Specialized Enduro Review

The carbon fibre frame is pushing the long, low and slack mantra, with the reach on the S4 (large) size, measuring up at 487mm and the head angle at 63.9°. The bike is suitably long, it is designed to plough through anything in its way with the large wheels and 170mm of front and rear suspension. It's arguably as capable as a DH bike from only a couple of years ago. The bike excels downhill but is surprisingly good uphill, the climb switch on the rear shock really helping on any long drawn out climbs.

Specialized now size their more aggressive mountain bikes with an S prefix rather than the traditional small, medium, large. The Enduro is sized by reach, with S2 being the shortest, through S3 and S4, with S5 the longest. This allows riders to buy the size not only for their dimensions, but also their riding style and prefered terrain. A longer bike is more stable at high-speed and through rough sections, with a shorter bike being more nimble at lower speed though technical terrain and in tight corners. Take a look at the geometry chart below with all the numbers.

Look at the new Demo downhill bike from Specialized and you will see the similarities with this new Enduro. The shock is mounted low allowing for a full-sized water bottle and accommodates the integrated SWAT box storage system. Not a gimmick, the SWAT system is genuinely useful out on the trails, keep some snacks and another clothing layer in the downtube. Your tools are located in the stem and steerer tube thanks to a neatly integrated tool system from Specialized.

The linkage design is very different from its predecessor, this new design is even more confidence-inspiring downhill, though far more efficient when pedalling. When you inevitably need to pedal back to the top, it's not a slog or as much or a drain as you might imagine for a bike with this much DH capability. The curve of the suspension is more progressive than the previous version, meaning that the initial part of the stroke is supple before ramping up toward the end of the stroke, this increases bottom-out resistance to cope with the bigger compressions while being soft enough to flatten out smaller impacts and medium hits.

All bikes are fitted with air shocks from RockShox or Fox. Anyone thinking of fitting a coil shock could do, as this new suspension design and behaviour would allow for that. The linkage includes a flip-chip, where the geometry can be tweaked by using a high or low setting. The low setting gives a very low centre of gravity and a 63.9° head angle. While the high setting lifts the bottom bracket height slightly and gives a head angle of 64.3°.

Forks are beefy offerings from RockShox or Fox in the form of the ever plush and supportive Lyric or 36.

SRAM provides the drivetrain on the new Enduro, with all bikes getting the huge Eagle 12 speed cassette. Though the version of Eagle changes with the price points, all bikes have that massive 50 tooth ring to winch up the longest and steepest climbs. The chainstay protection keeps things as quiet as the beautifully silent Stumpjumper when out on the trail.

Brakes on the top of the line S-Works model are the gorgeous XTR 4 pots from Shimano, while the other 3 models have the powerful and proven Code brakes from SRAM. Code's have become favourites, giving modulation and proving reliable when thundering down long technical descents.

Finishing kit is from Specialized with good feeling bars, stem and grips straight from the box. The stem allows the use of Specialized's SWAT tool. In the top cap is a multi-tool with all the essentials needed, and the steerer tube conceals a chain tool with storage for some quick links, creating a neat solution so you can always be ready for the ride, with a pump and any extras in the SWAT box.

There are no longer 27.5" wheeled versions of the Enduro available, the bike now running exclusively on 29" wheels. We are seeing many on the DH circuit using the bigger wheel, and even more so in the Enduro race scene. 29" wheels have proven their fast rolling ability, improved rollover and stability at speed, holding momentum and flow through any roots, rocks or drops on the trail, 

The bikes are set up with wheelsets from Specialized's wheel brand Roval. The rims are wide and strong, they work perfectly with the chunky and ever grippy Butcher tyres, again from Specialized. The two entry-level Comp and Elite models have alloy rims, while the top-spec Expert and ultimate spec S-Works models both have carbon rims.