Rumors about the new Specialized Enduro have been swirling about the internet for months, fueled in part by the emergence of a what looked like a photo of a bike based on the same radical one-sided design found on the Demo 8 DH bike.
As it turns out, Specialized had nothing to do with that cleverly manipulated image, and in fact, although they considered it, they never even made a one-sided prototype. Instead, the new Enduro uses a slimmed down version of the familiar X-Wing frame design, but there have been a host of updates to ensure the bike maintains its relevance.
There are a total of four models for both the Enduro 29 and the 650b: the S-Works and Pro, which have full carbon frames, the Elite, which uses a carbon front triangle and an alloy rear end, and the full-alloy Comp. The number of sizes has been increased, and both bikes are now available in S, M, L, and XL.
Specialized Enduro 29 Details• Rear wheel travel: 165mm
• Wheel size: 29'' (27.5+ compatible)
• 66º head angle w/ 160mm fork
• Threaded bottom bracket
• Boost hub spacing
• SWAT door on carbon frames
• Compatible only with 1x drivetrains
• MSRP: $3,000 - $8500 USD (complete)
• S-Works frame w/shock: $3,500 USD
•
www.specialized.com Specialized Enduro 650b Details
• Rear wheel travel: 170mm
• Wheel size: 27.5''
• 65.5º head angle w/ 170mm fork
• 2.6" tires front and rear
• Threaded bottom bracket
• Boost hub spacing
• SWAT door on carbon frames
• Compatible only with 1x drivetrains
• MSRP: $3,000-$8500 USD (complete)
• S-Works frame w/shock: $3,500 USD
What's New? With the new Enduro, it's almost as if Specialized made a list of all the "constructive criticism" that riders had about the previous design and set off to address every single gripe. The result is the most refined iteration of the Enduro yet, the culmination of nearly seventeen years of evolution. Although the latest version might not look quite as futuristic as some may have hoped, there are still plenty of details that will have likely have riders nodding their heads in approval.
There are now full-carbon version of both bikes, and the Enduro 29 can also be called into action as a 27.5+ bike with up to a 27.5 x 3.0” tire for riders interested in going that route. In North America, even the Enduro 650b comes with 27.5 x 2.6" tires, a width that's getting pretty darn close to plus-bike territory. The amount of travel has been increased to 165mm of rear travel on the Enduro 29, while the Enduro 650b now has a whopping 170mm of travel front and rear.
Internal cable routing? Check. The tangle of brake and derailleur housing that previously looped underneath the bottom bracket is gone, making for a much tidier looking frame.
Threaded bottom bracket? Check. PressFit 30 may look good on paper, but in the real world it's proven hard to keep those bearing from creaking; the return of a good-old-fashioned threaded bottom bracket shell is a welcome one.
Oversize bearings? Check. All of the Enduro's bearings are now the same size, whether you're talking about the chainstay pivot or the main pivot, which will make it more likely that a shop will have the one you need in stock.
SWAT box? Check. The ability to store tubes and tools in your bike's downtube may seem a little gimmicky, but it's actually a clever use of space, and makes it even easier to hit the trails without needing to wear a pack. There's no SWAT box on the aluminum-framed Enduro, but it's a standard feature on all of the other models.
Metric shock sizing? Nope. Although we're seeing more and more bikes being released with metric shocks, the Enduro's shock stroke and size remains the same as last year. Specialized's AutoSag feature, a secondary valve that makes achieving the right amount of sag as quick and easy as possible, remains a standard feature on all models.
150mm dropper post? Ok, so this hasn't happened yet either. Bummer. The new Enduro comes with a 125mm version of Specialized's Command Post IRcc on the M, L, and XL sizes, but there is a detail that suggests something else might be in the works: that dropper has a 30.9mm diameter, while the new frame has a 34.9 seat tube (a shim is in place to take up the extra room).
GeometryEnduro 650b: The Enduro 650b now has 170mm of rear travel and a 170mm fork up front, but despite the bump in travel the head angle remains unchanged from the previous version at 65.5-degrees. The seat angle has been steepened to 76-degrees, and the reach has been lengthened by five millimeters.
Enduro 29: The Enduro 29 also has more travel than before, with 165mm in the rear and a 160mm fork up front. The head angle
has changed on the 29er – it's a degree-and-a-half slacker than before, and now checks in at 66-degrees with a 160mm fork. Like the 650b version, the seat angle has been steepened, and the reach has increased ever-so-slightly.
