Quantcast

So you downhill/freeride on a Specialized Enduro?

muddy beast

Turbo Monkey
Nov 26, 2005
1,815
0
I just purchased a Specialized enduro pro '06 direct from Specialized, with intentions of converting it to be a "mini-DH" rig. And I'm sort of basing my theories of previous ones I've found on here. So to all of you who ride an enduro (s-works, pro, expert, comp, w/e), and pimped it out with deemaxes, and coil shock, whatever, post them here!

I want to see what you AM bike conversion looks like! Did you change the head angle by getting a taller fork? What about a different i2i and stroke rate shock? Have you run into any problems while trying to make your enduro DH worthy?

Lets see them guys!
(Feel free to post something you find I suppose, but obviously, state it isn't yours)

P.S. I'll post mine when I get it...but it wont be converted till summer, if I deside to go threw with it.
 

DHS

Friendly Neighborhood Pool Boy
Apr 23, 2002
5,094
0
Sand, CA
06? prepare to see your chainstays snap. this is the reason why they made the Enduro SX. to be the mini dh bike. not the original Enduro.
also anything more then say 5-6 fork, you may see the headtube rip off. i know for sure, a dual crown will rip it off. (6" super T) had it come into my shop.

all the ones converted on here are the Enduro SX.
 

muddy beast

Turbo Monkey
Nov 26, 2005
1,815
0
06? prepare to see your chainstays snap. this is the reason why they made the Enduro SX. to be the mini dh bike. not the original Enduro.
also anything more then say 5-6 fork, you may see the headtube rip off. i know for sure, a dual crown will rip it off. (6" super T) had it come into my shop.

all the ones converted on here are the Enduro SX.
Wrong.
I'm talking to monkeybindzz (sp?) right now about his enduro with a DHX 5 coil and 66 up front with MTX rims.

Sure, people have had issues with chain stays snapping...but I'm not to worried, seems like a 70/30 chance of it not snapping vs. snapping from other bikes I've seen. And obviously you wouldn't want anything to big...but we all know, that depending on the rider, mods can be made to frames beyond what they were meant to accommodate and many have succeeded.

EDIT: P.S. I bought the bike because it was within my budget, and even if the frame cracks somewhere, I can get an SX frame and it will still have been worth it.
 

Bikerpunk241

Monkey
Sep 28, 2001
765
0
I have an 07 Expert, all I've changed is the tires, added a chainguide, rebuilt the rear wheel, and swapped handlebars, and ride the crap out of it. It is one of the most solid bikes I have ridden. Have seen the chain stay problem, though not on mine as of yet. It is my freeride, trail, superD, lite DH bike. Have fun with yours.
 

bikenweed

Turbo Monkey
Oct 21, 2004
2,432
0
Los Osos
Here's a few photos of mine. Best bike I've ever owned- it truly can do it all. This set up has made it through the jumps at Hidden Valley, a couple 60 mile XC epics, Super D style races, DH races, and slalom races. Not to mention XC duty a half dozen times a week.

 

Santa Maria

Monkey
Aug 29, 2007
653
0
Austria
06? prepare to see your chainstays snap. this is the reason why they made the Enduro SX. to be the mini dh bike. not the original Enduro.
also anything more then say 5-6 fork, you may see the headtube rip off. i know for sure, a dual crown will rip it off. (6" super T) had it come into my shop.

all the ones converted on here are the Enduro SX.
the chainstay issues are the same with the SX, there are alot of broken ones too
 

NY_Star

Turbo Monkey
This is going to be a little trip back in time for all of you but here is my 1998 Specialized that i raced for DH this season. I won the Ny state Jr. Beg class with it to.

That was its last season thought. Now I'm going to have a real DH bike.
 
Sorry to tell you muddy beast, but DHS is right. Too big a fork and you run the risk of snapping the headtube and the specialized bikes (pre 2007) have a real risk of breaking chainstays. I've had a couple friends snap them. Anyway, it's all in theory. Doesn't mean it's going to happen, but I wouldn't want to have it in the back of my head when I was hitting that 15 foot drop.

You should be fine with a fox 36 or a lyric on it, but i wouldn't go much bigger. Make sure your front and rear suspension is matched up the same too. In other words, if your rear shock is set up soft make sure the front is the same. This puts less pressure on things like your headtube.

DHS - by the way man - I've been ridding the hell out of your old frame and fork. Added a cane creek double barrel with ti spring and blue industry nine wheels. Pimp.
 

TtotheJ

Monkey
Jan 23, 2005
215
0
B'ham, WA
Well if you bought the bike through Specialized then you should have the lifetime warranty. So if you break the chainstay then you can just have them replace it with the upgraded one on the SX. I would think they would do this for free since its a known issue, not sure on that one though. As for the headtube ripping off I doubt you would have to worry too much about it as its the same design as the SX and Demo's. I'm not saying it can't happen but I would think it would take either a manufacturing defect or a really bad crash to cause it to happen.
 

