In our second installment of Reader’s Rig, we check out Justin McKinley’s 1983 Specialized Stumpjumper basketpacking setup, fully outfitted with Porcelain Rocket bags and a handful of unique accessories. After reading, be sure to submit your own rig for consideration in this new weekly roundup of bikes from our viewer community…
Welcome to the second installment of our new weekly Dispatch series, Reader’s Rig. Each week, we’ll select a bikepacking rig from our reader community to feature on the site. To learn how to submit yours for possible inclusion, check out the form at the bottom of the page.
Originally hailing from southern Minnesota, Justin McKinley works as a graphic designer, art director, and marketing/strategy guy at Mountain Standard, an independent apparel company based in Boulder, Colorado. He’s been riding bikes his whole life, first racing BMX, then moto until college, then road bikes, and now all kinds of bikes, from mountain, to road, to gravel, to klunker.
After a long hunt for a vintage Stumpjumper, Justin finally found a pair of them online in 2016. As it happened, they were located just a few miles from his home in Boulder. In a clear breach of eBay policy, he reached out to the seller to arrange a meetup to purchase the larger of the two.
The seller, 70-year-old Roger, told Justin that he’d bought them brand new back in the fall of ’83 – one for himself and one for his wife. His wife’s bike looked almost unused, and Roger’s was well loved but still sporting nearly all the original components. He even had the original receipt, and drafted up a handwritten bill of sale for Justin.
Now, three year’s later, Justin has ridden it almost every day, for ripping singletrack, getting groceries, hauling his pug around town, and loading it up for overnighters. He threw on a new saddle and some fresh tires, but thinks even the chain might be original.
Of all the bikes he’s owned in his life, the Stumpjumper is the only one that he’s ever felt deserved a name. And he picked a fitting one: Roger.
- Frame/Fork 1983 Stumpjumper Sport (19″) / original bi-plane fork
- Wheels Araya rims with unknown hubs
- Tires Specialized Hardrock’r, 26 x 2.0″
- Handlebar Bullmoose
- Crankset Sugino AT Triple
- Derailleur(s) SunTour MounTech
- Brakes Shimano
- Shifter(s) SunTour Power Thumb
- Saddle Brooks Cambium C17
- Front Rack/Basket Cetma Half Rack / Wald 139
- Front Bag Porcelain Rocket x Monkey Wrench Cycles Bag
- Rear Bag Porcelain Rocket Tess Seatpack
- Accessory Bags Bunyan Velo x Porcelain Rocket Mini Slinger
You can find Justin and his fleet of bikes, including Roger, on Instagram @jjjjustin. And if you’re interested in bikepacking with a basket, check out the piece Cass put together, California Basketpackin’, in which he offers some thoughts on the Porcelain Rocket x Monkey Wrench Cycles Bag that Justin also uses.
Send Us Your Bikepacking Rig
Use the form below to submit your bikepacking rig. We’ll choose one per week to feature in a Reader’s Rig Dispatch and on Instagram. To enter, email us your best photo of the bike (preferably at a 90° angle), your Instagram username (optional), and a short description of you and your rig. If your bike is selected, we’ll need a total of five photos and a little bit more info.
Readers Rig
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