[Closed] Enduro race bike setups - tell me what your riding

I'm only doing Dyfi, Brighton Big and Bonty 2412 this year. Got a Kinesis Maxlight xc120 with 100mm fox forx up front. Reasonably light for the kit it has on it.

Brother in law doing the same as above but with a few other bits and it running a Giant Anthem with Fox Forks and American Classic wheels. Really light bike. About to get a whole lot lighter as it looks like he's struck a deal on a Scott Spark RC.

I rather go for robustness and comfort over lightness but there's pros and cons to all choices.

none of those are really enduros they are endurance events.
enduros have timed sections, linking stages etc etc usually gravity based 150mm travel fun stuff!
there was an article by the Trans Provence event chap about the difference that was spot on

Zesty 714

Hemlock with lyriks in the front, dropper post, strong but light parts all over and whatever tyres feel appropriate (Specialized Hillbillies for the last one, worked brilliant on the sloppy descents and almost broke my soul on the climbs). Fairly ideal, but unfortunately it doesn't stop me from sucking.

That's assuming you mean actual enduros, not misnamed XC events 😉

I was pondering this last night, as I'd like to do a couple of UK events and maybe a Super Enduro event in Italy.

I'm riding a Spicy 516.
Mods: 50mm stem, 780 bars & dropper post.

I'm considering:
Single ring upfront (1 x 9) What size 32, 34, 36?
Sprung rear shock (Cane Creek DB)

TBF Fenboy, the term 'enduro' has been used for long distance XC events for longer than the kind of event you are talking about has existed. So I guess the OP really just needs to specify what kind of events he is talking about more precisely in order to get constructive answers to his query.

Anyone fancy a ghetto STW enduro league.

Free entry, post your trail center laps on Strava and let it do the rest. I'm sure it'd be easy enough to find 5 trail centers that everyone could ride in a year.

GT
Dalby
Llandegla
Afan
(somewhere in the South East to make it geographicaly spread out)

The advantage over organised events would be you could have 20 sections on a loop like Dalby which lacks the big hills required for 15minute decents and still have a ~30minute overall time for each trail.

Anyone know their way arround Strava better than me fancy setting it up?

To me "Enduro" still means 24/12/10 hour races and for those I'll be using the Anthem. They're at the podium at just about every single endurance race in the country. They're popular because they're fast, light and, most importantly, don't beat you up like a hardtail so you can stay faster for longer.

Mine's set up with a 100mm stem slammed to the top of the headset, 640mm risers but I'll probably go back to 580 flats and bar ends with an inverted stem as the front's a bit high. 100mm SIDs, ZTR/Olympic wheels, XTR brakes, XT 1x10 drivetrain.

[img] [/img]

If you mean "Enduro" in the euro sense then I'm using an Orange Five with 160mm Lyriks, 50mm stem and 740mm bars run 1x10 with an 11-36 chainring and dropper post. Again, these are pretty ubiquitous at races like this (at the Inners Enduro last week I reckon about half the bikes were Fives, including the one that won Senior Men).

[img] [/img]

Sam - Member

TBF Fenboy, the term 'enduro' has been used for long distance XC events for longer than the kind of event you are talking about has existed.

The ISD Enduro started in 1913 😉

But keeping it to pushbikes- I doubt you're correct, the enduro format was established way back in the mid 90s whereas enduro used for xc seems to originate from the early 2000s. (if you know of older examples please do correct me, but I never heard it back then)

The ISD Enduro started in 1913

My perception of 'enduro' until very recently has been [url= http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=4036 ]this[/url] and I'm sure others are the same, thus the need for clarification. What 'mid-90's DH oriented "enduro" events did you have in mind? In any case, it's a moot point - the fact there was some ambiguity in my mind means that the OP may be best served being a little more specific about what kind of events he was referring to.

Based upon having ridden some of the Innerleithen course last week, a dropper seatpost is a must have (I haven't...).

Orange 5 with big forks like half the other riders - boring predictable choice but it works.

Trek slash 9 on agrifoglio (a mental 9km descent) factory spec except for a 50mm sunline stem and hi roller II tyres.

Will convert to a single up front, some light E13 wheels and tubeless and BOS suspension... some other bits of weight saving and she should be about 29.5 pounds

[img] [/img]

munrobiker - Member
To me "Enduro" still means 24/12/10 hour races and for those I'll be using the Anthem. They're at the podium at just about every single endurance race in the country. They're popular because they're fast, light and, most importantly, don't beat you up like a hardtail so you can stay faster for longer.

