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Enduro SL w/ Single Crown Fork ??? HELP

2K views 25 replies 13 participants last post by  DoubleDown 
#1 ·
I have seen some pictures of the new Enduro SL with a single crown fork and wondered if I can get a ride report or some ideas on how this set up works. Here's the deal...

I rode a 2004 Enduro S WORKS with the BRAIN that I custom built from the frame up. One of the linkage bolts has striped out of the frame and the LBS says it is not covered under warranty. That sucks :mad:

Big S did offer a "frame exchange" for a new Stumpy Pro (for a less than new price tag but still pretty steep) but I am more inclined to the Enudro SL mainly because I already use ever mm of travel on the 04 Enduro w/ 130mm - the Stumpy only has 120mm. So I would trading for less travel from the start.

The problem is with the sexy SL comes the proprietary fork and just to get you hooked, the need for the matching hub/wheel too. Never mind the Chris King hubs laced to the 819s I already have. I want to know if hanging my FOX TALAS (32) ooff the SL would be do-able and what I could expect as far as ride characteristics. I really do not want to pony up for the fork and wheel, nor do I want/need them.

I am 157lbs w/ gear, ride aggressive trail riding in SE Arizona that is mostly rocky and like slacker head angles. I do a considerable amount of climbing so I need info relative to bike handling in pedaling mode and descending mode with a smaller fork. Thoughts??? Help me out quick because I need to let LBS what I want to do. Thanks
Spine Shank
 
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#4 ·
It's not the number of crowns you need to consider really. It's the axle to bottom crown height that matters if you want to keep the geometry close to it's design. The SL's DC fork has 150mm of travel. If you have the older 130mm travel talas than I'm guessing you will end up with a steeper head angle. This would make the bike feel twitchy and i also suspect divey on descents. You mentioned you like slacker head angles so I suspect you would not like the combo with your current fork, even if you have the 07 140mm talas. I believe your only options for a 150mm fork with a standard quick release axle would be from the Marzocchi all mountain line.

Good luck and I think you should go with the SL and do whatever you need in reagrds to the fork to make it work. If I were in the market for a new bike, that would the one. :thumbsup:
 
#7 ·
No dice

Well,

The LBS couldn't talk Spec into anything bigger than a Stumpy. The Stumpy is a nice bike, no doubt, but I would be trading 10mm of travel (usually not an issue) but I already use every mm of travel on my 04 Enduro (130mm.)

Pretty disapointed in both LBS and Spec because there has to be a better way. I'll save my rants for a different forum seeing how everyone here loves their bikes (and I did too) but end the end I am out a bike and I find it hard to believe there's not an '05 or '06 model around (I checked on that too) and I was pretty much told to be happy with a smaller travel frame for a cool grand. Oh well - good thing I have the ol' trusty Moncog 29er to tool around on.

Thanks for the help and enjoy the SLs. They sure are nice. spineshank
 
#8 ·
As you found out already, Specialized won't sell the Enduro SL frame without the fork. As you may have seen I run a Fox Talas 32 with this frame. To be honest it's a teeny bit too steep for the intended purpose but it's fine for trail use, as suggested by others, it's not such much the travel alone as well as the Fox' axle-to-crown height that is a bit lower than other 130mm forks.
The head-angle is around 69 degree (well that's how it feels to me) with the shock in the low position. RacePhil uses a 140mm which is probably a bit better. I compensate the difference by running a bigger front tire. I intend to participate in a few Enduro races this summer and I feel I really need to slacken the head-angle a bit as well as increase the front travel to match up the rear. I'm looking at a Pike 454 or perhaps the new Minute with 20mm axle. Since I'm not too heavy (170lbs) I think I can get away with a lighter fork.

Couldn't you argue with Specialized that you want a replacement frame which fits the intended purpose of your current frame? Clearly the FSR is a lighter frame than the 2004 Enduro, and has a steeper headangle. I think the Enduro SL's purpose is similar as the 2004 Enduro's. I wouldn't feel confident dropping 6' with a Stumpjumper (I have a 2004 FSR) but I think I would with the 2004 Enduro.
 
#9 ·
Spine Shank said:
Well,

The LBS couldn't talk Spec into anything bigger than a Stumpy. The Stumpy is a nice bike, no doubt, but I would be trading 10mm of travel (usually not an issue) but I already use every mm of travel on my 04 Enduro (130mm.)

Pretty disapointed in both LBS and Spec because there has to be a better way. I'll save my rants for a different forum seeing how everyone here loves their bikes (and I did too) but end the end I am out a bike and I find it hard to believe there's not an '05 or '06 model around (I checked on that too) and I was pretty much told to be happy with a smaller travel frame for a cool grand. Oh well - good thing I have the ol' trusty Moncog 29er to tool around on.

Thanks for the help and enjoy the SLs. They sure are nice. spineshank
Hi,

I understand that this didn't turn out the way you were hoping. I cannot speak for our warranty dept or to what is available for you.

