Help identifying my 2000s Specialized FSR Elite

Question

I'm trying to resuscitate my stumpjumper FSR ELITE. I'VE SEARCHED the interwebz and it's just confused me. I need to have the shock rebuilt or replaced, and the forks need a rebuild or replace. I need to know the exact year to confirm several things. Most important is the rear shock length, something like 7.25x1.75. This will help me decide whether to rebuild if I can find parts or but a replacement. Same for the steerer tube. I think it's 1⅛ straight, but need to confirm. The shock says Triad, and the fork says Talas RC 100-120-140. The model is stumpjumper elite, in M5 alloy. The specs for 2004 sj FSR elite refer to m4 alloy, but mine is M5. 2006 maybe? But according to this link https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/mountain-bikes/specialized-stumpjumper-pro-fsr-06-review/ the '06 has The 2005 was made in M4, so it's not that. The 2006 SJ FSR 'pro' has a brain rear shock, and different groupset. Despite that, I'm pretty sure it's a 2006. 2007 they changed the linkage completely. The specialized site is no help. . I have decent trails nearby, but the shock is leaking oil everywhere. I might just have to pull it off and send it to fox or S4 suspension in Montreal. If I still lived in Whistler I could visit them there dangit. But I'm nowhere near a specialized bike shop. I tried to find the serial number, supposedly it's stamped under the BB but I can't find it. I'm stumped 🤯 haha Lots of pics in Google album. Note the very asym rear triangle. Xtr long cage, LX front bottom pull derailleurs, dt swiss wheels, and avid juicy 7s. Thanks!

Answer 1

Based on the components listed for this 2006 FSR Elite, which are identical to the kit you described on yours, I think we can confidently put yours in MY 2006.

Here is an online Owners Manual for the Fox Triad shock. Within this document is a hotlink for authorized service centers. It's pretty straight forward to obtain the critical measurements of your shock to find a replacement match size-wise. You need the eye to eye measurement and the stroke length, which is very close to the length of the exposed shock body minus 5mm. Emailing Fox should get you some answers fairly quick in my experience.

The Talas is a decent fork for its time. I like the adjustable travel feature. It likely has an open bath damper, either an RL or RLC. Replacement parts and even seal kits for these are scarce. At least in the online marketplace. There is brisk used fork market and Fox forks from this era can sell for upwards of $300. Unfortunately, new straight steerer forks are not common any more and the most popular brands, Fox and Rockshox do not even offer straight steerers on their new products. Fox definitely doesn't. I'm fairly certain your head tube is 34mm inside diameter, and it's not possible to even adapt that via special headset cups to accept a tapered steerer fork.

One upgrade I did with my 2002 FSR was to put a Shimano Hollowtech2, 2x crankset on it. The external bearing system and the crank itself was much lighter than the 3x stock with cartridge bottom bracket.

Answer 2

Matching the colour and decales on google search results, looks likely a 2007, However it does not matter that much, all the information you need can be found by looking at the parts.

2007 will be a 1 1/8" straight steerer fork. A quality replacement fork will likely be hard to find these days (recently went though it with my 2010 Scott Spark), aim for a full service if you can still get the parts needed, and consider a used fork if you need to replace.

The shock is a Fox Triad. If you find the shock serial number head over to Fox and use the serial number to find the details you need. (https://www.ridefox.com/fox17/help.php?m=bike). Shock size is reported to be anything from 7.25 x 1.5 to 7.825x1.9. I suspect the stock shock is non-standard (not uncommon back then) and people have fitted various alternates with various degrees of success.

If you cannot get an exact match, aim for a shock that is no longer than the specified shock length when uncompressed, and has a compressed length no shorter than the specified shocks compressed length. If you still have choices of shocks, choose the longest.