Hi i’m looking for a new 29er, I have a Stumpy’15 evo which is working well but feels like a ‘barge’ but i’m wanting a more engaging fun ride. Recently I’ve been riding and far more enjoying fresh cut trails in my local woods rather than DH tracks which are near by.
I have been looking at Trek Fuel Ex as it seems fun, nimble and more suited to trails whilst still a blast downhill or a Spesh Enduro to retain that DH track confidence. I chose these two as they have a longer reach and far shorter chainstays. The main question I have is can a Trek fuel comfortably plough down some DH with some skill? Or will an Enduro be able to do efficient engaging trail rides without its 160 travel sucking the life out?

I started a thread about the Fuel EX29 a few days ago. At least one poster using it for DH and EWS style riding.

can a Trek fuel comfortably plough down some DH with some skill

My mate rides harder than 99% of people on here, and he run a 2017 Trek fuel 29er with a 140 Yari. He rides everything on it, mainly Enduro and DH trails.

If you’re worried about downhill performance, don’t be.

Ah yes forgot to mention: ‘Trek fuel Ex 29er – any reason why not?’ as this post is pretty similar, just wanting to branch out on to the rougher side of its capabilities. Your thread and that post inspired me to take that bike more seriously and consider it.

edit: I have thought of bumping it up to 140, just curious how it would perform. I have 160 forks on my Stumpy and the 135 just is so out of its depth so curious weather the 130 would be fine, and it seems so. I’m wanting to race some grass roots enduros and some Welsh ones, my times (on strava 😯 ) are improving now that I think i’m competitive enough.

My mate rides harder than 99% of people on here,

Whilst I’m damn sure he’s likely to be 10x better than me, I’m not sure how you know how the people on here really ride… 😯

What riding do you do most of? I’m sure the Trek could make it down EWS stuff very competently but that is what the Enduro is actually designed for. If you take a bike or anything for that matter and use it outwith it’s design purpose for a prolonged period of time then eventually somethings gotta give. And by that I obviously mean taking the Trek down EWS runs as opposed to riding the Enduro on bridleways all day. I just bought an Enduro in the sales and love it. Doesn’t feel like too much of a tank that I would be worried about doing some general trail riding on it. Question though, if you already think you’re Stumpjumper feels like a tank then how is buying an Enduro going to change anything? Can you get away with owning 2 bikes? I have the Enduro for the mad stuff and a 29er Camber with 120mm travel for trail riding. I think I’ve finally (after 25 years of biking) got all bases covered.

They are both going to be about the same weight if you want the bikes to last, the fuel ex a little lighter as the frame is lighter than the enduro, 600g(ish). They both climb well, I have an enduro and seldom use the lockout, a mate has both an enduro and a fuel and reckons they are on par with each other.

If you are riding dh/enduro style trails, enduro is a no brainer. I’d argue it comes with a more capable rear shock and you have a lot more choice of rear shock (Fuel EX is an odd metric size – 210*52.5), its a bit longer and a bit slacker, so more stable on the faster/rougher tracks.

I’d also make the comment that the enduro will come with a more suitable build kit, whereas the fuel will need parts changing out (tyres, wheels, discs)

I think Sir HC make a good point. Your are comparing a Trail bike to an Enduro bike. The Fuel EX sits closer to the StumpJumper in terms of travel and intent, while the Slash is closer to the Enduro in terms of designed application. Not that this helps you much. 😆

I’m not sure how you know how the people on here really ride…

overweight mincer is the general stlye iirc

Purely in terms of aesthetics, Trek are bang on these days, Really like the understated looks of the Fuel EX, Remedy and the Slash.

Never used to like them as well.

If you feel like a Stumpy is a barge with 29″ wheels & ~130mm of travel, then an Enduro is going to be like an ocean liner in comparison.

Someone above mentioned using the Fuel for everything including some DH racing & Enduro’s – that was myself who made that comment. I had a choice between the Fuel & Slash this year, in reality the Fuel is better for 95% of my riding. I came from a 170/160mm bike to the Fuel and interestingly when racing my times were no slower. Granted, on really rough stuff there is an element of hanging on, but it doesn’t actually translate to being slower.

My Fuel with a sensible (i.e not carbon wheelset, and silly tyres) is under 27lbs, with a high end build. It is super lively & engaging to ride, and is all round a bloody good fun bike. I plan on putting a coil on it, as my one dislike is the Fox/ReActiv shock.