Specialized chose to launch the new Enduro on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, which just so happens to be the location of the Coast Gravity Park. I was able to spend one day shuttling laps in the park aboard the Enduro 650b, and the next on the 29er exploring the network of amazing trails outside the small town of Sechelt.
Both bikes felt familiar right off the bat, which makes sense considering that neither one underwent really radical geometry changes. The biggest difference I felt was with the Enduro 650b – those 2.6” tires have an immense amount of grip, and it took me a bit to get accustomed to the way they handled on the hardpacked berms in the bike park. That extra width, especially in the rear, made it a little harder to really get the tires on edge. They felt best on rougher, more natural sections of trail, where they seemed to smooth out everything in their path, and made it easy to carry a ridiculous amount of speed. Personally, I think I'd run the bike with a slightly narrower rear tire, something in the 2.3” to 2.4” range, which would make it easier to find the side knobs while still maintaining the traction and control provided by all that rubber up front. Even though the Enduro 650b now has 170mm of travel, it hasn't forgotten its manners, and the easygoing nature present in the previous version still remains. It's still an all-mountain bike through and through, rather than being a mini-DH bike that's almost solely focused on downhill performance.
The Enduro 29 has a well-deserved reputation for being an excellent descender, and its downhill prowess has only been improved by the slacker head angle and additional travel. The loop we rode had several steep and rough sections, but they were rather short, which means I never felt like I was able to fully open it up to see just what the bike was capable of (I have a feeling the answer is "anything," but we'll have to wait for a long-term test to see). It was the big-wheeler's climbing capabilities that ended up being a pleasant surprise – I was able to easily navigate through a few tight and tricky section of trail that at first glance I hadn't expected to clean. The climbing position is very comfortable, and even in the fully open position the Monarch Plus shock was free of any excess movement. Speaking of suspension, the S-Works version of the Enduro come with Ohlins suspension front and rear, and the Pro models come with the Ohlins STX shock – we'll hopefully be spending time on those components in the near future to find out how they stack up.
My initial impressions are that the new Enduro doesn't push the design boundaries
too far, but the updates do bring it right in line with its contemporaries, where it's ready to take everyone from weekend warriors to elite racers as far as they'd like to go.
Visit the high-res gallery for more images from this article.
Moral of the story is sticking to Shimano for BBs
A fantastic bike for an 'amateur' racer? Whaaaaaat? I think the Enduro covers the range from amateur to professional. Ever heard of Jared before?
You stated that you hate internal cabling, but didn't actually explain why. I would like to know, as I can't see any negatives to it, only positives.
Cables are out of the way, and it makes the bike look cleaner.
Also, it's not an 'enduro fad', in the sense that it's not just enduro bikes that have internal cabling, and neither is it a fad. You're comment is all kinds of stupid.
My comment on amateur racers is relevant because an amateur racer doesn't have a team mechanic to sort out the ridiculous work load of internal cables - he is the team mechanic. I'd consider this bike as an amateur racer but having my hoses and cables threaded through a load of holes in the frame would seriously put me off.
If you think that having your bike look better is a bigger benefit than practicality then you're exactly the guy that the internal cables fad was intended to fool. And that's fine by me, I just thought there'd be more sensible people out there...come to think of it I'm not sure why I thought that.
It's just tidy. I don't know about the Enduro, but on the Demo there is a plastic 'tube' on the inside of the frame, so that the cable simply slides through it and comes out the other end - no faffing about. I'm sure they would have done the same on the Enduro.
If anything it's more practical to have the cables inside the frame as then they are not susceptible to damage.
Besides, a lot of bikes will have the option to either have the cables outside or inside the frame.
Bingo.I do have one for sale for shimano I was using on my Enduro 29 by the way... threaded is much better!
'We must hide them away and shame on anyone that has a cable on display'. You're just making this shit up lmao.
Whether someone has internal or external cabling - I don't give a f*ck, and neither does anyone else.
You are complaining about nothing. Please, stop.
I never said it was a big deal, I don't scoff at people with internal cables (though I have had some myself and they made me physically sick). But the fact that there is literally no point other than vanity is ridiculous to me. The time, effort and money put into this gimmick could be better spent. So I give a f*ck, that's kind of why I sparked up mate, if you don't that's cool. I'm happy for you.
