Review: Stinner Romero MT - A US-Made Steel Trail Bike That's Better With Mixed Wheels

By MTBSA contributor

Jul 13, 2026

Stinner Frameworks started as a one-man operation in Aaron Stinner’s garage back in 2011, and in the years since the company has grown into something much bigger. They're still based in Santa Barbara, California, but Stinner recently moved into a new facility that’s allowed them to increase their manufacturing capacity and shorten turnaround times. That means riders eager to purchase a mountain, road, or gravel frame won’t have as much of a waiting period before being able to put tyres to dirt or pavement.

The Romero is the first full-suspension model from Stinner, with a unique design that pairs a steel front triangle with a 6061 aluminium back end. The bike uses Ministry Cycles’ 3VO dual-link suspension layout, something of a departure from the single pivot models that are more commonly offered by smaller steel frame builders.

Stinner Romero MT Details

• Travel: 140mm / 150mm fork

• Wheel size: 29" or mixed

• Steel front triangle, aluminium swingarm

• 65° head angle

• Chainstay length: 435mm (M/L)

• Sizes: XS, S, M, M/L, L, XL, XXL

• Price as tested: $7,750 USD

• Weight: 36.3 lb (16.5 kg) / 16.5 kg(size M/L)

• stinnerframeworks.com/

There are two version of the Romero, the Mid Travel (MT) or the Long Travel (LT). The MT can be set up with either 130 or 140mm of rear travel, and the LT can have either 150 or 160mm. I’ve been spending time on a 140mm MT with a 150mm fork.

US-made bikes aren’t typically known for being affordable, but Stinner’s prices aren’t totally out there. The frame only (without a shock) is $3,000 USD, and complete bikes start at $6,200 USD. I’ve been spending time on the Eagle build spec’d with Fox suspension and Stoic carbon wheels, a combo that puts the total price at $7,750 USD. Going with aluminium wheels would drop the price down to $7,000.

MTBSA's Take

| The Romero is an interesting bike, and the more I rode it the more it started to grow on me. It’s the sort of bike that feels best if you’re not in a hurry, a companion for those rides that meander up and down decently technical trails without any purpose in mind other than exploring and having a good time. It’s not the lightest, or the most energetic, but it does possess a calm, composed characteristic that’s very enjoyable.— MTBSA contributor

Frame Details

The Romero’s frame is refreshingly straightforward - the cables are externally routed, there’s plenty of room to run a longer travel dropper post, and there’s room for a water bottle inside the front triangle. There isn’t much in the way of adjustments, but theoretically it’s possible to purchase a different dropouts to increase the chainstay length by 10mm.

The front triangle is made from Velospec steel, and the swingarm is constructed from 6061 aluminium with 7075 aluminium hardware. The whole thing is powdercoated, and so far the finish has proven to be quite resilient.

The fact that the lower shock mount is removable also leaves the door open for future changes. When I mentioned to Stinner that I'd been experimenting with running the Romero as a mixed-wheel bike without swapping the dropouts, Chris, one of the designers, had this to say:

"What I don't think we anticipated is how many riders, as a percentage of the whole of our orders and inquiries, want to deviate from stock. We're a somewhat set-it-and-forget-it crowd over here (after finding the right setup, of course), and so the volume of requests we've gotten for mullet setups, mix-and-matched shock chips, angle adjust headsets, and the like, has been very interesting.

Because of the volume of interest in all those tweaks, we're working on a guide for what all the various changes will do to the geometry of the bike, and what we'd recommend, or not recommend. Likewise, we're making sure that we'll have plenty of 27.5" dropouts.

At the end of the day, part of the beauty of bikes is that you get to customise them to your unique wants, needs, and desires; intentions of the designers be damned. By the same token, we'll need to help guide folks on that journey so they don't take themselves down the wrong path."

One detail that’s slightly out of the ordinary, at least in the mountain bike world, is the use of a T47 external bottom bracket. T47 was introduced around 10 years ago as a solution to the creaky PF30 bottom brackets that were all too common, especially on road bikes. The Romero uses a 73mm wide bottom bracket shell, but the inner dimensions are larger than they would be if it was designed for a BSA bottom bracket. Don’t worry, though; while it may not be as familiar of a standard for mountain bikers, there are plenty of high quality bottom bracket options on the market from most major manufacturers.

Geometry

Stinner offers seven sizes of the Romero: XS, S, M, M/L, L, XL, XXL. That’s an impressive spread, especially from a relatively small company. At 5’11” I went with the size medium/large, which has a 480mm reach, 65-degree head angle, and 435mm chainstays in its stock configuration. The seat tube is quite steep, at 78.4-degrees, and the stack measures 651mm, which is on the taller side. For comparison, the Propain Tyee Trail I recently reviewed has a stack of 634mm, and that’s with a 160mm fork.

