2020 Enduro Expert

I don’t like the dropper post lever and the brakes and I like the enternal storage and the mailto tool in head tube

I've been ridIng this thing for a year now and I'm still obsessed with it. I'm 6' and about 200lbs and ride an S4. It is pretty good on climbs (though sometimes my hands get tingly after a few thousand feet). But descending is epic and I now routinely hit gaps that used to feel out of my league. It's super stable but still really maneuverable. I love this thing so much!

So I've owned a lot of bikes and been loyal to Spec for a long time. No not sponsored or a pro, just an average joe who likes to ride bikes and always gravitate back to the big S since they were my first mountain bikes a 94 Street Stomper to the 96 Stumpy. I've owned almost every Enduro since the old 4"" dual crown 98 FSR extreme, to the 03 Enduro Pro, 03 big hit, 13 Demo 8, 13 Enduro Sworks, 14 Enduro29, 16 Enduro 275, 17 Enduro275 170, 19 Stumpy EVO, 19 Kenevo XL, 17 Nomad N4 L, 20 SB150 L...now the 20 Enduro Expert in S4. I'm 6-1, so the S4 fits perfect. If you want a bike that gives you the confidence to ride aggressively this is it. If your goal is to slay the DH, still be able to pedal a 20-mi trail ride, take the chunk with gap jumps are a bit janky this is your bike. The only downside to the bike is the bottom bracket is a bit low, so on tech uphill climbing pedal strike can be frequent, so you've got to choose your line. Similar to the EVO in that regard, but a way better descender. Not as good a climber as a N4 or a SB150, but about 30% better going down.

The bike crushes the last model of Enduro by miles. So nice to ride, absolutely feels 10 x better. More stable and so much faster. I was on a Medium 2017 Enduro previously, and went with an S3 as I probably should have been on Large of the previous model, feels fantastic. Only downside, had to buy a new shock pump and even that one struggles to fit between the frame/linkage and shock.

So...it's as advertised on the downs. It's really dang fast. It's so raked out the front actually feels a little different than you'd expect if you're coming off a previous gen Enduro or a SJ. But after a few descents it all makes sense. It's a nice combo of precision and brute force. It's light compared to my Commencal Meta 29 for sure, but not terribly light. And I actually like that. Too light on a beast like this doesn't always inspire confidence in the air, at least for me. But really, where it continues to surprise me is on the climbs. It actually climbs about like my SJ Pro 29. Man, geometry is such a crazy thing. They kinda nailed it. One small issue I would say is the frame design makes it tough to use a conventional shock pump on the rear shock. But once you figure that out - either get a lower profile pump or try a few different angles until you can connect the pump - then all is good. Oh, and the tires are great. No need to switch to the obligatory DHF/DHR combo here. Just enjoy the butcher rubber. Last thing...these things are BIG. An S3 feels like a large Stumpjumper, or maybe a bit bigger, but just lower.

So. When new bikes come out, they tend to be surrounded by lots of ""marketing speak"" about the new features of the bike. With this one, it's mostly about the rear wheel travel path. Well.....the hype is real. It's that dang good. I had zero intentions of buying a new bike, but once I road the new Enduro, I couldn't just pretend that life was normal when I hopped back on my current bike. Now there's an Enduro Expert in my garage and I couldn't be more stoked :)