Perhaps the most prominent feature of this build is the fork, the fire engine red ZEB Ultimate equipped with the Charger 3.1 damper. We went back and forth about which fork to use, considering the GRIP X2 36, Charger 3.1 Lyrik, and of course our favorite Fox 38. I haven’t gotten much time on the new ZEB just yet, and this seemed like a great platform to rack up the miles on it and compare it to the narrower stanchioned Lyrik sometime down the line. But for now, the Stumpjumper is getting over-forked to 160mm, increasing its capabilities without changing its overall nature too much.

Another prominent component is the Tenet cockpit, and the silver Bodem handlebars are real eye catchers. With 40mm of rise and cut down to 762.5mm, these bars are comfortable, stylish, and plenty stiff for anything you can throw at them. The silver finish is incredibly high quality, and matches the silver Maven Ultimate levers perfectly. Tenet also provided their 42mm Nora stem, which is machined locally here in Whatcom county. I’ve found stems between 40 and 45mm to be my sweet spot of performance, perhaps not coincidentally lining up with our typical 44mm fork offset. Our final Tenet product is the Occult pedal, which I’ve been riding on my DH bike for the last season and have come away very impressed with the level of grip supplied by the sharp pins and concave profile.

SRAM’s latest and greatest brakes, the Mavens, have been a polarizing product to say the least. We had issues with the review set we received for the launch, but we’ve heard that was an issue isolated to the early production brakes that has been ironed out now. Expect an updated take on SRAM’s most powerful stoppers, as the power is like nothing we’ve ridden before. Paired with the 200mm HS2 rotors, I’m excited to see if this proves to be a winning combo.

Dropper posts changed the mtb game and became ubiquitous almost overnight. Bike Yoke made it their mission to perfect this new technology, and has long worn the crown of the best dropper post money can buy. It isn’t cheap, and the Bike Yoke Revive 3 MAX 213mm has made its home on this Stumpjumper. No one at the shop has gotten a chance to put miles on a dropper post from Bike Yoke before, so we’re excited to finally get some experience with the brand and compare them against our favorites from OneUp and Fox. Pairing with the post with the Bike Yoke Triggy Alpha, I’m expecting a trouble free drop and raise at every lever punch.

Spinning the wheels is the GX Transmission. As expected, GX is the value oriented Transmission, and if it shifts anything like the X0 Transmission I had the pleasure of reefing on a couple years ago, it'll be the best shifting experience I've had. It’s admittedly been a while since I’ve used a battery power derailleur, and while I’m not excited to forget to charge my batteries, I am excited about the consistency the robots bring to the table. My reliable 11 speed setup doesn’t have quite the range of the new 10-52 cassettes, and that low gear is a welcome change of pace when it comes to winching up Bellingham’s steepest terrain. A nice touch is the integrated bash guard, something that makes so much sense and I’m surprised other companies haven't employed it before.

Bikes aren’t much without those big round hoops spinning circles beneath us, and this build features Reserve HD|30 rims laced up to Industry Nine 1/1 hubs. Ever since the video of Danny Macaskill abusing the Reserve rims came out all those years ago, I’ve been so keen to get my hands on a set of my own. Carbon rims haven’t had a big role in my years riding bikes, and the only experience I’ve had was filled with cracked rims and false promises from the warranty department of another company. That left a sour taste in my mouth, so it’s been an all aluminum affair in recent years, but I’m hoping Reserve is able to change my attitude.

Wrapping up those carbon rims is a new kind of tire from Schwalbe. Schwalbe’s Albert tires use a radial casing, which is said to be more compliant than a standard casing, which basically means it should grip more before sliding out. Albert’s tread is confidence inspiring, and is definitely reminiscent of Maxxis’s industry leading Assegai. Its knobs are more tightly packed than Schwalbe’s Magic Mary, and looks like it’ll be perfect for bike park laps or any dry summer days. In the front, I’m running the Trail casing Albert in the 2.5” width, and I’ve got the Gravity casing Albert in 2.5” width in the rear. Both of these tires actually measure to 2.4” wide when we get the calipers out, but that’s pretty standard in the tire industry.

While the Stumpjumper 15 is designed as a trail bike, we’ve definitely built it up to be more of an Enduro rig, which is part of the beauty of a custom build. The frame can start its life as one genre of bike but can quickly transform into something different just because of the parts installed on it. With the 38mm stanchioned ZEB fork and DH ready Maven brakes, this bike is certainly more capable than any stock build, and I can’t wait to put the whole build through its paces. Be on the lookout for lots of words on every part we specced on this bike!