Suspension Design

If someone mentions a steel full suspension bike, my mind gravitates towards some version of a single pivot. That’s one of simpler suspension layouts to construct, and if you’re a smaller builder oftentimes simpler is better. Stinner went a slightly different route, and chose to use Ministry Cycles’s 3VO suspension design.

Designed by Chris Currie, the dual link layout has a progressive leverage ratio that allows for the use of coil or air shocks, a moderately high level of anti-squat for efficient pedaling, and anti-rise values that stay between 100 - 110% for the entirety of the travel, which should keep the bike from having any massive geometry shifts during heavy braking.

Specifications

Price | $7750 |

Travel | 140mm |

Rear Shock | Fox Float X Factory |

Fork | Fox 36 Factory 150mm |

Cassette | SRAM Eagle 90 |

Crankarms | SRAM Eagle 90 165mm |

Rear Derailleur | SRAM Eagle 90 |

Chain | SRAM Eagle 90 |

Shifter Pods | SRAM Eagle 90 |

Handlebar | Race Face Aeffect R 20mm rise |

Stem | Race Face Aeffect R 35mm |

Grips | Race Face Getta Grip 33mm |

Brakes | SRAM Maven Base |

Wheelset | Stoic Carbon |

Tyres | Maxxis Assegai 29 x 2.5 / Maxxis Dissector 29 x 2.4 |

Seat | WTB Silverado |

Seatpost | Race Face Aeffect R Dropper 31.6mm |

Test Bike Setup

I didn’t immediately change anything on the Romero, other than swapping the 180mm Race Face Aeffect post for a 210mm OneUp. With such a steep seat angle, having plenty of drop is even more important, since the seat doesn’t move away from you when it’s lowered the way it would on a bike with a slacker seat angle.

After a handful of rides on the bike my curiosity got the best of me and I installed a 27.5” rear wheel. Like I mentioned earlier, there aren’t any flip chips, so as expected that had a fairly significant impact on the geometry, dropping the bottom bracket to 335mm, and slackening the head angle to 64-degrees. I’ll talk more about how it handled later on, but the general takeaway was that the bike felt much, much better than I expected after making the swap, almost like this should be the stock configuration.

MTBSA contributor

Location: Bellingham, WA, USA

Height: 5'11" / 180cm

Inseam: 33" / 84cm

Weight: 165 lb (74.8 kg) / 74.8 kg

Industry affiliations / sponsors: None

Instagram: @mikekazimer

As for suspension settings, I ran 185psi in the Float X to achieve 27% sag, and 80 psi in the Fox 36 with the clickers set to my typical numbers, which are very close to Fox's recommended base settings.

I rode the bike with several different tyre combinations, including the stock Maxxis Assegai / Dissector configuration, as well as with dual Schwalbe Romy radial tyres (review on the way), and with Specialized's new radial Butcher and Eliminator tyres.

Testing Info

Testing took place in Bellingham, Washington, with nearly perfect trail conditions for a good portion of the test period. Spring time in the Pacific Northwest is something special.

Climbing

I’m not going to harp on the Romero’s weight too much in this review, but there’s no getting around the fact that it’s not the lightest trail bike out there. Faster rolling tyres can help put some pep in its step, but no matter how you slice it 35+ pounds doesn’t feel that fast off the line.

Out of all the various climbing scenarios, the Romero felt most at home on rougher, looser climbs. The rear wheel does a good job of digging in and finding grip as opposed to staying high in and travel and spinning out, and the steep seat angle creates a comfortable, upright position. It’s the sort of bike that you can chuck at an uphill obstacle and it’ll stick, providing a little extra time to get composed and put more power through the pedals to keep moving upwards.

Nearly every suspension design is claimed to achieve that magical / elusive characteristic of being able to absorb bumps while also resisting pedaling forces. Some do it better than other, and with this iteration of 3VO I’d say it’s skewed a more towards the traction rather than efficiency side of the spectrum. If you’re seated and pedaling there’s not a ton of suspension movement, but it is pretty sensitive to weight shifts - get up and out of the saddle and the bike will go into its travel relatively easily, even when running less than 30% sag. It’s a different experience compared to something like the Propain Tyee Trail, which has a much more supportive, snappy suspension feel, albeit at the expense of some small bump sensitivity.

For riders who want the lightest, snappiest, most efficient feeling trail bike out there, the Romero isn’t it (and it’s not really trying to be). It’s more of a tractor, one that’s capable of crawling its way up all sorts of things; it feels like it wants to cruise onwards at a nice medium pace instead of zipping around frenetically in search of uphill KOMs.

Descending

My first handful of rides were on the Romero in its stock configuration, with two 29” wheels. With that setup it felt okay, and there was plenty of speed available, but something was missing. I was perched a little higher than I wanted to be, and I didn’t quite click with the bike’s handling. The weight and overall muted nature made it feel like a longer travel bike, one that you would except to shine on steeper trails, but then the tall BB and not-so-slack head angle didn’t give it the handling to match.

