17 Bikes From the Giant Toa Enduro - Crankworx Rotorua 2016
As the sun came up over Rotorua and the Whakarewarewa Forest, we took to the trails to see what some of the pro’s were riding for the Giant Toa Enduro.
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 Darcy Neniska rides an Intense Tracer T275 on Fox suspension, a full SRAM drivetrain and is rolling on the magical Schwalbe rubber combo of a Magic Mary front and a Hans Dampf rear. |
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| Rae Morrison rides a stock Lapierre Spicy with a full livery of RockShox, SRAM and finished off with WTB tyres. |
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| Gus Michaels and his Scott Genius LT sporting a Fox 36 up front and a Cane Creek DB Air in the rear, and finished off with Schwalbe tyres. |
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| Josh Carlson's factory Giant Reign sports a full RockShox livery that interestingly includes a Vivid Coil shock, SRAM's alloy Rail 50 wheels (not the new carbon Roam 60's) and Schwalbe tyres, although unlike many of the others, opting for a faster rolling Rock Razor out back to accompany the Magic Mary up front. Check out the new Giant racing kit too... Are 100% getting into the apparel game? |
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| Maxi Dickerhoff rides a Ghost FRAMR10 with a Fox 36, a Cane Creek coil in the rear and with Schwalbe taking care of the tyres. |
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| Mark Dunlop's alloy Transition Patrol is running on a full RockShox set up with Hope Tech brakes and wheels, WTB tyres and check that Mudhugger front fender, just in case... |
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| Dirt's very own loose cannon, Phil Atwill, is on an X-Fusion equipped Propain Pro10 with a Funn finishing kit and Schwalbe tyres. |
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| Factory rider and flying Scotsman, Fraser McGlone, rides a Norco Range on full Fox with alloy Novotec wheels with Schwalbe tyres. |
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| Fraser's teammate, Harry Heath, is similarly also riding a Norco Range but has opted for the stiffer carbon Novotec rims and Magic Mary's, front and rear. The tart! |
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| Kiwi wildman, Rupert Chapman, rides a Bergamont Encore with a RockShox DebonAir shock out back, Manitou Mattoc forks and Maxxis tyres, opting for a super tacky High Roller front and a 3C in the rear to help alleviate drag and maximise grip. |
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| Rupert's teammate and an individual who truly understands what the spirit of enduro actually means, Eddy Masters, is also on a Bergamont Encore on Manitou suspension and Maxxis tyres. But check out the tasty snack taped under the saddle and the unique water bottle set up... There's being 'enduro' and then there's this! |
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| Factory World Cup racer and the eventual winner, Matt Walker, rides a carbon Cube Stereo 160 on full Fox and Schwalbe, Magura brakes and what's that on the downtube? Enduro specific snacks of course! |
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| Think there's something in your nose mate? Brook 'the Bulldog' MacDonald rides a GT Force, full Shimano, full Fox with Schwalbe tyres and check out the Garmin on the top tube... |
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| Norco factory rider, Sam Blenkinsop, is on a Norco Range with Fox, RaceFace and Schwalbe tyres, front and rear. Something in his nose too. |
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| Annika Smail rides a Juliana on full Fox with Maxxis Tyres, ENVE wheels and a full SRAM drivetrain. |
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| Rachel Throop's GT Sanction is rolling on a full RockShox and SRAM livery, Stan's wheels and Vittoria Tyres |
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| Rachel's teammate and the eventual winner of the Toa Enduro, Anneke Beerten, was also on a fully SRAM'd up GT Sanction with Vittoria tyres. |
MENTIONS: @FRNZ / @intensecyclesusa / @Lapierre-Bikes / @SCOTT-Sports / @GiantBicycle / @GhostBikes / @TransitionBikeCompany / @PROPAIN-Bicycles / @norcobicycles / @cubebikesofficial / @GTBicycles / @foxracingshox / @SramMedia / @shimano / @Maxxis / @schwalbe
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It is unfortunately branded towards woman graphic wise, but some sharpie hides the pink flower graphic pretty well!
I dont have a photo of it in place on me but here is the bag, www.polyvore.com/sherpani_ceili_bags/thing?id=134277130
It sits in the spot the guy has his tube in the very first photo....
imgur.com/SOO73jF
It would be great if some products were more specifically designed for this purpose though.