Have to say I haven't seen many Anthems being ridden by winners in the endurance races I did last season. I think people just [i]think[/i] Anthems win endurance races because the marketing says so! 😉

Having said that, Munrobiker will now tell me of all the podium spots he's had and I will eat my words!

Stumpjumper FSR. It's not about the bike... especially if you ar enot thinking about podium finishes.

Sam - Member
TBF Fenboy, the term 'enduro' has been used for long distance XC events for longer than the kind of event you are talking about has existed.

Sorry, but you're wrong.
Enduro events (timed descent sections linked by untimed ascent sections) have been around since the mid-nineties, just not in the UK, as discussed [url= http://bikemagic.com/news/guest-blog/enduro-it%E2%80%99s-only-a-name-right.html ][b]here[/b][/url].
Even the organisers of the Dyfi "Enduro" admit that their event is not an Enduro (on their website!)

nasher
...

I'll be rocking a Lapierre Spicy 316 2011 for the upcoming Gravity Enduo series. At the moment it's stock other than a 2.5 Folding Minion on the front. Ideally, it'd be 1x10, have a Reverb and have BOS suspension but that's a lot of dollar. 🙁

ive done the brechfa enduro, dyfi winter warm up and have the wentwood in 2 weeks. im also doing the 2 welsh rounds of the fetish gravity enduro all on my specialized enduro fsr. 160 front and rear, short stem, wide bars and my new dropper seat post 🙂 shes not a great climber(but then, nor am i) but she sure is good on the downs.

i did put up a photo...will try again
[img] [/img]

ash - Member
Sorry, but you're wrong.
Enduro events (timed descent sections linked by untimed ascent sections) have been around since the mid-nineties, just not in the UK, as discussed here.
Even the organisers of the Dyfi "Enduro" admit that their event is not an Enduro (on their website!)

Ash, you may be strictly right - but if munrobiker, the CTC website and I all thought it might be something other than what you say there is a clear need for more precision in a 'what bike for enduro?' type post.

It does make me laugh when people get all wound up about an event name they've stolen from another sport. Then claim that everyone else is wrong. 😆

This is Enduro.

You're talking about rolling down a hill on a pushbike. 😉

now.... MY GAS GAS EC250 is a proper enduro bike!!! (singlespeedstu) 😛

dead quick up the hills too 🙂

Singlespeedstu - I'm the first to admit that "Enduro" came from motorbike Enduro. Not exactly a "stolen" term though is it? more an inspired usage... The point being that the special stages / linking stages thing bears a lot of similarity in terms of the feel and atmosphere between motorcycle and MTB Enduro.

For example... what's the most similar event ANYWHERE to [url= http://www.trans-provence.com ][b]Trans-Provence[/b][/url] in terms of feel and atmosphere? Probably [url= http://www.redbullromaniacs.com/ ][b]Redbull Romaniacs[/b][/url] 😉

Ash.
I'd say "stolen" sums it up quite well.They've nicked the name from another sport no matter how you try and word it.

If they were to put tight time limits on the section inbetween the timed stages you migh have something a bit more like a propper Enduro.

For now you just have blokes in PJ's rolling down a hill which is nothing like an Enduro no matter how much you try and tell yourself it is. 8)

Having said that, Munrobiker will now tell me of all the podium spots he's had and I will eat my words!

10 podiums in 12 10-24hr races over the last 3 years ;).

I'm not especially good though, but the guys who are sponsored by XC Racer, Loco and several others who buy their own bikes ride Anthems and are beating everyone at the moment.

Stu,
Go to South-Eastern France, and educate yourself on MTB Enduro, in the place where MTB Enduro started.

Tight time limits, yes (generally). Pyjamas, no.

Stolen?? WTF? does someone have a copyright on the word? Surely you can have the maturity to see why the Euro-Enduro guys back in the mid-90's adopted the term from motorcycle Enduro, and not genuinely think it was unfairly "stolen" ??!

2nd open team at Twentyfour12 - 29er singlespeeds, 3/5ths rigid. The guys who beat us were on Orbeas. Not an Anthem in sight 😉 Still, we don't know what kind of enduros the OP is talking about, so I couldn't possibly comment.

Ash.
I know how MTB enduro's work
Go and ride a few Enduros, maybe a few ISDE's and educate yourself on what a propper Enduro is. 😉

Tight time limits, yes (generally).