Throwing a curve ball in, the Mrs went from a 29er stumpy evo to a Jeffsy. She says it’s far more responsive than the stumpjumper despite slightly more travel (including a longer fork)

Edit for dodgy spelling

overweight mincer is the general stlye iirc

Speak for yourself 😆

If you feel like a Stumpy is a barge with 29″ wheels & ~130mm of travel, then
an Enduro is going to be like an ocean liner in comparison.

I dont think it feels like an ocean liner at all, its very agile, more so than my Reign and I can’t tell the difference to my smuggler which is a fair bit shorter/steeper (more like a stumpy). Not ridden a slash, so can’t comment on it.

I should have put the caveat that I haven’t ridden the brand spanking new Enduro, but last years model (is the geo different on the brand new one?).

It kind of felt like a bigger wheeled version of my previous Patrol & Reign.

Which is essentially, what it is. I’d love to live somewhere that warranted having a big bike, but I don’t 🙁

Longer (12mm more reach), 0.5degree slacker (low setting), 6mm lower BB. Its definitely more agile than the reign, reign in my view was a mini dh bike. Enduro climbs far better and is more lively/responsive.

Which is essentially, what it is. I’d love to live somewhere that warranted having a big bike, but I don’t

Lucky enough to have two bikes, smuggler is for weekday rides, enduro gets picked for riding at the weekends. Granted the smuggler can cope with the riding I do, the enduro is faster for me.

If you feel like a Stumpy is a barge with 29″ wheels & ~130mm of travel, then an Enduro is going to be like an ocean liner in comparison.

I went 16 SJ to 17 Enduro, the Enduro is def less barge like then the SJ. So very happy I made the switch, always felt like I had reached the limit of the SJ where as I haven’t felt this on the Enduro yet!

I run 140mm forks on the Fuel EX (I went for the 650b+ model, then just stuck some 29er Hope Hoops in). Climbing is very, very slightly compromised, descending is now 😉 I get a bit of weave/wheel lift when things get steep, but to be honest my technique and lack of fitness is probably a large part of the issue there!

From my experience, I’d say it depends on what model year of Enduro 29 you’re looking at. The 2017 and particularly current (2018) models have gone further into real Enduro bike territory compared to the 2013-16 model.

I am currently on a 2015 Enduro 29 and bought it to compliment my Camber Evo29, after trying back to back demos of the E29 against the latest generation Stumpy. I don’t know if it was down to shock tune or geometry, but strangely I felt the boggo aluminium Enduro was more nimble and pedalled better than the Carbon Stumpy.

More recently I’ve swapped my Camber Evo for a Cotic FlareMAX, which I’d say is closer in geometry and feel to the Trek (one of my pals has a new Fuel EX29, but I haven’t blagged a ride of it yet). I’ve ridden the FlareMAX down a few of the off-piste and Enduro trails in the Tweed Valley, and yes, it will get down them with relative ease. however, I do occasionally reach the limits of its 120/130 travel on rougher trails – the geometry can give you the confidence to charge down lines that the suspension can’t take. If you like an interactive ride, where you bob and weave, hop and pop down the trail – or prefer fast bermy flow trails, then I’d say something like the Trek might be more suitable….er… Maybe.

What I’ve noticed with the Enduro is that, although it does sacrifice some of the instant ‘popiness’ of the shorter travel bikes, it’s nowherre near as bad as some 135-140mm travel trail bikes I’ve ridden. I’d say it’s more nimble and involving than any 150-160mm travel 29er I’ve tried. The downside to this agility is that I’d say there are definitely better bikes out there if you wanted to race Enduro or spend a lot of time on DH type trails ( the latest Enduro29 or Hightower LT) it as more of an all-rounder, I think the original E29 is fantastic. I use mine as a trail bike on the rougher trails in the UK, but have also used it recently in North Italy and Austria and done some Enduro trails and black DH trails, and it was great – kept up with a couple of fellas on their DH bikes ……and I’m a middle aged chicken!

If you’re interested in an Enduro, but don’t want to splurge on a new bike/frame, I might be able to do you a deal on my aluminium frame – if I can persuade the Mrs to let me buy a 2016 carbon E29 frame I’ve spotted;)

Going in the tradition of recommending what you have…

I have a fuel ex29. With a 140mm fork.