The Cane Creek shock has blown out 2 times and I finally "upgraded" to a CBAIR CS to the tune of $100. Cane Creek has been great to work with but Specialized should be proactive and issue a recall. Few, if any riders has had an Enduro 650b with DBInline that didn't fail...and don't give me that "bad-batch" bullshit. It's a compatibility issue and Specialized should be held equally accountable.
My rear wheel with 1,000 miles on it has developed such unbalanced spoke tension that it has to be replaced. It does has a small couple dings in it but I've had Stan's crest XC wheels (yes...crest) with dings that held up better to abuse. They are Roval Fattie's and the thin spokes are designed for road bikes...not 165mm trail bikes (Jared Graves agrees...see his bike check a couple weeks back). The rear hub has a tolerance issue that results in constant creaking so rebuilding it is not appealing. Since I'm outside of warranty I'm looking at a $400 bill. Speaking of Roval...my wife's brand new Roval Control wheels broke numerous alloy nipples (he he) and they had to replace them with brass.
The dropper had to be rebuilt 10 months after owning it. I spent 5 of those injured but at least they covered that under warranty. It's now doing the same thing where it is losing air over the course of a week and again, out of warranty.
In summary...a big "meh" to my recent purchase.
@SteelCityMTBer: because the things they did are too bad to "just get over with". We have a great friendly community where there's always good vibes between fellow cyclists and even competing rider owned companies their owners will have a beer together after a race or event. And then there's Specialized, the company known for having a big list of fellow cycling companies they've f*cked over big time. That attitude doesn't belong in our scene. Go become a soccer company if you want to do shady stuff like that.
It is unacceptable if a very expensive enduro bike doesn't last even a year. I would be bummed just like @ryan83 is.
100 miles a month,
3.5 miles a day.......
thats errrr, not that much, really imho......
even if injured half the time, 7 mile a day........?
Thats a daily commute for some..
I'm really just here to whine cause I'm bored.
It's just marketing. Don't hate the player(s), hate the game.
@samsq there was a time long ago when using the shit the pros used was what people would strive for. It was the ultimate way to legitimize a product, as everyone aspires to ride better, even if being a pro isn't even in their imagination. Now we have a whole new world of bikes that have no pro's giving one shit. It's just weird.
I don't have some deep hatred for new gear, it's fun and fat tires look cool. But seeing a whole new style of bike take the world by storm which has no backing by pro-riders just leaves me dubious. I actually think the category is cool for certain places and conditions, but bike companies are literally telling us the +size wheel is almost all good and not bad, and in the process introducing hubs standards that making buying just a new frame a pain in the ass. I just don't like it!
What's gonna happen to all these poor noobs who get their start on a plus bike? They're gonna have to sell'em when the get better and wanna ride sorta fast.
@JesseE I thought riding was about having the most fun. Racing is about being fast, and that's why pro racers don't run plus sized tires.
Also the 2016 race season literally just started and plus tires haven't really been a big thing until this year, lets save the "racers don't use them" comments until it's 2017 and we actually know if they run them or not.
So if you're a fast rider or you race and you don't want a plus tyre then that's totally fine. If it's not for you it's not for you. But letting pro racer requirements dictate the equipment available to Joe Average Trail Rider is, to me, completely bonkers. And I do think that Plus size tyres provide a lot of useful performance to a lot of riders.
@JesseE I totally understand what you're saying, I just think you're overestimating how much plus tires slow you down. By most accounts they don't make a huge difference except in grip.
Also for applications like hardcore hardtails plus tires can actually speed the rider up by adding a little bit of suspension.
@makripper a lot of the grip comes from the more of the smooth rubber coming in contact with the trail, especially on surfaces like slick rock and hardpack. Knobs definitely do help more in mud and loose conditions, but less knobs does not necessarily mean significantly less grip
@JesseE most of these pros aren't running 29ers but you are, does that mean you should switch to 27.5? Just saying
With the exception of Gwin and the very top pros (read: the ones that make their sponsors the most money), most pros don't really get to choose what parts they ride. Their options are limited to whatever their sponsors make and what their sponsors want them to run. It's not like pro racers are rolling in the dough, many pros don't even get free parts, just discounts.
