[Closed] Like, love, slate, abuse my latest MTB potential purchase idea. Enduro Elite

Nice bike. My choice would have been the 29er.

We moved Abigale's on a couple of years ago, looking at that price, someone got a bargain. Still see it out in the Peak and its still going strong.

This looks a newer better spec for around the same price

https://www.pinkbike.com/buysell/3236909/

Lets assume for this discussion i'm still against the 29er idea, irrational or not, i don't know.... but i'm just not feeling the 29er love.

It’s used but rides will, the handling feels quite different to the G-170 and more sitting in than sitting on..

Was that a problem before someone else mentioned it?

Geometry geeks has the BB slightly higher on the Specialized along with shorter reach and lower stack, a shorter chainstay on the specialized and much shorter wheelbase should make it handle nicely i think

None of that reflects the sitting in part above?

Was that a problem before someone else mentioned it?

No, but it was an interesting observation of theirs.

I might sound harsh, but to me it's got all the travel of a proper Enduro bike, wrapped up in some dated geometry with the wrong size wheels. Looking at your link, that's a significantly smaller bike all round, in fact it's smaller than my 110/120mm XC bike. And they love to eat shocks.

Same sort of money on Pinkbike I can see:

'20 Reign SX
'21 NP Mega
'20 Ransom

All of which would be a significantly better option IMO.

Edited to add all my suggestions are 29" - for the reason you stated about going faster.

I might sound harsh,

It's not my bike LOL. you can't be harsh to an inanimate object.

I'm not seeing the Mega...

the other 2 are 29er lol... i'm still against the 29 despite what people think. Maybe i'm being unduly harsh on 29ers... but it's an expensive mistake to find out the answer.

i’m still against the 29er

You need to decide whether to get something your son is likely to win races on, or something that better suits your opinion.

You need to decide whether to get something your son is likely to win races on, or something that better suits your opinion.

Irrespective of what I do or don't buy, he'll end up with the best bike i can afford. Currently he's 100% against 29ers having tried 3-4 at demo days and not liked any.

weeksy
Full Member
No, but it was an interesting observation of theirs.

Buying something shorter and higher isn't going to help that observation. Geting more "in" the bike you would be looking to go longer, but you've been there with the 160 and didn't like it

Nice bikes, those 27.5 versions seem to still be popular for the park rats observed at various locations around the south of UK, and french alps.

As mentioned, they did sometimes wreck (the proprietary) shocks but you can get a yoke and run a normal shock on it if needed.

Lets assume for this discussion i’m still against the 29er idea, irrational or not, i don’t know…. but i’m just not feeling the 29er love.

If you are serious about getting faster, buy a race 29er like hobnob says (enduro race not xc race, obvs) and learn to ride it.
They are different, it will feel wierd at first and there will be some adjustment.
Will be an order of magnitude faster than fiddling with tyre pressures and patterns, and swapping shocks.

But if you want a bike that "gets you down" in a way that is "fun" or even just "not terrifying" when doing national level enduros with your lad, then that Enduro looks good.

Of course, its a 5 year old bike thats probably been ridden at least moderately hard. It might snap tomorrow or it might be the deal of the century. You seem like a competent and consciencious home mechanic though.

worth noting that the bike has a 125 dropper and probably about an inch more possible IF you are the same inseam as the current owner.

From chatting with the owner, it's had an easy life, Swinley etc rather than DH racing.

I'm 100% serious about getting faster... but the reality is quite different to the wish 🙂

But again, this isn't all about that and also in some ways not all just about me... this idea had multiple thought patterns within it.... but maybe based upon what's being said, i should encourage/make him ride a 29er for his next bike anyway lol

Currently he’s 100% against 29ers having tried 3-4 at demo days and not liked any.

I understand that, I have both a 29er and 27.5 (different bikes, but same sort of class - enduro), but prefer the way my 27.5 feels, however the 29er is undoubtedly faster in most (but not all) scenarios, despite feeling slower.

Did he do any timed testing on the 29ers? or just go on feel?

I might sound harsh, but to me it’s got all the travel of a proper Enduro bike, wrapped up in some dated geometry with the wrong size wheels.

Without wanting to sound like I'm taking the piss, but going by past threads that's pretty much what Weeksy's looking for.

Did he do any timed testing on the 29ers? or just go on feel?

Not yet, they were mostly product/video shoots, things like Vitus he tried a couple of different ones that were potentially to be used in their advertising campaigns. (whether they do or not i dunno). We've owned this one since he jumped from a small Specialized FSR, so at that time the 29er wasn't even a discussion as he was only going to what's a relatively small medium frame.
His next bike will either be a big medium or potentially a Large, which as he'll then be 5'7-8 puts him far more into the realms of a more normal 29er.

