Finally picked up a Stumpy today, after some unnecessary haggling and a few hours in the car. This bike has been until now impossible to find locally, but here it is; my 1993 Stumpjumper.

It is possibly in the worst condition for any bike I have bought, came with cheap parts, some Yeti grips at least, Shimano STX headset, original BB (feels tight and smooth) and Specialized handlebar. And the ubiquitous shark fin! Everything else is junk.

The frame is tatty but it is all cosmetic, first I shall give it a thorough clean, spit and polish, put a shiny STX group together for it (I have most of it already in my stash) and give it a little thrashing in all its rigid jaw-rattling glory.

Later we will see about stripping it and getting a shiny new metallic maroon finish on it, but first things first, it's all about getting it up and running and thrashed again!

Thanks for looking.




Its a bit rough .

Shark fin!! .





As it was advertised

I'm a big fan of vintage MTBs and especially Stumpies as I own and ride two of them.

Here is a thread on my MTBs with pics

Bikemig's MTB fleet

My '92 Stumpjumper was in poor cosmetic shape although it was in better shape than yours and came with the original parts. You'd be surprised what you can do to fix the paint. The parts you need won't be hard to find and won't cost you a lot as there are a lot of vintage MTB parts floating around. These are "before" and "after" pictures.

Thanks, that is great inspiration, I see you went the drop bar route.

This one has a lot of unprotected steel showing through, I will try to patch what I can after de-rusting, using the nail polish technique. I wonder if I can find metallic green for the decals?

👍

Glad you're rescuing that one. It deserves better than it was getting.

I'd be tempted to touch this up and get new decals. I buffed out the rust, did an undercoat with flat white rustoleum, and then a touch up with a model paint color that was close. It looks better in a pic on in the internet than in real life but the paint is doing its job.

I won't be stripping it yet, that's for sure. I'm excited to see how it feels just with some extreme waxy buffing and some pretty parts fitted.

Here it is mostly stock NOS 93. These ride very nice. They also had really crappy paint jobs.


A 92

Cool rescue! Do keep us up to date with the build.

Good on ya for the rescue. This will make a great all-rounder when you get it up and running.

If there were any justice in the world, old mountain bikes would end their lives as a twisted broken hulk at the bottom of a cliff. (Whether their riders ended up at the bottom of the cliff is a different story.). Mountain bikes are the Vikings of bicycles and they should end their lives in battle with an ascension to Valhalla! The worst possible fate for a mountain bike...especially a Stumpjumper!...is to have someone slap a pair of slicks on them and use them for cruising the local bike path!

Put parts on it, put knobbies on it, even put a suspension fork on it, and try to ride it until it breaks. It looks like it has been through lots of battles and it may have some more in it but, please, don’t make it into a bike path bike!

Mounting slicks on an old MTB is a good idea. That makes it an all roads bike suitable for commuting, as well as riding on bike paths and gravel roads. They’re fine bikes for dirt roads and gravel paths.

Your '93 is much better than the one I bought a few years ago. Mine even came with a free BSO.




I parted out the stumpjumper. The Magna just ended up on the curb.

Anxious to see your build, i went through the same thing with my 92 pretty poor condition paint wise and had to redo. Enjoy the process and keep us posted👍🏻

Got stuck in to the frame today, just a quick hand-job, rubbing in some polishing cream and a bit of wax. Lovely.
Better, but still ugly as as hell.

Interestingly or not, the frame and decals are metallic or glitter effect, whilst the fork is solid red, but matching the tone of the frame.

Can anyone indicate the correct diameter of the seat post? The clamp has been pinched a little by the look of it and I get an interior seat tube diameter of 26.5mm thereabouts.

Later it will get another deeper clean sans headset and BB, and I will address those exposed rusty spots, of which there are many. I have no inclination to strip and repaint, I am liking the patina after apparently 20 years of being kicked around the garage floor.
But for now, I am rooting out some decent period parts. More to come...

Regarding the seat tube, I just "un-pinched it" by eye and it accepts a 27.0mm seat post. That will do it then.

I have different wheels for different uses, that way my favourite Kona CC gets to do touring and some trails.
The track going downhill from my house negates any possibility of putting slicks on my bikes. Some of these old lightweight and strong steel frames make excellent touring bikes too, they feel so much more alive than alum frames.

Black wheels or silver? I am erring towards the silver mavics with stx-rc (7-sp rear) hubs. Later it will get some deore thumbies if I can get them to work.

I’m in agreement on the silver they really pop on the bike

I like the black ones
just looks meaner
silver spokes is the critical thing.
obviously go with what is most practical though.

I really like the color/decal scheme.

Is that a painted logo on the down tube by the BB?

And Silver rims.

Silver wheels/spokes if you're going to keep the silver seatpost and stem. I have a similar vintage red Trek 970..silver looks right to me.

Old mtn bikes like this remind me of the movie "The Red Violin"..good flick if you haven't seen it.

I recently came across a Trek 950 in similar condition, although surprisingly good mechanically. I really don't need another project, but I'm tempted to save it from a worse fate for the sake of saving it alone...eventually move it to..someone.. that will enjoy it. It's currently on a (short) trajectory that'll end in a dumpster, for no other reason than the owner doesn't care.

(cycco certainly has a valid point..that's where The Red Violin memory came from...one life morphing into another and another and another..hopefully some day far in the future someone will wrap this bike around a tree and it'll become one last, great campfire story)

That's a transparent dealer sticker.

Thanks for your vote!

Next we will see if the all-chrome STX or black/silver Deore crank set go with the wheel choice.

Basically, to me, red bikes rock with any black/silver combo, and while the frame is a wee bit shabby, I think I can get away with the most practical choice, whatever that may be.
What fun it is to bring back life to an old machine. (oxymoron apart.)

mmm perhaps I should pull out a red/black Panaracer Fire tire to mix it up a bit... 👌

Here is a piece on whether you need knobbies on dirt trails; YMMV obviously. https://www.renehersecycles.com/when-to-use-knobbies/

My vote goes for silver on this bike.

Your clean up job is looking great.

Gotta disagree on the touring bike thing. By 1993, the geometry of the mountain bike has changed significantly from 10 years earlier. The rear wheel had moved forward, shortening the chainstays, and the front end had steepened significantly. The changes were made for a more aggressive (and less stable) ride needed for off-road riding.

Touring bikes make excellent touring bikes (even aluminum ones). Mountain bikes make excellent mountain bikes. Trying to use one for the other’s purpose seldom results in desirable results.