Why Keene rides a Stumpy instead of an Enduro

The web has some sweet videos of pro downhiller Curtis Keene rocking a Stumpjumper in Santa Cruz. Curtis can ride any Specialized he wants; why does he choose a Stumpy instead of an Enduro?

First the videos:

Chromag Presents Curtis Keene from chromag on Vimeo.

Keene and Brendan Fairclough rip some Santa Cruz goodness.

If you want your PhD in braaap: Send in a comparative analysis of Keene and Fairclough’s riding styles. Pay special attention to 1:17.

Stumpjumper vs. Enduro
That’s one of the big questions of our age. Do you want the lighter, steeper skate or the bigger, slacker sled? Both bikes are awesome; I go back and forth all the time.

But why does Curtis Keene, full pro Specialized guy, choose the Stumpy over the Enduro?

– Where he lives. Santa Cruz has some gnar, but it’s mostly smooth.

– How he rides. During the winter, Curtis rides tons of XC. The Stumpy is lighter and climbs better.

– The Enduro is a mini DH bike. With a Lyrik or 36, the Enduro is extra stiff and slack — and it’s too easy to ride on his home trails.

– The Stumpy is sketchier. Curtis is training for high-level racing on the edge of his abilities. It’s more effective for him to fully wring out a Stumpy than to be cozy on an Enduro. (If you ride these trails, you know Curtis and Brendan are riding little bikes faster than most people ride big bikes.)

– He doesn’t need the in-between. Curtis could certainly ride a Stumpy, Enduro and Demo on various trails, but he’s happy with the Stumpy for pedaling rides. If the trail requires more bike, he’d rather be on his Demo — his “work” bike.

– It’s still running. Curtis’ carbon Stumpy has a 150 mm Revelation to slacken it. The bike weighs 23 pounds with a 50 mm stem and carbon wheels. “I have not broken it.”

While we’re talking about Keene: Check out Curtis Keene’s training philosophy. When Curtis first turned pro I helped him with training. Curtis is now working with super-pro trainer Scott Sharples, but this approach got him pretty far.

Know more. Have more fun!

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