However, I can say that you should not worry that you have lost 10 mm of travel. The actual travel on the 2004 Enduro was a little less than 130 mm. The travel on the SJ is a little more than 120mm. Additionally, the SJ has a tuned air volume that allows better use of the travel than on the old Enduro. Most people have found that the SJ is every bit as capable, if not more so, than the Enduro. The benefit is a lighter frame with equal stiffness. I think you will be quite happy if you can give it a chance.

Keep us posted.

Jake Wake
 
#11 ·
Thanks

Hi Jake,

Thanks for understanding and I understand too. I'm sure everyone is trying to weasel a new frame and lines have to be drawn somewhere - I just would've have liked the line to be drawn where a Enduro model was. I would like to have kept with the Enduro (that's all I've ever ridden in the FS department) and I would happily settle for an older Enduro (04,05,06) model. I didn't just demand the '07 SL which I thought was reasonable.

Just as I swearing off Specialized for good :p you go and mention that bit about the older Enduro and newer Stumpy being pretty closely matched thus making me re-think what I thought was already figured out earlier today. The nice thing is the frame fits my fork. In the end, I don't know what I am going to do so the best thing is to wait and think about it some more. Thanks again,
Spine Shank

JakeWake said:
Hi,

I understand that this didn't turn out the way you were hoping. I cannot speak for our warranty dept or to what is available for you.

However, I can say that you should not worry that you have lost 10 mm of travel. The actual travel on the 2004 Enduro was a little less than 130 mm. The travel on the SJ is a little more than 120mm. Additionally, the SJ has a tuned air volume that allows better use of the travel than on the old Enduro. Most people have found that the SJ is every bit as capable, if not more so, than the Enduro. The benefit is a lighter frame with equal stiffness. I think you will be quite happy if you can give it a chance.

Keep us posted.

Jake Wake
 
#12 ·
wheelhot said:
Too bad Fox didn offer a thru axle option on their 08 Fox 32 Talas. I envy that there is a few Enduro races in your area, mine is usually just a friendly ride.
Yep, a 140mm 20mm Fox 32 would be plenty of fork for me, I saw another thread about this here.
Well I'm talking about the Megavalanche for instance and I live in the Netherlands :)
 
#13 ·
wheelhot said:
well if you like to get your bike slacker, you could replace it with RS Pike which has 150mm of travel (if my memory serve me correct) or you could get your self a RS Lyrik, which has 160mm and it will slacken the bike even more
With the Lyrik you're running a fork almost as heavy as the entire frame! That's just too much fork for a light frame like this. I'd prefer the Pike 454.
 
#15 ·
About the Pike...

I had a Pike 454 Dual Air, U-Turn, on a All Mountain Heckler I built up. It felt pretty good, and the Maxel is a stroke of genius. The two things I didn't like about it were the travel adjustment and the loss of travel. The Pike's travel adjustment was a little redundant I thought because each click was 1mm of travel. So do to from full down to full up (30mm-30clicks) you have to crank that thing quite awhile. The old TALAS was one click for 3mm and the newer ones just have 3 settings (perfect.) The loss of travel was the most troublesome thing, but that's common with all adjustable travel, air forks - my TALAS included. I found that matching the air pressure in the positive and negative chambers in the Pike didn't really have the small bump compliance I wanted. To fix that, for a more supple ride, you are to put more air in the negative chamber. However, when you do that, you can actually watch the stansions move up on the slider. This is unfortunate but normal according to RS. By the time I found the small bump compliance I wanted, I lost 8-10mm of travel and may as well been riding my TALAS (32). That's not to say that I didn't like the fork or it didn't feel good.

The good news about the Pike is it's light, stiff, half the price of a 36, the Maxel, and if you don't mind the super infinite travel adjustment and like a stiffer ride (or don't mind loosing a few mm of travel) then it rocks. I don't know if the coil version has the same travel loss problem but...you take on weight with it. I will say this, even with the loss of travel, the Pike did a great job ramping up near the end of its travel and I can't ever remember bottoming out and really enjoyed the stiffness and steering benefits.

djska said:
With the Lyrik you're running a fork almost as heavy as the entire frame! That's just too much fork for a light frame like this. I'd prefer the Pike 454.
 
#19 ·
JakeWake said:
Hi,

I understand that this didn't turn out the way you were hoping. I cannot speak for our warranty dept or to what is available for you.

However, I can say that you should not worry that you have lost 10 mm of travel. The actual travel on the 2004 Enduro was a little less than 130 mm. The travel on the SJ is a little more than 120mm. Additionally, the SJ has a tuned air volume that allows better use of the travel than on the old Enduro. Most people have found that the SJ is every bit as capable, if not more so, than the Enduro. The benefit is a lighter frame with equal stiffness. I think you will be quite happy if you can give it a chance.