DHS

Friendly Neighborhood Pool Boy
Apr 23, 2002
5,094
0
Sand, CA
Here's a few photos of mine. Best bike I've ever owned- it truly can do it all. This set up has made it through the jumps at Hidden Valley, a couple 60 mile XC epics, Super D style races, DH races, and slalom races. Not to mention XC duty a half dozen times a week.
you must be one hell of a smooth rider on those wheels.
 

DHS

Friendly Neighborhood Pool Boy
Apr 23, 2002
5,094
0
Sand, CA
DHS - by the way man - I've been ridding the hell out of your old frame and fork. Added a cane creek double barrel with ti spring and blue industry nine wheels. Pimp.
yea. thats exactly what i was going to do with it. really wanted to try the DB. tell us how it goes, compared to the stock shock
 

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
Change the crankset immediately! The Stylo is a XC crankset, and I saw one totally smoked from runs at Northstar (albeit the owner is a 280lb dude).
 

WBC

Monkey
Aug 8, 2003
578
1
PNW
Specialized is lifetime on the front ends and one year on the rear ends still, right? That was the case in '04 and '05 I know when I was still at a Spec shop.

Not necessarily related to your situation, but I'm curious.
 

Uruk-hai

Monkey
Oct 13, 2004
144
0
The 'Quah
I have an '05 Expert. I have since put on a DHX Coil, Fox Vanilla 36R, Hayes discs, single chainring with chainguide, and Dee-Maxs. I have raced it dh-sport and taken it several times to lift assisted areas. It has been a great gravity-oriented trailbike for me. The only thing I wish for sometimes is a slacker head angle when the going gets steep. I'm keeping an eye on my chainstays too but will replace them if (when) they snap.
 

S.K.C.

Turbo Monkey
Feb 28, 2005
4,096
25
Pa. / North Jersey
...as I recall one of the SEI guys had his SX Trail set up as a DH machine - complete with a 7" Fox 40 up front. It was the one with the worn, sky-blue finish... man that was a rad finish.

:drool:

I think it was Jeremy R...?
 
Love that MAX frame, Tomac_racer. Wish I still had mine.

I've been riding an 05 SX Trail - that's the same frame as the regular 05-07 Enduros (150mm travel out of a 2.5" stroke shock). I weigh 230+ in gear, and I've used it regularly for lift serviced DH at Snowshoe and it's also seen time at Whistler and the Shore. I did break the chainstay at crankworx 06, but got a replacement (07 gusseted version) about 30 seconds after I made my way over to the Spec. trailer, and havent had any problems since. The new symmetrical chainstays from the 08 SXT are also retro-fittable.

Current setup includes Hadleys/729s, CCDB, Codes, and a 66RC2X which actually steepened things up compared to the OE 05 66R. It's a versatile, super fun bike and I can't think of anything else I'd rather have. Here's an older pic that highrevs snapped in the studio one night:

 

bent^biker

Turbo Monkey
Feb 22, 2006
1,958
0
pdx
Specialized is lifetime on the front ends and one year on the rear ends still, right? That was the case in '04 and '05 I know when I was still at a Spec shop.

Not necessarily related to your situation, but I'm curious.
correct but all warranties are immediately void when you put a fork longer then the stock travel on (150mm for the enduro I believe?).

sounds sick scott, i wanna see pics when it gets here, should be rad.
 

muddy beast

Turbo Monkey
Nov 26, 2005
1,815
0
Yeah no worries guys, I don't plan on changing the fork! I think I can handle a loss of an inch up front over my bighit. I figure less travel will give me an excuse to learn to get a little smoother each time I ride it. If I were to change the fork, it wouldn't be to anything with a set 7" travel, but something I can change up back to the normal size and stuff.

Things I do plan to change by summer are the wheels, cranks, shock, stem, and bars. This obviously depends on funds, but as the bike sits right now, I'll ride it till I start to have problems (something breaks) no sense replacing it if it isn't broken.

I'm excited to give the bike a go, worst comes to worst, I'll lighten it up and make it my XC/AM bike and buy a different DH bike down the road. I think she deserves a fair chance at whistler first.

Thanks Stephen, I'll shoot some when she comes.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
correct but all warranties are immediately void when you put a fork longer then the stock travel on (150mm for the enduro I believe?).

sounds sick scott, i wanna see pics when it gets here, should be rad.
Correct, if you put a 66 on the enduro frame, your warranty is void, if you want a bike that big, you need to step it up to the SX. The head tubes are not the same between the Enduro and the SXT. close, but the SXT is stronger.


With that said, If your running An enduro frame, and you want to beef it up, stick with a 6 inch fox 36, great combo on that bike, keeps a realyl good Geo setup, and you dont have to worry about breaking the headtube. As far as teh chainstays, at 130 I wouldnt worry about it, but check them when you do your annual/semiannual overhauls as you would any FS bike
 

Monkeybidnezz

Turbo Monkey
Dec 16, 2003
1,212
0
Pac NW
You can put up to a 160MM fork on the Enduros w/o voiding your warranty. I cut the text below straight from the manual.

