Specialized Enduro Evo Review

Article by Mark Taylor · Find me on Google+ · Date: 21st May 2012 ·

Specialized Enduro Evo

The Specialized Enduro Evo and the Expert Evo are both rugged, hard-wearing mountain bikes designed to take on the toughest trails and the steepest climbs without any problem at all. The real fun comes when it is time to descend thanks to the full suspension setups which unite these bikes, but with the Expert Evo being considerably more expensive than its sibling, what differences separate the two?

The standard Specialized Enduro Evo is priced at £2,500 and has lots of little touches which are common across many bikes made by this manufacturer. In short you can expect to see a lot of hand-picked kit which has subsequently been customised to work seamlessly with this bike. This means the bike never feels like it is just cobbled together with off-the-shelf equipment.

An M5 alloy frame with fully manipulated tubing forms the core of the Enduro Evo. It is strong and rigid, getting its suppleness from the shocks which are affixed to it. The custom X-Fusion Vector R rear shock and the X-Fusion Vengeance fork give you 170mm of travel and can take as much punishment as you might care to throw at them.

Meanwhile you get SRAM X7 components on the drivetrain, SRAM X5 Shifters and custom Avid Elixir 5 SL hydraulic disc brakes with partially metallic pads for added power control and precision. The Butcher Control tyres from Specialized itself are matched with Roval 26 rims, giving you a great grounding for a bike that will definitely take a pounding.

I’d have liked to have seen SRAM X9 components on a bike of this price but perhaps that’s a little picky.

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Specialized Enduro Expert Evo

The Specialized Enduro Expert Evo takes things up several notches in a variety of ways, and as I walk you through the setup, just bear in mind this bike is priced at £4,000, a whopping £1,500 more than the basic EVO.

The M5 alloy frame is largely similar, although in this case it is designed to go together with the full suspension setup which offers 170mm of travel. The Fox 36 Van R fork with rebound adjust and the Fox DHX RC2 rear shock are both customised for this model. By letting you change compression levels to suit your needs and also doing a good job of retaining lateral stiffness when necessary while still having the ability to open up and absorb the big bumps the Enduro Expert Evo succeeds where many lesser bikes fail.

The Avid X0 World Cup brakes feature carbon leaver blades and adjustable reach levels, using the same semi-metal pad technology that you will find on the standard Evo, but this time with a lighter build to help keep this bike nice and light. The wheels have been beefed up for the Expert model, with Roval Traverse rims and a Specialized Purgatory Control tyre at the back joining the Butcher Control at the front. The air spring operated adjustable height of the seatpost gives you up to 125mm of travel which you will not find on the base model, so there is plenty going on here.

If you can afford to invest in the Enduro Expert Evo then you should definitely give it careful consideration, although the yellow-framed flare of the standard Evo (pictured above), along with its capable selection of kit, makes it more than appealing enough for most serious riders.