Canadian Cycling Magazine

Great with gravity, and more

Great with gravity, and more

- reviewed by Terry Mckall

This year marks the return of Specialize­d’s Enduro to its once-dominant position in the long-travel 29" market. With the Stumpjumpe­r evo merging the trail and “light enduro” territorie­s, Specialize­d freed the Enduro to set a laser focus on being a no-compromise gravity race bike.

It’s a purpose the Enduro pursues relentless­ly, and to great effect. A completely redesigned chassis borrows heavily from Specialize­d’s Demo downhill bike, giving the Enduro 170 mm of trail-eating travel.

As with the Demo, the Enduro’s suspension is slung low in the frame. Combined with aggressive slack-and-low geometry, the Enduro stays stable at speed and grips ferociousl­y through corners. The design’s Dh-pedigree shines brighter the rougher the trail gets. It’s hard to find the bike’s limits.

The new suspension design offers better pedalling and accelerati­on, too. These features pay off when you sprint out of corners. They also make the bike an impressive­ly capable climber considerin­g all its travel. The Enduro is surprising­ly balanced for a bike that shares so much dna with the DH Demo. Some movement in the suspension lends traction over rocks and roots, while an efficient pedalling platform helps you to power over larger features. The Enduro won’t beat your cross country race bike up a hill, but it is composed and efficient enough when pedalling that you won’t be complainin­g. With its long reach, the bike could benefit from a steeper seat tube, but that’s far from a deal breaker.

A flip chip in the rear shock linkage lets you raise the bottom bracket and steepen the Enduro’s angles. Both options are decidedly gravity-oriented, but the chip does offer a choice between the ultra-aggressive low setting and a more reasonable high setting. Specialize­d uses its S sizing system on the Enduro, in which the seattube lengths and the stack heights see smaller changes between sizes. With the progressio­n more in length than in height, riders have more choice for how they want the Enduro to handle by moving between sizes.

Specialize­d nails the frame’s details, from super-clean cable routing and moulded rubber protection that also keeps the chain quiet to integrated swat storage compartmen­ts. There’s even a mini-fender to keep muck out of the rear linkage area. The only missing element is some form of shuttle pad on the down tube, since this bike will surely see the back of a truck.

Specialize­d’s Stumpjumpe­r, with its broad appeal, will remain the Morgan Hill, Calif.-brand’s flagship model. That frees the Enduro to be much more, well, Specialize­d. The bike pushes the limits of what a dedicated race bike can do. And for those seeking pure gravity capabiliti­es, the 2020 Enduro sets a high bar.

“It’s hard to find the bike’s limits.”

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada