As long as there’s been mountain biking, there’s been the Stumpjumper… sort of. Mountain biking really began in the 1960s and 70s with custom builds from old balloon-tires and other vintage bikes. Early pioneers of the sport were grafting thumbshift-operated derailleurs and motorcycle-lever-operated drum brakes onto their old bikes, helping them get down the mountains with less and less trouble. But the first mass-produced mountain bike was the Specialized Stumpjumper, and it helped to shape the sport.
The Stumpjumper is still made and sold today, though it’s changed quite a ton throughout its lifetime. The bike starts around $3,000, with the cheapest frame starting at around $2,099. Specialized makes a whole lot of mountain bikes, but the Stumpjumper remains one of the most popular bikes in the world.
