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Enduro SL - ride impressions

6K views 63 replies 25 participants last post by  Iceman2058 
#1 ·
I just picked up a leftover '07 Enduro SL Expert. I figured I'd log a few comments here as I go through the process of refining the ride - kind of a blog of my experience with this bike.

A bit of history:
I have been riding for 20 years or so, starting on a fully rigid bike making the "normal" transition through HTs and XC style FS bikes. My last bike was a Rocky Mountain Switch - which is a 6x6 machine - it weighs in at 36lbs or so with coil front and back. I've really enjoyed that bike and have even taken on a few all day epic rides. The thing I like about the Switch is how solid it feels rolling down the trail. It instills such confidence. The negative is the weight - especially on the longer rides I have started to realize just how much more work the heavier bike is.

I live in the NE US, trails are rocky, rooty and hilly, though not mountainous. A typical ride might be 15-20 miles long covered over 3 hours with 2000' of elevation gain. I seek out the longest hills I can find. I like the challenge of climbing techy steeps and the thrill of flying down hill - hitting anything I can find for air time. I don't huck much at all - maybe 3'. I've ridden out west and even some internationally and I'd put our riding here in CT up against anything I've ridden - though with all the trees the views around here are somewhat limited.

I have been on the lookout for a new, lighter bike. I wanted a 6x6 bike and a more AM type riding position. While I have never ridden one, my dream bike is the SC Nomad. I had been kind of idly looking and stumbled across this leftover sort of by accident. The Enduro SL seems to becoming a very popular bike among the people I ride with - I know 5 guys who have all bought them in the last 6 months or so - and all of them are ecstatic with them. I did a parking lot test, but given the great deal they offered, the reviews I've read and the experience of my riding friends, I went for it without a real test.

John
 
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#27 ·
Finally got a few pics on today's ride - for whatever reason all the pics are log rides. I am continuing to learn, but having a ton of fun. I feel like the fork is just loosening up - its working great right now. I am a bit concerned reading all the issues some people are having, I hope its not a maintenance nightmare.

Obviously didn't do log rides on the whole ride, but here they are:







John
 
#28 ·
isn't that enduro just a great bike , you look like you are having a wee of a time :thumbsup:

don't worry about the suspension ------just ride the hell out of the thing , and read in here how to service and take care of the bike and you will be fine !!

i have more happy customers on these specialized bikes than any other,--------lots of them have the enduros also :D

where are you riding at ----it looks fun !
 
#30 ·
FSRguy said:
Since you mentioned it is an 07, I am assuming it has the resolution 2.3 tires.

I had the resolutions on for one ride and they spun up steep ascents and I lost traction a lot. I moved on to the Eskar Control 2.3 as a rear tire and it has been great.

I found an 07 SL on clearance a couple months ago and I love it...
I'll 2nd the Eskar 2.3 UST.
Hooks up nicely for CT riding, predictable, good in wet & dry weather, holds granite slabs nice & rolls well for a 2.3 high volume. & so far its taken a beating & no issues.
I've tried Nev's, blue tooth, panaracer rampage, & a few others & so far the Eskars are my favorite. The only tire that climbed & went downhill better than the eskar I thought was the Enduro 2.4, but they were heavy & super slow.
 
#32 ·
Bulldozer27 said:
That looks like an '08 Expert test bike, not an '07 Expert judging by the frame color and Juicy Ultimate brakes. Cool pix, btw.
Hmmm, you're probably right. When I talked to the woman on the phone she told me it was an '07, but when I got to the store someone said it was an '08. I thought they meant '08 internals because I asked about that. Under the seat there is a store price tag that clearly says '07. Glad its an '08, makes it an even better deal.

John
 
#33 ·
I put the Speedball on my Enduro SL last night - tried it out today - yeehaw, that thing surely adds a dimension to this bike. I made a couple of climbs flawlessly today that have given me difficulty in the past. Tthis was a solo ride, so all timer shots.

A lot of rock to play on:


I can't believe Ty cut my head off like this, gotta talk to that guy


More rock:


...and more rock


...and even more rock


New ride portrait


John
 
#38 ·
Jisch said:
I live in NE US - Connecticut. Lotsa fun trails out here... probably more than anyone who doesn't live here would expect!

I'll post up more pics after tomorrow's ride.
John
Connecticut.-----my god ---------where the hell is that --------lord that green stuff in your picts is kinda scarry also .----

i guess i am one of those desert rats that just does not know any better ----------if it gets colder than 70 degrees i am a hurting unit :confused: :madman:
 
#39 ·
year round

kelstr said:
Connecticut.-----my god ---------where the hell is that --------lord that green stuff in your picts is kinda scarry also .----

i guess i am one of those desert rats that just does not know any better ----------if it gets colder than 70 degrees i am a hurting unit :confused: :madman:
Ha! I ride year round here - every once and a while the snow is too deep, but not often (sorry this is on my Rocky - I'll take the Enduro out this winter):








Its all good!
John
 
#41 ·
Reading through this thread makes me want and Enduro SL and I haven't even broke in my 2008 Stumpjumper fsr comp yet. I do love the stumpjumper fsr, but I still drool over the SL. How much more of a beating can the SL take compared to the Stumpjumper fsr? Right now where I ride the stumpjumper works out great, but I wanna try out some new trails and wonder how far I can push my bike.
 
