Stooge Scrambler Review: Third Course

Action/riding photos by Nic Morales

“I’ll have the salmon, but will you replace the ginger cauliflower purée with asparagus?” I’m not a chef, but as a food lover, amending dishes at restaurants has always been a peeve of mine. Special requests may seem harmless to some, but unless allergies are involved, asking a kitchen to add, remove, or sub ingredients is kind of like bartering with an artist about a painting, “I really like it, but could you cover up the blue with green so it will match my sofa?” Menu items are designed as complete creations and should remain unaltered to truly experience the flavor profile as the culinary maestro envisioned.

Nevertheless, I don’t seem to apply this philosophy to other areas of my life. Case in point: this bike. The Stooge Scrambler was optimized for 27.5+ tires, yet I decided to squeeze every ounce of 29-inch rubber I could into the frame, thus theoretically transfiguring the result intended by the chef—Stooge’s owner and designer Andy Stevenson. Will I offend said chef with this build and my findings in this review? We’ll see, but I also think I can make some pretty calculated mental leaps after ripping the Stooge Scrambler around in 29er mode for a few months and comparing it to the other two Stooges I’ve ridden, the Dirt Tracker and MK6.

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Before I dig deeper into the ride nuance of 27.5 vs. 29er tire diameters, some of you might be looking for a clear explanation of why I’m reviewing yet another Stooge. Riffing on the food analogy once more, I’m the kind of person who’s usually pretty content in my role as a regular at a favorite restaurant, often trying out different dishes or opting for the special of the day. Eventually, I’ll probably try Andy’s full menu, with the Scrambler whimsically being the third Stooge I’ve tossed my lanky legs over. For folks interested in this bike or any Stooge, you might consider my Stooge MK6 review and Dirt Tracker review as preliminary reading—or appetizers, if you will—to gain some backstory and general Stooge DNA musings.

The Stooge Scrambler (Then and Now)

Paradoxically, sampling the other two Stooges before the Scrambler wasn’t intentional. The Stooge Scrambler was the first model from the brand that really piqued my interest and the first one I wanted to review. When we teased it in the summer of 2020, there was no bike. The Scrambler was simply a collage featuring a schematic drawing juxtaposed with a couple of color swatches and a military-style type treatment. Still, with the images of the Stooge MK4 floating around the interwebs, it was easy to envision the mythical Scrambler’s potential with its interesting geometry, aesthetically beguiling twin-top-tube Klunker vibe, and all the bikepacking-ready attachments you could shake a spork at.

The Scrambler took clear inspiration from the 27.5-plus-specific MK4—renowned at the time for its accomplishments as a rigid enduro bike—and the other model in the lineup back then, the less-aggressive Speedball 29er. Similar to those two, with a 67° head tube angle, 57mm fork offset, and 65mm bottom bracket drop, the Scrambler was unmistakably trail-oriented at its core and notably progressive by rigid mountain bike standards. However, it was also designed to be the most versatile bike in Stooge’s range when it was released. At that time, the MK4 and Speedball didn’t have all the adventure accouterments, and they weren’t made with touring in mind. Stooge affectionately referred to the Scrambler as “the Adventure Stooge” and dubbed it as “an adventure bike you can still get rad on, hit the old BMX track with, yet ride off into the sunset in all-day comfort with Knocking on Heaven’s Door playing in the background.”

Despite its differentiation, the frame itself is positively Stooge… maybe even more Stooge than the other two I’ve ridden. It retains the original Stooge’s signature twin top tubes and keeps the curvelicious biplane fork, which was nixed on the MK6. The current Scrambler, which is basically the second generation, isn’t much different than the one released in late 2020. And like all of Andy’s creations, it comes out in batches, each with limited sizes, a couple of color options, and incremental changes. The original ran a 33mm seat tube, 30.9mm post, and slightly thinner-gauge top tubes. The gen-two model has moderately beefed up top tubes for heavier loads, and the seat tube was upgraded to 34.9mm for a 31.6mm post. With the latest batch that started shipping last fall, it came in 18” and 20” sizes and two colors: Blue and Dark Ochre.

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I reviewed the larger of the two. I’m 6 feet tall (1.83 meters) and have a 75” wingspan (1.91 meters) or +3” ape index and a 34.5” Inseam (0.88 meters). It fit like a glove with a 50mm stem and 70mm high-rise Doom bars. I’d dare to say that it fit better than the 19” MK6 or the one-size Dirt Tracker, even. The Scrambler has a slightly lengthier effective top tube than either of the other two, by about a centimeter, and over a centimeter of added stack height due to its longer head tube. The result was a slightly more upright posture when seated, which is fitting for its intent.

