If you saw our first ride report on the S-Works Specialized Enduro, you know we were impressed with the completely redesigned bike right off the bat. What was once a glorified XC bike two-decades ago is now much closer to a short-travel Specialized Demo DH bike. We’ve been riding the Enduro Elite for several months in preparation of this review. We’ve slugged it up brutal climbs all around the Pacific Northwest just for the sake of shredding it down the gnarliest trails we could find. We’ve ridden the new Enduro long enough to get past the honeymoon phase and are ready to discuss the strengths, weaknesses and who the ideal consumer for this bike is.
In our first ride review and release articles we went over the leverage curves along with the build philosophy of the new Enduro. Specialized had one mission in mind when creating the Enduro – more speed. Specialized Bikes increased travel, stiffness, and completely changed the linkage to make this bike a truly capable descender. Hoping to offset the Enduro’s downhill bias, Specialized increased anti-squat by 40%, but this bike is definitely not a climber’s best friend.
The 170mm Enduro 29 was built around the Demo linkage design, Specialized’s dedicated downhill race machine. If you guessed that it rides like a 170mm Demo that you can still pedal to the top of your local hill, you’d be right. Specialized continues to use the tried and true Horst Link suspension design, although it rides quite a bit differently than previous Enduros. By moving the shock lower on the frame and placing a pivot on the chainstay below the rear axle, Specialized is able to make several big changes to the Enduro’s suspension characteristics.
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From The Loam Wolf
The Loam Wolf has been watching from the woods and mountains above, waiting for the right time to attack the status quo. We have descended, hell-bent and heaven-sent to reignite the stoke in riders around the world. Our pack has been growing and we smell blood. The passion, wildness, and grassroots love for our sport will no longer go without a voice. The Wolf Pack is here, and we will do our best to unite photographers, industry friends, athletes and mountain bikers of all kinds while giving them a voice and place to remember why they fell in love with riding bikes.