We'll deffo do some testing before his next purchase though as it would be interesting to know. But as you know, doing that currently is incredibly difficult and he's still not ready at the moment for a new size.

If you are serious about getting faster, buy a race 29er like hobnob says (enduro race not xc race, obvs) and learn to ride it.
They are different, it will feel wierd at first and there will be some adjustment.
Will be an order of magnitude faster than fiddling with tyre pressures and patterns, and swapping shocks.

This is the reality. The big thing on this is compromise & where are you prepared to make it. If you want a fast race bike, it's going to feel like crap riding round Swinley. It will be big, sluggish & awkward.

For the same reason a smaller bike with trail bike geometry will feel fun & nimble in the same place, yet feel twitchy, sketchy & loose when you start to push on, or ride steep stuff & feel 'harder' to go faster on.

Without wanting to sound like I’m taking the piss, but going by past threads that’s pretty much what Weeksy’s looking for.

Which is absolutely fine, if that's the compromise 🙂

Anyway, i've listened to all the wisdom and won't purchase the above bike.

I have instead made a smaller purchase... but that's a whole different discussion 😀

Thanks to all for the wisdom.

I really disliked that generation of Enduro and I say that as someone who desperately wanted to buy one as they looked mint. The 2 demo bikes I managed to get my hands on put me off. This was a few years ago now but they felt high and twitchy like gangly xc bikes with big wheels jammed in. It put me off 29ers for a few years.

Now I'm on a 29er that I really like. It's a Norco Sight and it's low, fast and agile.

Geometry trumps wheel size for handling and you're running out of good options with 27.5 wheels.

Do not buy that bike. Really really don't.
I had that exact 29er model. ( perhaps even that exact bike)

It was on its fifth shock before it even needed a new chain/ freewheel. The worst one lasted less than 80km.

I don't jump, and I'm pretty slow, but still lasted less than 80km.

Spesh replaced the Monarch four times before some kind soul on here told me it was a well known issue that needs a Ohlins to resolve. I got an ohlins and promptly sold the bike.

Apparently the issue is lateral force on the shock. It just kills them.

Now of course some oeople didn't have the issue, Tracey being a key example, but lots did. To the extent that when meeting other owners on the trail it wasn't unusual to swap notes on how many warranty replacements they have had and where they found out about the Ohlins option.

The question is do you feel lucky?

The other minor point is that having ridden an Occam for the last 2 years there is no way I would want that Elite, even if it didn't need new shocks every 80km. But it's all academic.

Having said all of which, it would be really funny if you did buy one and to watch the story unfold on STW 🙂

I bought the 2018 (pink one) in 650b flavour and I absolutely love it. The Rockshox deluxe feels really nice as do the ohlins forks. The swat box in the frame is a great idea and means I generally don't ride with a Camelbak anymore. The 2017 doesn't have the flip chip which the 2018 does. I tried it in the high position to see if pedal strikes were still a problem and it made a huge difference so I've just left it there. Because you can run 2.6's on it, it climbs better than my Stumpy Evo did. I'm pretty sure the sizing went up from the 2017 frame to the 2018.
All in all its great... if you can put up with the obvious jokes about the colour. You should be able to pick one up quite cheaply because most people bought them brand new in the sale for 50% off......Remember those days.

I'll have my large HB 160 frame (Invisiframed from New), wheels and brakes up for sale in April/May depending on when the HB916 is actually released.

27.5" wheels...

I enjoy reading your brain farts weeksy, so please continue to share them.

Interesting to hear about your lad trying a few 29ers, as others have said, if you want speed, that’s where you will find it. Hence why the only 27.5 inch wheel in any top level racing is only found on the back of a few bikes.

Hopefully now covid is being dismissed there will be opportunities for demo days to be run again and you and your lad can try a few new bikes out.

If it were me, I wouldn’t be looking at anything older than maybe 2 or 3 years old, as geometry has come on so far in such a short time, anything before that will be a compromise or just plain dated.

I've also got the 2018 (pink) with ohlins front and back and the rival carbon wheels (it was a bargain).
Very nice piece of kit, I do really like it a lot. Great fun.

Apparently the issue is lateral force on the shock. It just kills them.

Lateral force plus a shock (RS) with a smaller shaft diameter was not a good combo. It’s like they only tested the Ohlins setup before they launched it

Can't these threads just be put in a sub forum on their own rather than polluting the main forum?

😂

Hi Weeksy, as said I think this proposed purchase is a backwards step. It’s more dated geometry than your G170 and on a frame that can eat shocks sometimes. The only benefit is it might be lighter.