Ahh, so you're one of the, 'f*ck the bike industry, they're all money-grabbing c*nts!!' kind of people, and then proceeds to spend thousands on bikes and bike related items anyway? Lol...
It isn't a gimmick. It protects the cables, and tidies the bike up a bit. Those are two pretty cool things imo. Whether it was to sell more bikes (who buys a bike for internal routing??), or for practicality, who cares. The dude who thought of it is doing his job either way, and I'm thankful for it.
So stupid, honestly.
Bring on the '17 S-works Enduro 29er with 2.6 tires vs. Trek Slash 29 vs. Evil Wreckoning comparo, to end this!!!
The biggest limiting factor when designing a dropper post is the relatively small seat tube area. If you've ever talked to the KS guys, they'll tell you that the 27.2 dropper was a nightmare, because of the narrow seat tube it had to fit it. So, it would seem that Specialized has a new post lined up, intended for this larger diameter. How are they going to take advantage of that extra room?
@scottzg: OK, I agree it's fine to prepare the frame for long 34.9 seatposts. But these are already on the market, so it's not really "future-proofing" to spec their own dropper instead of a fitting one.
Of course it seems they have a new, wider and longer Command Post coming, the 76° seattube angle suggests they're counting on an offset design again and switching to a common zero offset setpost could be a problem. Whatever. But in the meantime, you get a short seatpost with a shim on your $8500 superbike, and that's simply unfinished product.
Curious about clamps though, my Spartan has a 31.6, but with the thickness of the carbon seat tube, ends up using a 37mm clamp that I can't find a lot of aftermarket clamps for (I was hoping to get a Hope, but they don't make that big.) 34.9, plus a carbon seat tube? that clamp's probably close to 40mm.
(Command Post IRcc, 12 position micro-height adjustable, alien head design, bottom mount cable routing, remote adjust SRL lever, 30.9mm, S: 100mm, M/L/XL: 125mm travel)
SEAT BINDER 36.6mm vs 34.9mm for older model - why does it matter ? internal diameter same one (and length - I run a 150mm KS just fine on XL enduro 29)
I'm just not buying a carbon seattube being structurally sound, especially with this bike's intentions, at .85mm.
Seriously, look at Yeti in M - not only reach, but also chainstay would suggest that this single pivot! bike should not ride at all.
Another example - the ETT. Look at this bike, then look at your beloved HT. See the difference in ST layout ? The REAL seat angle is very slack here, the effective is steep but - at which point it has been measured ? You do not know. For example Knolly has similar ST layout and they measure ETT at some height they choose as "typical saddle height" which can be translated as: what we put as an ETT measure has no meaning to you, go ride the goddamn bike!
The only reason I bring my own hardtail into the equation is that it's from 2012 and shows that the numbers are not that extreme. My full sus bike from 2004 (originally designed back in about 1999) has a 1200mm wheelbase with 160mm forks. Neither are perfect and if built a custom bike I would change many things but its a good point to start understanding new bikes and how they are likely to feel. At the end of the day you adjust to the bike you are riding. It's how we got by on scary steep hardtails back in the 90's.
I am sure the new Enduro rides absolutely amazingly. However one thing I can be sure of is that it will be tweeked and lengthened next year, and the year after and the year after until they find the limit. In the process selling lots more bikes to the Dentists and City Boys who can afford them.
Not only that but it confuses me sometimes how the community will throw an absolute fit about trends in mountain biking, but then turns around and bash a company for not following trends.
Thanks for linking the geo numbers though, appreciate that.
Mega290 XL has 480 reach and 450 CS and it still needs a steepish seat angle for big guys to climb ok. I can tell you at speed that extra CS length matters and you don't feel like your standing on the rear axle when descending.
The Enduro XL should have at least 440-445.
Disappointed they didn't sort the CS and also cut the 29er stack heights.....it's off my shopping list now...really don't understand that unless they are planning a XXL.
@properp: Also agreed. Look at Ratboy and Minnaar. Personally long works for me to make up for my lack of skill.
For me wheelbase is the most important dimension as it is the sum of all the other dimensions.
personally...long bikes make me feel like a passenger...especially on the steep trails I prefer to ride. maybe more stable in a straight line, but difficult to shift around weight, ride jumps and pop around the trail and weight the front.
