Foldable Bikes Party: Specialized S-Works Carbon Enduro 29 first ride review

Tuesday, 23 August 2016

Specialized S-Works Carbon Enduro 29 first ride review

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Not many have endured quite as well as the Enduro. After a solid 17 years on the market in a variety of different guises, Specialized’s long travel trail bike has had yet another refresh in a bid to make it climb and descend that bit quicker than its predecessor.

Specialized S-Works Carbon Enduro 29 Highlights

Full carbon frame with 165mm of rear wheel travel
Improved and now internal cable routing
Ohlins fork and shock
SWAT storage compartment
Single ring only
Tweaked suspension tune
Can be swapped to 650b plus wheels/tyres easily
No more press-fit bottom bracket

Appearances can be deceptive

A cursory glance may be misleading here as, on the surface at least, the 2017 S-Works Enduro 29 doesn’t look dramatically different to the bike it replaces. While it still uses the same X-Wing frame design there’s a plethora of changes throughout.

Gone is the press-fit number so many disliked. In its place sits a threaded bottom bracket which should make maintenance that bit easier and hassle free

The seat stay bridge is no more. Instead, the carbon seat stays get bulked up and when paired with the Boost axle spacing, means there’s plenty of tyre clearance should you wish to drop plus tyres into the frame. According to Specialized, the Enduro 29 will easily accommodate up to a 3in tyre.

Any Enduro that uses a carbon front triangle now features Specialized’s handy ‘SWAT’ (Storage, Water, Air and Tools) box. This is essentially a box that sits within a hollow in the downtube, under the bottle cage. For those not into carrying a pack, it’s actually incredibly handy.

Cables are routed internally and, rather than loop the rear gear cable and rear brake hose right under the bottom bracket, they now straddle the base of the seat tube, sitting on top of the bottom bracket instead.

Speaking of the bottom bracket, gone is the press-fit number so many disliked. In its place sits a threaded bottom bracket which should make maintenance that bit easier and hassle free. On top of that, the fact that all the pivot bearings are the same size should also make big overhauls a little more straightforward too.

Scandinavian precision and plenty of gears

Aside from the suspension, just like many other 2017 top-end bikes, the S-Works Enduro is clad with SRAM’s latest 1x12 XX1 Eagle transmission

Specialized S-Works Carbon Enduro 29 Ride

It’s when the trail gets really rowdy that the control from the fork really shines through

You can read more at BikeRadar.com

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