#42 ·
MaximusHQ said:
Reading through this thread makes me want and Enduro SL and I haven't even broke in my 2008 Stumpjumper fsr comp yet. I do love the stumpjumper fsr, but I still drool over the SL. How much more of a beating can the SL take compared to the Stumpjumper fsr? Right now where I ride the stumpjumper works out great, but I wanna try out some new trails and wonder how far I can push my bike.
i loved my 08 pro carbon stumpy, -----it actually felt very simular in every way .--
--( i sold it to my brother -----and he also has an enduro sl )
i just found myself riding my enduro all the time --( but i am a mx racing CRF kinda guy so the enduro was just a better fit )-----the biggist difference was the way that i could just let the enduro rip down nasty DH type runs and plow over rocks and jump stuff ------( the stumpy would do it -----but you could not slam and plow crap and you had to go way slower )---------but its not intended to do that .

thats when i relized that the sl was becoming my do it all bike , ------i do not even ride any of my smaller bikes either --------last night we went out to just do xc spinning stuff on smooth trails --( which i really do not like to do ) ------and i took the sl , the goofy heavy thing is actually a good xc bike also :confused:
 
#44 ·
Jisch said:
Ha! I ride year round here - every once and a while the snow is too deep, but not often (sorry this is on my Rocky - I'll take the Enduro out this winter):








Its all good!
John
i have only been in that white stuff one time in my life -------my first wife was from Buffalo NY and i went back in the winter of 77 ----and it about killed me -----( i ran back to AZ as fast as i could whithout her !! )
i can not believe you actually ride in it ------man , ---it sure looks cold ,.
my little body can't handle that white stuff :madman: :D :D
 
#48 ·
One more update:

Initially I had serious reservations about the lack of adjustment on the handlebar height. With my long legs, the handlebars are an inch or more lower than the seat. I've had other bikes (mainly racer style) set up this way, but my last bike had the handlebars and seat about even.

After riding this bike a few weeks - (this last few weeks has been some what of an anomoly for me as I have ridden 5 or 6 times per week - so I've had the opportunity to really ride this bike!) I am going to leave things as is for now. I rode a tight, twisty trail last night and the way I was able to rail the corners was simply incredible.

So still loving this bike - having an issue with the rear brake, but I'll get that worked here shortly.

John
 
#49 ·
Ok. last update, I swear. :D

There's a place nearby that I've ridden many times before on every bike I've ever owned - C'dale HTs, Titus RX100 and RM Switch. It's a very technical ride with some nemesis rock gardens and really steep climbs. So not only does this ride require you to be on your game from a technical perspective, but with the steep climbs, it tires you out too.

In the 20 or so years I've ridden here, I've seen one person come close to cleaning the place on a single ride. I've had some good rides there, and cleaned most of it at one time or another, but there have always been a few rock gardens and a few climbs that I've never even come close to riding cleanly.

I've been riding a lot lately (partly in due to that 'new bike smell') so I'm in pretty good shape, probably as strong as I've ever been. I think you all know where this story is going. With the exception of a few high logs, I cleaned the whole ride. I really didn't have any problems anywhere, as long as I kept pedaling this bike kept climbing. I guess because of it's relatively light weight (at least compared to my 36-37lb Switch) I just wasn't too tired to climb the hills. I rode more than half the ride with my seat lowered, which says something about the terrain.

Anyway this bike continues to impress me, I am totally used to the geometry, I'm not going swap the handlebars at this point. I brought it in for the "30 day tune up" yesterday and the LBS says they fixed the two issues I've had to date (a sticky "Attitude" knob and the rear brake lever being permanently in the "adjust" position). If those two things are in fact repaired, I'd give this thing six flaming chilis if I could.

Oh, one possible issue - the material the DT Swiss 420 rims are made out of seems pretty maleable. I have three significant dings in the rear rim.

John
 
#51 ·
So true....

Jisch said:
I've been riding a lot lately (partly in due to that 'new bike smell') so I'm in pretty good shape, probably as strong as I've ever been. I think you all know where this story is going. With the exception of a few high logs, I cleaned the whole ride. I really didn't have any problems anywhere, as long as I kept pedaling this bike kept climbing. I guess because of it's relatively light weight (at least compared to my 36-37lb Switch) I just wasn't too tired to climb the hills. I rode more than half the ride with my seat lowered, which says something about the terrain.

Oh, one possible issue - the material the DT Swiss 420 rims are made out of seems pretty maleable. I have three significant dings in the rear rim.
ooooooh sweet SL. Tell you what, I didn't ride my SL for at least 5 weeks. This is due to being Winter in Australia therefore spending a lot of weekends up on the slopes (yeah, we have snow in Australia), being fairly busy at work and last week having a massive flu which kept my in bed for few days. Anyway, I finally managed to get back on the bike last Sunday and man, how good is this bloody thing. I went for a long XC ride and I managed to climbed 3 sections of the trail which are very steep and where I always struggled in the past!!! Maybe I am in shape due to all the snowboarding I've been doing but I couldn't believe my performance and how easy it was to manage the climbs with the SL. I didn't even have to reduce the travel to 110mm on the E150!!! So, totally agree with you Jisch, this bike climbs amazingly.

I have also been trying to upgrade my DT Swiss 420 however, I am broke so that might have to wait for a little while. Got a couple of dings on the rear rim as well but had a chat to LBS and they mention it should be OK for a little while longer.
 
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