One thing that no one ever quotes is trail. Given its affect on handling it would be good if trail figures were quoted as well. You could then compare handling between 650 and 29ers.
I feel like I can tolerate and have fun on a bike that's too small...but too big and suddenly I'm a passenger.
Geo guru's what would you suggest for someone 6'1-6'2?
Not happy with boost - carbon wheels are plenty stiff (no need for extra 3mm spoke angle) and just tired of ever changing 'standards' - would have been happy keeping 135/150mm 2 sizes and be done....
None of this really matters to me anyway because I have a secondhand 26" bike since it is all I can afford... #26aintdead #26forlife
@skill7 I'm really happy you made that comment. I was about to do the exact same thing and try my luck using thicker gauge spokes with this rim. I might have to just sell the wheels and go burlier. What a waste of money, spec should know better than to stock their aggressive bikes with xc style wheels. They are super light, but that doesn't always mean better : /
I did get a spare ALU Flow EX set for park riding as I'm worried about 24 spoke count (and too nice carbon wheel to trash) but only used those a few days so far. I did manage to crack a 26" derby carbon rim of my DH bike last year, but that was most likely a tire dismount issue...
I don't have complaints about the performance of the Enduro suspension, but I've always had trouble getting it to "feel" the way I want.
VPP has some advantages, but it is NOT objectively "better" than FSR. ESPECIALLY going down.
Take the nomad for example. Falling to rising rate suspension. It's incredibly plush. It's absolutely glued to the ground and as a result corners harder and is more composed at speed than an enduro. I would venture to say the nomad is the most capable "enduro" bike in fact. Same reason the v10 is the racing plow bike and the spec demo is the jack of all trades Dh bike. I'm not saying that fsr is a bad system. There are some good things about it, it's just the way specialized goes about business as if it was the cats ass of suspension designs.
I will concede there is some stiffening of the suspension under braking with vpp and with large square edge bumps it can get hung up.
If you ask me which suspension is "king"...meaning what still-used suspension design is the best of all time, i'll tell you it's FSR. FSR has been in use for over twenty years, and not only is it still relevant, it's still dominates the podiums at just about every pro MTB event that involves full suspension bikes. VPP, DW, Delta...etc...all have great arguments going for them, but they all have significant shortcomings (as you even noted yourself). So saying that Spec is "behind the curve" for sticking with a suspension design that has been around for ages and still wins races is more than a bit inaccurate.
Spec claims to be a great innovator ( and they used to be a while back) but what we've seen recently is they are the last ones to catch on and want to milk the market for money rather than push the cutting edge.
Not following. How are they behind the curve on their implementation of the FSR design?
Also as an Intense fan i'd like to point something out - what you describe as "behind the curve" can be applied to any bike brand. Intense for an example - behind the curve in that they didn't have a Carbon FS bike until 2012, behind the curve in that they grafted new dropouts onto old geometry (Tracer 2) to get on the 650b train, behind the curve in that they dove right into the CCDB mess and had inlines blowing up after one ride, behind the curve in that their carbon frames still have major QC issues (like links that eat themselves, and factory-spec'd shocks that scratch the frame under compression, and chainstays that snap on fireroads). See? The same can be said for any brand because it's one hell of a sharp "curve". None of this changes the fact that both Intense AND Specialized produce some of the best bikes in existence.
Intense is another matter, let's not muddy the waters, let's compare Santa Cruz and Spec like was mentioned earlier.
Santa Cruz: Partnered up with ENVE for the carbon rear on the V10 and other bikes and helped develop their DH rims, the winningest DH platform of all time and ahead of the game for geometry. Look at the nomad 3, put out a few years ago and more capable than pretty much any of its competitors even to this day and nothing was f*cked up with it out of the gate! *cough last gen enduro/Ohlinsoverheating/1stgen650bstumpjumper cough* How many years of "Carbon" Specialized frames have we had were only the front triangle is carbon but they have the audacity to call it a carbon bike and charge top dollar. Spec is a farce! Santa Cruz is now the most desirable bike brand out there.
