Men's Stumpjumper ST Comp Carbon 29

Built from the same FACT 11m carbon fibre as our S-Works model, the Stumpjumper ST Comp Carbon 29er packs a hell of a lot into a single trail bike. This version features custom-tuned suspension, epic handling and a special short-travel design for those in search of extra agility, punchy climbing and dialled-in descending.

With the new Stumpjumper we set out to create the ultimate bike for trail riding, a bike that has a telepathic ability to communicate what's going on beneath your wheels. The crucial component in a bike that rides like that is stiffness because a frame with too much flex in the wrong places is a frame that feels unstable and even untrustworthy.

We developed our own mountain-specific test for stiffness and then we examined the prototype frame designs with a process of Finite Element Analysis. While our Medium and Small frames performed well in these tests, we discovered the L and XL options needed a bit of tweaking with regards to front-end stiffness. The resulting reshuffle led to 20% more efficiency, as well as preserving the Stumpy's status among the lightest trail frames on the market.

The Stumpjumper's most obvious change for 2018 is its radical new Sidearm construction. The front and back of the bike are connected in three spots, with the Sidearm ensuring this trio of connections feel super-secure and stiff even when the rear suspension is active. That means less unsettling frame flex, plus a 100g lighter rear end.

We've also included our Rx Trail Tune on both fork and shock. Suspension performance can be thrown off by all sorts of things like frame, wheel and rider size so we use Rx Tune to manage this. As a result, every Stumpy should land bang in the middle of the adjustment spectrum, giving each owner the max amount of customisability. We even went so far as to tweak the Rx Tune for use on a 29er platform giving you the absolutely linear suspension you demand.

A threaded bottom bracket reappears for 2018, with clearance for 3.0 tyres and a return to standard metric shocks adding to the easy-to-live-with character of the new Stumpjumper. Our beloved SWAT box is back, but streamlined and with greater capacity, while we've also run full tubes throughout the frame to guide your internal cables all the way from entry to exit. That means no more endless hours spent fumbling about with magnets, pokey spokes or lazy loops.

Our Flip Chip tech allows you to mix up the geometry of the bike, dropping the BB by 6mm and slackening out the head tube by half a degree. In practice, this means you can further enhance every ride with geometry that's suited to the path ahead. Our clever new ribbed chain stay protector does wonders for reducing the sound of chain slap, giving the Stumpy an almost silent drivetrain.

The Comp comes dressed in Shimano XT/SLX drivetrain components, a RaceFace crankset, SLX discs (also Shimano) and FOX handling the rear and front suspension (120/130mm of travel each). Our Roval Traverse 29 wheels complete the brilliantly balanced spec.