Sersiouly, though, you don't think any of those pros who are in the thick of the bike industry haven't taken our a few + bikes to see what it's all about? If I have, they have.
@samsq A joke video, I know.
Also, remember that the pinkbike crowd represents a minority of MTB riders. There are loads and loads of people who just want a bike that's grippy, has buckets of traction and goes over roots easier, and they're not trying to bottom out their suspension in the berms. There's nothing wrong with providing a sensible, useful bike for those people. Think about road riding, there are loads of people who'd like to emulate a pro riders position on the bike - but for a lot of them if they rode 50 miles like it they'd need weeks of physio afterwards to get back to normal. So those people have sportive bikes instead which is just better for the level at which they ride. And the fact that sportive bikes exist doesn't make the racers riled up or angry, because race bikes still exist too. It just gives the normal rider more choice.
So many unknowns. It's going to be at least a year before anyone can say catagorically they're not right for racing Enduro etc. Fast locals around here have already gone quicker on 130mm 650b+ than 160mm 650b.
So this bike here is the version for schmoes www.scott-sports.com/us/en/products/241348008/SCOTT-Genius-LT-700-Tuned-Plus-Bike
And this one here is the version for pros: www.scott-sports.com/us/en/products/241330009/SCOTT-Genius-700-Premium-Bike
Scott bikes:
"27.5“Plus offers an entirely new riding experience and will extend the scope of traction and control to the majority of mountain bikes without making any significant compromises."
It's all just a really different take from how I grew up with this stuff. In my mind it was always "if it's good enough for them it's more than good enough for me" but now there's a whole new genre of bikes that is built around the idea that people will think to themselves "I'm not gonna go that fast or anything, this cushy rubber is gonna be a blast, let the pros have their un-fun bikes"
Totally new mindset.
If tires were $10 each, wheels $100 a pair, and frames $300, no one would complain about plus sized tires or 27.5 because switching to the new standard would not be a big deal. But when you multiply each of those numbers by ten and have $100 tires, $1000 wheelsets, and $3000 frames, then people become more resistant to change.
Another example of this is boost hubs. If new hubs were cheap, nobody would care about the new standard. They would just buy a new hub with their new boost frame.
So it's not a case of what the pros ride being good enough or not, it's a case of whether it right for you or not. So to be honest, if there are a bunch of people out there thinking "screw what the pro's ride, I'm going to pick the equipment that will be the most fun for my level and style of riding" then good for them and more fool the people stuck in a narrow 'race optimised only' mindset who don't even freakin' race!
Are there no pro freeriders? Do the bikes used in the rampage not inspires sales?
I guess fat bikes were born out of a no-pro environment, but they were a means to an end. You just can't ride snow nearly as well on traditional bikes. Fatty pros will end up pushing the limits of what those bikes can do, though, and with that will come new tech to meet their demands. Just not sure what's driving the development of this average mans wheel/tire size and what will optimize it.
There is a reason that almost all DH tires that the pros use are around 2.3-2.4. But to be able to get the most out of it you are going to have to lean your bike over properly
A bigger tire will just float above and and not dig in to the ground, good for beginners and average Joe but not for going really fast.
Also to get a 2.8-3.0 tire to that low weight you sacrifice performance (aggressive sideknobs) and puncture resistance. When a flat means you lost the race you want to have tires that wont get slashes and gashes that easily.
Carrying stuff in your pockets has several problems. It can be uncomfortable, it can slow you down if it comes out of balance and is hanging to one side during a run, and you can lose stuff if your pockets don't have zippers. For me the prospect of crashing and getting impaled by a mini-tool is even worse.
www.manitoumtb.com/products/forks/magnum
Then again, i don't usually feel like i need traction - i like bouncing around on my stiff suspension / aired up tires.
Lol at downvotes. "this 'atrokz' fella made fun of my 7k slowpoke bike. how DARE he!"
They open your nostrils from the inside allowing increased airflow, thus better breathing.
They really do work, no bs. They do get pretty uncomfortable after a couple hours though.
Expect to see everyone using them within a year or two.
Also, this enduro brought to you by #naturevalley
the German community barely seems to bring out any pro level dh/enduro riders
Wer lesen kann, ist klar im Vorteil
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNWxNh7ur3Q
Pretty awesome btw.