The much loved Specialized Enduro has had a makeover and its a pretty sizeable one at that. The new 2020 bike is longer travel with redesigned suspension and a whole new look plus a new system of frame sizing. For this year it's carbon and 29er only too. 

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If you think this bike looks familiar, that's because it's based on the new downhill bike the Demo where the placement of the shock is designed to keep the centre of gravity low, making the bike more stable at high speeds. Specialized say they have moved the bikes main pivot forwards which decreases the propensity for the rear wheel to 'hang up' on large bumps, it also gives the bike a more rearward axle path which helps move the rear wheel out of the way when hitting larger trail obstacles. They also say this new suspension layout increases small bump sensitivity and they've also improved the bike's big hit capability, increasing the progressivity of the leverage curve, ramping it up more at the end of the stroke. Other improvements also include more anti-squat which means a better pedalling platform, no matter what gear you are in or how much travel used, Specialized says.

2020 Specialized Enduro S-Works bike £8,999

In addition to all the suspension changes the 2020 models of the Specialized Enduro all boast 170mm of travel front and rear dealt with by Fox and Rockshox depending on specification. All bikes across the range from S-Work to the comp model are carbon, there's no alloy option available yet. Specialized say they have designed what they call a 'Rider First' lay up for each frame size ensuring that every Enduro offers the same ride quality for each rider.

2020 Specialized Enduro S-Works £3,299

The bikes, interestingly, follow in the footsteps of the Stumpjumper Evo with the normal Small, Medium and Large sizes being dropped in favour of S2, S3, S4 and S5. Specialized has lengthened the reach figures of the bike across the sizes, alongside keeping the seat tube lengths short, the theory here is that riders will 'fit' on more than one bike, meaning they can choose the bike with the reach that most suits their riding style. It makes a lot of sense to us.

With regards to geometry, Specialized says the new Enduro is, yep, you guessed it - longer, lower and slacker. The bike gets longer reaches, a slacker head angle at 63.9 degrees in the low setting. They have though slackened off the effective seat tube angle slightly, leaving it at 76 degrees rather than 76.7 as on the last Enduro 29er. The bike keeps similar bottom bracket figures to last years bike too with a height of 354mm in high and 347mm in the low setting. 

Chainstays are longer though and due to this and the longer reach, the wheelbase on each size are longer too. The seat tube lengths are much shorter, for example, the S4 bike gets a seat tube that is 27mm shorter than the equivalent Large bike from the 2019 range. As well as allowing more rider choice in frame size, it also allows longer dropper post to be used, as long as there is enough insertion room before the split in the seat tube where the shock is positioned through the frame. 

You'll be able to buy the Enduro as an S-Works frame only or in one of five other specifications from an S-Works spec down to the Comp model. S-Works frames get the same carbon frame as the other bikes but adds carbon top, middle and lower links to the suspension, shaving off 250g from the frame weight. 

The UK will be getting the S-Works frame only and build (Fox 36 fork, DHX2 shock and XTR 12 speed), the Expert (Fox 36 fork, DPX2 shock, SRAM Eagle X01), the Elite (Rockshox Lyrik and Super Deluxe shock with GX Eagle ) and lastly the Comp (Rockshox Lyrik fork and Deluxe shock with NX Eagle).

2020 Specialized Enduro Expert £6,250

2020 Specialized Enduro Elite £5,499

2020 Specialized Enduro Comp £4,499

• www.specialized.com

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