Which Enduro Bike Would you get? (Specialized, Santa Cruz, Pivot)

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Which Enduro Bike Would you get? (Specialized, Santa Cruz, Pivot)
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flag dawgdude
Posted: Sep 6, 2022 at 19:57 Quote
I'm a sucker for deals and one of my LBS (somewhat local but a bit of a drive) is selling their rigs with these deals until September 12th.

Save $1,500.00 on bikes over $8,000.00 MSRP
Save $1,000.00 on bikes over $6,000.00 MSRP

I'm entertaining the thought of finally getting a modern trail bike that's decent for climbing but great at descending.

Here's a list of the bikes:
https://www.goldenbikeshop.com/bikes/

I recently rode the Specialize Stumpjumper EVO Elite Alloy (This one is not on sale at above bike shop) but seemed really nice. I only road it around the shop and not trail riding. I was super impressed with the nice fork and shock but it was slightly heavy at over 33lbs. Seemed like a great Bang for the Buck and I really liked the idea of being able to adjust the head tube angle and other things like flip chip at the chainstay/seatstay.

The Enduro bikes I'm considering on the link above are currently these two but I haven't researched them much yet.

Santa Cruz : Megatower : CS Air 23 Nickel MD $6,800
Pivot Mach 6 22 Ride SLX Coil Mint MD MD 1 $6,299
Pivot Switchblade : 29 Ride SLX 22 Bass Boat Blue MD MD 1 $6,399
Pivot Switchblade : 29 Ride SLX 22 Electric Lime MD MD 1 $6,399

I did demo a Pivot Mach 6 27.5 back in 2019 from this Bike shop and took it out on the Trails. I was impressed with the build quality and how it road. I haven't checked to see if all these Pivots are considering Enduro but appreciate any experience or info.

I was reading some people complaining about the Santa Cruz Megatower making some strange noises from the suspension or the storage compartment or something? The Santa Cruz look really nice but I want a bike that's going to be pretty good and climbing but bombs downhill. I currently have a dedicated DH rig for resort riding but it would be good to have my a nice Enduro for some resort riding.

I mainly will be hitting local front range trails in Colorado but would be looking to hit some of the harder/rough stuff with a nice Enduro.

Apologies on lack of research but getting a new bike can be overwhelming with all the options and manufactures. I'm just getting tired of my old_school 26'ers that are not as fun as new bikes and tend to cause me a fair amount of pain after riding a while. That's the biggest difference is the ergonomics and comfort level on the newer bikes are much better allowing me to ride longer with much less pain (mainly in my neck). I'm also open to other suggestions but trying to narrow my scope a little. The only downside to some of these Enduro rigs is the weights. The
Santa Cruz : Megatower and Specialize Stumpjumper EVO Elite Alloy weigh in over 33lbs.

Also, I'm looking at Medium size since I'm just over 5' 8".
flag Chrismas80
Posted: Sep 6, 2022 at 23:24 Quote
The Pivot Switchblade is the only one of those bikes I’ve ridden and 1) it’s definitely not an enduro bike but 2) it’s probably the best bike I’ve ever been on. It feels so playful, it climbs better than anything else I’ve ever ridden, and it can rip on the down even if it’s not as slack and has a bit less travel.
flag dawgdude
Posted: Sep 7, 2022 at 7:27 Quote
Chrismas80 wrote:
The Pivot Switchblade is the only one of those bikes I’ve ridden and 1) it’s definitely not an enduro bike but 2) it’s probably the best bike I’ve ever been on. It feels so playful, it climbs better than anything else I’ve ever ridden, and it can rip on the down even if it’s not as slack and has a bit less travel.

Thanks for the info. I'm hoping I can get over to the shop to scope some of these nice rigs out. I was very impressed with the 2019 Pivot Mach 6 I demo'd. They seem to make high quality rigs and are a little pricey.
flag fourfourone
Posted: Sep 8, 2022 at 10:01 Quote
Try a hightower. Its like a mini megatower.
flag mustclime
Posted: Sep 9, 2022 at 6:10 Quote
fourfourone wrote:
Try a hightower. Its like a mini megatower.

