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debut of 2013 specialized enduro 29er

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
Looks nice. Any saddle time yet? Weight?

And its begging for a dropper post btw ;)
Got the Command Post installed.

The bike rips, so much fun.

It predictably pedals like an FSR, which is to say kinda ****ty uphill in the bigger ring. Little better in the granny/smaller ring. Didn't buy it to worry too much about this. It rails turns and you can push it into really rooty sections and it just flies through them, real neat feeling with it. The command post works like a charm. I think the pro-tapers were a good bet. At first I felt a little odd on them, but I took two of the spacers out and dropped the stem a little and that feels better. The brakes are great, no complaints there, bedding in nicely with lots of power. The pike is still great. The rear suspension is pretty good, I have to experiment with pressure and damping still, but I was just riding a few minutes ago and thought to myself: wait a minute...there was a 3 position shock before...it was called the RP3...is this different? It's pretty good for an air shock though and the descend setting works great. I'm getting about 80% travel on a 4-5 foot drop. I don't know whatl the autosag accomplishes, but whatever.

The tires seem pretty skinny. 2.3" IDK...they kind of freak me out when I look down. They don't seem like the kind of tires I'd put on this bike and take into chunk or a day of DHing. No real complaints, but I plan to hit up the ski resort this weekend.

The X9 derailleur is absolute crap. Doesn't shift very well, clutch mechanism rattles like crazy. My X5 on my other bike goes into gear more reliably. Supposedly some of these issues may be due to the clutch torx bolt being overtorqued, but it's like they didn't even test this piece of crap before SRAM started supplying it. If I adjust it to shift reliably in one direction, it won't really go the other direction reliably. Not cool, and I've been adjusting these things long enough that I've gotten it down fairly well. I can put up with it for a while, but I'll try to retorque it and see if that helps, then maybe try the greasing-trick that supposedly silences it and also takes care of the issue.

All in all it's tons of fun. Doesn't feel too steep, leans over like crazy in the turns (especially when you get the CG low with the post), feels stiff, seems to kill it on the trail. Combines the advantages of 29er wheels with the idea of the Enduro pretty well I think.
 

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
18,850
9,556
AK
Need a set if these now
Totally. The butchers are a skinny 2.3 and seem out of place, especially when you look down and see that skinny tire. I went DHing last weekend at the local ski resort and didn't have any problems except for a little sliding on rocks due to the rain the night before, but that cleared up later in the day. Still, I'd like more grip up front for real aggressive riding and 2.5ish tires are necessary IMO. At a local bike park there's a little triangle shaped kicker to a berm, it's kind of skinny and with skinny tires it's a bit difficult to set up just right (no problem on my fat bike, lol). Converted to tubeless though two days ago and it was real easy with a floor pump. Even "fat" 2.3s would be fine IMO, but what comes on the bike up front is just a bit too skinny, it begs for more.
 
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Floor Tom

Monkey
Sep 28, 2009
288
55
New Zealand
Yeah, I know. That's why I said I already had the 3C Max Terra EXO ones and was trying to get my local distributor to get me some of the DH flavour ones.. They are good for every day riding but some of the 3c Max grip DH casing ones will be the choice for racing Enduro/Super D
 

Al-Zeimer

Chimp
Feb 10, 2014
1
0
I have been riding a Norco Shinobi for 3 years. I agree with this post. This big, heavy, 29er prefers high speed, and somehow, it also likes to rumble. At low speed, it's a heavy tank that rolls over anything, while at high speed and on steep crummy terrain, it is close to a DH bike (I think it may be due to what I feel is a long head tube -I'd love some feedback on this from you all serious experts out there). So far, the 140mm reba has not been overmatched by my riding. Now, I'm not a spring chicken, and I don't need or want a light flickable ride. I do enjoy long rides (>25, 35m<) and nasty technical terrain in the North Cascades primarily.
Now, would, say a 650b Kona Process 153 be a better bike for what I do? I was surprised when I rode one for 3 days in the fall by how good it is for what I do (with the caveat that I never ever race anyone uphill...). My next bike will probably be either that or the Spec Enduro.... (they are about the same weight, but I much prefer the Kona's components).