Specialized once they catch up to were they need to be (*hint its after they already delivered dog shit to market) makes some good stuff I won't deny but they are such a shit company that they don't deserve your business. They deliver crap to market, people buy it like suckers and specialized uses that to stimulate cash flow and get free product testing for what they will release having worked the kinks out. Does that sound like a good deal for the consumer? Hell no. Back to Santa Cruz, the nomad 3 brilliant out of the box. I rest my case.
Same BS argument that hasn't held water for years. A rear suspension is a shock and a linkage. Shock tech is part of FSR just as it is part of any other suspension design. The fact that FSR uses shock damping to tame pedal bob instead of the linkage is simply a design choice. The end result is a suspension that has endured for decades and can still best the newest designs out there. Having anti-squat built into a linkage results in other problems, and it can't be turned off...I know the drawbacks of descending with VPP very well.
And the Nomad? REALLY?! From a company that has the exact same chainstay-snapping issues that intense does? I've had alot of time on the Nomad 2 and can tell you that it does not climb especially well (it gets flat out spanked by the E29 on climbs, I can tell you that from first hand experience) and has uncanny abilities to lead your feet into rocks. It also feels like a tank in comparison to the (actually larger) E29. So no.
Finally, the V10 the winningest DH platform of all time? Nope, that honor actually belongs to the Demo, ironically. Look it up.
Now you are comparing the old model nomad to the far newer E29. Firstly, that's an asinine comparison, a older 26 inch bike vs a much newer 29er, the gen 2 nomad came out in 2008 and the E29 in 2013. A logical comparison would have been the Gen 3 nomad to the E29 (spec loses). Secondly, I never once mentioned the Gen 2 nomad, I specifically said Gen 3 this entire time.
Also, this is straight from the Santa Cruz website, "our flagship V10 model is the most successful World Cup and World Championships race bike in history." In big boy races that matter VPP is the winningest not to mention WC riders can actually push the limits on these bikes, it is at the limit where the superior design shines through.
Not much of an engineer are you? I'll give you a short seminar - FSR relies on shock damping to quell pedal bob, and as a result you can turn off "anti-squat" and enjoy a completely unhindered descending experience. VPP/DW has anti-squat built into it's design, so it can't be turned off, which results in a harsher descent when pedaling or braking. Seeing as the designer should have seen that brake jack could be a big problem during descent, this is the real "detriment". In the real world, VPP climbs real nice and descends alright, despite shock damping. FSR climbs real nice with correct shock damping, and descends like no other despite shock damping. Again, stop beating a dead horse. This argument was settled years ago and continues to be proven invalid race after race.
"Now you are comparing the old model nomad to the far newer E29."
Yup, and you are comparing a Nomad to an Enduro, which is an asinine comparison from the start. The Nomad is an SX Trail competitor (or maybe Enduro Evo). The Bronson is the Enduro competitor.
"Also, this is straight from the Santa Cruz website, "our flagship V10 model is the most successful World Cup and World Championships race bike in history." In big boy races that matter VPP is the winningest not to mention WC riders can actually push the limits on these bikes, it is at the limit where the superior design shines through."
Most successful does not equal winningest. And World Cup races are not the only "big boy" races out there. The Demo has more wins than any other DH bike out there. The Intense M would probably take this crown by a mile if not for the fact that they don't count the M1, M3, M6, M9, and M16 as one bike, even though it really is. The M1 was dominating WC downhill for nearly ten years before the V10 and Demo even showed up.
So you admit your comparison is nonsense and then you suggest another nonsensical comparison. The evo is a dual crown park bike with a DH cassette, the SX trail is no longer made, and the nomad is 1x11/12 all mountain ripper. Again, horrible comparisons. The Nomad and enduro occupy the same segment of the market, the nomad just happens to outperform the enduro. Why is that so hard for you to accept?
Ok so we include the M3-M16, that still shows that VPP makes an top tier DH racebike. You say that VPP descends "alright" and then later on you talk about Intense dominating with the VPP linkage not to mention the V10 being the most successful DH bike of all time. Clearly it descends better than "alright". Are you a specialized shill, honestly?
You aren't paying attention to what i'm saying. I'm saying that using the shock for pedal damping does not make a lesser suspension. It arguably makes a better suspension because it accomplishes the goal of being a great climbing suspension without being a harsh descending suspension.
"The evo is a dual crown park bike with a DH cassette"
Nope. There was one version of the Evo with a dual crown, but the other SEVEN are all single crown, 1x10/1x11 170mm travel AM rigs.
