Enduro bikes are long travel mountain bikes built with slack, aggressive geometry, large brakes and burly tires, and they excel at descending technical terrain in a hurry while still being adequate for cross country riding and climbs. Read on for our expert rundown on what makes a mountain bike an enduro bike.
What is enduro racing?
Enduro mountain biking, also known as enduro racing, is a mountain biking discipline primarily focused on racing and competing. Enduro racing involves timed descents on what is usually very technical and gnarly terrain, and also climb segments that must be completed but are not timed.
It typically involves up to 6 timed stages and blends untimed XC trail riding and the endurance it requires with downhill riding, fast descents and challenging terrain for the timed segments.
This is an increasingly popular form of mountain bike racing and competition, and as a result the popularity of and interest in enduro bikes has soared.
Differences between trail bikes and enduro bikes
To better explain what an enduro mountain bike is, we’ll compare them to trail bikes. What is a trail bike you ask? It can mean different things to different people, but generally trail bikes fall somewhere between a cross country bike and an enduro bike, in terms of geometry, suspension, and components. Trail bikes are built for less aggressive riding than enduro bikes but are usually quite capable themselves – up to a certain point.
Geometry
Head tube angle
The head tube angle on enduro bikes is normally slacker when compared to a trail bike.
Where a typical trail bike will have a head tube angle of 65 to 67 degrees, most enduro bikes tend to be close to 64 degrees.
This has the effect of keeping the front wheel feeling more out in front of you (as opposed to feeling more on top of the front wheel with a steeper head tube angle) and helps to navigate more technical terrain – especially on the steep downhills and drops!
Wheelbase
Wheelbase, which is the distance between the center of each wheel, is typically longer on enduro bikes when compared to trail bikes. The added length to the wheelbase of enduro bikes gives them more stability at speed compared to a trail bike.
One drawback to the increased wheelbase of an enduro bike is that longer wheelbase bikes sacrifice some handling ability in exchange for the extra stability they provide at speed.
A shorter-wheelbase trail bike will have a snappier, nimbler feel on tight turns compared to an enduro bike with a longer wheelbase.
Seat tube angle
The seat tube angle of enduro bikes will usually be slacker than on a trail bike. Trail bikes usually have steeper seat tube angles to help with keeping weight over the front wheel for climbs, whereas the slacker seat tube angles of enduro bikes do the opposite, pushing the riders’ weight back.
Generally having a slacker seat tube angle is preferable on descents, and steeper seat tube angles make climbing easier.
Bottom bracket height
Bottom bracket height, which is the distance your bike’s bottom bracket sits above the ground, is normally higher on enduro bikes than on trail bikes. The reason for this is simple: enduro bikes have longer travel suspension, which has the effect of raising the bottom bracket height.
Keep in mind though that the bottom bracket height is not static and will change as you ride and engage the bike’s suspension.
Suspension
An enduro bike typically will have longer travel suspension in the front and rear when compared to a trail bike. This is one of the most obvious differences between enduro bikes and trail bikes.
Front fork
Up front, a typical enduro bike will usually have a fork in the range of 140mm to 170mm of travel. In comparison, a trail bike fork will typically have between 120mm to 140mm of travel.
Rear shock
An enduro bike will usually have a similar amount (usually slightly less) of travel to its rear shock as the front fork, and the same goes for a typical trail bike. This means that an enduro bike will have more suspension in the rear compared to a typical trail bike.
Longer travel suspension – what effect does it have?
The two words that come to mind when looking at the suspension on an enduro bike and comparing it to a trail bike are capable and forgiving.
The added travel in both the front and rear makes the enduro bike more capable in that it will more smoothly be able to handle technical and gnarly terrain you ride compared to the trail bike, while keeping the tires in contact with the trail longer and more often. This allows you to pick more aggressive lines and ride them more quickly on fast descents, knowing the suspension will soak up a lot of the chop you encounter.
And if you make a mistake, like casing a jump or picking a bad line? The forgiving nature of long-travel enduro bikes helps to save you in a lot of situations and can do a great job of covering up mistakes you make as the rider. This is great for your peace of mind if you are really wanting to push the limits on your bike, whether that be on large jumps, drops, or just highly technical and fast descents.
Brakes
The brakes on enduro bikes will usually have larger calipers and rotors compared to trail bikes. This is because enduro bikes are designed with high speeds in mind, and they need larger brakes for the added stopping power they provide.
