Mountain Biking - 1995 StumpJumper M2 rebuild or not?

I have a 1995 Specialized StumpJumper M2. It's been around a while and has a lot of miles on it.

I was planning on replacing it by building-up a bike, possibly with a Salsa Ala Carte, Rocky Mountain Blizzard or Yeti ARC frame. Each of those frames is pretty expensive, so I was considering my other options, like rebuilding my old M2 frame. I mean, the frame is in good shape (no dings, dent's or cracks), the bike has always fit me well and it would save up to $1000.

I'm worried about the frame. Does anyone have any expirience or advice in rebuilding older aluminum framed bikes? How much of a concern is metal fatigue?

I have a 1995 Specialized StumpJumper M2. It's been around a while and has a lot of miles on it.

I was planning on replacing it by building-up a bike, possibly with a Salsa Ala Carte, Rocky Mountain Blizzard or Yeti ARC frame. Each of those frames is pretty expensive, so I was considering my other options, like rebuilding my old M2 frame. I mean, the frame is in good shape (no dings, dent's or cracks), the bike has always fit me well and it would save up to $1000.

I'm worried about the frame. Does anyone have any expirience or advice in rebuilding older aluminum framed bikes? How much of a concern is metal fatigue?

Those frames were so overbuilt, there's no reason why you can't just update it --except that it's designed for a fork with 65-70mm of travel, so modern, longer forks will affect the head tube angle and steering.

It's popular to warn people that aluminum frames are only good for one season, or dry out in the sun, or will suddenly snap and crack in half when they turn 3, or other idiot lunacy that dingbats like to repeat after reading a magazine or a bulletin board. Hopefully, you don't get a glot of those kind of responses here. If you are using the bike to take 35' drops (like all we rad dudes do), it will break, just like a cast-iron, steel, carbon, thermoplastic or beryllium frame will. If you are using it to ride trails like you always have been, it will be fine for a long time.

That said, the fork upgrade issue is a legitimate one. You might want to consider building up a non-name brand frame that's still swank. For example, did you know that Jenson USA's house brand hardtail is identical to a Santa Cruz Chameleon and built in the same (Kinesis ) factory but sells for much less? There are a lot of other options out there, too, and then you could have a PAIR of bikes... Nice to have a loaner.

Definately keep the M2. But I would recommend a new bike for the same reason EBasil mentioned.

Heck, convert the M2 to a singlespeed!

L8R

Funny thing is.. I have an M2 also and am running into the same issue.... hmmm

Oh and what EBasil says about those guys worrying about frames cracking... well they do fatigue over time... but mainly only if you are rough on it.. i.e. urban, and super rough rock garden stuff... not saying they will deffinately break or anything.. just giving you an idea of what he's talking about... but an M2 is a completely different animal, it was never built to be the lightest thing around... if yours is like mine, it's solid as a brick! no flex, but not super light either.

I say keep it and build it up! Oh and the head angle thing... making it slacker isn't always a bad thing.. I kinda like slack angles... but I also like DH...

I had an old Judy XC on it stock and upgraded the internals to DH ones... and it didn't make a huge difference and if I'm correct in remembering that was about 3.5 inches of travel. So I think a 4 inch fork would be about the biggest you could go with yout making it feel like a dead fish... anyways, that's my .02 cents.

Get us pics of whatever you decide to do!

one more vote for keeping the old frame, as it is worthy of keeping. doesn't hurt to get a second bike either =]

I am riding an AL (6061) frame GT Avalanche that is 6 years old. I am 200lbs, XC, lots of mountain fire roads, so I do get a little air on the way down, not a huckster though. No problems.

Heck, you don't see too many old 747s snapping in half.

Thanks for the feedback. All the replies confirm what I was thinking. I'm not real rough on bikes, but the ol' M2 has got some miles on it, including a few punishing trips to Moab. I guess the worst thing that could happen is the frame could crack and have to transfer a bunch of new components to a new frame. The old M2s were definitely not in the ultralight class. When I bought the bike, it came with a RockShox Mag 21 with 1.6 inches of travel! I upgraded the shock with the "long travel" kit (2.1 inches). Now it's got a Judy with Mountain Speed springs in it, (about 2.5 inches). My my my, 4 inches of travel; how things change. If I do a rebuild, I'll post some pictures.

P. S.
Any one know of a source for original bike stickers, if I wanted to repaint the frame?

I have a '96 Stumpy M2 that I refreshened a year ago and it rides like new. It should, since it doesn't have a single original component besides the bottle cage. The paint is just a bit ugly because it's a mountain bike (duh), but the frame itself is still in great shape.

I wouldn't worry about the frame breaking because it should have a lifetime warranty, meaning Specialized will send you a new one (M4!!!), in many cases even if you've done something stupid. I would hold onto it and ride it until it breaks (if ever). If not, upgrade it and move the components to another bike.

Being that my paint has seen better days, I too am interested in finding some replacement decals. I'm guessing calling Specialized would be the best place to start.