Couch to Enduro

harpecs

Hi everyone,

New to the forum here. like the post says I really want to race enduro but I am literally starting from my couch. Ski injury has me sidelined till fall. I used to road bike a lot and have mountain biked before but would consider myself an intermediate rider. planning to buy a bike in the next few months. Sold all my bikes when I moved to Pittsburgh so starting fresh. I don't think I will be healthy enough to race till next season. here is what i am thinking any help would be appreciated.

1. Hardtail- use for training this season improve my skills and buy an enduro bike next season
2. buy a longer travel trail bike as my do everything bike
3. go straight to enduro bike

my major reservation is that I think my technical riding needs to improve to race enduro. I also just want a bike a fun bike to put miles on. I have little interest in XC pretty much all the bikes on my list are roughly the same weight around 30lbs.

Thanks!

kajjal

Think about where you will be riding and how. Then choose the best bike for that. If everyone else you ride with has full suspension bikes it would make sense to have a similar bike. You will learn to ride whatever bike you have over time. I have an xc hardtail and it is fast until the going gets rough. I mainly ride natural trails of various types.

haydenm

Don't worry too much about it, if the local racing scene near you is anything like the Scottish scene then it'll be relaxed and accomodate the full range of riders. Even if you struggle on the really tech stuff just try not to hold anyone up in their race run and you'll be fine, anyone who gets angry with you shouldn't be on the trails anyway. Maybe try a few races this season to get a feel for it, you probably won't be able to relax until you have done a few events.

If I were in your position I would get a 130/140mm trail bike for everything, with the right angles, wider bars and decent tyres you'll be more than fine at the races but it won't be a total slog if you want to get out for some long days for fitness/getting the runs in. Depending on your weekend riding you might find it more fun in general than a 160mm enduro bike and you might find you make up time where the enduro bike would get bogged. A 'fun' bike will get you out riding more.

steelo

Just get yourself an Orange 5 and have done with it, it'll handle whatever you can ride and last for years. Start at the cheaper end and upgrade as the cheaper components break - the frame will last.