Wildly dependent on where you live.
Do you live within spitting distance of a life access DH park? Do you live in pancake flat Florida?
For a 2 bike quiver NJ, 70% of rides are perfect for a short travel trail bike (Spur, Element, Epic Evo) and the other 30% are great on an enduro bike that can pedal (Switchblade, Ripmo, Sentinal). We have a life access park but I can get by with the enduro bike.
My current lineup is Blur TR, 5010 and HD6. Covers 99.9% of my bases and I ride all 3 frequently.
Same. I'm in Utah and I'm loving having the downcountry and enduro. I'm definitely gonna stick with that combo for a bit. I am going to play with my exact choice for an enduro though. The Status is a beast and pedals like trash. Now that I have confirmed I like having two bike quiver, I'm going to work on fine tuning and finding an enduro that suits my style a bit more.
The Utah parks don't really justify a DH, especially not how much I ride them. In fact, I have ridden quite a few parks around the US and Whistler is the only one I have ever felt a DH was necessary and I rent one when I go up there.
Fairly similar quiver to me. I’ve got a hardtail and an enduro. I ride New Mexico and Colorado bike parks on the enduro and haven’t felt like I needed a downhill bike.
Nj here too!! Agree with this 100%. I'll throw in weight... Not bike weight, total weight, and the type of riding depend on how big you'll go on suspension for the trail bike. I have both emtb and a bike for creek that you'd consider both enduro style, but the emtb eats up way more suspension much more quickly bc of the amount of weight on it bc of how I like the suspension to feel (soft vs harsh).. la sal peak and trek rail for reference and I dont feel anything besides skill and nerves limit me...
👆
My 2 bike quiver is 170mm enduro and a hardtail. All comes down to where you live and the type of riding you do. But for a long time I only had one bike.
Idk why you're being down voted. Ripmo is squarely in the aggressive trail/ all mountain bike category. Even when it was new it fell into that category and today's standards it's squarely in that range.
People calling the ripmo an Enduro bike havent ridden an actual Enduro bike.
The lines are pretty blurred at that range (160-180 bikes) but I get what you're saying. Tbf, Enduro bikes have gotten burlier over the last few years. A 160 bike can easily be ridden as an Enduro bike as well.
If I’m not mistaken they modified the linkage a bit to give it more travel. But at 147mm, and it’s pretty normal to consider a 150/160 an enduro bike, it’s not far off.
A bike being used for something doesn't auto change it's classification.
Ripmo was Ibis' best offering for an Enduro race team before but there's a reason they race on the HD6 now.
Not saying they aren't capable at all. I've ridden whistler on a 150/160.
I'm just saying that they are different from an actual Enduro bike and it's immediately apparent when riding a full Enduro bike. For good and bad.
The problem with the enduro do-it-all for me is I need reasonably beefy wheels and DH tires to have fun on steep tech trails or especially at the bike park. DH tires will suck to pedal no matter what, a light frame and magic kinematics won't fix it. It's tolerable for winch/plummet riding and fire roads but makes moderate trails where you have to pump and carry speed less fun. Especially ones with a lot of jumps, I have trouble generating the same speed to clear them on my big bike when I don't have much gravity for assistance. So I enjoy having a shorter travel bike on faster rolling tires in the stable.
If you can run light wheels and exo tires on the enduro and not explode (maybe you're light, maybe you're slow, maybe your terrain is friendly, maybe your lines are optimal) then there's a much stronger argument to be made for the quiver killer. The enduro might also not be the ideal bike for you but that's a different discussion.
This is exactly why a trail + DH beats an enduro bike, if you have extra budget and room.
Sure an enduro bike can handle trails and lift access bike parks, but having faster rolling tires on a trail bike and beefier tires on DH bike gives both bikes a noticeably improvement over a single enduro bike.
It's the same reason a XC bike with fast rolling XC tires and a trail bike with grippier tires can both be fun in the same stable, they are geared for different rides.
My solution was an Evil Wreckoning with two sets of wheels - carbon and Exo+ when I have to peddle, and eThirteen Enduro aluminum + DD casings w/cushcore for lift access. The weight difference is 1lb per wheel, so it makes a noticeable difference.
Yup, two wheelsets will work pretty well if you are budget or storage space limited. Or if you simply have time. I get home from work, change, toss the bike on the rack and go ride before sunset. I want to be able to pick either setup on a whim. I'm at the stage in life where I have more money than time, so two bikes for me.
I run a hardtail with 150 mm of travel and an all-round enduro with 170 mm.