WARNING: The S-Works Enduro, Enduro FSR and Enduro SX frames are compatible ONLY with single crown and double triple clamp forks that have travel of 6.3” (160mm) or less.

The Enduro SX Trail frame is compatible ONLY with single crown and double triple clamp forks that have travel of 6.9” (175mm) or less.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
Exactly, like I said, unless your getting an OE special on teh 66 its too tall. the o7's and o8's are normally a 180mm fork, and a tall one at that. Which was why I suggested to stay with the 36.
 

Roo

Chimp
Apr 28, 2008
48
0
Vanconver, WA
Hey Monkeybidz, what size dhx coil did you put on your Enduro? I got an 07 Sworks that I want to swap the dhx 5.0 air for a coil.
 

Bicyclist

Turbo Monkey
Apr 4, 2004
10,152
2
SB
Nope (well sort of, but not the static geo). It will have more travel, so the bike will be lower/slacker at the end of the travel.
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,883
448
I have an expert with a 36 on it and love it. I do all sorts of rides on it, and usually end up doing most drops and jumps that I would on my dh rig. It handles everything really well. I tried the shock off of my demo and it was fun, but the air dhx is actually pretty good for most stuff.
 

rossp

Chimp
Jul 26, 2007
75
0
using a regular enduro for FR / DH with a longer fork? saw a pic of one broken just like that from just yesterday...oops. not mine thankfully....
 
Last edited:

Roo

Chimp
Apr 28, 2008
48
0
Vanconver, WA
is there a big difference between the regular enduro frame and the sworks frame? i ride kinda rough and was just wondering. i would imagine it would be better because sworks is the top of the specialized food chain so to speak. just thought I'd ask.
 

Guru Jun

Chimp
Dec 25, 2008
1
0
Here's my pimped up 06' Enduro S-works. Just bought the 40s and thought I'll put it on the bike and see how it looks.



Now I have NO intention of riding the bike with this setup after reading what's been discussed here.
 
Last edited:

Sonic Reducer

Monkey
Mar 19, 2006
500
0
seattle worshington
how light can an enduro be built as a trailbike with a 5" fork?
a buddy of mine had one(i think it was even an earlier version) and did this drop called hollywood at pawnee on it thats about 20' down and 15' out and pedaled it up a whole bunch of ****.
 
Last edited:

basikbiker

Monkey
Jun 15, 2006
619
0
Northern Cali
Here's my pimped up 06' Enduro S-works. Just bought the 40s and thought I'll put it on the bike and see how it looks.



Now I have intention of riding the bike with this setup after reading what's been discussed here.
try running your stem under the top crown, cause that bike wasent designed for that long of a axle to crown
 

skifox

Chimp
Mar 5, 2010
1
0
hello I have the same frame and the question is how did you get the fox dhx coil fit in because the bottom eyelet is smaller than the original one the 5Th element air??????is this shock a regular dhx? thanks
 

mountains4me

Chimp
Sep 18, 2009
21
0
I have converted my 2005 s-works enduro to an Sx Trail. I aquirred a shock off an sx trail from ebay. I fits a regular enduro using the slacker shock shuttle. I run a totem fork up front and a 24" rear wheel. I had to run the 24 in the rear to drop the head angle back down. The longer shock steepened the head angle. It is now probably at 65-66. I have had the bike since May 2006. I have been running this setup for 2.5 years. No problems. I did have to replace the chainstays 1.5 years ago. It has been a great mini dh rig. The frame is tough as nails. I am waiting for my transition tr450 to come in and i have made custom shock mounts for the enduro to run a 7.8-2.0 off the shelf size shock(fox rp2). It will give me 120mm in the rear. Bottom bracket will be 12.2".
It will now turn into a great aggressive trail/jump bike.
 

MM_Freak

Chimp
Oct 28, 2008
96
0
Western Mass.
oh man guess I'll toss my hat in the ring and post these up. I didnt have any money to buy an actual DH bike back in the day so I would ride this. Not sure on what year it was but i know it was pre 2001. And yes my headtube snapped like twig and I ended up loosing my left kidney.
 

Attachments

OuterCulture

Chimp
Nov 22, 2009
1
0
I've just discovered a snapped chainstay on my 06 Enduro. (second time in two years) And to add fuel to my misery, Specialized will only have replacement parts in the end of May 2010.

Yes, I'm riding rough downhill trails, but I'm not a big hitter. I keep pretty close to the ground (around 4ft. drops is my comfort zone)

If I had some money to spend, I would probably switch the whole frame, but I can't really afford it these days. so I'm stuck!

The idea of not having a bike to ride until May is a real blow :mad: