Wish the Stumpjumper was a high-pivot bike? With this kit, you can make it one.

Photos: Dan and Jamieelee Palma

The folks at Washington-based Cascade Components are known for producing aftermarket linkages for popular mountain bikes to adjust the kinematics and, in some cases, even add a bit more rear travel. Now, the company is taking things to another level with their $1,995 Stumpjumper High Pivot Conversion kit.

“Our engineer wanted to change the axle path of the bike, and then it just cascaded into more and more. No pun intended,” Max Piltz told us at Sea Otter last week. “Why don’t we make it a high pivot, see what that does? And that’s what came to this.”

The conversion kit requires many custom pieces to function, hence the high price. We’re told everything is CNC-machined in-house, and Cascade even does its own anodizing. “If you’re mechanically inclined, [installation is] definitely super doable in the garage,” Piltz says.

Why high pivot?

The Specialized Stumpjumper 15 is already an excellent mountain bike, so why make it a high-pivot bike? “By creating a [rearward] axle path, it helps the wheel sail over square-edged impacts effortlessly, sending less shock through to you,” the brand writes on their website.

Cascade notes that in its stock configuration, the Stumpjumper axle path shifts rearward at sag, then shifts forward as it moves through its travel. With the conversion, the axle path is transformed so that it’s completely rearward, which improves control when it comes to square-edge hits. That rearward axle path isn’t ideal for pedaling, hence the addition of an idler pulley to the system.

In addition to increasing progression overall, the kit adds 10mm of rear suspension travel to the Stumpjumper. The kit also unlocks the possibility of running a coil shock.

“If you want to run a coil over [on] the stock bike, our link is pretty necessary, just because the stock bike is very linear,” Piltz said.

Limited release

So how many riders out there actually want to convert their Stumpjumper 15 into a high pivot bike? After all, there were dozens of dedicated high-pivot bikes on display at Sea Otter this year.

It seems Cascade is betting there are at least 20 such mountain bikers out there, based on the number of kits they’ve made available. “Once they are gone, they are gone,” the brand says.