The Enduro’s Long Reach
To bring this review around full circle, I noted at the beginning that the Enduro feels pretty long. The reach is longer than any other bike in this category I’ve sat on—it’s long enough that I occasionally think I could do alright on a size small, which is not something I’ve ever considered for any other trail bike I’ve owned.
That extra bit of length helps on climbs by keeping your weight forward. It also means that the bike feels “right” with a fairly short stem. I’m running the stock 60mm stem, and I certainly don’t feel like it needs to be longer.
The longer top tube also gives you more room to shift weight around when rallying down a trail. You can keep your weight over the front wheel, but you’ve got plenty of room to shift back if things get dicey. This is great for reckless straight-line plundering, which is something the Enduro does quite well.
Where the Enduro suffers, however, is in tighter situations where quickly moving the bike around becomes important. The extra length comes at the price of flickability, which is noticeable both on slower, technical sections of trail, as well as in the air. The Enduro was perfectly happy hitting drops and jumps, but (unsurprisingly) it feels like a big bike in the air.
To some degree, this is just a matter of getting used to the bike, but these characteristics are different from most other bikes I’ve spent much time on.
To put it another way, some bikes feel right at home being tossed around in the air and weaving through tight corners. The Enduro feels more at home pointed down fall line chunder at high speeds. It’ll hold a line on rough, fast trails better than most bikes in its class, but once that trail starts turning, the length becomes apparent again.
Comparing the Enduro to the Firebird, I had a much easier time climbing on the Firebird and flicking it into turns right from the get go. This isn’t to say that the Enduro can’t be flicked about—especially with the short rear end, it definitely can be. But I found that the Enduro wasn’t quite as playful as the Firebird, and I had to be a bit more deliberate about letting it get loose.
Once the speeds pick up, however, the Enduro feels more composed and less skittish.
Bottom Line
The Enduro is an excellent bike. It’s particularly excellent if you have a long-ish torso, and a penchant for going straight downhill through chunder.
It’s not the best pedaling bike out there, and it’s not quite as maneuverable as some of its brethren, but for high-speed slayage, it’s one of the best options on the market.
If you’re in the market for a ~160mm travel bike, there’s no question that it’s worth serious consideration.
Nice write up.
Everyone has written that the “new suspension kinematics” gave the 2013 Enduro more support and better pedaling. But I guess not so much as your complaints are similar to mine on my 2010 version.
I solved the “deep sag” under high force movements, buy adding the small Fox volume adjuster in the rear shock. But like everything there is a trade off; loose a bit of the chunder sucking, but gain some platform to push & pump on, in addition to more ramp up on landings.
I do have to say that the climbing ability of the Enduro on rough climbs is amazing, as the shock stays totally active, while even seating climbing chunk. If one climbs a lot of chunk, this is an amazing climber. For me, I have a lot of hardpack climbs so it does not work as well in my instance.
And I’ll add to the straight lining downhill ability, it also is quite good at doubling up boneyard and other rough segments. It’s taught me to seek out the playful bits in and on the sides of trails as it loves to launch and land almost anywhere. The Enduro taught me to play with the trail, but now I want something a bit shorter for my less rough local trail systems. The short stays are stupid fun for manualling, and have gotten me around a lot of switchbacks that I have no business making.
Dropping to a 50mm stem dials the length down while keeping it roomy. I also use a straight post which helps for a good climbing position.
I neglected to mention above that the Enduro is the most fun I’ve had on a bike. Freaking love it. Just want a bit more funnerer!
P
Great review. You do the best job telling every detail in a straightforward manor and not reviewing just to make every bike sound like its the next best thing since sliced bread. Thanks for not being a fanboy towards all your reviews!
Great review, this is exactly what i was looking for. I’m looking to replace my Trance X with something burlier and had narrowed it down to the Nomad C, Enduro C, SB-66c and maybe the Slayer. It sounds like the Enduro rides like a scaled down version of my Demo 8, not bad at all but just not great at everything either. Need to think about exactly where and how I’m going to ride…
Yeah, I also have a Demo, and to some extent the Enduro is a scaled down version of it – the rear end feels pretty similar – tight chain stays make the rear wheel on both bike very willing to push hard into corners. The cockpit on the Enduro is a little more stretched out than the Demo – the Enduro’s reach is about 21 mm longer (on the current model – geometry has changed a bit over the years). I would also say that the Demo uses its travel a bit more judiciously, but that a tough comparison to make since the shocks (Float CTD vs. Cane Creek DB) are so dissimilar – I’m not sure how much of the difference I feel is the frame vs. the shock.
Anyways, I think you’ve got 4 pretty sweet options to look at there. If you haven’t already, I’d make sure you swing a leg over them – particularly the Enduro and SB-66. Both of those bikes are sized a bit differently that what I would consider “normal” (they’re long). Some people like it, some people don’t.
Can you post an update if you end up mounting the CCDB Air CS?
Hey Sean,
Unfortunately I didn’t end up getting the Double Barrel for the Enduro. I tried getting one earlier in the summer but Specialized didn’t have any in stock (and the shock has to be ordered directly from Specialized due to the unique mounting arrangement).
That said, I have a CCDB on my Specialized Demo and I’ve ridden a CCDB Air on an Enduro 29. The Double Barrel is an awesome shock if you’re willing to take the time to dial it in. It’s not just the different adjustments that the shock has, but the adjustments have a huge range. I definitely notice on my Demo that a couple clicks on any of the adjustments make a pretty remarkable difference. The upside is that you can get the shock to feel great. The downside is that you can also make it feel horrible if your settings are way out of whack. At least on my Demo, I found that Cane Creek’s recommended tune was a pretty good starting point – I could go a few clicks in either direction to suit my preferences, and then occasionally I’ll tweak it if I’m spending a bunch of time on a particular type of trail.
The CCDB Air that I rode on the Enduro had the new climb switch, which is a great addition to that shock. My ride on that bike was just a quick demo, so I didn’t have time to dial the shock in and get it where I wanted it. That said, I’m confident that I could get that thing to feel great and out perform the Fox Float CTD in pretty much all situations.
Long story short: If you have an Enduro you’re just looking for a little more tunability and performance out of the rear shock, I don’t think you’ll regret going for the CCDB.
hi , i´m 5.11 tall. 30.5 inch inseam.
what´s your size suggestion?
M or L
now i have a Pivot Mach 5.7 M and i find it a little short in the Top tube
Thanks
For starters, sorry for the slow response.
The short answer is that you could probably go either way, so you should see if you can find an Enduro to swing a leg over and see how it feels. But assuming that there isn’t one readily available in your area, that’s a bit trickier.
The medium Enduro has a significantly longer reach (almost an inch longer) than the Mach 5.7, but the top tube is only a smidge longer. If you’re feeling a bit cramped on the medium 5.7, I’d probably lean towards a large Enduro, but keep in mind that it’s probably going to feel like a big jump up – the large Enduro is at the large end of larges (if that makes any sense).
Hope that helps.
hey, sweet review, it helps me a lot as I’m about to go for this bike. I got a pretty sweet deal on it too, at about 50% discount, if not more.. My problem is that the bike is a size M and I’m 6.2. normally I never considered buying a bike this small but as you also wrote it has a pretty long reach. I’ve sat on it a couple of times in the shop and it seems to be comfortable. again as you also wrote, the higher the seat goes, the longer the reach would be. any suggestions about this? do you think I should go for the M? if not, then I’m back to a whole lot of searching for other bikes, similar to this but a bit less pricy.. thanks!
Hey Matt – At 6’2″, I think the medium will be pretty small for you. Generally speaking, I’d say most medium bikes would fit people up to around 5’10”, and you might be able to go a little taller than that for the Enduro due to its long reach. But at 6’2″, I think you’ll be much happier on a Large or XL. Especially on pedally trails and longer climbs, I think you’d feel quite cramped on the medium.
Hopefully you can rustle up a good deal on a larger size!
-Noah
thanks for the fast answer, you bummed me out pretty much:)) no way I can get a similar deal on another bike like this, I might take it out for a longer test ride to see how it feels. thanks again!