This isn’t to say that trail bikes do not have quality brakes, because many of them do. However, the brakes usually outfitted on enduro bikes will perform better at keeping the bike under control on fast descents and bringing the bike to a stop quickly if need be. This can be a nice confidence booster for those who like to ride fast and aggressively.
Wheel size
Both enduro bikes and trail bikes can come with a variety of wheel sizes, with the most common being 27.5 inches and 29 inches. The wheel size isn’t what differentiates an enduro bike from a trail bike.
However, more and more riders, including those who ride enduro, are choosing the larger 29-inch wheels for the better roll speed and ability to dampen the impact of obstacles on the trails and almost act as another layer of suspension.
Tires
The tires on enduro bikes will normally be wider than those typically found on trail bikes. They will also usually have more aggressive tread on the tires. This is because of the speed and technical nature of the riding enduro bikes are designed for, making the added traction provided by burlier tires a necessity.
Trails to ride an enduro bike on
Enduro mountain bikes are best suited to downhill, technical trails with rough terrain. While enduro bikes are designed for enduro racing which includes untimed portions of XC and climbs, they are definitely designed more for the technical and fast descents commonly ridden for the timed segments of enduro races.
Enduro bikes do not excel at climbs, and the best word to describe their climbing ability is adequate. These bikes will get you to the top of the hill, but don’t expect to win a race against an XC or trail bike on the climbs.
Enduro bikes are a lot of fun to ride at lift access bike parks, but they can be great for your local trail system too.
If you ride a mix of cross country and downhill, an enduro bike is definitely an option worth considering, especially if you like to mix in large features like drops and jumps.
If you only ever ride cross country trails an enduro bike might be more than you need, and you may be paying more than you should for what you need out of a bike.
Factors to consider when deciding on whether to buy an enduro bike
Your riding style
If you are an aggressive rider that likes to take on gnarly terrain that might terrify others, an enduro bike may be the right choice for you. It also could make a lot of sense if you hit lots of technical features like drops and jumps, especially ones that you’d get a lot of air off of.
Enduro bikes will allow you to progress and take on larger features knowing you have the forgiveness of the longer travel suspension to bail you out on mistakes.
Riders who like to push their speed on descents will appreciate how composed and stable enduro bikes feel and will benefit from the longer, slacker design.
The trails and terrain you currently ride
If you’re in an area where most of the mountain bike trails are steep and fast, and if that’s the type of trails you prefer and usually ride, you will definitely want to consider an enduro mountain bike.
If you ride trails with a lot of jumps and drops and like to catch a lot of air, you will probably find the enduro mountain bike design to be confidence inspiring thanks to the long travel and slack geometry.
The trails and terrain you aspire to ride
Keep in mind it’s not just about what trails you currently ride, but what trails you aspire to ride in the not-so-distant future. Started getting your feet wet with smaller jumps and looking to progress? Want to ride your local lift-access bike park and not sure your current ride can handle it?
These are great reasons to consider an enduro bike for your next ride. Mountain biking is about progressing and exploring your limits and getting onto a more capable bike is a great way to fast-track your progress.
Alternatively, if you know you love cross country mountain biking and aren’t interested in more technical riding, either a trail bike or XC bike should work just fine.
Frequently asked questions
Enduro bikes are designed to be ridden fast and aggressively on descents, but they’re still light enough to pedal uphill. They usually have longer wheelbases than trail bikes, which gives them more stability on descents, and they also have more travel in the suspension to soak up big bumps and jumps.
The most important differences between enduro bikes and trail bikes are that enduro bikes have longer travel suspension, longer wheelbases and slacker, more aggressive geometry, making them better on downhill, technical terrain.
Yes, enduro bikes can absolutely be ridden on XC trails. They probably won’t be winning any races on XC trails, nor on climbs, but they have no problem getting you around the trails to your next big descent.
Compared to trail bikes, enduro bikes do tend to be more expensive. This is a result of the more expensive components like long-travel front and rear suspension, larger brakes and burlier tires.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for an exciting bike to take your mountain biking skills to new heights, an enduro bike may be the perfect option for you. These bikes are designed to handle a variety of terrain, but especially excel over technical terrain, jumps and drops, and on downhills. If you think an enduro bike might be for you, go check out some of our favorite enduro bikes of the year here.