Riding a Vintage Mountain Bike: The 1987 Specialized Stumpjumper & 1984 Stumpjumper Sport

Rich and I check out a 1984 Stumpjumper Sport and a 1987 Stumpjumper. Can you still have fun with these fully rigid, vintage mountain bikes?
Music: FynestLyk-Noir Et Blanc Vie

[@hernehill6282]

Wow, that brought back many memories of me avoiding my college coursework while riding dirt along the American River. The mountain bike vibe those days was very much counterculture-ish, simple, lighthearted fun. I kind of lost that, whatwith all the fancy technology, but now I'm back to riding my simple 90s bikes and re-living the fun.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

I'm drawn to these simpler mountain bikes. My first bike in the 90's did have front suspension.

[@ericmonty]

I began riding mountain bikes in 1986 on that same trail. As soon as I saw the lake in the shot I knew right where you were. 😁

[@bikestrikesrazors]

How cool is that, Eric?! And it’s still a nice trail! :)

[@ericmonty]

@@bikestrikesrazors yeah I moved away from the area in ‘95 but got to ride the trail again about five years ago. I agree, it’s still great!

[@darnellrucker6700]

Great video!!

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Thanks for watching, Darnell!

[@leslieyoung5234]

Great video at the right time for me. Thinking hard about getting a gravel bike but have mostly been considering ‘87 Hardrock and ‘95 Bontrager hardtail still in the family instead. Not optimal but either will easily accomplish a longer gravel event for me and the flat bars will give downhill confidence for this rolling relic. You bring up the most important point that riding these bikes will be a blast with a bonus of nostalgia to boot.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Absolutely! I think the only drawback to these vintage mountain bikes vs a modern gravel bike is that the gravel bike will likely be faster. Still, if you come across anything remotely technical, I think you’d be better off having one of these vintage warriors along to deal with it. :) Thanks again for watching!

[@markhuckercelticcrossbows7887]

great video, i just put my 87 ozark and 89 mirage up for sale, as i just aquired a minty appalachian :)

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Amazing that you can still stumble across minty MTB bikes from this era, Mark! Nice find!

[@trikeyeah]

I don’t miss those bikes at all. Cool to look at. Violent to ride.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

They do vibrate the heck out of you- Interesting to see what the early mountain bikers had to deal with before the days of cushy suspension bikes. :)

[@hernehill6282]

No doubt they're more fatiguing, but the challenge of being smooth as possible and finessing difficult sections is a heck of a lot of fun too. And so is the thrill of being on the brink of control LOL

[@bikestrikesrazors]

@@hernehill6282 Yep, I took a few pretty jarring, rocky downhill runs and almost lost control a few times. :) Slowing down helped a lot. :)

[@markhuckercelticcrossbows7887]

the sport, was sold here in the uk, as the Raleigh Maverick GT, made in japan

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Interesting! Yes, I heard that they were built by Miyata.

[@Olyphoto7]

In the late ‘70s, my dream bike was either a Diamondback or Redline BMX. I didn’t get my first mountain bike until ‘95. In the late ‘70s I pushed my cheap Huffy until I cracked the frame. Memories 😊

[@bikestrikesrazors]

I did the same to my Huffy after I pasted a label from a spaghetti box on the downtube so it would look "Italian". LOL!

[@Olyphoto7]

@@bikestrikesrazors I love it! I hope you have a picture.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

No, unfortunately. It started life as a 3 speed with a rack. My parents bought it for me to ride to Junior High school. By the time I was graduating High school, the rack was gone, one of the brake levers was gone and I had glued the spaghetti label on the bike. I think that was after I had just seen "Breaking Away". :)@@Olyphoto7

[@Olyphoto7]

@@bikestrikesrazors forgot about that movie. I need to watch it again.

[@breathestrongcycling3672]

The price of MTB nostalgia has risen a heck of a lot recently !! Love the style of the old MTBs , way nicer than the modern ones. Modern gears on these old frames is a good match tho...

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Yep- Folks are starting to discover these vintage MTBs, which will unfortunately drive up the prices. I'm still seeing some bargains on these at my local flea markets, though.

[@douglas1559]

Hey guys!good to hear from you. I do remember those early mountain bikes my buddies and I had a great time on them. Fun video thanks for sharing 💫

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Hey, Douglas! We took another ride on them today on some tough singletrack. It's quite a workout compared to a road bike or trike! Took us two hours to go eight miles. :)

[@markfeldman6509]

Nice one. I wish I had kept all of the old bikes that came and went out if my inventory!

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Hey, Mark! My original mountain bikes are long gone. I got rid of them in the 90's because I kept getting hurt. I took this one out for a ride and got Poison Oak for the first time in 30 years. :)

[@markfeldman6509]

@@bikestrikesrazors I’m too old and smart and brittle to be riding those anymore. Give me three wheels.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Yes, falling into a pile of rocks off a mountain bike is going to be the "big hurt". I feel much safer on a trike. :)@@markfeldman6509

[@BlackWarriorLures]

Classics!

[@papalegba6796]

Remember trying the early mountain bikes back in the 80s, they could take a beating & really scoot about, but cornering on tarmac with those knobbly tyres was sketchy af.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Oh, yeah! Best to stay in the dirt with the knobbies. :)

[@papalegba6796]

@@bikestrikesrazors I hung about with a bunch of London cycle couriers in the 80s, even with slicks the early mountain bikes were still nowhere near as fast as a racer. They were way tougher tho, could bash over kerbs & potholes which would bust up racers, which is why most couriers swapped over in the end, to save money on repairs.

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Interesting! @@papalegba6796

[@evanking920]

I loved seeing you both eating up those trails. Since I am from SoCal, I am not familiar with where you were riding. What area is that series of trails?

[@bikestrikesrazors]

Hey Evan! That was right along Folsom Lake a little north of Sacramento. It's been about 20 years since I had ridden a mountain bike and trails like that, so I was lucky to stay upright. :)