You seem to have no idea how Enduro time keeping works.
There's often a few checks that are so tight on time that that's where the event's are won and lost. When this happens the special stages are kind of irrelivent.
MTB enduros are just won and lost on the special stages aren't they?

I never said it was "unfairly stolen".

I did know it'd get you going though. 😉 😆

Good lord! Maybe continue this argument on a new thread so the rest of us can carry looking at pictures of lovely bikes... 🙂

You seem to have no idea how Enduro time keeping works.

Really? Why?

There's often a few checks that are so tight on time that that's where the event's are won and lost. When this happens the special stages are kind of irrelivent

I've witnessed enough motorbike Enduros to know this, but thanks anyway. In MTB Enduro, the same could (theoretically) very easily be made to be the case, simply as a function of how a given course is laid out. The format is the same... special stages, and time-limited liaison stages. The fact that you still seem to be refusing to acknowledge that there is a similarity between the motorbike and MTB version is pretty absurd. You are clutching at straws, and actually come across as quite bitter about the fact that MTB has adopted the term.

MTB enduros are just won and lost on the special stages aren't they?

Yes.... but as above, if a liaison is tight for time, and you miss it, you get penalised. It's all the same (or very similar) principle.

You really have bitten a lot harder than i thought you would. 😆

I though I might have had to try a bit harder TBH. 8)

It's funny you should say that Stu but from where I'm standing it always seems it's YOU "biting" and piping up about motorbikes EVERY time the Enduro discussion comes up.

You may (or may not) finally shoosh when there is a 2013 World MTB Enduro Series... Actually, here's a thought: you could email UCI and tell them they've stolen a term and are wrong to implement it because it's not *quite* similar enough to motorbike Enduro for your liking. I'm sure they'll give a crap.

nasher - Member
i did put up a photo...will try again

Another thread derailed 🙄

😆

Pretty sure the OP added the tags so it's fair to say it's Steve Parr's Fetish sponsored "gravity" enduro races he's talking about.

Me, I hope to be at Hamsterley and Eastridge and I'll be riding a Prophet with 150mm Revelations. Used this bike at some of the Gravity Enduro series last year and some UK Avalanche Enduro races in previous years.

Anyway, back on topic, at Inners day/night enduro I was riding my Blue Pig, dropper post, short stem, wide bars and 1x9. Worked like a dream. The main problem was the idiot riding it, however for now I shall blame the, erm, the tyre/valve alignment, as that was very un-STW, and clearly cost me some places.

Personally, I don't "get" the new breed of enduros- I don't see the point in riding up hills if you don't get timed on them.

However, they are excellent fun and I'd recommend them to anyone.

I don't see the point in riding up hills if you don't get timed on them.

The idea is that, whilst all-round abilty (inc fitness) is important, the emphasis is put on riding skill.
The more long uphill slogs you time, the less riding skill comes into it at all. All down to the fact that EVERYONE takes longer to ride uphill than downhill... i.e. for every minute of uphill you time, you have to time about five minutes of descent for technical riding prowess to come into it. This is the basis of the "gravity" Enduro thing.

munrobiker - Member

Personally, I don't "get" the new breed of enduros- I don't see the point in riding up hills if you don't get timed on them.

I have tried descending while sat in the car park but it didn't really work out, eventually I gave in and rode up some hills.

I'll be using this, SC Blur 4x with 36 vans, 1x10 and reverb.

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6759752757_a5f573a308_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6759752757_a5f573a308_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/le_grande_momo/6759752757/ ]Blur[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/le_grande_momo/ ]le_grande_momo[/url], on Flickr

I don't see the point in riding up hills if you don't get timed on them.

You are timed, you just have to be under the time limit. Whether the organisers choose to make those sections difficult is a different matter, there'd be uproar amongst the weekend warriors if the climbs were set at an XC race pace.

This:

[img] [/img]

Does anyone know what speed and rate of climb these enduro races base their uphill stage maximum times on?

How useful is an uppy downy seatpost?

Unless there is a lot of climbing in the timed stages then surely it would be better to save the weight and just put your saddle up and down the old fashioned way?

we'll its gonna cost you almost a lb in weight

Considering the fact that the closest thing I've got to an enduro bike right now is around 37 lbs I'm shaving weight wherever I can. It does have a gravity dropper but I'm not sure how much use it will be if all I'm using it for is saving a couple of seconds before and after each timed run.