Build Kit

Considering the MK6 and Dirt Tracker had both been dressed up as singlespeeds in their last guise, it was only fitting to set up the Scrambler in mono-cog mode. That being said, that wasn’t how I envisioned it. I initially planned on outfitting it with a Shimano LinkGlide 11-speed drivetrain, thinking it might be the perfect bomb-proof, long-distance dirt-tourer. However, my singlespeed love affair was in full swing, and considering I’d been neglecting all of my other bikes in favor of my single-cog-equipped Dirt Tracker, I knew I’d put a lot more miles on the Scrambler over the fall if it only had one gear. And that I did in spades. Here’s the full build kit.

• Frame Stooge Scrambler, 20″
• Fork Stooge Scrambler, 455mm, 57mm Offset
• Front Hub Project 321
• Rear Hub Project 321 Gen 3
• Rims We Are One Fuse, 33mm IW, 28-spoke
• Spokes Double-butted Sapim Race, Simworks Raw Brass Nipples
• Front Tire Maxxis Minion DHF 29 x 3.0″
• Rear Tire Maxxis Aggressor 29 x 2.5″
• Crankset Cane Creek eeWings, 170mm, 30T CAMO Chainring
• Rear Cog Wolf Tooth, Stainless, 20T
• Brakes Hope Tech4 E4, 180mm Rotors
• Saddle Bike Yoke Sagma
• Seatpost 2025 Fox Transfer (Factory), 210mm, 31.6
• Seatpost Clamp Hope, 34.9
• Handlebar Doom Bars Tracker Bar, Titanium, 820mm
• Grips WTB CZ Control
• Headset Chris King, Brass Spacers
• Bottom Bracket Chris King

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Generally speaking, I have no complaints about all the components used here. It’s a blingy and very deliberate build. There are a couple of things I’ll be sharing standalone reviews of in the future, so stay tuned for more on those.

On the Trail

Initial impressions are a funny thing with bikes. Sometimes, I form an opinion on the first ride that lingers throughout the duration of the review period, ultimately being inscribed into the final verdict. On other occasions, early notions fade away with the miles, and my mind is changed after truly getting to know the bike. Both of these scenarios played out during my time on the Stooge Scrambler.

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The first vibe I got with the Scrambler caught me by surprise. Granted, I had built up some anticipation having ridden the hell out of the MK6 and the Dirt Tracker. I expected it to be a slightly toned-down version of those two, and maybe lean a little more toward the touring bike end of the spectrum, making it a shade more conservative when beholden to trail whip duties. That wasn’t remotely the case, despite it having a one-degree steeper head tube angle than the other two Stooges I’d ridden. Out of the gate, I recognized that it was tuned for the same dirt-dancing trail magic as both of those bikes. It tackled obstacles with a similar level of poise and confidence, and it had a unique fun factor built in with significantly shorter chainstays.

On the other hand, there was another first impression that had me scratching my head a little at first. On several occasions during my first two or three rides, it felt like I bit off more than I could chew, which I’ll expand on below.

Stooge Scrambler vs. Dirt Tracker

Don’t get me wrong, the Scrambler’s capabilities aren’t too far off from those of the Dirt Tracker—or the MK6, for that matter—but there were a handful of moments early on when I put myself into a tricky situation where it felt like I was teetering on the edge of composure. Or, to use parlance from another review, writing checks I might not be able to cash. I tried to further dissect this subtle disparity by riding the two back to back, pedaling each one on the exact same loop. It generally seemed like the Dirt Tracker’s quicker front end allowed me to react to obstacles and terrain variation on a moment’s notice, yet it maintained a sure-footed stability at all times, which is probably due in part to its lower bottom bracket and long rear center. The Scrambler seemed a little looser, for lack of a better term. It has slightly slower steering, despite its shorter rear end, and sometimes felt a little less planted. That said, I eventually fell into rhythm with the Scrambler, and after four or five rides, I couldn’t notice that quality at all.

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The Scrambler’s front end feels generally calmer, which isn’t a bad thing; I noticed that immediately when switching to the Dirt Tracker on my side-by-side test. Given the Scrambler’s long 57mm fork offset, its steering isn’t slow by any stretch of the imagination. However, I steer the Dirt Tracker more with my feet and body, and riding it imbues a particular flow that makes it unique. The Scrambler seems more normal, as odd as that may sound. In the end, I found that it shares a lot of similarities with the MK6 and that the characteristics I mentioned above were more the result of being in the Dirt Tracker zone before riding it.