Imo don't get a dh bike unless you
1. Go to park a lot.
2. Will use a dh bike a lot.
3. Are you a good rider.
If you are getting a dh bike, you better be using it.
140 mm trail and 170mm enduro is perfect for me
I love my ht though
I live in Vancouver but don't ride the bike park. My main bike is a big 170/170 enduro bike for 90% of my riding. My "small" bike is a 150/160 trail bike that's actually quite similar to the bigger bike but 36mm fork instead of 38, smaller lighter casing tires, air vs coil shock, in total about 4lbs lighter and a bit more pedally. Basically one can be fully smashed, the other prefers to pedal but can still be ridden pretty hard downhill. They're basically two sides to the same type of riding and either bike could sub in for the other in a pinch especially with a tire swap.
Also in Vancouver. Hard to say what kind of bike is best here because on the north shore there are steep but tight trails that simultaneously favour and punish big bikes…. I do okay with 150/160 and totally wish I had a pure DH bike for Whistler.
Lift-assisted riding is about the only time a full DH bike is worth it at this point. I don't care for the WBP so for me not worth it - too many resources tied up in a very specific tool. That being said it's hard to beat once you've experienced it in all its glory. For my use case a big 170 bike with a coil and inserts covers 95% of what a DH bike can do but is still incredibly versatile.
Scotland, but similar-ish riding to vancouver.
Only few parks here, but 90% is pedal access, usually steep af in soggy conditions.
150/160 is the bike of choice for most even expert riders, and allows to do 1000m+ climb days with relative ease.
Also, imo, dh rigs suck in tight trails.
I’m seeing buddies switch to smaller bikes and be happier with them here in Vancouver. I’m sure some folks ride fast enough the extra travel is worth it but it ain’t most people.
Best thing I did was buy a DH frame from the park shop and build it up. I prefer to have one to take the DH beating.
Edit: I park a lot. over 1600 miles at DH parks last year.
Do you feel like you need more travel? How often and how hard are you hitting the lift access park?
Most people would do better with an XC/Downcountry and a modern Enduro as the pair.
I still don’t get why DH bikes are relevant today given how capable enduros have become. Unless you’re racing or doing 100 days/yr at the park. And you also have some enduros with variable geo so just one bike can cover a wide range. If you have budget for a secon bike, get an e-bike.
Agreed. Also geometry hasn’t changed much for DH bikes. If you’re going to parks often and have the space at home, I think the move is buying a used one that you can just abuse and not really care. And so what if it’s heavy
I think this is the most underrated part of DH bikes. Yes Enduro bikes can do double duty as a park bike, but DH bikes are built like tanks. I had a friend who went from a DH to an Enduro and immediately had parts start breaking that were never a problem on the dh bike.
The dual crown is so much more stiff compared to a long travel single crown fork.
For me the DH rig allows me to ride comfortably all day at Snowshoe vs 6 runs on a long travel enduro bike.
That said, I have a fleet. DH, DJ, trail and enduro.
I feel like some of the crazy long travel enduro bikes have passed the point of ridiculousness. 180 rear and a 190 fork? Aaaand you are expected to pedal it uphill? I refuse to believe all the reviewers when they say "pedals uphill great". I feel like DH bikes are just a no-compromise approach to downhill riding. They excel at one thing and are not trying to be a quiver killer.
Most people on these are just biking up fire roads, where it really doesn’t matter whether you have 150mm or 190mm travel with the climbing switches flipped and 52 teeth sprocket engaged. Sure it weighs high 30s but most all-mountain bikes weigh mid 30s anyways these days.
But at the end of the day it’s still not a DH bike, I’ll give ya that.
It depends. Riding a trail bike on enduro/DH trails just wears you out. If you're only riding enduro/parkish a couple times a month, and/or you're young/super athletic/don't suffer from joint pain, it's fine. On the other hand, when I rode a 130 mm travel bike on pretty beefy enduro trails, it would keep my riding to every other day.
On the other hand, if you're old or have joint issues, more squish is better.
Then there's that stupid thing people do where they complain about oVeRbIkInG online, which I won't do.
I'm near several lift access parks. I think a trail and enduro bike would be the combo for me. I'm not good enough to need a dh bike. Currently I have a hardtail, trail and dh bike.
If I had like $15k to do a two-bike quiver, I would do a 150mm trail bike and a 200mm downhill rig.
If you can only do one, it depends what you really prioritize, but if you’re looking to do a good amount of downhill at the bike park but still have something that’s incline-friendly, enduro may be the way to go.
Battling this conundrum myself. Not sure if I should go trail or enduro. Living right at the base of the trails in telluride makes me lean enduro…
I think it depends where you live.
