Rich: Welcome back, everybody.
Yes, we're back in the pain cave again.
Today we're going to be looking at my top five advances in enduro bikes.
[music] Now, enduro bikes have come a long way in
a very short amount of time.
These are what I think are the top five advances in enduro bikes and I'd love to hear what
you think.
Let's start with coil shocks.
Now, there was a time when coil shocks were saved for the bigger brother, the downhill
bike, but thanks to advances in tech, they have trickled their way down onto enduro bikes
without really any loss in performance.
Over time, coil shocks have managed to slim down on weight.
You can now find them with lockout levers.
Enduro bikes are being put through gnarly and gnarlier terrain so the stresses that
that puts on a suspension unit has become greater.
One advantage a coil shock has over an air shock is that over time, heat will not affect
it.
Now what I mean by that is when you are hitting these big long descents an air can or the
air inside that can is going to heat up and affect the performance of that shock.
Because a coil shock runs on oil and obviously a spring, this doesn't happen to it.
The feeling of the shock is the same at the beginning of the run as it is at the end of
the run.
Surely got to be a winner, right?
Well, there's more.
The tunability of an air shock is always going to be a little bit more.
It has the ability to adjust what it does a little bit easier than a coil does without
delving in too deep anyway.
Now you can even get progressive springs for shocks.
Whereby in an air can, you would add some tokens to get that ramp up through the travel,
now you can get the same thing but in a coil.
Another nice little bonus of a coil shock on an enduro bike it looks badass, let's face
it.
It looks pretty cool on that.
Now I know that's maybe not an advancement, but looks count for a little something.
Now, don't just take my word for it, Miranda Miller, Adrian Daly, and a whole house of
other top pros were all seen using coil shocks at the EWS Trophy of Nations at the end of
last year.
There's surely got to be something to be said about the performance benefits of it over
possibly the negatives like the weight gain.
Now, this is always a hot topic, so it'd be cool to hear what you guys think.
Drop us a comment below and let's see what you've got on this one.
Now, next up and what I'd argue to be possibly the biggest advancement not just in enduro
bikes, but mountain biking as a whole, seen in everything from cross country race bikes
to full-on enduro bikes is the trusty dropper.
We started off with some, let's face it, pretty shonky designs with these handheld quick-release
levers under the saddle which drop the post.
Now they've morphed into these incredibly clever pieces of engineering, some of which
are even electronically controlled.
I genuinely think it's not changed just how we ride but how bikes are designed as well.
Seat tubes have become steeper and shorter, top tubes have become lower giving us more
room to maneuver.
It gives us a better position when riding uphill and more comfort.
Because seat posts now have such large drops on them, it's allowed for us to reinvent frames
as we know it.
A dropper can open up a bike's possibilities allowing a person to have just one bike that
really does it all.
Fun fact for you then, in the 2012 Olympic men's cross country race the three favorites
Schurter, Absalon, and Kulhavý were all on different wheel sizes.
That's only eight years ago which is mental when you think about it.
Now, what am I talking about here?
Yes, that's it.
29ers.
Eight years on then and it looks like 26 is pretty much dead for anything other than dirt
jumbo.
I hate to say it.
27.5 the new party wheel and 29er if you're a racer probably the only wheel size to go
for I'd say.
First up, they are undeniably quicker.
Once up to speed, the 29er just rolls faster, eats up all those small bumps and dents in
the ground, and just carries its momentum a lot better.
If you're a taller rider out there, well then the 29er is probably also a godsend allowing
you to find a bike that much better fits you.
What with enduro bikes, like I said, being much more capable, if you can find a bike
that's better suited to you or better suited to your riding style, it's got to be a winner.
Nowadays, much stiffer carbon rims or aluminum rims which are a lot lighter, even though
they're bigger, have really opened up what a 29er can do.
Gone are the days where you'd smash it into a corner and the thing would flex like a blooming
pretzel.
Now it holds its line, holds its shape as well, allowing you to generate speed and carry
that pace through turns and straight sections.
It's a no brainer.
I think 29er is in the top five for sure.
On-bike storage.
Yes, that's right, storage.
Bikes have become so capable.
I know I have been harping on about that but we spend more and more time on our bikes and
because of this, storage and being able to carry the bits we need is become more important.
If you can stash something on your bike, in your bike, or cleverly with it, then I think
that is top five worthy.
Whether its something from the humble gear strap like this to actually a multi-tool or
something really clever like the EDC tool that sits in your steerer tube or Topeak ninja
bottle cage which has a multi-tool attached to the back of it, having the basics on you
or in attached to your bike can get you out of a world of trouble.
So much so actually that if you want to see how much you can do with a multi-tool, Henry,
in another video makes a strip and rebuild his entire Nukeproof Reactor just with a multi-tool.
Now, with advancements in drivetrain technology being stepped up a gear, you can go from anything
from a very basic GX group set up to a fully-fledged gold Eagle Drivetrain looking bling and pimp
as anything on the back of your rig.
Shimano obviously with a 12-speed drivetrain as well and yes you can pretty much do anything
with those.
With this is normally enough gearing to get you up the steepest of mountains and back
down the gnarliest of descents with ease.
The absence of that front neck on that enduro bike, well, less things to break, less weight,
less things to go wrong in general.
That's a wrap then.
Thank you, everyone, for watching.
I hope you've liked my top five advances in enduro bikes.
Now, I'm sure you've got your own opinions and I would love to hear them.
Let me know what you think your top five advances are and drop us a comment below.
As always don't forget to give us a thumbs up and hit subscribe and look forward to seeing
you again.
Thanks, everyone, and happy riding.
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