I can see the benefit on something like the megavalance though

The Gravity Dropper Classic weighs 0.5lbs more than a Thomson of the same length. I don't ever ride without the dropper post, prefer being able to keep it down much of the time but raise it immediately when required - that's far more important to me than a 0.25% change in total system mass. This Cotic Soul weighs just under 26.5lbs despite the 'all-mountain' (marketing box ticking) build.

This isn't my 'enduro race bike' though, it's just my bike! 😉 But the enduro race format is pretty much how I spend my time riding (hopefully my normal rides are quicker uphill).

One of my team-mates will be on a coil-shocked Orange Alpine, another on a Santa Cruz 150mm full-sus, the other on a 29er of some breed (am guessing his full-sus one). I don't think any of them have dropper posts (yet...)

I'm not especially good though, but the guys who are sponsored by XC Racer, Loco and several others who buy their own bikes ride Anthems and are beating everyone at the moment.

No they don't, the XCRacer team use Treks (formerly Gary Fishers) and always have done 😕

How are they beating everyone too?

The AW Cycles team have had Giant for ages, but are changing to Trek 29ers this season. Struggling to think of any other team that use them.

They're good bikes (if a bit heavy), but dominant they are not. No one bike is.

I quite want to try one of these Enduros (in the Euro sense). Light 6" travel bike with a dropper post FTW. Not that I own such a thing.

This isn't my 'enduro race bike' though, it's just my bike! But the enduro race format is pretty much how I spend my time riding (hopefully my normal rides are quicker uphill).

Yeah, for normal riding I agree it's well worth it, especially if you're on terrain that is rolling.

I'm just wondering why people would use them for a race, especially if you want to be competitive (many small things rather than one big thing and all that).

Judging by the number of dropper posts on the big enduro races like the Trans Provence I'd guess they remain a good thing on our UK races. 0.25% change in mass isn't going to make much difference to your overall time but being able to sit and spin up some of the uphills within the timed race stages could give your legs enough of a rest to ride harder and faster on the downhills.

BruceWee - Member

How useful is an uppy downy seatpost?

Depends on the course. A lot of UK enduro events end up with pretty short stages of almost entirely descent, which really reduces the benefit.

But some courses they're a godsend... I ended up not racing innerleithen winter series 2 due to injury but I prerode the course and the climb at the end of stage 2/4 could have broken me without a dropper.

I've actually removed mine for some enduro events! (not so much because of weight, but because it was expensive and I tend to crash my brains out in races because I'm a knob). Didn't miss it at all in that race, there was a fire-road climb but it was for beasting not spinning.

780 bars

Trees are going to love you...
More to the point Ash is right you know. I probably am riding more enduro races than most of you. The uphill may not be timed, but you hard have time for a bbq at the top. And the stages are MOSTLY descending, so people with a DH bike are in for a nasty surprise...
I think mr nichastic needs to broaden his horizon a bit.

I'd say a dropper is well worth getting because there were a few more pedally stages and it'd save your legs if you could sit and sit for a bit and then get the post out of the way again.

2 examples at Afan:
Stage 3- pedally trail centre type bit where you'e bettwer off having it a bit higher but on some bits you'd want it slammed just so you can mvoe a bit easier.

Stage 5: Very pedally first half or maybe more than that and then you're into the 4X track at the end.

Both of those stages I ahd to compromise both on pedaling and descending. With a dropper, you won't.

Have a look at this from last year, [url= http://dirt.mpora.com/news/dirttv-gravity-enduro-feature.html ]insight into Enduro race bike set up.[/url]

This is what I'll be entering a couple of the gravity enduro series races on, has a Reverb now too...
[img] [/img]

Not set up specifically for enduros, but happens to be just right for them IMO.

I was wondering how long it'd take this to descend to an Enduro v Enduro argument - only two replies and it had already started, excellent work!

Kudos though to munrobiker for recognising the problem and providing an answer to both possible questions. Sadly though, with good sense like that you're not likely to last around here.

Maybe all those bumping chests about the use of the word enduro could reopen [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/that-really-should-settle-it-once-and-fro-all ]this thread[/url] and keep their cat fights out of other threads?

Personally, I'm unlikely to be entering many if any of either sort of event this year. If I did I expected I'd be using my new Anthem X for the how many-laps-in-some-time enduros and my Mojo for special-stages-and-an-overall-time-limit enduros. The Mojo wouldn't be the best sort of bike for the enduros at Innerleithen but they seem to be weighted towards the DH end of that event type's spectrum. From what I've heard you can push a DH bike up all the climbs and still keep within the time limit so perhaps Ash would consider that they're not proper enduros either? 😉

njee- sorry, it's not XC Racer, it's another team and I can't for the life of me remember their name.

