We’re lucky to be riding during the Golden Age of mountain biking. We have access to more trails than ever, built with more diversity than ever, riders are progressing and nailing what was previously impossible, and now the new Stumpjumper EVO is evolved to meet the demands of modern riders. Delivering unprecedented control, capability and adjustability, along with unexpected climbability, it tames any terrain from chundery jank to progressive high speed flow and modern big hits. It’s your seat in the eye of the hurricane. And that’s good, ‘cause when shit starts flying on the trail, you’ll be zen in the middle of the mayhem.

Available in six style-specific sizes, the Stumpjumper EVO sets the benchmark for progressive trail geometry, delivering DH capability never before found from a 150mm bike alongside lively climbing manners. How? The generous cockpit gives you the room you need; centering you on the bike, optimizing traction and corner control. The low bottom bracket, slack headtube angle and reduced fork offset keep things stable in the rough, while giving you the freedom to destroy the turns, float through them, or nail the inside lines. A steeper seat tube optimizes power output and puts your weight over the front while climbing. And short chainstays keep things flickable and nimble.

Mullets are a thing these days. Not the hairstyle, though. Those are best still treated with wary respect and plenty of distance. No. We are talking about a 27.5” rear wheel and a 29” front. The big hoop up front provides traction and stability everywhere, while opting to run a smaller rear wheel can liven up responsiveness and also give more physical riders a skosh more room to get rad without hooking their shorts on the rear wheel. We utilize a different, aftermarket shock link to achieve Mulletdom with the EVO, in order to retain the handling, geometry and suspension characteristics that enable the rest of the package to shred so assertively.

The EVO’s 160mm front travel and 150mm rear feels bottomless on big drops, supple on small bumps, devours square-edged hits, yet still pedals responsively and climbs like a lightweight. The key ingredient here is Rx Tune – your prescription for fast. Riders all, our team of engineers and technicians toiled to develop every aspect of the EVO’s suspension into an optimally performing singularity. Chassis design, telemetry, wheel rates, spring curves, custom shimstacks, oil viscosity; front and rear suspension obsessed over, prototyped and tuned to deliver optimized and balanced performance, allowing the bike to disappear beneath you, leaving you confidently in control.

The SWAT door on the Stumpjumper EVO is a masterpiece of carbon fiber construction and spatial optimization. A simple pull and twist of the water bottle cage opens into a cavernous downtube storage compartment. There’s 15% more room than before; enough room to store 22oz of life giving water in an included, specifically designed bladder. Or some tubes and a rain jacket. Or folded up slices of pizza. Or multiple bananas (careful with that last one). Because we can tailor the layup of our carbon fiber, putting material where it is needed most, we can also design in this easy access storage compartment with zero compromise of the chassis strength or stiffness.

There’s a generous amount of anti-squat early in the EVO’s travel. When it comes to climbing responsiveness and pedalling snap, anti-squat is your friend. It helps you put the power to the ground without unwanted pedal-induced bob, and it transforms wattage into forward and upward momentum. As the suspension moves through its travel, the anti-squat characteristics drop below zero, and the suspension focuses on sucking up everything from chunder to dead sailoring blind hucks-to-flat.