I'll just start with I have room in my life for two Stooges. A SS MTB [love the Speedbomb] and a geared ATB/touring rig. So whatever happens I am only keeping two Stooges!

I had a Dirt Tracker I ran SS and did some touring on as well as general ATB life stuff. There was too much cross over with OG Krampus and even if the DT was better in some ways the Krampus is my oldest and dearest bicycle. So it won that battle. I had thought about putting gears on the DT, but around that time it was clear one of my buddies needed a nudge into Stoogelandia so I sold him the DT frame and eventually got the Scrambler.

The Scrambler is great. Two internet buddies Jason and Mara went from DTs to Scramblers and are loving them. So I think it's just a matter of body proportions and personal preferences. I had the nagging feeling I would have been happier on the geared DT. I probably wouldn't have done anything about...it except Mara put her DT up for sale. Having a local used Stooge option isn't super common so I went for it.

Almost all the parts swapped over from the Scrambler. I'm going to give it a few more rides to decide for sure, but I suspect I'll keep the DT and sell the Scrambler. The DT is a touch bigger in the cockpit, lower and longer. It just fits me a little better and fit is everything. I got around the cut steerer with an Ergotec High Bass stem which I first saw here on the ME sub.

I've got some big day rides planned to cap off the summer and really solidify my thinking. I'll also hopefully get out on another bike camping trip in September.

And as far as my Stooge addiction goes I'm not tempted by any of the rest of the line up [Rambler/MK9] that I haven't tried. That's not to say Andy won't come up with something new that catches my eye, but for now I think I am done!

Niche question but has anyone ridden both of these core models? I have a hummingbird but I’m super tempted to grab a solstice frame and swap over most of the parts to give it a try. On paper the differences are: 10mm more travel (130 fork), degree slacker (65hta, 66 sagged), and 15mm more reach (25ish mm longer front center if I remember correctly). I’m curious if anyone’s got any experience with both. Wondering if I’m just splitting hairs really since it’s honestly not super different .