Up in Scotland they certainly seem to be the race bike of choice, I think because of the more technical nature of the courses.

You should try some of these Euro Enduros njee, like I say, as a more traditional Endurance racer I don't quite get the point of the uphills not counting but they're a lot of fun, and there's nothing to stop you battering up the hills anyway.

Up in Scotland they certainly seem to be the race bike of choice, I think because of the more technical nature of the courses.

Plenty of FS bikes down here, just not dominated by Anthems. Like I say, not one dominant model at all. Don't see why an Anthem is more suited to a technical course than an Epic/Spark/Top Fuel/ASR/Blur XCc etc.

If there were any locally I'd give one a punt, CBA travelling to Wales or whatever! Like the idea though. Agree that the notion of having timed climbs but not competitive is a bit different, must work though!

Loco and several others who buy their own bikes ride Anthems and are beating everyone at the moment.

Huw was one of the BM Loco lads riding an anthem and is the Rookie champ at national 12 hour. He's actually riding for Niner Stans Ergon on an RDO now - prefers it.

munrobiker - Member

I don't quite get the point of the uphills not counting

Eh ???!
you said that earlier in the thread and I replied with...

The idea is that, whilst all-round abilty (inc fitness) is important, the emphasis is put on riding skill.
The more long uphill slogs you time, the less riding skill comes into it at all. All down to the fact that EVERYONE takes longer to ride uphill than downhill... i.e. for every minute of uphill you time, you have to time about five minutes of descent for technical riding prowess to come into it. This is the basis of the "gravity" Enduro thing.

Fair enough, this might not be your thing, but surely you "get the point" of what this racing is about?

Pro rider setups for Enduro racing...

[url= http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/Bike-Check-Cannondale-Jekyll-with-Jerome-Clementz,2854/Slideshow,0/sspomer,2 ]JEROME CLEMENTZ[/url]

[url= http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/Fabien-Barels-Mondraker-Foxy-R,2874/Slideshow,0/sspomer,2 ]FABIEN BAREL[/url]

[url= http://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/Bike-Check-Anka-Martins-Santa-Cruz-Blur-TRc,2902/Slideshow,0/sspomer,2 ]ANKA MARTIN[/url]

my set up for the Gravity Enduro's this year, hoping to do two possibly three

[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5047/5345840412_08a0a4fae4.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5047/5345840412_08a0a4fae4.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/neil853/5345840412/ ]new bike 9[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/neil853/ ]99c5faa01725362d73494aff686e3664[/url], on Flickr

Here's my setup...
[img] [/img]

[b]Meta 5 with Pike air U-turn[/b] (140mm F+R)
Now running with:
-maxle bolt through F+R
-Hope pro IIs (with the same 5.1d rims)
-2012 XT brakes (with the cooling fins!!)
-Charge ti saddle
-losing the dropper post
-easton carbon DH bars
(I really should get an up to date photo!)

Not sure on peadls - whether to stick with SPDs (which I ride 90% of the time on - big stuff and all) or go flats (which I only really use for the alps.....)

I'll be honest - I have been eyeing up another dropper post, but think my money/weight would be better saved!
Hoping to get the forks/shock off to TFTuned for service and PUSH on the front...

DrP

This is the link to the new MDE EURO Enduro bike, http://www.mdebikes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=420
we have a demo 1 that you'll be seeing at all the Fetish Gravity Enduro's, the demo 1 has BOS Devilles up front and a VIP'R air shock also, Full XO and a REVERB seatpost, it weighs with pedals 30.5lbs.
The Reverb uppy downy seat post is an absoulte must on a Gravity enduro, as this year were mixing things up a bit more, following my visit to the Italian Super Enduro, some stages throughout the year will have UP's in them, times between stages have also been tightened, so no pushing DH bikes around 😉

Steve D almost made people cry by putting an orrible climb in the last innerleithen one, tread carefully or you might end up hanging from a forestry commission tree

as a more traditional Endurance racer I don't quite get the point of the uphills not counting

It's so that the rider with the best balance of fitness and skill wins ie. the all round rider, not just the strongest climber. Given the disproportionate length of climbs vs descents, if they timed the climbs it would simply become a competition to find the best climber, we already have that, it's called xc racing.

There already in 🙂