Shorter-travel fork on a 2010 Enduro?

Hey Lee,

I just bought a 2010 Specialized Enduro Expert. I’ve been looking into a few different options to drop a little weight. I’d like to get it under 30 lbs. Right now it weighs about 32. One of the options I was considering was swapping the Lyrik 160mm fork for a Revelation 150mm or a Fox Talas 32 150mm, which would instantly drop a pound off the bike. This bike is designed around a 160mm fork, so I was wondering what changes I could expect if I did swap the fork out, positives and negatives.

Thanks for your help!

-Ian

Hey Ian,

Interesting question.

Switching to the shorter-travel fork will lower the front of your bike almost an inch. (You lose 10mm of travel, plus the smaller fork has a shallower crown.)

– This will steepen your head angle about one degree. The angle will end up between a current Enduro and Stumpjumper.

– This steeper angle will quicken your bike’s handling. It’ll handle somewhere between an Enduro and a Stumpy.

– Your bottom bracket will drop almost one half-inch. This too will make your bike feel nimbler. More Stumpy-esque. But watch those pedal strikes.

– The shorter-travel fork will be more flexy. More specifically: It will bend backward under hard braking, and it will tweak laterally when you rip turns. But: I think most riders won’t notice (or be affected by) the increased flex.

– Your bars will drop about an inch from the stock Enduro position. You might consider a taller stem or bars, or running a longer stem that works better with the lowness. Read Stem and bars: Long and low or short and high.

– This will steepen your seat angle and move your seat forward. To maintain the same pedaling position, you’ll want to slide it back on the rails or get a layback seatpost. Ouch, you don’t want to ditch your Command Post!

– You’ll need a new front wheel. This is getting expensive.

All in all, your “Enduro Lite” will be lighter and more agile than a stock Enduro, but burlier and more DH-ish than a Stumpy. While that seems like a fun bike, it’ll take significant money and trouble to create.

I’ve been loving my 2010 Stumpy on a wide mix of terrain, but a bike with more travel and slacker angles sure would be cool in the steeper/gnarlier situations.

Speaking of that, my new Enduro is being built as we speak (with a 160mm Fox 36). I’m going to let my Stumpy be a Stumpy and my Enduro be an Enduro.

Braaap!

— Lee

Know more. Have more fun!

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