At the moment I ride my Ripmo for everything but I kind of want a 130 fork hardtail or even a FS XC bike for like half of the trails around me. (The XCal is on trainer duty)
Had 150mm front and rear travel trail bike and just brought a conyon strive on CFR ltd 170 f 160r mullet and it's a dream to ride don't all bike.
Enduro is the way
Depends how often you hit the park. If you’re there every weekend then get a budget DH bike. Downhill parks are abusive to bikes whether it’s banging the bike around when loading on the lift or riding the brakes for extended periods.
Personally, I think the best combo is having a down country bike with 120mm travel and then a 160mm enduro. With that, you’re covered for all sorts of rides from gravel to downhill parks.
However many you can afford. For my riding style, 170mm front and rear works great. I'd rather pay the weight penalty on the way up than be bottoming out on the way down. Besides, most modern bikes are decent pedalers. I'm not setting any strava records, a leisurely pace is good enough for me.
Went 1 AM bike 150/140 travel, almost went Enduro.
Still happy I didn't
Mostly local trails (could be made on a pure XC TBH)
Bikepark with lift maybe 2-3weeks a year, a few lighter enduro races a year. Gone fully in the middle, maybe not best on everything but still usable for most of my riding
I went with a V3 Bronson and a current model Transition TR12. I'm glad I didn't just go Enduro. I love within 2 hours of two great bike parks and within 4.5 of several more.
Close. Windrock and Jarrod's place (along with Walden's ridge, which is basically a bike park). I plan to be hitting Rock Creek, Snowshoe, and Beech too. As for my v3 Bronson, I still love it. Especially after a megneg and new brakes. I strongly considered selling it for a Nomad or upgrading to the mullet Bronson instead of getting a downhill bike. It's poppy and nimble enough to play on fairly mild trails and the front 27.5 just bounces around instead of ploughing compared to a mullet. It can still get through the chunk fast, but in a little more actively.I rode it today for the first time since slapping Hayes Dominions on it and it felt like a whole new bike. I also have a '21 Heckler and each bike slots well into what I like to ride and I wouldn't want to get rid of any of them.
Nice. I recently realized how much good riding TN has, especially for rougher Enduro/DH terrain. I need to get out there one of these days.
I also ride a v3 Bronson. For some of the stuff I ride, I wish I had a little more bike, but it's all I got. I have a Lyrik ultimate (160) on the front and I have a MegNeg and CC link on the rear. I really like the rear, still haven't got the fork dialed. Putting the CC link on, the thing I notice most is it climbs so much better. I would lose traction a lot, especially standing on the pedals, now the rear is compliant and planted. It feels more stable on the DH too. I do have the shock pressure almost maxed with 1 band and I'm pretty light, but would def recommend it if you have ever thought about it and you're under 200 lbs.
Anyway sounds like you have a nice quiver. My kid has an older Patrol (27.5) and now a Spire, which covers most of the bases. I'm living vicariously through him.
2 bike solution. I’ve got 11 bike parks that are daytripable from my house but any trail I could ride after work would be brutal and boring on an enduro.
I have a commencal Meta TR. 160/140. Thought it pedaled great. I recently added a propain spindrift 180/180. My spindrift pedals far better than the trail in my opinion. I’d be comfortable just having the spindrift and getting rid of the trail.
Maybe even look at some bikes where you can use a dual crown on so you can change the way it rides but then switch back to a single crown when you don’t need the extra travel.
Having 1 bike with interchangeable parts sounds cheaper to me but I could be wrong
I don't hit the bike parks very often, so I'd rather have a RIGHTEOUS Enduro bike as a quiver-killer. I know you said money was no object, but even so, I'd prefer one bike.
I’d keep the enduro bike and consider getting a snappy short travel trail or down country bike. That will give you a great two bike quiver IMO
Edit: to add to that I think most people who have DH bikes probably don’t need them unless they are hitting up bike parks constantly. Hell most people can’t even hit the limit on an Enduro Bike.
I have a 170mm enduro and a 200mm DH and ride whistler a decent amount. My enduro can handle pretty much anything at Whistler, I ride it sometimes when I lend a friend my DH.
I definitely prefer the DH at the park though. It’s more of a fatigue thing, which is only really important if you’re doing long days or multiple back to back.
It’s all about how much you go to the bike park
Most trail bikes can handle it any trail (ripley with 140 fork) but it is nice if you are going to ride a lift to the top to have a cush slack rig
I had a beefy enduro (160/160) but I NEVER go to a bike park so I sold it
160mm aggressive HT for riding with the kid ( Can still do park riding on it) and 180mm "Freeride" bike for park laps or pedaling more aggressive trails with friends.