"You say that VPP descends "alright" and then later on you talk about Intense dominating with the VPP linkage not to mention the V10 being the most successful DH bike of all time. Clearly it descends better than "alright"."
I said the M1 dominated. The Intense M1 is an icon. The M3-M16 have done well, but not nearly as well as the M1. Do me a favor and look up the M1 and tell the class which suspension it had.
"Are you a specialized shill, honestly?"
Haha, nice one, hater.
"It arguably makes a better suspension because it accomplishes the goal of being a great climbing suspension without being a harsh descending suspension"
It's not great climbing without lots of damping help, we've already established that, stop going in circles.
"Nope. There was one version of the Evo with a dual crown, but the other SEVEN are all single crown, 1x10/1x11 170mm travel AM rigs."
Once again you are comparing far older irrelevant things. The last gen evo was a park specific bike and there was not 7 gens of the evo, different spec of the same frame does not count as a different bike. The Bronson has no direct spec equivalent, it is between the stumpy and enduro. The enduro and nomad are direct competitors that are currently produced.
"I said the M1 dominated. The Intense M1 is an icon. The M3-M16 have done well, but not nearly as well as the M1. Do me a favor and look up the M1 and tell the class which suspension it had."
The M1 dominated because it had no competitors, Dh was in its infancy not because fsr is vastly superior as SC proved with the V10.
You've managed to go in circles, completely miss nearly every point that was brought up and are unable to concede your point when presented with fact. Consider riding without a helmet, you are already brain dead.
You've established that you're a Specialized hater, and that you don't really understand suspension or bike tech at all. You are entitled to your preferences, but the fact that Specialized makes world class bikes is not up for discussion. It never has been. The Epic, Stumpjumper, Enduro, and Demo have been among the best reviewed and most successful bikes in racing since their creation. That also is not up for debate, it's fact. There are plenty of reasons to hate Specialized, I mean it's an a-hole of a company. But that doesn't change the fact that it makes great bikes. Period.
There's my point. You can stop wasting everyone's time now.
You think you have a lot to bring to the table hear because you own a couple old shitty early 2000s spec bikes and mountain bike action taught you about anti squat. Until you can read and comprehend what other people are saying don't get in any more internet pissing matches.
HAHA you spent a full five posts saying Specialized makes bad bikes. "Behind the curve", "poor suspension design"...these are YOUR words.
Again, you are entitled to your opinion. I can't say you are wrong for disliking Specialized and choosing not to buy their product. However, I can say you are wrong for claiming that they do not build top notch bikes. Specialized bikes run with anything out there, period. This is not an opinion, it's a fact that's been proven in racing and in recreational riding for more than three decades.
I do not agree with how they have chosen to run their company, but having ridden countless examples of their product over my entire riding career and finding them to consistently be among my absolute favorites, I have to admit that my experiences mirror reality.
A couple old shitty spec bikes - that may be your best line yet. I just did a count and found that I have been riding for just over 18 years. In that time I have owned, in one way or another, 53 bikes. 17 of those were Specialized. The oldest being a 1998 SJ and the newest being my 2014 SJ Evo. I've also owned Intense, Pivot, Turner, Ibis, Santa Cruz, Mongoose, GT, Fuji, Scott and Giant bikes in that timeframe. So yes, I think I have alot to bring to the table.
On "internet pissing matches" - I would recommend that you simply refrain from commenting at all. It's really just a waste of everyone's time when you do.
Look back through our back and forth. I literally said, "Specialized once they catch up to were they need to be (*hint its after they already delivered dog shit to market) makes some good stuff I won't deny but they are such a shit company that they don't deserve your business."
Also look at my profile. I've owned many spec bikes. I wouldn't buy them if they were shit. That doesn't mean I am blind to the short comings and bad business practices. Given the other bikes on the market there are better options.
"...they already delivered dog shit to market) makes some good stuff I won't deny but..."
I'd like to hear what you consider "dog shit", and how you think Santa Cruz has never done the same.
"...they are such a shit company that they don't deserve your business."
I'd also like to hear what you think makes them "a shit company". I've already said that they can be a-holes, but that's far from "a shit company" especially considering the fact that the consistently create great bikes.
Do you have memory loss? We already talked about this.
