The Carbon Enduro Chronicles: local benchmark ride
Hey all, I’m back from Sea Otter, back from Ranchstyle and back from two weeks of puking and coughing. It’s time to see what this 2010/11 Enduro Pro Carbon is all about.
Yesterday I rolled my local techy/steep loop, and …
New record!
Before Sea Otter I rolled the new Stumpy in 45:45.
Yesterday I rolled the new Enduro in 45:15.
Route
This ride has some tech/steep/gnar singletrack, but it’s mostly uphill pavement.
– Short road climb from the house
– Technical singletrack traverse/climb
– Steep, raw, techy singletrack descent
– Long road climb to the top of the mountain
– Short road decent back to the house
When you consider all possible variables — health, training, rest, hydration, nutrition, mood, dirt conditions, etc. — the Enduro might not be faster than the Stumpy, but it sure doesn’t seem slower.
Setup
– 2011 Enduro Pro Carbon frame. Identical to the 2010 except for the sweet white paint job.
– X-Fusion rear shock with extra mid-stroke support. Climb at platform position #4 (max), descend at position #2. I’m testing the X-Fusion stuff to see how it stacks up.
– Fox 36 Float fork at 65 psi and stock settings: low speed compression one click in from all the way out, high speed compression one click in from all the way out
– 2.3″ Specialized Chunder tires. 40/42A front, 55/65A rear
– 50mm stem and mid-rise bars
– Hayes Stroker brakes with 8-inch rotors
– Full-on DH wheels
– Gamut dual ring chain guide with 24/36 front and 11-34 rear
– Specialized Lo Pro Mag flat pedals
This carbon Enduro is built like a DH bike, but it weighs less than 30 pounds — only one pound more than my aluminum Stumpy. We live in an awesome age!
Up
This bike climbs very well, even with the short cockpit, sticky tires, slack angles and flat pedals.
The whole chassis feels super stiff. Seated climbing feels un-wiggly. Standing climbing feels rock-solid; on the last, steep middle-ring pitch I’m pulling a gear taller than I was on the Stumpy.
Across
The bike holds off-camber edges, and it finds traction on the steep/bumpy uphills. When it’s time to lunge up rocky ledges, this plush machine requires more oomph than the Stumpy. I wasn’t riding aggressively enough, and I got balled up in these sections.
Down
Planted. Stable. Trustworthy. The new Enduro feels awesome so far, but I haven’t had a chance to really push this bike.
My local trail is so raw it’s more about survival than pinning it. Tomorrow I hope to rip Left Hand Canyon or Hall Ranch. I know these trails and can really get after it.
Next
– Add some low-speed compression to the fork. It feels a bit wallowy.
– I got an X-Fusion Vengeance fork to try. That should be interesting side-by-side vs. the 36.
– Ride as much and as hard as I can — and tell you what I learn.
Carbon fiber braaap!
— Lee
Know more. Have more fun!
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Hey Lee, interested to know – did the X-Fusion shock slot straight in there or did you need some custom parts? (the parts that clamp hold of the shock – at the end closest the rear of the bike).
Did you have any time on the RP23 for comparisons sake?
Have just bought the 2010 Enduro Expert and really liking it so far.
The guys at X-Fusion did the install. I think they used the small parts from the Fox. That shock was made/tuned specifically for this bike.
Yes, I’ve ridden the RP23. Awesome shock, as we all know. In this particular application, the RP23 felt less damped through the middle of the stroke.
Remember, too, that damping is customizable. Push will work on a Fox, but not on an X-Fusion.
Hey Lee,
Since you are a Specialized guy and it sounds like you might have connections at Push, do you think you can influence them to offer a rebuild for the new stumpy’s with the special shock mount? I can’t seem to get them to go for it.
I’d love to help, but I don’t have that kind of pull.
Darren at Push is basically a genius. If he thinks there’s a market, and he can deliver a superior product, he might just go for it.
I think it’s not the mounting which is problematic, in fact it’s just some additional parts of Specialized proprietary alu hardware while the shock eyelets are the same (you can see that in PDF drawing @Spesh website). It’s the internals which are not meant for Push factory tuning, but they still offer regular service; check the info here: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?p=6925167#post6925167
If I have a Demo and SJ FSR, do I have all my bases covered or does the Enduro fill a gap?
> If I have a Demo and SJ FSR, do I have all my bases covered or does the Enduro fill a gap?
Hmm. Yep, the Enduro fills a gap. It’s more DH-ish than the Stumpy but WAY more climbable than the Demo.
Luka: The mounting is problematic because you can’t buy any fox shock aftermarket with the proper end for a stumpy, therefore you can’t get the aftermarket shock or your stock shock pushed. What this means is that there is no shock that will fit a stumpy that push will offer a factory tuning system for. Seems like a pretty big market to be missing out on… Oh yeah, and fox won’t custom tune it either. It wouldn’t be a problem if the stock shock wasn’t so weaksauce (to put it mildly).
Dang, I didn’t know that, thanks for correcting. Do you know in details what’s different? I thought the shock eyelet is the same with simply added two alu hardware pieces, like on Enduro. Sounds like the mounting on the back shock pivot is integrated and not bolted onto the eyelet?
The bolt is inline with the threaded shock shaft. There is no rear eyelet. The forked forged piece that attaches to it is 1 piece.