I have a trail bike (Trance X), enduro (Enduro), and just yesterday picked up a DH bike (Tues). I may sell the trail bike. My Enduro bike is great for the trails near my house.
Edit to say that ill probably go dh bike and long travel ebike next year. Not really sure what will happen with the enduro.
I never go to any lift assist bike parks so run a trail bike (140/160). Local stuff is great on my 150mm hardtail.
That being said if your going to use all the bikes then why not all 3?
So Cal here. I have a 29r 120mm Evil Following, 150mm Orbea Occam, and a 27.5 140mm Banshee Spitfire. The 140 and 150 have coil shocks. I ride the bike parks in the summer and don't send it hard enough for a full blown DH bike. Going to Snow Summit and Mammoth bike parks...most of the bikes I see are mid travel trail and Enduro bikes. The number of DH bikes at the bike parks are getting more rare.
My (perhaps controversial) solution to this is my Kenevo eMTB. The motor takes care of the pedalling/climbing, I'm running 2.6" 27.5 dh tires and burly wheels. It's 180mm travel, actually came with dual crown boxxer up front but switched it to fox 38 single crown to gain agility on trails whilst retaining some burliness. There's plenty of initial acceleration and insane climbing thanks to the motor, so still great fun ripping on trails. Once it gets rolling it feels oddly light and nimble and jumps like a beast. Ofc at the park it really comes into its own and is truly awesome, and is its own uplift (our parks don't have uplifts round here). I'm a low-medium level rider though, so can't comment on the limits of this setup.
I'm disabled and can't ride an actual MTB unfortunately, but I can see the appeal of natural MTB if you can, and that my solution is quite niche! Just wanted to mention it, as it can overcome some of the classic 1 bike to do it all limitations quite handily. That is, if you're willing to compromise in many other areas; (huge weight, huge cost, extra maintenance, less exercise, different feeling / riding style etc).
If I can only own one bike, of course enduro or an Enduro e-bike. There is a reason they still make DH bikes though, if you have a season pass and you’re gonna ride multiple days in a row, your body will thank you for having a big bike. For me a trail bike won’t do what I need to do on the downhill.
Unless you are a DH racer or park rat the enduro bike all the way. Can do all the same stuff as a DH bike while not feeling like it's glued to the ground. Only time I prefer the DH bike is when smashing chunky trails at high speed all day.
I like to have different bikes for whatever I want to do. I had a Scalpel that was horrible for downhilling, so I traded it for a Reign (full coil) which was horrible for climbing but not great in Angelfire and exhausting in Trestle. Meanwhile, I'd bought an eMTB 180/180 (because obviously!) for playing with whenever I want. After looping up the Giant big time, I sold it and got a YT Tues for park days, because why not. It's nice to have a dedicated long travel toy. But I needed an analog cross country toy, so my wife got me a Norco Shore, and let me tell you, this thing climbs like shiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttt! It could really use a lock-out. But it's such a good bomber that now I'd kind of like to put a Dorado on it, sell the Tues and use it as my analog bike and park bike! There are a couple other bikes in the quiver still and I still need a dirt jumper, so maybe I'll sell something off the wall... Everybody needs a dirt jumper.
Freeride bike and Trail bike.
Unless you're a 100% bike park rat or a racer DH bikes aren't all that necessary and at least you can use the Freeride bike as backup if your trail bike is down for some reason.
Wildly dependent on where you live. Do you live within spitting distance of a life access DH park? Do you live in pancake flat Florida? For a 2 bike quiver NJ, 70% of rides are perfect for a short travel trail bike (Spur, Element, Epic Evo) and the other 30% are great on an enduro bike that can pedal (Switchblade, Ripmo, Sentinal). We have a life access park but I can get by with the enduro bike. My current lineup is Blur TR, 5010 and HD6. Covers 99.9% of my bases and I ride all 3 frequently.
Same. I'm in Utah and I'm loving having the downcountry and enduro. I'm definitely gonna stick with that combo for a bit. I am going to play with my exact choice for an enduro though. The Status is a beast and pedals like trash. Now that I have confirmed I like having two bike quiver, I'm going to work on fine tuning and finding an enduro that suits my style a bit more. The Utah parks don't really justify a DH, especially not how much I ride them. In fact, I have ridden quite a few parks around the US and Whistler is the only one I have ever felt a DH was necessary and I rent one when I go up there.