"I'm talking about how they were the last ones to jump on the 650b train and they shoehorned old geometry into the new wheel size so the first spec 650b rode like shit. Behind the curve in that they partnered with ohlins but put the shock to market before it was ready (it overheats). Behind the curve in that they are just now updating the enduro when it should have happened a few years ago to be competitive. Behind the curve in that until now the spec factory riders were on 29 inch enduros with the 27.5 link because the stock geometry sucked for racing"
They bring an unfinished product to market, people buy it. They use this as cash flow to actually refine the product to where it should have been in the first place. I gave a few recent examples above, if you want back further think about the e150 fork, it sucked ass and broke all the time. The bottom line is they bring things to market before they are ready, make consumers do the product testing and then later release an actual finished product. You pay to be their product testers, hence why they are a shit company. You can be a shit company in terms of ethics and conduct and still release a good bike when you actually refine it, spec in a nutshell.
I heard what you said, it's just that you are completely wrong.
Second, I should have been more clear when I said that your posts contained almost no facts. They did include some factual information. The problem is that you completely failed to illustrate how those facts support your claim. So really what I was getting at is that your posts have included almost no RELEVANT facts.
The bottom line here is that you are trying to convince us that your opinion is actually fact. On that, you have not been successful.
Oh and funny thing about stupidity - those who "live with it" tend to be pretty happy and confident. They also have no clue they are the stupid ones and generally just believe everyone else is stupid. Just sayin'.
Geo guru's what would you suggest for someone 6'1-6'2?
Things I care about: threaded BB, internal cable routing, well-needed update to geometry for 29er but 650b update is negligible, full carbon frame, Specialized badge is more stealth (cause they know they have haters), pricing didn't go up and with Specialized you can always get a shop to give you a discount.
Things that would prevent me from buying: Ohlins shock may be fancy but it's not yet proven and long-term maintenance is concerning (especially given the DB Inline disaster) and Big-S insists on flexy alloy proprietary wheels (I don't do carbon rims) not equipped for this style of riding.
If you are looking for one of these I'd suggest picking up a 2015/2016 at a massive discount and upgrade the wheels and suspension (Fox float x2, DB Air CS, etc.). Then you'd have money leftover to go to whistler instead of staring at a computer screen.
Way to lose all credibility in your comment and make yourself look like a typical bandwagon hater.
Well played mate, lol.
Just keep jamming you fingers in your ears and denying things you don't want to hear.
I wouldn't doubt Ohlins capability to make a shock. These guys know what they're doing better than anyone.
Like a typical bandwagon hater this guys has jumped on any reason to bash a product he has never used just because it is the popular thing to do.
Maybe he wants to be the Ohlins reincarnation of Protour, who knows....
On another note I had a chance to actually see the base model alloy 2017 in-person today. It looks really good with stealth cables and the linkage is noticeably beefier. I wouldn't say it's enough to justify me selling my 2015 to upgrade into but a nice improvement.
The Ohlins shock is questionably the best on the market, and probably always will be, simply due to their vast experience in making the best shocks for motorbikes and cars etc.
Of the last 3 generations of (X-Wing...) Enduros, the only size frame that really photographs well / is easy on the eyes is the large.
Maybe it was most noticeable with the 2010-2012 XL, which was truly heinous (see pics here):
cdn.mos.bikeradar.imdserve.com/images/bikes-and-gear/bikes/mountain/1314788578822-k9vjeg9y50lp-700-80.jpg
But even the 2017 pics above I couldn't figure out why the bikes immediately struck me as... relatively un-sexy (ignoring the paint job).
And then I just saw the new PB feature on Curtis Keene's new 29er Enduro, and it DOES look sexy (ignoring the paint job) and well proportioned. And sure enough it's a large size.
It seems that the small or medium photo bikes in this article have that squashed looking rear X-wing section, where both the upper and lower section both bend down slightly which interrupts the visual flow, and makes that tiny X-wing section almost irrelevant.
Maybe Spec has no choice with the design constraints for each size frame, but it doesn't explain why they chose not to use sexier / more photogenic large size for the feature photos.
Here's some 26er porn for you:
www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/0gKomexsg6KTcwkUpqqCqjC7ScxeHQhuhtaijv3wHhW?v=grid&ref_=cd_ph_share_link_copy
The rear is a folding 2.4 Maxxis DHR 2 (3C EXO MaxTerra) that I found on eBay. interestingly, it is also the new Wide Track version, slightly re-shaped for wider rims. The last tire I would have thought a company would update is a 26".