On a whim I decided to swap the rear wheel for a 27.5” one, just to see if it was even rideable in that configuration. On many 29ers if you swap the rear wheel without doing anything else the resulting bottom bracket can be too low, and the head angle too slack, but with the Romero the geo numbers weren’t that outlandish. I ended up with a 64-degree head angle, 335mm bottom bracket height, and a 77.5-degree seat tube angle. Yes, the bottom bracket height is a little low, but this bike does come with 165mm cranks, so pedal strikes were less of a concern.

In the mixed-wheel configuration it felt like I’d unlocked the door to the ride feel I was looking for. It still climbed well, and all the climbing traits I mentioned earlier carry over, but now the descents were so much more enjoyable. Cornering was more intuitive, it felt more at home in the steeps, and the overall character of the bike felt more cohesive. I know, talking about a bike’s character can be a little cringy, but there is more to the Romero than meets the eye. Something about it made be think of the era when the UK scene was going off, and every week there’d be videos of a bunch of riders drifting through some muddy, leaf covered track.

The Romero’s ride feel is as muted as Miles Davis' trumpet - it’s not the most lively and playful, but once up to speed it does an outstanding job of filtering out trail chatter. It stays on line extremely well, and there’s plenty of stability, especially considering this is a 140mm bike, not something with 10 or 20 millimeters more travel.

How Does It Compare?

I recently reviewed the new Propain Tyee Trail, which I’d place in the same category as the Romero MT, although the bikes are very different out on the trail.

The Propain has longer chainstays (446 vs 435 for a size large), a lower stack, and the ability to swap wheelsizes without changing the geometry. I was able to get along with both wheelsize configurations on the Propain, while mixed wheels felt much better to me on the Romero.

The Propain is much snappier and eager to accelerate - it generates speed very well on rollers and berms, and it’s an ideal option for zones where the trails resemble pump tracks in the woods. The Romero does best in chunkier, slightly steeper terrain, or at least terrain without too many sudden steep uphills. It’s more comfortable and planted when faces with a section of high speed chunk; the Propain gets knocked around a little more, and transmits more feedback to the rider.

Which Model is the Best Value?

Stinner offers the Romero with three different suspension options (Marzocchi, RockShox, and Fox), two different drivetrain options (cable-operated Eagle 90 or battery-powered XO Eagle), and either DT Swiss aluminium wheels or Stoic carbon wheels. Going with the Marzocchi suspension, Eagle 90 drivetrain, and DT wheels adds up to a price of $6,200 USD. That's still not what I'd call a budget-friendly price tag, but remember we're talking about a bike from a smaller US company here.

Stinner also sells the Romero with just the frame, shock, and fork; for rider's looking to get the most bang for their buck that's likely the way to go - with some smart shopping it'd wouldn't be too hard to put together a solid build for less than the cheapest complete option that Stinner offers.

Technical Report

Eagle 90 drivetrain: I like the fact that the Eagle 90 drivetrain doesn't need batteries, and I've had good luck with the overall durability of the derailleur, but I still wish the shifter felt a little more refined. I've been spending some time on an older SRAM XO shifter on a different bike, the one with the adjustable paddle angle, and that's reminded me of just how good that shifter worked. It has a snappier lever feel, and doesn't feel as cheap as the Eagle 90 shifter. I said it in my original review, but it still holds true - a higher end shifter for the cable-actuated Transmission derailleurs would be a great addition to SRAM's lineup.

Fox 36 Factory fork: The last few bikes I've reviewed have had a Fox 36, and each time setup has been straightforward and the performance has been excellent. Compared to the new RockShox Lyrik I'd say the 36 transmits just a touch more feedback; it doesn't muffle the trail chatter quite as much as the Lyrik, but there's still great sensitivity and grip when things are extra-slippery.

Maven Base Brakes: I'm still a fan of the Maven Base brakes, although the introduction of the updated lever for the 'regular' Maven Silver and Ultimate brakes does mean that, if you don't mind paying more, you can now have that lighter lever combined with bearings instead of bushings at the lever blade and a pad contact adjust dial.

Chainslap protection: The Romero arrived with almost no chainstay protection, just a very thin strip of mastic tape. I'd recommend budgeting for something more effective, like STFU's Stay Guardp.

Pros

+ Very muted, calm ride characteristics

+ Good stability at speed, especially for 140mm bike

+ Lots of traction while climbing and descending

Cons

- On the heavier side for a trail bike

- Not the most energetic or lively thing

- US-made comes with a higher price tag.

Action photos: Eric Mickelson

For South African readers

Overseas prices in this report are not confirmed South African retail prices. Check local availability, warranty support and the complete rand price with your retailer. No MTBSA test score has been assigned.