Right,

2015 Enduro Expert
Size Medium
650B wheels
11 speed
Cane Creek shock

Rides downhill absolutely great. When trying to get it uphill the back end seems just to dig right in and is unusually sluggish. Nowt to do with lack fitness before you start! Just very bad at going uphill. The shock is set up according to the guidelines.

I’m lost, any ideas?!?!

Ta!

Why do you think the guidlines are right?
Dig in? Do you mean grip or sag/bounce?
Does it feel active?
are you out the saddle?
is this always, fire roads, tech climbs?

What tyres?

i also found that I needed to vary a fair bit from the recommended setting for my bike when setting up the CCDB inline on my banshee, standard settings seemed really wallowy and felt like it was holding you back.

Sag too much ?
Front ring too small causing the rear to be pulled below the pivot point as you pedal ?

I would ignore the guidelines. Change the spring rate and fiddle with the settings. Even your front forks may be upsetting the feel – are they too slack ?

Seat angle- try pushing the seat forward on the rails slightly to steepen it up a little. My FS is terrible uphill despite what the sales bumf said. One person’s ‘good’ is another person’s ‘terrible’, after all. It’s good pointing down though, and I don’t mind the push back up 😀

Presumably, you’ve had the bike for some time so when you say that it’s “unusually sluggish”, you mean the bike isn’t climbing as well as it has done previously?

Is it a case of your weight shifting backwards as you climb, causing wallow? Might be as simple as adding air to the shock and removing some air from the fork?

I suspect a careful fiddle with the suspension settings would help, as would a change in how you pedal.
Sit and spin in a lower gear will work better than gurning and mashing a high gear. (apologies if you already do this).
Plus, its a 160mm enduro bike, its never gonna be that great at climbing.

the base tune settings on the cane creek website are a useful starting point but your favorite tune may vary. If that doesn’t work the shock may need a service. Likewise for the front shock. Also check tyre pressures and wear.

If that doesn’t work the shock may need a service.

or replaced before it chews itself to bits…(repeat until they give you a RS)

I’ve fitted an oval chain ring on my spesh enduro and its completely transformed uphill climbing

As opposed to the downhill kind… 😉

Tyres are fine as is the pressure. It feels like im towing a 10kg weight. Ill explore the wallowing a bit more, but it used to be reasonable at getting up hill.

Momo, you could be on to something there.

Cheers folks.

I would go for seat position / height.
I recently found my commuter bike had become really hard work to ride. To the point where I thought something was dragging. Then I realised the saddle felt low and I seemed to be using my muscles out of there normal power range (if that makes sense) It felt really inefficient. I put the saddle up and its fine and back to normal now. It could be too far back or forward on its rails or set too low
You obviously wouldn’t notice this on the down hills which backs up what you are saying.

Your brake isn’t rubbing slightly is it?

2016 Enduro Elite 650b here with the Monarch

Absolutely no climbing problems

Mine is set up the same as this and I have no problems climbing with it.

http://www.canecreek.com/products/suspension/dbinline/base-tunes

Tyres are Butcher/ Purgatory at 25psi

Perhaps its not the bike. Been eating too many pies recently ? 🙂

I’d it an inline cane creek? Maybe is blown. They’ve got a little bit of a reputation.

Tracey, brilliant, i’ll double check that when i get home.

Trimix, there’s always one! 😉

Have a tinker but I wouldn’t expect to see big changes. Recent enduro bikes are so good in general that people get a bit over-excitable, so you read bobbins on here that they climb amazingly well. That just translates as ‘not quite as shite uphill as you might think.’

I have a jekyll, fwiw, which is generally rated as a strong climber and pedaler, in enduro terms, due to the dual setting dyad shock. It’s not bad, but still hard-work and slow compared to xc bikes.

Wheel bearings worn/knackered?

I would go for seat position / height.

I’d go for this – has the seatpost slipped? Even 10mm or so can make a big difference.

Are you a stomper? I found a smaller front ring with a spinning style worked best with my Enduro 29. That said it was never a great climber.

1. Take bike back to where you bought it from.
2. Complain that the shock isn’t working correctly.
3. Shop speaks with Specialized who, with no quibbles, agree to replace with a Rockshox Monarch Plus RC3.
4. You collect the bike a few days later and live happily ever after.

😀

Genuinely though, take it back, complain the shock isn’t working correctly and Specialized will swap it out for a Rockshox Monarch