2018 Women's Stumpjumper Comp Alloy 27.5

True—life is full of compromises. But on the trail, we're adamant believers that you should never have to "settle"—especially with alloy frames. Nothing is more tried and true, right? That's why our Women's Stumpjumper Comp Alloy 27.5 goes above and beyond to provide you with the ride of your life. Every touchpoint is tailored for female riders, while the frame shatters every rule in the design book with a total disregard for proprietary nonsense, a revolutionary new asymmetrical frame, and custom shock tunes exclusively for women.

Our design goal for the new Stumpjumper was simple—design a trail bike that feels telepathic. And it turns out that this feeling all comes down to stiffness. Think of it this way: when the frame's telling your hands one thing and your feet another, your brain gets confused with the imbalance and the bike feels unstable. In order to fix this, we had to get to work on dialing-in the materials, shapes, and the layout.

We started by creating our own mountain-specific stiffness test that examines the connection between a rider's a hands and feet, and then we looked at the layout with Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to see where we could get the biggest stiffness improvements. This led to a big discovery: Bigger frames needed more front-end stiffness while the smaller ones were just fine. We were able to keep the same stiffness standards in the front triangle of the smaller frames, while reducing weight by about 20%. And for the big frames, we ramped up the stiffness by 20% and kept the same weight.

It was then time to turn our focus to the rear-end to see how we could further improve the ride. We developed a radical new sidearm design that crushes stiffness targets. By connecting all three shock mounting points in one structure, we were able to minimize deflection when the suspension is active, and this greatly contributes to the incredible new feel on the trail. The new sidearm design also takes about 100 grams out of the rear of the frame.

We continued down the suspension path with a custom Women's Rx Tune on both the fork and rear shock. Suspension performance is highly dependent on frame, wheel, and rider size, so we use our Rx Tune to get each bike to land in the middle of the adjustment spectrum, and this gives you the biggest possible range to fine-tune your ride. Another focal point of the tune was matching the suspension characteristics between wheel sizes—we developed a specific Rx Tune for each platform and rider size. So, no matter what, you'll get perfectly linear suspension.

Steps were also taken to get rid of all the proprietary nonsense. Threaded bottom brackets make a triumphant return, and we made room for up to a 2.8" tire. You're also free to run whatever aftermarket rear shock you want, since we're using standard stroke and eye-to-eye dimensions. No AUTOSAG. No Shock Block. Customization is also furthered with a Flip Chip that lets you to dial-in your Stumpy to your riding style. Switch it from High to Low and it drops your bottom bracket 6mm, slackens the head tube by half-a-degree, and shortens the reach by 5mm. Little details also jump out to surprise you, like a newly designed ribbed chainstay protector that makes chain slap a thing of the past and nearly silences the drivetrain. The nubs on this protector disrupt the wave of the chain, like throwing a rock into the water to break the surface tension before jumping off a cliff. It's super cool.

The build comes with a list of components that deliver undeniable quality, like a Shimano SLX shifters, an XT rear derailleur, RaceFace cranks, Shimano SLX disc brakes, FOX front and rear suspension, and Roval Traverse 27.5 wheels. Meanwhile, every point that your body comes into contact with the bike has been tailored specifically for female riders with the inclusion of superlative kit, like a Body Geometry Myth Comp saddle, Sip Grips, and 750mm bars.

• The completely redesigned Women's Stumpjumper Alloy frame features an M5 alloy front- and rear-end, an asymmetrical design, and our 27.5 Trail Geometry, so it's just the right amount of both capable and comfortable.

• The FOX DPS Performance rear shock features our Rx Women's Tune, ensuring that no matter the frame size, your bike is dialed-in perfectly.

• A FOX 34 Rhythm fork handles suspension duties up front, with stiff stanchions and plenty of adjustability.