I bet your mom told you size doesn’t matter…..sorry, it does. Hightower is a good trail bike. The new Megatower is a lot slacker and closer to where modern enduro bikes are.
The switch blade is also not an enduro bike. Pivot makes a good enduro bike and the switch blade is not it. As for evo…. Also not an enduro bike. Specialized makes an enduro bike…. It’s called the enduro.

I am guessing the megatower is an old one, a bit dated imo….. so I would say that nothing on your list is a good enduro bike.
flag fourfourone
Posted: Sep 9, 2022 at 7:49 Quote
mustclime wrote:
fourfourone wrote:
Try a hightower. Its like a mini megatower.

I bet your mom told you size doesn’t matter…..sorry, it does. Hightower is a good trail bike. The new Megatower is a lot slacker and closer to where modern enduro bikes are.
The switch blade is also not an enduro bike. Pivot makes a good enduro bike and the switch blade is not it. As for evo…. Also not an enduro bike. Specialized makes an enduro bike…. It’s called the enduro.

I am guessing the megatower is an old one, a bit dated imo….. so I would say that nothing on your list is a good enduro bike.


After looking at your recent posts, it seems you talk shit about every bike and clearly have no idea what you are talking about. I would love to know what you ride haha. You 100% seem to be one of those people who rides green XC trails on a 170/170 bike and loves to tell the world how their bike sucks. Typical forum tool bag.

You clearly have never ridden any of those bikes above.

My hightower with a 160mm fork has hit bigger features than you will ever hit. Bike does just fine.
flag tfdhusker
O+
Posted: Sep 9, 2022 at 10:49 Quote
I’ve never owned one but that SC warranty is hard to beat if you are a guy who rides a bunch.
flag mustclime
Posted: Sep 11, 2022 at 12:59 Quote
fourfourone wrote:
mustclime wrote:
fourfourone wrote:
Try a hightower. Its like a mini megatower.

I bet your mom told you size doesn’t matter…..sorry, it does. Hightower is a good trail bike. The new Megatower is a lot slacker and closer to where modern enduro bikes are.
The switch blade is also not an enduro bike. Pivot makes a good enduro bike and the switch blade is not it. As for evo…. Also not an enduro bike. Specialized makes an enduro bike…. It’s called the enduro.

I am guessing the megatower is an old one, a bit dated imo….. so I would say that nothing on your list is a good enduro bike.


After looking at your recent posts, it seems you talk shit about every bike and clearly have no idea what you are talking about. I would love to know what you ride haha. You 100% seem to be one of those people who rides green XC trails on a 170/170 bike and loves to tell the world how their bike sucks. Typical forum tool bag.

You clearly have never ridden any of those bikes above.

My hightower with a 160mm fork has hit bigger features than you will ever hit. Bike does just fine.
Had a first gen Hightower carbon, broke the rear triangle twice. I ride in north nj/ south ny, there are no green trails. Seems the ice age dumped all the rocks from Canada here. When we do trail maintenance, the hardest part is finding dirt for fill around the rocks….. then the dirt settles and it’s nothing but rocks again.
As for what I ride, I am on a Transition Sentinel alloy v1 with a cascade link and a Zeb 160mm. The 63.8 degree head angle really helps prevent OTB pounding through rocks and the 445mm reach on the medium helps keep you centered.
The main thing I was bringing up is enduro bikes have gotten bigger over the past couple years. When I bought my Sentinel in 2020, it was considered an almost enduro bike with 140mm travel in the rear. Now anything under 160mm travel in the rear is a trail bike.
As for my opinions, I have been mountain biking since 1989. Riding and buying bikes as much as I have done, I have made just about every mistake you can make and I try to help people not repeat my errors. Here is another opinion, there are some bikes where you are paying more for the brand name….. like The S company and Santa Cruz. I rented a Pivot switch blade from Pivot in Phoenix az to ride South mountain …..good bike, I would get a Ibis Ripmo alloy instead even though the head angle is not slack enough….imo….
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