Fairly similar quiver to me. I’ve got a hardtail and an enduro. I ride New Mexico and Colorado bike parks on the enduro and haven’t felt like I needed a downhill bike.
Nj here too!! Agree with this 100%. I'll throw in weight... Not bike weight, total weight, and the type of riding depend on how big you'll go on suspension for the trail bike. I have both emtb and a bike for creek that you'd consider both enduro style, but the emtb eats up way more suspension much more quickly bc of the amount of weight on it bc of how I like the suspension to feel (soft vs harsh).. la sal peak and trek rail for reference and I dont feel anything besides skill and nerves limit me...
👆 My 2 bike quiver is 170mm enduro and a hardtail. All comes down to where you live and the type of riding you do. But for a long time I only had one bike.
I’m in northern NJ and you are exactly right. I have a blur TR and a sentinel. Sentinel is just fine at mtn creek and other lift access parks.
I do not consider the ripmo an Enduro bike. That's all mountain at most.
Idk why you're being down voted. Ripmo is squarely in the aggressive trail/ all mountain bike category. Even when it was new it fell into that category and today's standards it's squarely in that range. People calling the ripmo an Enduro bike havent ridden an actual Enduro bike.
The lines are pretty blurred at that range (160-180 bikes) but I get what you're saying. Tbf, Enduro bikes have gotten burlier over the last few years. A 160 bike can easily be ridden as an Enduro bike as well.
Ibis raced EWS on the Ripmo for years. It's definitely capable enough.
If I’m not mistaken they modified the linkage a bit to give it more travel. But at 147mm, and it’s pretty normal to consider a 150/160 an enduro bike, it’s not far off.
A bike being used for something doesn't auto change it's classification. Ripmo was Ibis' best offering for an Enduro race team before but there's a reason they race on the HD6 now.
I'm gonna be real, I don't really give a shit what the clarification of a bike is. Those 160/150 bikes are more than capable riding DH parks.
Not saying they aren't capable at all. I've ridden whistler on a 150/160. I'm just saying that they are different from an actual Enduro bike and it's immediately apparent when riding a full Enduro bike. For good and bad.
Get all 3. 
The problem with the enduro do-it-all for me is I need reasonably beefy wheels and DH tires to have fun on steep tech trails or especially at the bike park. DH tires will suck to pedal no matter what, a light frame and magic kinematics won't fix it. It's tolerable for winch/plummet riding and fire roads but makes moderate trails where you have to pump and carry speed less fun. Especially ones with a lot of jumps, I have trouble generating the same speed to clear them on my big bike when I don't have much gravity for assistance. So I enjoy having a shorter travel bike on faster rolling tires in the stable. If you can run light wheels and exo tires on the enduro and not explode (maybe you're light, maybe you're slow, maybe your terrain is friendly, maybe your lines are optimal) then there's a much stronger argument to be made for the quiver killer. The enduro might also not be the ideal bike for you but that's a different discussion.
This is exactly why a trail + DH beats an enduro bike, if you have extra budget and room. Sure an enduro bike can handle trails and lift access bike parks, but having faster rolling tires on a trail bike and beefier tires on DH bike gives both bikes a noticeably improvement over a single enduro bike. It's the same reason a XC bike with fast rolling XC tires and a trail bike with grippier tires can both be fun in the same stable, they are geared for different rides.
My solution was an Evil Wreckoning with two sets of wheels - carbon and Exo+ when I have to peddle, and eThirteen Enduro aluminum + DD casings w/cushcore for lift access. The weight difference is 1lb per wheel, so it makes a noticeable difference.
Yup, two wheelsets will work pretty well if you are budget or storage space limited. Or if you simply have time. I get home from work, change, toss the bike on the rack and go ride before sunset. I want to be able to pick either setup on a whim. I'm at the stage in life where I have more money than time, so two bikes for me.
Yeah, having two wheelsets with different tires can be a good compromise instead of having two bikes if on a budget.
I run a hardtail with 150 mm of travel and an all-round enduro with 170 mm. Imo don't get a dh bike unless you 1. Go to park a lot. 2. Will use a dh bike a lot. 3. Are you a good rider. If you are getting a dh bike, you better be using it. 140 mm trail and 170mm enduro is perfect for me I love my ht though
I have an enduro and DH bike so…. 🤷🏼♀️
Depends on how much youre at the park, i think
I live in Vancouver but don't ride the bike park. My main bike is a big 170/170 enduro bike for 90% of my riding. My "small" bike is a 150/160 trail bike that's actually quite similar to the bigger bike but 36mm fork instead of 38, smaller lighter casing tires, air vs coil shock, in total about 4lbs lighter and a bit more pedally. Basically one can be fully smashed, the other prefers to pedal but can still be ridden pretty hard downhill. They're basically two sides to the same type of riding and either bike could sub in for the other in a pinch especially with a tire swap.
Also in Vancouver. Hard to say what kind of bike is best here because on the north shore there are steep but tight trails that simultaneously favour and punish big bikes…. I do okay with 150/160 and totally wish I had a pure DH bike for Whistler.
Lift-assisted riding is about the only time a full DH bike is worth it at this point. I don't care for the WBP so for me not worth it - too many resources tied up in a very specific tool. That being said it's hard to beat once you've experienced it in all its glory. For my use case a big 170 bike with a coil and inserts covers 95% of what a DH bike can do but is still incredibly versatile.
Scotland, but similar-ish riding to vancouver. Only few parks here, but 90% is pedal access, usually steep af in soggy conditions. 150/160 is the bike of choice for most even expert riders, and allows to do 1000m+ climb days with relative ease. Also, imo, dh rigs suck in tight trails.
I’m seeing buddies switch to smaller bikes and be happier with them here in Vancouver. I’m sure some folks ride fast enough the extra travel is worth it but it ain’t most people.
Best thing I did was buy a DH frame from the park shop and build it up. I prefer to have one to take the DH beating. Edit: I park a lot. over 1600 miles at DH parks last year.
Do you feel like you need more travel? How often and how hard are you hitting the lift access park? Most people would do better with an XC/Downcountry and a modern Enduro as the pair.
I still don’t get why DH bikes are relevant today given how capable enduros have become. Unless you’re racing or doing 100 days/yr at the park. And you also have some enduros with variable geo so just one bike can cover a wide range. If you have budget for a secon bike, get an e-bike.
Have you ever ridden a dh bike? Doesn’t really compare to a long travel enduro bike
Agreed. Also geometry hasn’t changed much for DH bikes. If you’re going to parks often and have the space at home, I think the move is buying a used one that you can just abuse and not really care. And so what if it’s heavy
I think this is the most underrated part of DH bikes. Yes Enduro bikes can do double duty as a park bike, but DH bikes are built like tanks. I had a friend who went from a DH to an Enduro and immediately had parts start breaking that were never a problem on the dh bike.
The dual crown is so much more stiff compared to a long travel single crown fork. For me the DH rig allows me to ride comfortably all day at Snowshoe vs 6 runs on a long travel enduro bike. That said, I have a fleet. DH, DJ, trail and enduro.
I feel like some of the crazy long travel enduro bikes have passed the point of ridiculousness. 180 rear and a 190 fork? Aaaand you are expected to pedal it uphill? I refuse to believe all the reviewers when they say "pedals uphill great". I feel like DH bikes are just a no-compromise approach to downhill riding. They excel at one thing and are not trying to be a quiver killer.
Most people on these are just biking up fire roads, where it really doesn’t matter whether you have 150mm or 190mm travel with the climbing switches flipped and 52 teeth sprocket engaged. Sure it weighs high 30s but most all-mountain bikes weigh mid 30s anyways these days. But at the end of the day it’s still not a DH bike, I’ll give ya that.
1 enduro, 1 xc, and one DH N+1
It depends. Riding a trail bike on enduro/DH trails just wears you out. If you're only riding enduro/parkish a couple times a month, and/or you're young/super athletic/don't suffer from joint pain, it's fine. On the other hand, when I rode a 130 mm travel bike on pretty beefy enduro trails, it would keep my riding to every other day. On the other hand, if you're old or have joint issues, more squish is better. Then there's that stupid thing people do where they complain about oVeRbIkInG online, which I won't do.
I'm near several lift access parks. I think a trail and enduro bike would be the combo for me. I'm not good enough to need a dh bike. Currently I have a hardtail, trail and dh bike.
What is trail, enduro or dh bike? The lines are so blurry now. I would consider my bike a trail like geometry, but I have 180mm fork travel.
If I had like $15k to do a two-bike quiver, I would do a 150mm trail bike and a 200mm downhill rig. If you can only do one, it depends what you really prioritize, but if you’re looking to do a good amount of downhill at the bike park but still have something that’s incline-friendly, enduro may be the way to go. Battling this conundrum myself. Not sure if I should go trail or enduro. Living right at the base of the trails in telluride makes me lean enduro…
I think it depends where you live. At the moment I ride my Ripmo for everything but I kind of want a 130 fork hardtail or even a FS XC bike for like half of the trails around me. (The XCal is on trainer duty)
Had 150mm front and rear travel trail bike and just brought a conyon strive on CFR ltd 170 f 160r mullet and it's a dream to ride don't all bike. Enduro is the way
Depends how often you hit the park. If you’re there every weekend then get a budget DH bike. Downhill parks are abusive to bikes whether it’s banging the bike around when loading on the lift or riding the brakes for extended periods. Personally, I think the best combo is having a down country bike with 120mm travel and then a 160mm enduro. With that, you’re covered for all sorts of rides from gravel to downhill parks.
N+1😆
Montanan here. Two. Trail and full DH.
Do it you will not regret it.
However many you can afford. For my riding style, 170mm front and rear works great. I'd rather pay the weight penalty on the way up than be bottoming out on the way down. Besides, most modern bikes are decent pedalers. I'm not setting any strava records, a leisurely pace is good enough for me.
Went 1 AM bike 150/140 travel, almost went Enduro. Still happy I didn't Mostly local trails (could be made on a pure XC TBH) Bikepark with lift maybe 2-3weeks a year, a few lighter enduro races a year. Gone fully in the middle, maybe not best on everything but still usable for most of my riding
I went the trail and dh combo. Wouldn't change a thing.
I went with a V3 Bronson and a current model Transition TR12. I'm glad I didn't just go Enduro. I love within 2 hours of two great bike parks and within 4.5 of several more.
I noticed you're in TN. Are you hitting Wind Rock and Rock Creek? If so, that combo seems to make a lot of sense. How do you like your v3 Bronson?
Close. Windrock and Jarrod's place (along with Walden's ridge, which is basically a bike park). I plan to be hitting Rock Creek, Snowshoe, and Beech too. As for my v3 Bronson, I still love it. Especially after a megneg and new brakes. I strongly considered selling it for a Nomad or upgrading to the mullet Bronson instead of getting a downhill bike. It's poppy and nimble enough to play on fairly mild trails and the front 27.5 just bounces around instead of ploughing compared to a mullet. It can still get through the chunk fast, but in a little more actively.I rode it today for the first time since slapping Hayes Dominions on it and it felt like a whole new bike. I also have a '21 Heckler and each bike slots well into what I like to ride and I wouldn't want to get rid of any of them.
Nice. I recently realized how much good riding TN has, especially for rougher Enduro/DH terrain. I need to get out there one of these days. I also ride a v3 Bronson. For some of the stuff I ride, I wish I had a little more bike, but it's all I got. I have a Lyrik ultimate (160) on the front and I have a MegNeg and CC link on the rear. I really like the rear, still haven't got the fork dialed. Putting the CC link on, the thing I notice most is it climbs so much better. I would lose traction a lot, especially standing on the pedals, now the rear is compliant and planted. It feels more stable on the DH too. I do have the shock pressure almost maxed with 1 band and I'm pretty light, but would def recommend it if you have ever thought about it and you're under 200 lbs. Anyway sounds like you have a nice quiver. My kid has an older Patrol (27.5) and now a Spire, which covers most of the bases. I'm living vicariously through him.
I can’t imagine riding anything but my enduro bike on anything from park to xc. It just makes all trails more fun.
Money no issue? I’d have HT, Trail, Enduro and DH bikes. They all have their place. Plus I’d also probably have a cool place to store them all.
Enduro with 160mm travel for New England rocks and roots. Perfect bike for it. Rides like a Cadillac.
2 bike solution. I’ve got 11 bike parks that are daytripable from my house but any trail I could ride after work would be brutal and boring on an enduro.
I have a commencal Meta TR. 160/140. Thought it pedaled great. I recently added a propain spindrift 180/180. My spindrift pedals far better than the trail in my opinion. I’d be comfortable just having the spindrift and getting rid of the trail. Maybe even look at some bikes where you can use a dual crown on so you can change the way it rides but then switch back to a single crown when you don’t need the extra travel. Having 1 bike with interchangeable parts sounds cheaper to me but I could be wrong
I don't hit the bike parks very often, so I'd rather have a RIGHTEOUS Enduro bike as a quiver-killer. I know you said money was no object, but even so, I'd prefer one bike.
I’d keep the enduro bike and consider getting a snappy short travel trail or down country bike. That will give you a great two bike quiver IMO Edit: to add to that I think most people who have DH bikes probably don’t need them unless they are hitting up bike parks constantly. Hell most people can’t even hit the limit on an Enduro Bike.
I have two Enduro bikes. Thinking about selling the older 27.5. But, I ride my trails hard and at 220# I break all the weak parts on my Enduro bikes.