Keep us posted.

Jake Wake
Jake, for the SJ, how much more than 120mm do you mean?
 
#20 ·
djska said:
I've seen it, but it's fairly new and am afraid of maintenance/warranty issues...

I'd rather go for the adjustable version:
https://www.pacecycles.com/product.asp?catID=2&subcat=465

Oh, yeah and it's expensive!!!
The RC41 does have a launch control function which locks out the fork and leaves 50mm of active travel. Here in NZ they are cheaper than 36's - I know three people who run them and swear by them - much plusher and lighter than Fox, and no difficulty with warrantys.

Pace is an English company that was started by former Rolls Royce engineers and has been around for a while. They have just been bought by DT Swiss who are moving production to Switzerland - so expect to see more of their product in future.
 
#22 ·
i've been getting curiouser and curiouser about the Enduro SL since it's introduction but living in a flat, non-mtb-metropolis, i put the thoughts to rest until recently. i have a plethora of technical, hilly, rocky trails within a few hours of my house, so i can find places to ride the bike if i do decide to buy.

if i were to get this bike, i'd seriously also consider swapping the stock fork for a single-crown. so to all that have done this: what did you do with the Spec. fork? are there buyers for it and will it work on other bikes? i assume it's a 1 1/8" steerer and you'd want to include the hub/wheel and stem with the sale. just curious. thanks.
 
#23 ·
Enduro SL ride report questions?

I am kinda with toonces on this. I rented a Enduro SL Pro for two days and rode two fairly technical trails with lots of climbing, and lots of rocky descents. I have some questions for the SL crew here.

First off - pretty impressive bike overall. It climbed everything I normally clean on my 04 S-Works - although admittedley slower. I think the Expert version could stand some lightening up especially in the back. No worries there though - just have to get some bigger legs now. It was probably the fastest bike I've descended on (that's not saying much since I don't ride a lot of other bikes besides my Enduro and my SS) but with that said, I was much faster.

I can't say I fell in love with fork though. So SL owners please speak up. It felt like butt'er and the rebound could've been a little faster for my liking. I found the whole front end pretty heavy and couldn't wheelie it as easy as I thought it should. This made bunny hoping tougher too. In order to launch or just get the front end up, I discovered I really had to throw my body weight back and heeve it up. Lot of effort for not much effect.

On my 04 Enduro with the TALAS (32) it seemed very quick and nimble and the front end pops right off the ground with just a little pressure. Can the SL feel like that? Is it rider technique?

What about throwing a fork on there like a FOX 36 TALAS, any thoughts on lightening up the front end to make it easier to get up?

thanks - SS
 
#24 ·
Spine Shank said:
I am kinda with toonces on this. I rented a Enduro SL Pro for two days and rode two fairly technical trails with lots of climbing, and lots of rocky descents. I have some questions for the SL crew here.

First off - pretty impressive bike overall. It climbed everything I normally clean on my 04 S-Works - although admittedley slower. I think the Expert version could stand some lightening up especially in the back. No worries there though - just have to get some bigger legs now. It was probably the fastest bike I've descended on (that's not saying much since I don't ride a lot of other bikes besides my Enduro and my SS) but with that said, I was much faster.

I can't say I fell in love with fork though. So SL owners please speak up. It felt like butt'er and the rebound could've been a little faster for my liking. I found the whole front end pretty heavy and couldn't wheelie it as easy as I thought it should. This made bunny hoping tougher too. In order to launch or just get the front end up, I discovered I really had to throw my body weight back and heeve it up. Lot of effort for not much effect.

On my 04 Enduro with the TALAS (32) it seemed very quick and nimble and the front end pops right off the ground with just a little pressure. Can the SL feel like that? Is it rider technique?

What about throwing a fork on there like a FOX 36 TALAS, any thoughts on lightening up the front end to make it easier to get up?

thanks - SS
The 36 would be a pound heavier. I think it just takes a while to get used a new bike, going from a Stumpjumper to the SL, it took me a couple of rides but then I was able to wheelie/hop as easy as before.

Important factors I think are:
Suspension setup, pressure and rebound setup makes a lot of difference for hopping, you'll have to adjust your timing (preloading) as well.
Position, when comparing to SL to your 2004 Enduro you should also look at the height of the bar, length of stem, saddle position, bar width, all these factors play a role here.

Also I think the seat tube on the SL is slightly more upright to help with climbing, but this will make wheelying a bit more difficult, you moving a bit rearward on the saddle will help.
 
#26 ·
Heavier than that...

I weighed the E150 at 5.8 lb with upper crown/stem, bumpers and axle installed. That's WAY heavier than the 4+ pounds Specialized was touting.

A Solo Air Lyrik with a cut steerer is under 5 pounds and when you factor in a stem, you are still saving almost a pound and a half off of the front end of your bike.

I won't even go into the perfomance benefits...
 
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