As far as ride quality, they both feel like they’re about the same “speed” when just pedaling along, but I found that the Scrambler accelerates noticeably quicker, particularly when climbing. However, they also climb a little differently when obstacles are involved. The Dirt Tracker seems to have a little more gumption to get you up and over obstacles, almost as if it’s towing you through them, whereas the Scrambler requires a little more effort. The longer wheelbase and chainstays on the Dirt Tracker likely get the credit for that.

When considering the two distinctly different 4130-Chromoly frames, my general impression is that the Dirt Tracker has a noticeably suppler rear end. I wouldn’t say there’s a massive difference or that the Scrambler is overly harsh, but I noticed a difference on side-by-side rides. That said, there’s the elephant in the room, which is tire size. The Dirt Tracker was set up with a 29 x 2.8” rear tire, whereas the Scrambler had a 2.5” out back. Still, I think the Scrambler feels a little stiffer by comparison, kind of similar to the MK6. The fork feels very similar to the Dirt Tracker, however.

Caveat Emptor

With that, let me circle back to the point I was making at the beginning of this review. I want to poke that bear a little since it relates to the premise of this article. And if it seems like I’m splitting hairs, that’s because I am. In short, I think the Scrambler is very good as a 29er—as in better than most other rigid mountain bikes I’ve ridden—with the consequential caveat that you can only barely squeeze a 29 x 2.5” tire into the rear end. Still, I’m almost certain that it would be supremely perfect [insert chef’s kiss, trophy, and ribbon emojis] as a 27.5+ bike, if you’re into that tire size.

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Let me explain. One major difference with the Scrambler is that it has a significantly shorter chainstay—10mm shorter than the MK6 and 15mm more compact than the Dirt Tracker. Per Andy’s recommendation, I outfitted it with a 29 x 3.0 up front and a 2.5 in the back, although that was pretty tight. Those have a significantly larger diameter than the 27.5 x 3.0” tires the Scrambler was designed for—the 29 x 3.0” tire has a diameter that’s nearly three centimeters larger than the 27.5+ tire—and therefore lift the bottom bracket height by about a centimeter.

One thing I love about the Dirt Tracker is the low -7.5cm bottom bracket drop, which is completely in tune with the larger 29+ tires, in my opinion. Running 27.5 x 3.0” tires on the Scrambler would essentially achieve the same bottom bracket height, and I think putting the Scrambler in this position in relation to the trail might be a very minute change that could give it more of a connected-to-the-trail feel and make it even more quick and nimble. Again, I’m speculating and nitpicking, but that’s part of the job.

Out Bikepacking

Being in singlespeed mode, I deliberately kept my gear weight to a minimum. That means no heavy-load testing occurred while pedaling the Scrambler out on several overnighters. However, it’s clearly not a wiggly or noodly bike, and I’d confidently say that it would be plenty capable of carrying a couple of panniers with a far heavier dirt-touring kit.

And that only makes sense considering that the Scrambler was, in fact, created to be more dirt-touring-centric than other Stooge models, although they’re all becoming more and more equipped with each batch that gets released into the wild. Still, the Scrambler—and the relatively new Rambler, which is the Scrambler’s drop-bar doppelgänger—have special attention to detail when it comes to bikepacking-specific features. That includes large frame triangles, a full complement of mounting provisions, and the frame improvements I mentioned that were applied to the second-gen model: stronger top tubes and larger seat tubes. It’s also worth noting than when compared to the MK6 and Dirt Tracker, the Scrambler frameset is a tad heavier. The 20″ frame and fork registered 5.07 kilograms on my scale, whereas the MK6 frameset weighed 4.8 kg, and the Dirt Tracker was the lightest at 4.5 kilograms.

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The mounts on the Stooge Scrambler include upper barrel bosses and lower rack mounts on the biplane fork, three-pack mounts on the fork blades and both sides of the downtube, a pair of bottle bosses on the seat tube, and three eyelets on each seat stay to fit a variety of rear racks.

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That brings me to one of my only cons about this bike. The fork doesn’t have a crown bolt hole. This seemed a little strange considering the fact that all the other Stooges do. When I asked Andy about this, he mentioned that it was an oversight during production and that the next batch of Scramblers will have the same crown setup as the Dirt Tracker. Additionally, the forthcoming MK7 will also have one. Either way, this won’t be an issue for most people. There are plenty of racks out there that don’t require a crown mount.

• Model/Size Tested: Stooge Scrambler 20″, Blue
• Actual Weight (frame): 11 lbs 3 oz (5.07 kg)
• Actual Weight (complete as built): 29 lbs 11 oz (13.47 kg)
• Place of Manufacture: Taiwan
• Price: £780 (frameset)
• Manufacturer’s Details: Stooge Cycles

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Further Reading

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