I’ve just been out to my local-ish bike shop to have a drool look over one of their new Specialized Enduros and, despite it being a Large, was mightily impressed with it. So impressed with it that I very nearly risked the wrath of wife and slapped a deposit on it. It was way better than both the Kona Process and the Whyte t-130 they also had to hand.

HOWEVER… There’s that nagging feeling that, despite the theoretical top tub only being about 30mm shorter than the XL and the large feeling no worse than my current hardtail, the XL would just be that little bit more comfy. I’m not even going to get into the Stumpy vs. Enduro bitch-fight for now.

So I have a favour to ask: Is there anyone within a sensible drive of Cambridge that has a reasonably modern XL Enduro that I could have a brief play with?

Going back to the Stumpy vs. Enduro bitchfight for a moment… Given identical specs, would I notice any real difference between the two on normal trails?

Can’t really help as I’m nowhere near you, but I have a current enduro 29. I have a size L and I’m about 6′ with a 40mm stem I feel it is maybe too small and the xl would maybe put me in a better position for the downhills.
For seated pedalling the length is fine.

As for the stumpy v Enduro, I had the 2014 stumpy evo 29er and I think the overall balance was far better than the enduro, once I had got used to it. The long chainstays on the stumpy gave it masses of grip on the front and it felt really composed. The new stumpy is quite a lot different though.
The enduro with its short chainstays feels livelier, quicker in turns and more agile. The reality is that my stumpy was faster.

willard, i know a bloke who has a 2015 xl for sale. 4 month old.

Cheers Dilwyn.

I’ve just now been looking at the Specialized website and it seems that they don’t do an XL for the Enduro in 650b; they stop at an L. Which is a shit really. I think my earlier hubris was seeing a 2011 Enduro on eBay and assuming that they still made them. That will learn me and probably get me angry at being tall again!

To be honest, I don’t think that I will ever get to the stage where the bike will be the weakest link when I ride. I’m old and realise that I’m mortal, so am unlikely to be pushing things to the limits at BPW or Ft. William. However, I’d still like a bike that will flatter me and be fun to ride on big stuff and just soak up the bumps and roots on as many surfaces as I take it on. Getting _just_ the Stumpy FSR will do that.

Maybe I should be concentrating on deciding between the Stumpy FSR Comp and the Expert Carbon version. Is a different for and carbon worth the extra money?

No worries.
I think for 2016 the 650 enduro has a longer top tube than this year.
I’ve also ridden a couple of 2016 stumpy’s and if I were buying I’d probably get the bright yellow stumpy (don’t know what model it is) or the green one and change the forks for pikes. My stumpjumpers and enduro have all been carbon but although it is slightly lighter and little stiffer, I couldn’t really recommend the carbon over Ali.

Just get the 29er version in XL

Sounds like sound advice. I love Specialized’s position on this, which is essentially “Obviously the 29er is the better bike but for some reason, not everyone wants the better bike so for them, we make this inferior model. Enjoy, weirdos!”

Are the Revelations really that bad? It seems like the one up from base 2016 model (Elite) is actually pretty well specced. Maybe not quite as good as the ’15 Expert carbon, but not too bad.

The ’16 version is noticeably slacker though. Definitely more to the Enduro than the ’15 Stumpy.

Ah yes, the 29er… It was weird enough seeing what looked like a motorcycle wheel in front of me on the demo bike that I never got round to trying the jumbo wheel version.

I rode the XL and L on a recent demo. Enjoyed both so can’t help. I also rode top of the range carbon and the alloy and frankly couldnt tell the difference. I had a go on the enduro to get it out of my system. MISTAKE as I loved it!!

Ended up with a camber evo though in L 😉 I am 6’1″ and a bit!

Having ridden both the 29er and 650b version, my thoughts……

Wheel size – 650b. Simple. The 29er doesn’t make sense on a bike that’s designed to get rowdy. It does make sense on the camber, which is a little less gnar, though.
Frame size – I ride a medium Enduro, although on pretty much any other Spesh MTB I’d be on a Large. The reason? I like the shorter reach and smaller frame as it makes it more chuckable when shredding the gnat.

So, if you’re after a mile muncher that can be fun, get a camber. If you’re after a winch and plummet bike that’s more about giggles on the rough stuff, get a 650b Enduro. In the smaller size.

HTH! 🙂

That sort of helps. Maybe.

The Camber looks a lot like a shorter travel Stumpy FSR. Is that a fair comment? If I just wanted the one bike to rule them all, forsaking all others, to be all things to all..

Dammit, just seen both the Orange Alpine and the Bronson. I need to get out there and ride those now. Maybe the 5010 as well.

If I just wanted the one bike to rule them all, forsaking all others, to be all things to all..

Camber. Or an Anthem SX then.

The Enduro is ace, but it’s a winch and plummet bike, not a mile muncher. A Camber (or others of that ilk) are mile munchers that are also a little slack, so they make for great handling when it gets funner. 😉 If it was one bike, I’d say an Enduro is normally over biked. FWIW, I have mine as a trail centre skill compensator primarily, not as an all dayer.