But with the 29mm-30mm inner rim width, the profile is perfect (not too square edged), and the thing sticks like glue. It's been surprisingly durable considering how soft and sticky the knobs seem to be.
Next I'm wanting to try the DHF 2.5 on the front. The Magic Mary is good, if not one of the best all around front tires I've used, but the rear traction is so good that sometimes the front starts to go away first.
What have you been running?
Braaah, your too-high-BB is someone else's, "OMG, this bike feels awesome!"
Shall we argue about what is the "correct" color to buy, too?
Maybe if I hacksawed the Xwing bit out and resprayed it no one would know I got lured by big S.
I now ride the Spitfire in the higher/steeper setting on the local singletrack, saving lower/slacker for steeper trails.
The Zero AM is about to have its 130mm Pike taken out to 140 and its -2 deg ZS56 headset replaced with a -.5 deg EC56, raising the BB to 303mm sagged.
For a full-sus bike where geometry adjustment is relatively easy through a flip chip or alternate shock mount position I think being able to tweak your bike for how and where you ride is really valuable. Kudos for Banshee for doing it on most of their range.
Not above buying a Specialized, but this is pretty half-assed with the kind of engineering resource they have available. Kind of seems like someone kept changing their mind on it since this was one of the last Specialized bikes to be released this year and this is what they came up with.
One by only? No tabs for chain guide?
No front derailuer mount.?
Bummer.
Gladly, it sure looks like it is still proprietary.
Only, for the version with Vivid Coil (I assume for Curtis, because he has been riding on a Vivid Coil and our BikeYoke for the past few months), it looks like they prototyped a Yoke in our BikeYoke style.
I´d be happy for you guys (not so much for us ;-)), if they brought it for series in this style.
But it would make us kinda proud...
Maybe I'm getting reflective as I get older but I enjoy more connection with the trail, but we're not all the same are we.
Don't sue me Bro!
My spesh hate runs deep And yes
Get over yourself?
Lirl. Will do champ
Only the first mainstream brand for the time. Dave Weagle and Iron Horse sold the 7 Point with 66.5° HA, 435mm Stays, 180mm rear Travel and perfect pedalling in 2004!!! BTW way lower bottom bracket than the SX Trail. It was Iron Horse with Dave Weagle who came into the market with low and slack. And it was Mondraker who brought long reach / short stem into the market. Specialized were simply quick to follow. The 7 point would still be a top notch bike with a -2° angleset (quite light for aluminum) if it weren't for the short reach of ~400mm in L.
As for first legit 29er... The BMC Trailfox was developed and sold exactly around the same time frame as the Enduro 29 - and well - guess what - the Trailfox geometry is still more modern than the new Enduro 29. Longer reach for the same size, lower bottom bracket. But yeah for a mainstream 29er the Enduro 29 was the first to bring a usable long legged 29er. Lenz Lunchbox and some others were awful to pedal up.
But what Speci always got right was components (except their own suspension). Iron Horse had heavy as sh*t components and e.g. the BMC Trailfox was the first years really letdown by things like a Fox 34 (the pre 2016 models were just overpriced junk) and other badly specced components.
Which ones? I mean I certainly haven't ridden every competitor out there, but having extensive time on the Tracer, Nomad, and Bronson, and having test ridden the Process and SB6, I can say that the (current) Enduro 29 is a solid step above all of them. The Tracer 275 has been my goto AM rig and yet i'm planning on building an Enduro 29 over the winter because despite being FSR, the Enduro STILL climbs better than the VPP Tracer...and there never has been a contest when descending on FSR vs. VPP.
There is certainly tons of room for personal preference when it comes to number 1, but there's no question that the Enduro still runs with the best bikes on the planet.
specialized interpretation of fsr is so over hyped. Spec can't make a good long travel race bike to save their lives. They pedals like ass ( hence the need of the brain shocks) it blows through travel unless you run it super stiff and it feels dead. And btw if the current generation of ohlins suspension has shown us anything is that they put things to market long before they are ready (shocks over heating mid run and losing rebound damping.)
That's not to say all fsr sucks. My point here is that specialized thinks they shit gold but it's really just mass produced semi decent stuff with a bunch of gimmicky features.