Been contemplating a new FS ride...
I test rode the Specialized Enduro Expert on Tue night. I rode Hard Guy/Fast Guy, a particularly fun
3100ft climb up to the Boise tree line. A perfect trail for a test ride because it's got it all, a
little pavement, steep smooth ups, steep tech ups, long climbs and BOMBIN' downhills replete with
big hits, ruts and stutter bumps.
THE SKINNY: Impressive downhill (duh, it's got 5" of travel front and rear), but not impressive
climbing ability.
What I was hoping to find was a bike I could just set up and go, but this is not it.
The bike has several suspension adjustment options all available "on the fly" (Front RockShox Psylo
and rear Fox Float RL): FRONT: adj from 80-125mm and lockout REAR: 100mm of increasing intensity or
130mm of linear has lockout and dampening adjustment
DOWNHILL: Impressive in long travel mode (125 up front and 130mm in the rear, rear damped as much as
possible to limit rebound). Smooth as butter over almost anything. Flys well and lands ssssssoooft.
Could have probably backed off on the rear dampening a bit and even had a smoother ride thru the
stutter bumps.
CLIMBING: This is where the bike lacks, or more appropriately requires adjustment. To get it to
climb efficiently I had to drop the front shock to the 80mm setting and lock out the rear. With the
rear in the 100mm travel position (and front shock slammed) it climbed OK. With either the rear in
the 130mm travel position or the front fork fully extended it didn't climb worth a flip. If the
front end is tall it's too light to climb and with the rear in long travel position pedal bob sucks
all your power.
My main issue was that front fork adjustment is key to performance and is somewhat problematic. It's
supposedly "on the fly", but the Psylo requires 12 turns of a knob to get it from 125mm to 80mm.
It's much easier to stop to make the adjustment.
The bike does it all well, but has to be constantly tweaked. Due to the incessant fiddling the bike
requires and the $2390 MSRP I'm still looking.
Next up...the Epic.
Gman