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History: When I went to work in the States, I initially only had my road bike with me, so considering the price advantage of buying American bikes in the US, I decided to treat myself to a new mountain bike. I looked around a bit, but then a friend offered me a deal on a Stumpjumper, and since I have always loved my original one, I bought the same model again, just nine years on. A different bike to Stumpy One though - fairly similar geometry, except with a shorter, sloping top tube and angles corrected for the Manitou suspension forks, and metal matrix tubing replacing the steel. I rode it completely as stock for a couple of months, then decided the suspension fork had to go - I've always ridden a rigid bike (except for a brief dabble with a fully suspended machine), and I just couldn't get used to the inprecision of the bouncy forks, and the way the head angle, and hence the handling, changed as the fork compressed. So I found a nice pair of Kinesis aluminium forks. These are shorter than the original Manitous, which steepened the head angle, quickening the handling which I really like. The only disadvantage is that it also lowered the bottom bracket, so I have to be slightly more aware of clipping the pedals in corners. With the new fork came a set of riser bars - not for the rise, I actually flipped the stem when I fitted them to retain the same bar height - but for the more comfortable wrist angle. I then changed the Avid brakes for XTR - a big improvement - and took the gear indicators off the XT rapidfire; one got damaged first time out and I don't use them anyway. The bike came with narrow tyres suitable for hardpack - I found them hopeless for my riding, so fitted a pair of Specialized Team Master/Team Control treads, as on both my other mountain bikes. The final addition was a seatpost quick release - with the flat pedals screwed in, Stumpy Two is a great trials machine. In 2004 I decided to compete in the TransAlp, so it was time to give Stumpy a facelift. Almost everything got replaced, getting it dialled to be light and fast for the eight day race. Very nice having a sub-20lb mountain bike! Purpose: Anything mountain biking - this bike is good for everything. With the right choice of pedals and seat height it is great for day rides, cross- country racing, trials, whatever. Just like the original Stumpy in fact.... 
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