's.

[Yyyy]

I think we are speaking to ourselves here and we a small portion of the riding population.

 

 

Just my observation and can only speak to my own experience with the cyclists i know.

 

most would never venture on to any dirt road and if they do its an experimental phase at best.

 

And of those that do start riding MTB, many of them fear crashing, getting hurt etc. They comfortable with long days on jeep tracks ( growing gravel market segment). A few green/blue graded single tracks is perfectly fine to them and have no ambition to ride anything more technical.

 

for this an xc bike makes sense.

 

only very few this batch of riders want to challenge themselves with more technical riding.

 

This is reflected in our mtb racing scene. Our marathon and stage races are not technical enough that makes people question whether there xc machine is perhaps out of its depth. 

 

IMO

Most people who ride an MTB are just gravel riders - and that's perfectly fine

 

so called "true" MTB riders are far and few.

[Riaan H]

I attended a skills course this weekend at a rough, rocky trail, and I can honestly say that the slacker geo and extra 20mm of travel I had compared to the mostly XC bikes in attendance made me a lot faster, while also safer, and they didn't simply ride away from me on the hills either.

 

I was lucky enough in 2016 when I was ready to upgrade from my R6k cheapy to a better bike to demo an XC (Epic), short-travel trail (Camber) and trail bike (Stumpy) on the same trail and on the same day. Based on that I purchased an alloy Camber which I still ride and love.

 

I believe that if more people attended these kinda days (Spez does Test The Best and Trek does something similar) a lot more people would be on short-travel trail bikes having experienced their calm, composed nature, and all the confidence that they inspire.

 

I wonder however, if the problem doesn't sit partially with us buyers. When we walk into a shop, do we express our needs and desires properly, or are we lead by the salesman, and what he wants to sell?

 

I rather doubt that if we walk into shop and explain we want something slack, capable and comfortable, that the salesman will insist on selling us an XC machine, or are we telling them we want something light and fast? Or perhaps we don't actually know what we want.

 

As to the new Stumpy, I have to admit to being a little conflicted between an Epic Evo and Stumpy if something happened and I had to replace my beloved Camber. On rough trails it's an absolute no brainer win for the Stumpy, on smooth singletrack however an Epic Evo does the job with less effort, albeit not as smoothly.

[CJ Van]

1. Have decent short travel trail bikes in stock

 

2. Choose to actively promote these bikes - this is the only way to change the mindest of the consumer. Everyone keeps saying that the suppliers only stock what they believe will sell...... But the purpose of marketing teams is to tell people what they should buy.

 

So, if all you stock is XC bikes, and thats all you keep promoting, then thats all you will keep selling. Its all good and well to tell a customer about the virtues of a trail bike, and why it would be a better choice for their all round riding enjoyment, but then not have it in stock, so they still end up buying the XC bike, because they can have it today. 

 

It would take one season of distributors actively pushing trail bikes, to change this mindset. Once your mates on their new 130mm trail bikes show you they can keep up on the climbs, and thrash you on the technical stuff, and be comfortable aftet a 4 to 5 hour day in the sadle on a stage race, ready to do it again the next day.... you will know what your next bike should be....

Question: Where did you get the info that Spez will only be bringing in the entry level Stumpy and the S-Works frameset?  I see everybody is writing their own marketing thesis on why Spez took this decision but nobody gave actual facts or statements made by Spez that they will not bring it in. (I know, I know, I am not allowed to use the "Fact" word on here.)  

 

So, here follows my Marketing thesis:  Spez SA does not have a cashflow issue and sitting with 5 - 10 bikes at the end of a season that did not sell at the RRP is no issue for them.  They drop the price to almost cost price and those bikes are sold within a week or 2.  They have no intention to lose out on trail bike sales in a market like SA where more and more people are getting into trail riding. 

 

I am pretty sure that what we see on the Spez website is only the available stock in SA.  Spez might not have the 2021 Stumpy Comp Carbon on their website with a price because they do not have any in stock yet.  The SA market is not the biggest in the world remember. 

 

I am pretty sure SA does not get the pick of the litter when the new season bikes are being released.  The whole world are out of stock in the bicycle department and SA will probably not even be top 20 in the list of countries to get the new bikes.  (This is definitely not a fact, just a thumb suck)

 

Maybe wait a month or 2 and they might get stock or even better, go and ask your local Spez shop.  You might get the actual answer there.