TPC Museum Series #10: Ned Overend's 1992 Specialized M2 | The Pro's Closet 

Bruin Just bought a fairly-pristine 96 Stumpjumper FS for 240 bucks, mostly original vintage parts, to replace the black (86?) stolen from my garage. It had been sitting in there for 15 years after I cracked a stay in Moab - always put off getting it welded. I know it’s heretical (esp. to Ned, apparently), but I’ve never felt more comfortable with a bike’s geometry then a 26 inch Stumpy, so I’ve just been waiting for one to come along in a craigslist alert.

I'm trying to find a Specialized frame to build out but not sure if a better option is a 1997 Specialized S-Works M2 or a 1997 Specialized Stumpjumper M2 FS. Any thoughts? Also, I found a 1995-98ish Specialized Stumpjumper M2 frame on ebay that the seller claims to be an S-works although it has zero "S-works" decals, only the stock Stumpjumper decals. Do you know if they made S-works Stumpjumpers back then? I appreciate it!

@@Yowzoe I read about Ned when looking into MTB history; I wondered to myself whether he would be a proponent of now-vintage bikes, or someone naturally accustomed to adapting to the latest MTB tech and therefore unwilling to dwell on old hardware. I guess I've received my answer, from Ned himself.

@@B.E.C.K. You may have found your answer by now -- but, just in case, I'll mention that the S-works models did in fact exist back then (1997/1998). They are almost mistakable for a regular Stumpjumper, but for a clear indicator: a "Specialized" decal in place of the "Stumpjumper" decal (thus, "Specialized" on both the top tube and the down tube). I don't know anything about S-works models' components, though. As far as the Stumpjumper goes, the Stumpy came in the following three variants: Stumpjumper, Stumpjumper Comp, and Stumpjumper Pro. These are undoubtedly great bikes and would make for a fun build. If possible, try not to pay too much for one: you may find a whole bike, locally, for the same or less than the cost of a frame by itself. As for years... I personally like late-1990s bikes better than early-mid 1990s bikes, because many late-1990s bikes came with useful revisions (V-brakes, modern threadless stems, etc.). Of course, if all you want is the frame itself, you'd need not look beyond your [presumed] basic requirement of a headtube large enough to fit a threadless 1 1/8" steer tube -- which determinately would allow you to reach back further and use an aluminum Stumpjumper frame from as early as 1995.

Just the words I'd like to say! 👍🏻

5yrs later, I feel the same.

Want to sell it?

Both guys were great representatives for pro mountain biking . Much respect!

Glad you enjoyed it!

💯💯💯

So cool!

🙌🙌🙌

i just found one of these. Neighbor was cleaning out his side yard and there it was next to bunch of junk with a free sign on it.

Hey what about the Zaskar community??? Picked an Al. Zaskar over a Stumpy back in 1998...came with that totally redesigned XTR...