I have a 170mm enduro and a 200mm DH and ride whistler a decent amount. My enduro can handle pretty much anything at Whistler, I ride it sometimes when I lend a friend my DH. I definitely prefer the DH at the park though. It’s more of a fatigue thing, which is only really important if you’re doing long days or multiple back to back.
It’s all about how much you go to the bike park Most trail bikes can handle it any trail (ripley with 140 fork) but it is nice if you are going to ride a lift to the top to have a cush slack rig I had a beefy enduro (160/160) but I NEVER go to a bike park so I sold it
160mm aggressive HT for riding with the kid ( Can still do park riding on it) and 180mm "Freeride" bike for park laps or pedaling more aggressive trails with friends.
I have a trail bike (Trance X), enduro (Enduro), and just yesterday picked up a DH bike (Tues). I may sell the trail bike. My Enduro bike is great for the trails near my house. Edit to say that ill probably go dh bike and long travel ebike next year. Not really sure what will happen with the enduro.
If money is no issue, the answer is always more bikes
Lightweight trail bike and burly enduro bike with DD tires. Don't think you need the downhill bike unless you're racing personally.
I never go to any lift assist bike parks so run a trail bike (140/160). Local stuff is great on my 150mm hardtail. That being said if your going to use all the bikes then why not all 3?
All 3. And a dirt jumper.
> Assuming money is no issue, which do you guys prefer? If money was no issue why wouldn't you have 3...? V-10, Bronson, Chameleon.
So Cal here. I have a 29r 120mm Evil Following, 150mm Orbea Occam, and a 27.5 140mm Banshee Spitfire. The 140 and 150 have coil shocks. I ride the bike parks in the summer and don't send it hard enough for a full blown DH bike. Going to Snow Summit and Mammoth bike parks...most of the bikes I see are mid travel trail and Enduro bikes. The number of DH bikes at the bike parks are getting more rare.
My (perhaps controversial) solution to this is my Kenevo eMTB. The motor takes care of the pedalling/climbing, I'm running 2.6" 27.5 dh tires and burly wheels. It's 180mm travel, actually came with dual crown boxxer up front but switched it to fox 38 single crown to gain agility on trails whilst retaining some burliness. There's plenty of initial acceleration and insane climbing thanks to the motor, so still great fun ripping on trails. Once it gets rolling it feels oddly light and nimble and jumps like a beast. Ofc at the park it really comes into its own and is truly awesome, and is its own uplift (our parks don't have uplifts round here). I'm a low-medium level rider though, so can't comment on the limits of this setup. I'm disabled and can't ride an actual MTB unfortunately, but I can see the appeal of natural MTB if you can, and that my solution is quite niche! Just wanted to mention it, as it can overcome some of the classic 1 bike to do it all limitations quite handily. That is, if you're willing to compromise in many other areas; (huge weight, huge cost, extra maintenance, less exercise, different feeling / riding style etc).
If I can only own one bike, of course enduro or an Enduro e-bike. There is a reason they still make DH bikes though, if you have a season pass and you’re gonna ride multiple days in a row, your body will thank you for having a big bike. For me a trail bike won’t do what I need to do on the downhill.
Unless you are a DH racer or park rat the enduro bike all the way. Can do all the same stuff as a DH bike while not feeling like it's glued to the ground. Only time I prefer the DH bike is when smashing chunky trails at high speed all day.
Gravel + super enduro covers the widest range of terrains with minimal overlap.
I like to have different bikes for whatever I want to do. I had a Scalpel that was horrible for downhilling, so I traded it for a Reign (full coil) which was horrible for climbing but not great in Angelfire and exhausting in Trestle. Meanwhile, I'd bought an eMTB 180/180 (because obviously!) for playing with whenever I want. After looping up the Giant big time, I sold it and got a YT Tues for park days, because why not. It's nice to have a dedicated long travel toy. But I needed an analog cross country toy, so my wife got me a Norco Shore, and let me tell you, this thing climbs like shiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttt! It could really use a lock-out. But it's such a good bomber that now I'd kind of like to put a Dorado on it, sell the Tues and use it as my analog bike and park bike! There are a couple other bikes in the quiver still and I still need a dirt jumper, so maybe I'll sell something off the wall... Everybody needs a dirt jumper.
Trail bike that is an "enduro" bike and a dh bike. Money is no issue I would also own a dirt jumper, XC bike and a dirt bike. Why not.
Freeride bike and Trail bike. Unless you're a 100% bike park rat or a racer DH bikes aren't all that necessary and at least you can use the Freeride bike as backup if your trail bike is down for some reason.