For speed in racing then 29er wheels is most likely the way forward. If you’re avoiding 29er wheels still then I think you have to ask what do you expect to improve on vs the g170?

Maybe a shorter seat tube for a longer dropper post, a slacker head tube angle, a steeper seat tube angle, a better fork than a Yari?

Or look at Mullet bikes for some of the advantage of 29er but perhaps a bit more nimbleness. You’ve ruled out the Status now for the shorter back end in case it feels like the Aether - but I’m still adamant you went a size too big on the Aether.

Something like the Saracen Ariel 60 could be interesting if you can find one. The medium size would be the one for you to go for - it comes setup mullet - but also with a spare linkage to run it at 29er too. 480mm reach / 440mm chainstay so it’s pretty balanced front to rear. 64.6 degree headangle / 410mm seat tube. £2500 and has an ok spec for that.

Can’t these threads just be put in a sub forum on their own rather than polluting the main forum?

Yeah, how ridiculous, discussing bikes on a bike forum.

Wind your neck in you Muppet

A few mates have that generation Enduro. The HB160 is by no means an LLS machine, and the numbers make it seem like the Enduro is bigger, but they just feel way smaller.

GG is useful as a guide, but it's no substitute for actually sitting on and riding a bike

Yeah, how ridiculous, discussing bikes on a bike forum.

Wind your neck in you Muppet

The bike content's not a problem it's the endless vacillation and inability to accept the good advice given that's so tortuous.

It's also worth noting that you did invite abuse of your idea in the title.

The bike content’s not a problem it’s the endless vacillation and inability to accept the good advice given that’s so tortuous.

Au contrare Rodney 🤣 I love @Weeksy posts on bike ponderings. Posts a question about a bike/s along with pictures...many responses with other options often including pictures/links...leading to lots of googling of bicycles I will never afford or be worthy of purchasing due to a complete an utter lack of ability whilst avoiding work...and the best part is, no matter what is also in my head about bikes and bits, none of the thought process is going to cost me money. Thanks Weeksy

I used to despair at the amount of time weeksy spends buying, fixing and messing with bikes.

But then he countered with loads of info on how much riding both his son and him do on those bikes. Which restored the balance nicely.

So my current view is that he spends immense amounts of time both riding and fixing, so that's fine by me.

All good.

If you're (seriously) racing nothing matters other than time.

And IMO, until he can wring out every last tenth of a second of his current setup/bike then don't bother swapping bikes.

Can’t these threads just be put in a sub forum on their own rather than polluting the main forum?

Bloke rides bikes and tinkers with them lots.

Bloke posts about it on a forum for people who like to ride bikes and tinker with them.

Only on STW could that possibly be a problem.

BikeYoke do a series of replacement yokes to enable swapping out the RS ones to something a bit more robust

If you look on these posts as weeksy blogging about his bike thoughts rather than asking for advice then they’re quite fun. Just don’t expect him to listen to any of your responses (unless they’re what he wants to hear!)

However they can also be a good indicator of what he’s about to sell - sometimes before even using it. Thanks for the shock Weeksy!

They do seem to be a bit groundhog day.

As someone else suggested, it's worth looking at the Giant Reign, they tend to be better value for money and come in 27.5, 29 or mullets depending on model and ride very well.

The Spesh you list had a short life, the X frames weren't well received overall, hence the complete redesign from Spesh to regain some ground in that market.

If you look on these posts as weeksy blogging about his bike thoughts rather than asking for advice then they’re quite fun

Yeah this - Weeksy just shares his inner narrative with us. Some people keep it to themselves (I do!), some talk to their mates, some share it with the world. I don't see any harm in it, nobody's making you read the thread after all. At least he actually rides bikes and is doing all he can to help his boy progress.

This place is weird sometimes, @weeksy is just blathering about bikes, on a site about blathering about bikes. So what if he doesn't take advice or who really cares? It's all cool as far as I'm concerned.

Personally, really like Weeksy's threads. It's like sitting in a pub after a ride talking about bikes. I'm always happy to hear different people's opinions on bikes and gear; it IS a bikes and gear forum, after all. Keep pondering and posting, @weeksy!

The worry is he actually buys something, then it's all over.

honourablegeorge
Full Member

The worry is he actually buys something, then it’s all over.

Silly, he's had a Whyte G160, a Bird whatever it was and a Whyte G170 since the beginning of COVID fun - no risk of this train stopping yet!

How dare he talk about bikes and riding them on a mountain biking forum!!!!

And being enthusiastic about it is even worse.

Outrageous, next you’ll be telling me he actually enjoys riding and bonding with his son while doing it!

Utterly preposterous!

And heavens forbid that he actually spends his money buying bikes. That’s crazy talk

Ps - fitness and coaching are what will make you faster 😉