I would also say it depends on overall use. I find the trek more than capable and great on all the steep trails around the tweed valley. Never feeling out of its depth. Including what was the EWS course here and other Scottish enduros.

So assuming the welsh series is somewhat similar to the Scottish, I’d opt for that. But if I was racing all the enduro World Series, I would probably opt for a slash instead. But that’s because plenty other places have much longer/rougher descents.
The EWS in scotland was quite slow and smooth in comparison with riding 15min descents in Finale…

Ok time to address the elephant in the room, I am comparing a trail bike to an enduro bike.
My stumpy has 455 chainstays and the Trek and Stumpy have 433ish?(far shorter) which seems to address my barge like issue.

SirHC said some great stuff which i can only agree with.

HobNob is more down my route, I like smashing some runs at Aston Hill and my style is already quite poppy from always riding trail bikes and now i’m keeping up with DH bikes but also really enjoy thrashing around the woods. And I have thought of a coil 😀

As said above the enduro is less barg-y than the sj and I was thinking of getting a comp enduro 2018 later on.

‘If you like an interactive ride, where you bob and weave, hop and pop down the trail – or prefer fast bermy flow trails, then I’d say something like the Trek might be more suitable….er… Maybe.’ – seems like me haha!

The post by simply_oli has a great point to add that it can manage good local enduros. I’ll be honest I have never ridden Wales, just it is the closest proper enduro so I don’t know the terrain. Will soon though 🙂 . The local grass roots ones are fun though so want a bike that is good for that too. I don’t plan on racing DH so idm not having that full thrash capability.

But it comes back to SirHC, one bike already has the kit and the other doesn’t. But what i’m hearing investing on a fuel may be worth it.

Edit: I havn’t got plans to to big enduros yet, or the whole Welsh series.

To throw another question in – would something like a Hightower fill the same gap/need?

I don’t know? Give me your best pitch!
I haven’t looked at SC because they are pricey as…

Cant give you a sales pitch on it as I don’t own or ride one but was just thinking of other bikes that might suit based on what you’re saying above.

Apologies in advance, but I’m going to add another level of complexity to your problem.. How much do you weigh?

I had a similar decision to yours to make not too long ago. The Fuel EX is an awesome bike and I’d love to own one in addition to my Slash. However, at pushing 90kg, I found I couldn’t so easily get away with the shorter travel on faster, rougher trails. My lighter friends manage fine. Rider weight isn’t talked about as much as it should be when choosing a bike IMHO. If you look at the EWS guys, some of the smaller riders (Barnes, Melamed) run shorter travel bikes. I can’t think of anyone over 80kg who runs a bike with less than 150mm of travel (happy to be proved wrong there..?).

Also, as alluded to above, not all DH/enduro/EWS trails are created equal. If I was exclusively riding, for example, Tweed valley tech, I might go with a shorter travel bike. If I lived in the Alps then I wouldn’t consider it…

I’m around 75-80kg and 6ft
With my stumpy it just didn’t feel capable rather than not having enough travel, though you could feel the rear just getting held up. Jared graves runs a stumpy and he is a big lad.

arogers – 90kg… I wish!!!

At 125kg ish I haven’t found a problem… although I am running the rear can above warranty pressure 😉

I did think about Graves. He’s stocky but not very tall. Google reckons he’s sub-80kg.

I have an older EX and love it.
The best bit is the ABP. The mechanism at the back that separates rear braking forces and suspension.
That sold me once I’d tried it.

Word of warning. If you change the fork length, you’ll change the geometry and your frame lifetime warranty (which I’ve used before and they are more than fair) will be null and void. Personally, I wouldn’t muck around with what they’ve spent ages designing…

I’ll throw another suggestion out there; the upcoming Bird Aeris AM9? Nicely long and low, but with the shorter chainstays (440mm). 150/150 travel too, so it sits square in the middle of the Fuel and the Enduro. Only downer is they’re not released til next year..

There are some very nice Whytes being ridden round here… All T130 with Eagle GX.

Obviously your bike choice will depend a lot on how close you are to a specific brands dealer?

overweight mincer is the general stlye iirc

Sir judging by oneself? 😉

Seriously though, I’m overweight right now but I love a steep and techy trail in a non- bimbly way!