Should I go full DH bike or Enduro?

PB Forum :: Downhill
Should I go full DH bike or Enduro?
Author Message
flag waddenbrooke
O+
Posted: Jan 27, 2020 at 13:41 Quote
I ride dh parks every season about 18-22 times (Diable/Creek, Highland, Thunder, Killington) and its always on my enduro bike. We ride the blue, black, double black flow and tech trails all the time and I never once find myself wishing I had more travel. I ride a Nomad 4 which is a great bike IMO, but lots of modern enduro bikes would easily do just as well. Then that same bike goes with me to my local trails and I change a couple of the suspension settings and it's awesome.

I think you should look into an enduro bike with a good setup...possibly used as you can get great deals that way.
flag Freeride014
Posted: Jan 27, 2020 at 23:05 Quote
If your main priority is going to the park then get a dh. Like others have said a good enduro bike set up right will (probably) do just as good as a dh bike, but a dh rig is just so much more fun to ride, so much playability and they ride a lot smoother. And even if you're not planning on going to ride park that much, if there's some nice freeride trails near you, you can always hike up or shuttle.
flag R-M-R
Posted: Jan 27, 2020 at 23:21 Quote
Freeride014 wrote:
And even if you're not planning on going to ride park that much, if there's some nice freeride trails near you, you can always hike up or shuttle.

This is true, but it's not always easy to find enough people to make shuttling efficient and hiking up with a downhill bike is hours of struggle for a few minutes of riding.

If you have a large, reliable shuttle crew or a busy shuttle route, then yes, this can work. If not, it's probably going to be disappointing.
flag msalvatore
Posted: Jan 28, 2020 at 5:39 Quote
i'm in the same boat as you on deciding on a dedicated DH bike or enduro. Currently I am leaning Pivot Firebird as my long travel enduro and I can install a double crown fork on it when I go DH if I feel the stock fork isn't up to it.
flag englertracing
O+
Posted: Jan 29, 2020 at 14:17 Quote
msalvatore wrote:
i'm in the same boat as you on deciding on a dedicated DH bike or enduro. Currently I am leaning Pivot Firebird as my long travel enduro and I can install a double crown fork on it when I go DH if I feel the stock fork isn't up to it.

Are we talking firebird 29 or 27.5
flag msalvatore
Posted: Jan 30, 2020 at 10:30 Quote
I am leaning 29er as I can use 27.5+ if I want. and I believe the 29 takes a wider tire
flag englertracing
O+
Posted: Jan 30, 2020 at 11:49 Quote
msalvatore wrote:
I am leaning 29er as I can use 27.5+ if I want. and I believe the 29 takes a wider tire
I just love the way the firebird 29 looks, much much sexier than the 27.5
flag Camstyn
O+
Posted: Jan 30, 2020 at 22:24 Quote
ThunderChunk wrote:
i have a scott gambler and a specialized enduro 170mm. The enduro can do everything my gambler can including riding double black tech and flow in whistler. I actually have more fun on it. The biggest difference would have to be comfort and safety. I have more room for error on the gambler and I don't really have to pick and choose my lines. I can plow through the rough stuff. I can also ride longer on my dh bike and not be sore after. Park destroys bikes which is the main reason I ride my gambler instead of the enduro in the park. It's designed to handle the abuse of riding 40 kms of dh in one day.

If you can only have one bike get a 160 to 180mm trail bike. You don't want a dh as your only bike.

This. I also have both and have come to the same conclusion. I had about 25 bike park days last year and would have been perfectly happy doing it all on my enduro bike, if I didn’t own both. The enduro bike tends to be just as much or more fun. If I could only keep one it wouldn’t be the DH bike.

Get a 180mm Capra, DH casing tires and a dual crown fork and you’ve got a light, burly DH bike that also pedals well. Main difference being a little higher seat tube.
flag The-Foiling-Optimist
Posted: Feb 1, 2020 at 0:05 Quote
Camstyn wrote:
ThunderChunk wrote:
i have a scott gambler and a specialized enduro 170mm. The enduro can do everything my gambler can including riding double black tech and flow in whistler. I actually have more fun on it. The biggest difference would have to be comfort and safety. I have more room for error on the gambler and I don't really have to pick and choose my lines. I can plow through the rough stuff. I can also ride longer on my dh bike and not be sore after. Park destroys bikes which is the main reason I ride my gambler instead of the enduro in the park. It's designed to handle the abuse of riding 40 kms of dh in one day.

If you can only have one bike get a 160 to 180mm trail bike. You don't want a dh as your only bike.

This. I also have both and have come to the same conclusion. I had about 25 bike park days last year and would have been perfectly happy doing it all on my enduro bike, if I didn’t own both. The enduro bike tends to be just as much or more fun. If I could only keep one it wouldn’t be the DH bike.

Get a 180mm Capra, DH casing tires and a dual crown fork and you’ve got a light, burly DH bike that also pedals well. Main difference being a little higher seat tube.

+1 from me on this analysis as a DH/Enduro and All Mountain rider. I have the DH bike for the safety margin!
flag stunna
Posted: Jun 25, 2021 at 6:53 Quote
What did you decide on for a bike?
flag Ryderss
Posted: Jun 26, 2021 at 16:10 Quote
The question is, will you ride dh or enduro more?
flag mior
Mod
Posted: Jun 26, 2021 at 16:23 Quote
get a bike with 180mm and put on an mrp bartlett fork. or get a dh bike and put on a rockshox reverb axs, a lockout shock, and a wide range drivetrain
flag Lando406
O+
Posted: Jun 30, 2021 at 15:46 Quote
Just bite the bullet and get both. When you have two bikes, you aren’t sidelined by the one that’s broken.
flag ThunderChunk
O+
Posted: Jun 30, 2021 at 17:10 Quote
Lando406 wrote:
Just bite the bullet and get both. When you have two bikes, you aren’t sidelined by the one that’s broken.

That's a ton of money that most people can't afford. I have 2 bikes, combined I spent 12k. both bikes were on sale. One was half price!
flag Lando406
O+
Posted: Jul 1, 2021 at 6:04 Quote
Yes, that’s true. So the obvious answer is buy a bike you can pedal and also rally at the bike park, unless you only shuttle/ride lifts. But if you do a good amount of both trail riding and DH, you’re going to break your bike, and when that happens you won’t be able to ride. Depending on your priorities, I’d say look for a quality bike in the discipline you ride most, and look for a good used deal in the other. I missed the final month of prime time riding last fall because I blew up my shock at the bike park—not happening this year with two bikes in the stable .

 


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