# 1983 Stumpjumper Sport



## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

*1986 Stumpjumper Sport*

It's pure MTB right now, but with some Paselas, drop bars and racks it will be a nice commuter/hauler/camping/dirt road bike. I love the orange.

[Actually, the guy told me it was an '86.]


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Cool. Post your finished product. I've got a trek 930 that I want to convert to a tourer/city bike, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Sweet..please give us updates...

I'm building a similar project... 1988 Shogun Prairie Breaker....


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## lousylegs (Jul 15, 2005)

Awesome bike RCnut.

Would love to find an old mountain bike like that to fix up.


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## Henry Chinaski (Feb 3, 2004)

Awesome. I'd love to get one of those. I'd probably keep it original. You should post the pic on the mtbr retro board.


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## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Nice bike. I would believe the '86 date over the '83 date as the under chainstay mounted U-brake era was from about '85 to about '87 or '88, I believe. My '89 Stumpie has cantilevers both front and rear.

Does that bike fit you as-is?

I'd fix it up and ride it. The problem with restoring an old bike like this is that Specialized made a ton of these bikes so they're really not worth a whole lot of money today unlike some of the rarer mountain bikes of that era.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

Squidward said:


> Nice bike. I would believe the '86 date over the '83 date as the under chainstay mounted U-brake era was from about '85 to about '87 or '88, I believe. My '89 Stumpie has cantilevers both front and rear.
> 
> Does that bike fit you as-is?
> 
> I'd fix it up and ride it. The problem with restoring an old bike like this is that Specialized made a ton of these bikes so they're really not worth a whole lot of money today unlike some of the rarer mountain bikes of that era.


It fits pretty well. Definitely not going for restoration--it's intended for workhorse duty.


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## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

I am thinking about a similar project, aren't MTB frames are longer ? Drop bar OK ?


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## peterjones (Apr 25, 2007)

I have a similar Jamis Eureka that I'm working up to do similar things with. I haven't decided where to go with it yet. I'm leaning towards SS, but leaving the straight bars on or even bull horns


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

kai-ming said:


> I am thinking about a similar project, aren't MTB frames are longer ? Drop bar OK ?


Usually, but it's not extreme on this one (22" top tube; 21" seat tube). The upjutting stem should make drop bars work.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

I keep coming back to this post...I love that frame....lugged, long wheelbase, room for big tires.....what's not to like?...Drop bars will look great on this bike.....


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## HOOKEM (Apr 4, 2004)

Dave Hickey said:


> I keep coming back to this post...I love that frame....lugged, long wheelbase, room for big tires.....what's not to like?...Drop bars will look great on this bike.....


I'm with you Dave, I've got a Specialized Hard Rock Ultra of the same era, and when I had the drop bars on it it was the Bomb! I had it set up SS too. Now its a 1x7 with flatbar and bar ends. I want to go back to the drops, but I can't figure out how to keep the brakes from being mushy.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

HOOKEM said:


> I'm with you Dave, I've got a Specialized Hard Rock Ultra of the same era, and when I had the drop bars on it it was the Bomb! I had it set up SS too. Now its a 1x7 with flatbar and bar ends. I want to go back to the drops, but I can't figure out how to keep the brakes from being mushy.


I wonder if V-brakes and V-brake specific levers would work to cure the mushiness? I haven't tried them, but I know some have.


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

they do...Tekro sell some v-brake road levers...worth the price


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

Dave Hickey said:


> I keep coming back to this post...I love that frame....lugged, long wheelbase, room for big tires.....what's not to like?...Drop bars will look great on this bike.....


What I think is interesting is the U-brake; it really neatens up the cable routing (the "bare" top tube looks so much better). We'll see how it works in practice; I haven't used one since freestyle bikes back in the day.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

rcnute said:


> What I think is interesting is the U-brake; it really neatens up the cable routing (the "bare" top tube looks so much better). We'll see how it works in practice; I haven't used one since freestyle bikes back in the day.


Do you commute in rain and other not-so-nice weather? I would imagine you may need to replace the cables a lot more often because they would get wet and rust. Full fenders are definitely in order. Cool bike. 

I have a '94 Raleigh MT400 that I put Conti Town & Country tires on, and use it to pull the kid trailer which I use for, well, pulling kids. But also for hauling groceries. I never did the full conversion. It still has the 3x7 drive train which only has a few gear selections that work. I had thought about going 1x9, but decided the frame is actually a little too small for me for my 22 mile r/t commute, so I bought a single speed for commuting and still use the Raleigh as a grocery getter. I would have needed to replace the RS Q10 fork with a rigid fork, and figured it wasn't worth it. My Raleigh doesn't have nearly as cool of a paint job as your orange SJ.:thumbsup:


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## lancezneighbor (May 4, 2002)

Cool bike.


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

*Classic*



rcnute said:


> It's pure MTB right now, but with some Paselas, drop bars and racks it will be a nice commuter/hauler/camping/dirt road bike. I love the orange.
> 
> [Actually, the guy told me it was an '86.]


It needs Biopace chain rings, though.

Check the first two numbers of the serial number for the year it was built, I think.


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

I inherited my wife's Late 1980's top of the line Cannondale MTB stiffy and put road/touring tires on it so it would be a better commuter. What the change did was turn an already pretty punishing bike into Torquemada's own jackhammer. Yes, the bicycle was faster and easier to pedal. But it was so uncomfortable to ride, I'd sometimes break out in giggles.

YMMV, of course.


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## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

rcnute said:


> I wonder if V-brakes and V-brake specific levers would work to cure the mushiness? I haven't tried them, but I know some have.


I'm running old Deore XT cantilevers on the rear of my commuter mated to Soma-branded Tektro drop bar brake levers and they're not mushy at all. They actually provide very nice braking power and very good brake lever feel, considering that this is a rear brake setup.

I was thinking about this old Raleigh Technium full-rigid mountain bike that I had built some years ago and sold to my friend that has the rear U-brake mounted under the chainstays. It would be cool if I could find a disc brake fork for it but the 1" steerer would make this a difficult task. That would clean up the clutter at the top of the forks as well as on the seatstays.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

Refurbed. Thanks to Seattle Powdercoat and Free Range Cycles for helping me fine-tune it.


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Looks good. I guess you changed your plans....no more orange, no drop bars, no racks.


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## rcnute (Dec 21, 2004)

llama31 said:


> Looks good. I guess you changed your plans....no more orange, no drop bars, no racks.


The paint wasn't in the worst shape, but I figured it was time for a change. Right now I just wanted to get it up and running, so the game plan may yet stay the same. I am tempted to leave well enough alone and just use it as a mountain bike with the Paselas for everything other than conditions warranting knobbies.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 20, 2007)

That`s a beauty, RCN. The large expanse of plain white looks like it`s missing something to me- gonna get some decals or anything? Or maybe it`s just me.


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

> The paint wasn't in the worst shape, but I figured it was time for a change. Right now I just wanted to get it up and running, so the game plan may yet stay the same. I am tempted to leave well enough alone and just use it as a mountain bike with the Paselas for everything other than conditions warranting knobbies.


You could still put a rack on if you thought it would be useful. I'm still pondering what the heck to do with my old steel trek 930 mtb. Right now it's set up as a beater hardtail, but I keep thinking it would be better as my around-town bike--fully rigid, fenders, rack, lights, flat pedals etc. One of these days...


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